EVO - Evaluation- A Management Tool for Improving Project Performance (a logical framework) -3/97
Increased economic and social development in the region is a major priority of the Inter-American Development Bank. The Bank is committed to ensuring that its resources are contributing efficiently and effectively towards this goal. Since projects are the primary means to desired development impact, it is important for the Bank to ensure that the projects it supports are performing effectively. Evaluation is a useful tool to enhance project performance. This Resource handbook is designed to provide users in Headquarters and Field Offices of member countries with guidelines in support of evaluation activities at all stages of the project cycle, in order to assist in improving project performance. Consequently, this handbook does not make reference to evaluation at program, policy and strategy levels.
Sound project evaluation conditions must be established at the project design level, so that projects can be successfully monitored and evaluated. Unfortunately, this is not the current practice in most IDB development projects . An assessment of the "evaluability" of the loans approved in 1994 revealed that only a few of the loan proposals contained the basic elements required to monitor result-based project progress, or to determine at a later point in time whether or not the development objectives were achieved. Two tools can be used to improve this situation at the project design level. First, the logical framework can be incorporated in project designs in order to establish, at the design level, a clear project purpose. Second, "evaluability" assessments can be used by staff to "test" if projects submitted for approval have the necessary elements to enable result-based evaluation at a later point in time. The means for incorporating these tools in current IDB practices are described in this handbook.
Successful projects do not solely depend on valid project designs -- projects also require effective implementation. Many of the Bank's loans are experiencing difficulties in implementation. The 1994 "Annual Report on Portfolio Management" reveals that out of a portfolio of 352 projects (444 loans) in execution, 145 (or 41.2 percent), representing $5.5 billion (or 29.6 percent) of the undisbursed balance, are in the slow, delayed or postponed project execution status. This reinforces the need to improve project design and provide the means for effective monitoring of project implementation.
Procedures for effective mid-project evaluations are also presented in this document. Mid-term project evaluations are being used to help understand the nature of performance problems in some projects. Project execution and monitoring workshops are underway in the Bank's Regional Operations Departments to assist in overcoming project design limitations. The completion stage of a project, at which point most evaluations are conducted, is too late in the life of the project to improve upon its performance. However, if conducted carefully, ex-post evaluations can generate knowledge that is indispensable to the success of future projects.
On the foundation of well-conducted mid-term and ex-post evaluations, the Bank can improve the generation and dissemination of the lessons learned from projects, so that subsequent project designs and execution strategies can benefit from the collective experience. Effective ex-post evaluations and impact evaluations, described in this handbook, are also important instruments for improving overall performance over a multi-year period.
The Evaluation Office (EVO) has produced this handbook as a guide that underscores the importance of evaluation as a learning tool at all levels of the project, from design to execution and monitoring, by developing standards for effective evaluation processes and products. Towards this end, for the past two years EVO has been conducting training sessions on evaluation that support the use of evaluation to improve development performance.
This handbook would not be the quality product it is without your valuable contributions. We would again invite your thoughts and comments in our continuing effort to provide the best evaluation products possible.
Jean Serge Quesnel
Director
Evaluation Office