Evaluating Country Programmes - OECD Online Bookshop

OECD 1999
Country Assistance Evaluation in the Multilateral Development Banks
As in the case of country strategy and programming, the process of country
assistance evaluation needs to be carried even further through the involvement of
country authorities, both at national and local levels, as well as through the private
sector and civil society in the design, preparation and follow-up of studies.
Little has been done so far in the MDBs to bring local officials and authorities into
the evaluation process. There are no standards or lessons; it is an area that needs
to be further explored.
The above issues constitute areas where considerably more work and effort
needs to be carried out. Nevertheless, the process is still emerging in its development
and a great deal can still be learned. Institutions should continue to expand
their evaluation efforts beyond the project, sector and thematic levels.
Issues and emerging practices in country assistance evaluation
Design of country strategies
The design of the country assistance strategy (CAS) is an area that could be
improved to facilitate the CAE process. A World Bank study, Country Assistance Strategies:
Retrospective and Outlook (1998), examines CASs prepared over a two-year period
and reaches a number of conclusions regarding how they can be improved, including
country ownership and participation, disclosure, strategic selectivity and focus,
treatment of cross-cutting and other issues and better co-ordination between CASs
and evaluations. The report also discusses how the design of a strategy can improve
monitoring and self-evaluation of Bank activities. With maximum development
impact as the measure of success, the challenge is to break down this goal into several
indicators which are simpler, specific, tangible and as measurable as possible
and that best capture progress in meeting the objectives expressed in the country
strategy. A separate study is underway in the World Bank to develop a framework
for the specification of appropriate indicators for monitoring programme implementation.
It identifies four features (presented in Box 5.3) to be used in defining
targets, benchmarks and indicators in a strategy.
Institutions need to give more thought to the design of country strategies and programmes in
order to facilitate the country evaluation process. Better-designed indicators and benchmarks can
enhance strategy, programme monitoring and self-evaluation. They provide a strong basis on which
to monitor the performance of the objectives during the implementation phase.
“Evaluability” of strategies
An important consideration in the design of strategies is its “evaluability”.
Based on the Logical Framework Approach, a strategy can be considered to be
“evaluable” if it has been formulated to include:
– A goal or goals to which the strategy contributes.
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