Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG) Mandate and Achievements

1. Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG)Mandate and Achievements Marvin Taylor-Dormond Independent Evaluation Group World Bank Group Presentation at the meeting of Sub-Regional Development Institutions Johannesburg, 27 April 2014

2. Outline ECG Origins and Mandate ECG Development Phases and Major Achievements Lessons Learned

3. ECG – The Beginning ECG was born in 1995/96 (Canberra) Original Members: AfDB, AsDB, EBRD, IADB and WBG (WB AND IFC) Later EIB, IsDB, IFAD, IMF and MIGA Observers: BSTDB, CEB, GEF, OECD DAC and UNEG Anticipated Report of Development Committee Task Force on Multilateral Development Banks 1996 SERVING A CHANGING WORLD Calling for the five heads of evaluation units to exchange experience and harmonize methodologies, indicators and approaches

4. ECG – Original Paris And Subsequent Agreement • To cooperate with the aim of: • Harmonizing methodologies and performance indicators • Strengthen evaluation use for greater MDB effectiveness and accountability • Share and disseminate lessons • Enhance evaluation professionalism within MDBs • Involve borrowing member countries in evaluation and promote their evaluation capacity • Collaborate with bilateral and other MDBs • Rotating Annual Chair

5. ECG: Three Development Phases • Discovery and Bases Building 1995-2003/4 • Pursue of original mandate: Harmonization • Stocktaking exercises • Initial GPSs produced/ Separate treatment of public and private • Working Groups/Plenary as fundamental operating model • Inward looking (institutions and methods as focus) • Consolidation and Maturity 2004/5- 2011 • Mandate slightly amended: harmonization not standardization • ECG Secretariat established • Working Groups still operating model/Further GPSs Developed • Joint publications launched: Nexus, Water, Agribusiness, Micro Finance, Gender • Specialized parallel seminars introduced • Outward looking: First press conference and Comunique/Comm Group, Letter to AsDB Board (knowledge and broader community as additional focus) • Introspection and Revisiting 2011- Today • Further amendment of mandate/Formalization of Membership Process/Chapters • Consolidation of ECG Secretariat • Priority to urgent individual institutional demands/change processes • Debate on need for different private/public GPS • Plenary and specialized themes as new operating model

6. ECG – Current Mandate • PURPOSE • Contribute to excellence in evaluation by promoting: • Mutual learning and sharing of experience on issues such as evaluation governance, tools, methods, products and management; • Increased contribution of evaluation to organizational results; • Adoption of GPS and benchmarking against these; and • Facilitating jointly conducted evaluations.

7. Progress Evaluation practice in members’ central evaluation units improved significantly. In parallel, there has been an increased collaborative effort and information sharing by participation in the ECG. ECG has promoted: • Evaluation independence; • Understanding of individual methodologies; • Harmonization via benchmarking; • Professionalism; • Lessons learning; and • Cooperation. Membership has increased (ten members, four Observers). Yet, decision has been reiterated to keep membership limited, through formal process. Chapters and knowledge dissemination model.

8. Major ECG Achievements • Developed several stocktaking exercises on public and private sector, TA/AS, country, policy lending, country and independence; • Developed, benchmarked members against GPS on independence • Developed, revised four times and benchmark members against GPS for private sector, • Developed GPS for public sector, country-level, programmatic lending • Conducted several joint evaluations (project, country, compas) • Produced GPS for peer reviews and conducted one assessment • Produced several synthesis studies drawing on the evaluation work of members • Provided valuable forum for sharing knowledge and experience among members

9. ECG Publications • “Big Book” of Good Practice Standards and Principles • The Nexus Between Infrastructure and Environment • Evaluative Lessons for Agriculture and Agribusiness • Making Microfinance Work: Evidence from Evaluations • Ensuring Biodiversity in a Sustainable Future: Lessons from Evaluations • COMPAS Evaluation • Peer Review of IFAD's Office of Evaluation and Evaluation Function • Gender Equality and Development Evaluation Units • Overcoming Barriers to Energy Efficiency • Evaluation Findings on Urban and Rural Water Supply and Sanitation • SME Experience (forthcoming)

10. What have we learned? • Benefits from cooperation are enormous but should manage transactions costs Vast knowledge base from which to draw Lessons, methodologies, sector expertise, peer reviews • Standardization per se is not a realistic goal • Credibility and influence can be effectively and jointly boosted and leveraged independence, convening power, evaluation weeks, training, outreach internally and externally

11. Challenges? • Harmonization • Building on past work and experience to find common approaches in several areas (public/private debate) • Committing to benchmark against agreed GPS • Adapting to institutional change • Reorganization, new corporate missions and focus, cost cutting • Finding the right balance between internal and external focus (publish as ECG, communicate externally or not) • Defending independence • Contributing to development of evaluation practices in sub-regions

12. Some Questions How can we capitalize the ECG’s experience to improve SRDIs evaluation practices and cooperation? If desirable, what would be the minimum or necessary conditions to undertake a sustainable ECG support to SRDI capacity-building and cooperation? For the above, what could be the expected roles of the parties and to what extent would these roles be feasible?

13. Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG)Mandate and Achievements Marvin Taylor-Dormond Independent Evaluation Group World Bank Group Presentation to the Meeting of Sub-Regional Development Institutions Johannesburg, 27 April 2014