The evaluation function in the African Development Bank (AfDB) registered another major milestone, Tuesday, May 19, 2015 with the official launch of the new name and logo to staff at Headquarters in Abidjan.
As already indicated to the Board of Directors of the AfDB, the former Operations Evaluation Department (OPEV) becomes Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV).
This name change better reflects the independence, mandate, and mission of the evaluation function of the AfDB. IDEV evaluates all components of the Bank’s work, not just operations, as the previous name suggested, while also building strong partnership with the AfDB to foster sustainable growth and poverty reduction in Africa through independent and influential evaluations.
History of evaluation in the AfDB
Evaluation at the African Development Bank dates back to more than a quarter century. Specifically, evaluation started in 1977, though the first evaluation unit was only established three years later, in 1980, with the creation of a special division within the Research and Planning Department.
This division became a free-standing evaluation office in 1987, attached to the President, and was upgraded to the status of a department in 1995 (Operations Evaluation Department, OPEV). In 1993 the oversight responsibility for evaluation was shifted to the Board of Directors under the General Audit Committee and later placed under the oversight of the Committee on Operations and Development Effectiveness, created in 1996. In 2002 the department’s mandate was further clarified by a Presidential directive.
In 2007 the Board approved the first independent evaluation policy and the evaluation department’s functional responsibilities, followed by the Independent Evaluation Strategy in 2013. In 2014 OPEV changed its name to Independent Development Evaluation. A revised independent evaluation policy is currently under consideration by the Board.
International Trend
The change in name is also partly in keeping to international best practices regarding development evaluation and the organizational positioning of the evaluation office within Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and other development organizations.
According to the OECD/DAC Quality Standards for Development Evaluation, “the evaluation process is transparent and independent from program management and policy-making, to enhance credibility.”
Similarly, the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) emphasizes that, “The evaluation function has to be located independently from the other management functions so that it is free from undue influence and that unbiased and transparent reporting is ensured. It needs to have full discretion in submitting directly its reports for consideration at the appropriate level of decision-making pertaining to the subject of evaluation.”