Driving Development Impact
The Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the New Development Bank conducts evaluations to improve the NDB’s development effectiveness and to further the achievement of the Bank’s mandate. Independent evaluation plays a central role to drive quality and development impact of the Bank.
The IEO is responsible for independently evaluating the Bank’s policies, strategies, processes, initiatives and operations. The IEO will also contribute and provide oversight to improve the effectiveness of the Bank’s quality assurance and self-evaluation activities.
The IEO is independent of the Management of the NDB and reports directly and exclusively to the Board of Directors.
The evaluation function is intended to play a central role in improving NDB strategies, policies, instruments, processes and operations, with the aim of identifying lessons and providing recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Bank.
The IEO’s aim is also to inform the Board of Directors and Management of the results achieved by the Bank in order to enhance the accountability of the organization and ultimately to strengthen and drive the quality of the Bank’s interventions in delivering results in its member countries.
To support NDB in achieving greater development effectiveness, the evaluation function has two core objectives:
- Promote accountability by providing an evidence-based assessment of results achieved through NDB’s financial and other support to member countries;
- Contribute to enhanced learning and feedback to improve the quality of current and future policies, strategies, programs, projects, instruments, underlying processes, organization, resources, and capacities required to achieve these results.
These objectives will also serve to promote a development results, learning and evaluation culture across the Bank to encourage a continuous improvement in the quality of NDB activities.
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The Director General of the IEO has the authority to issue and submit final evaluation reports and related products to the Board of Directors and subsequently publish them, without prior clearance from anyone outside the IEO.
The Director General of IEO shall be responsible for the preparation of the IEO annual work programme. The work programme will take into account institutional priorities of the NDB and its member countries and be prepared through a consultative process engaging with key stakeholders, in particular with the Board officials and NDB Management. The IEO’s work programme and budget will be approved by the Board and made available public.
In December 2022, the NDB Board of Directors (BOD) approved the establishment of the High-Level Evaluation Advisory Committee (EAC) to provide periodic strategic advice to the Director General of IEO on evaluation strategy, priorities, methodology and related topics. Members of the EAC were appointed by the NDB Board of Directors in April 2023.
NDB Evaluation Policy
On 24 August 2022, the NDB Board of Directors approved the Bank’s first Evaluation Policy. This policy sets out the overarching framework for conduct of evaluations in NDB. The Policy focus on strategic issues and clearly defines roles and responsibilities across the various components of the evaluation system ensuring complementarity and avoiding overlap and duplication with other entities responsible for oversight in the Bank. The new Policy covers independent evaluations as well as some aspects of self-evaluation.
The evaluation policy is intended to help NDB Management and staff, and partners align their expectations in determining why, when, and how to use evaluation for improved development impact and sustainability.
The policy learns from a benchmarking of the evaluation policies and equivalent documents of selected multilateral development banks (MDBs) and United Nations organizations with respect to the overall coverage of the policies, the roles and responsibilities addressed herein, and the underlying principles. While learning from other MDBs, this policy considers good practices that are most relevant to the unique context of the NDB and its specialized mandate.
Also, the policy is established in the Evaluation at NDB’s core principles: Independence, utility, timeliness and credibility and transparency.
Evaluation Strategy 2024-2026
The NDB Board of Directors approved, on 28 November 2023, the Independent Evaluation Strategy 2024-2026. The Strategy, the first of its kind in the Bank, is part of IEO’s broader enabling environment and aims to operationalize the NDB Evaluation Policy as well as generate a common understanding on the approach to evaluations by IEO. The strategy has four priorities as follows: (i) Strengthen NDB’s developmental impact by evaluating NDB-financed projects and associated activities, deriving lessons, and sharing knowledge; (ii) Support the further development of NDB self-evaluation capacities and systems; (iii) Provide evaluation-based lessons to support the preparation of Bank policies and strategies; and (iv) Promote an evaluation and results culture in the Bank and its member countries.
Evaluation Manual
The first edition of the Evaluation Manual was approved by the NDB Board of Directors in August 2024.
Click here to see the first edition.
The Manual provides clear and detailed guidance on evaluation methodologies, processes, approaches and the practical aspects of conducting evaluations.
At the core of the evaluation system is the use of recognised international practices and standards, particularly those established by the Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG) of the Multilateral Development Banks, while emphasising the importance of customisation of the evaluation methodology to align with NDB’s specific mandate, the unique needs and priorities of member countries, and the context of each evaluation.
The Manual serves as a comprehensive reference for conducting both independent and self-evaluations at NDB, by harmonising the quality standards and consistency between the two, and, ultimately, fostering a stronger results and evaluation culture at NDB as a whole. At the same time, it also offers methodological guidance for partners conducting evaluations at the country-level.
Ratings Database
As outlined in the Evaluation Manual (see above), in assessing project performance, a rating (i.e. score) on a six-point scale (with 6 being the highest score) is assigned to each criterion.
This database contains the ratings of every project evaluation completed by IEO since its foundation in April 2022. The database will be updated in real-time as further evaluations are completed.
The database is intended as a resource for anyone who wishes to see the results of NDB-financed projects as evaluated by IEO, and for them to conduct their own analytics, as needed. The public sharing of the database through these webpages is a reflection of IEO’s commitment to promoting accountability, transparency and learning. For clarifications or further information, contact ieo@ndb.int.
In collaboration with concerned partner organizations at the global, regional and country levels, IEO contributes to strengthening evaluation capacities and culture within the New Development Bank and its member countries.
Partnerships are critical for IEO to further the objectives of the NDB Evaluation Policy approved by the Board in 2022.
IEO therefore pursues purposeful partnerships with a range of institutions at the country, regional and global levels, including government institutions, the private sector, international organisations, academic and research institutions, evaluation associations, networks, communities, and others. Such partnerships focus on a variety of topics including the evaluation of projects and programmes, knowledge-sharing, evaluation capacity development, development of innovative methodologies, and others. With selected priority institutions, especially in NDB member countries, IEO has also entered into partnership agreements to systematise joint activities.
For further information on IEO’s partnerships, please contact Fariha Ahmed at ahmed.fariha@x.ndb.int.
The work programme and budget of the Independent Evaluation Office is prepared independently and approved directly by the Bank’s Board of Directors. The activities in the programme are informed by consultations with NDB Management, and feedback from the Board of Directors and partners in member countries.
Henrique Pissaia joined IEO in March 2023 as a Principal Professional Specialist in evaluation methods.
Chao Sun joined IEO in March 2023 as a Senior Professional in evaluation methods.
Manas Puri, a national of India, joined IEO as a Senior Professional in October 2023.
Jin Zhao, a national of China, joined IEO as evaluation specialist in September 2023.
Nidhi Chaudhary, an Indian national, joined the IEO as an Evaluation Specialist in July 2023.
Fariha Ahmed, an Indian national, joined the IEO as Evaluation Partnerships and Capacity Development Specialist in January 2023.
Jaqueline Rabelo, a national of Brazil, joined IEO as Communications and Outreach Coordinator in 2022.