Attention to Gender and Equity in Evaluation Policies and Brochures of Development banks

by Ranjani K.Murthy

Jun 13

This article analyzes attention to gender and equity in evaluation policies/principles/brochures of independent evaluation offices of different banks, namely the African Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the New Development Bank. It took the support of LM Notebook for this analysis 
Of the six development banks, only the Independent Development Evaluation at the African Development Bank identifies gender as a core subject for its thematic evaluation and evaluation synthesis. It further works with UN Women to improve evaluation quality. Concerns of equity are referred to indirectly in evaluation policy/principles/brochures of four of the six agencies—with reference to evaluating inclusive growth, shared prosperity, accountability to citizens, social development,  
Institution
Document Title
Attention to Gender
Attention to Equity & Inclusivity
African Development Bank (IDEV)
Independent Development Evaluation at the African Development Bank
Identifies gender as a core subject for "Thematic evaluations". The institution completed an "Evaluation Synthesis on Gender Mainstreaming" in 2020 and works with UN Women to improve evaluation quality.
Directly addresses equity through an "Evaluation Synthesis on Promoting Inclusive Growth" (2023). It also emphasizes accountability to citizens by documenting the impact of Bank activities.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Evaluation Policy
Not explicitly highlighted as a separate evaluation metric in the policy excerpt.
Progress towards a sustainable market economy is evaluated against being "inclusive". Evaluation is used to reinforce institutional accountability for this inclusive mandate.
World Bank Group
World Bank Group Evaluation Principles
Not explicitly detailed beyond the vision of inclusive growth.
Guided by goals to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. The policy mandates that citizen and beneficiary feedback be integrated into accountability and learning processes.
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB Group)
Evaluation Policy Framework – IDB Group
Not explicitly highlighted in this high-level policy framework.
Foundational purpose includes accelerating "economic and social development". The framework ensures evaluation findings reach beneficiaries to foster institutional transparency.
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Independent Evaluation at the Asian Development Bank
Not explicitly detailed in the provided brochure excerpts.
Evaluates "special concerns" related to organizational and operational effectiveness. Impact evaluations use surveys of beneficiaries to ensure the validity and reliability of results regarding development impact.
New Development Bank (NDB)
New Development Bank Evaluation Policy
Not explicitly mentioned in the provided policy excerpts.
Focuses on strengthening the quality of interventions to deliver results in member countries. Aims to promote accountability for "value for money" and developmental impact.