Independent Evaluation

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is committed to learning from its experience and improving its performance. The Independent Evaluation Department (IEvD) plays a key role in this process by providing objective and evidence-based assessments of the Bank's operations and policies for accountability and learning.

About the Department

At the EBRD, IEvD evaluates the strategies, policies, and operations, ensuring accountability and learning. It implements its Work Programme in line with its strategic plan, conducts independent evaluations, and disseminates its findings, lessons and recommendations to various internal and external audiences. IEvD collaborates with management, as appropriate, to enhance evaluation standards and capacity-building.

IEvD reports to the Board of Directors and publishes its reports under the authority of the Chief Evaluator. The principles, responsibilities and function of evaluation are specified in the EBRD Evaluation Policy (last reviewed in 2023).

The current Chief Evaluator is Véronique Salze-Lozac’h.

The Annual Evaluation Review provides a summary of IEvD’s mandate and operational priorities, and an overview of its activities and accomplishments in the previous year.

This 2024 Annual Evaluation Review provides a comprehensive overview of all the work of Independent Evaluation Department (IEvD) of the EBRD in the past calendar year. It focuses on insights from IEvD on future strategic directions of the Bank, highlights progress in IEvD's own strategic direction, and showcases IEvD's influence in action.

The Independent Evaluation Department (IEvD) develops its work programme on a three-year rolling basis, identifying topics of prime importance for EBRD and its Board.

Work Programme 2025-2027

The IEvD Work Programme 2025-2027 outlines our strategic approach to enhancing evaluation practices at EBRD. It focuses on delivering high-quality, relevant and timely evaluation, fostering a robust evaluation culture, supporting self-evaluation systems, and scaling up evaluation knowledge management to drive transformational change and lower operational risks.

Knowledge Management

The IEvD has a dedicated Evaluation Knowledge Management (EKM) unit that provides support in creating, analysing, disseminating, and storing evaluation knowledge. The EKM unit plays a crucial role in ensuring that evaluation knowledge is useful and used.

Capacity Development

If evaluation is to be useful and used for EBRD’s transition impact, a strong evaluation culture is necessary. To this end, IEvD is implementing activities aimed at enhancing the Bank’s evaluation capacity on specific topics. More information on evaluation capacity development will be shared soon.

Partnerships

Evaluation Cooperation Group

The Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG) was established by the heads of independent evaluation in multilateral development banks (MDBs) in 1996 to:

(i) strengthen the use of evaluation for greater MDB effectiveness and accountability;
(ii) share lessons from MDB evaluations and contribute to their dissemination;
(iii) harmonise performance indicators and evaluation methodologies and approaches;
(iv) enhance evaluation professionalism within the MDBs and collaboration with the heads of evaluation units of bilateral and multilateral development organisations; and
(v) facilitate the involvement of borrowing member countries in evaluation and build their evaluation capacity.

The ECG uses two instruments to promote evaluation harmonisation among MDBs: Good practice standards (GPS) and benchmarking studies to assess the extent to which the GPS are applied by the ECG members. The EBRD was a founder member of the ECG and, together with the International Finance Corporation, was responsible for developing the GPS on the evaluation of private sector operations, now in its fourth version.

In March 2024, IEvD hosted the ECG Spring Meeting at the EBRD headquarters in London, United Kingdom. In November 2024, IEvD co-chaired the ECG Fall Meeting together with the Evaluation Office (ODE) of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

OECD-DAC Evaluation Network

The OECD-DAC Evaluation Network (EvalNet) contributes to better development results by promoting strong evaluation practices and systems that support learning and hold DAC members to account for the results of their development co-operation and humanitarian assistance.

While it is composed by the evaluation functions of DAC countries, EBRD through its Independent Evaluation Department is an observer to the network.

European Evaluation Society

The objective of the European Evaluation Society (EES) is to stimulate, guide and promote the theory, practice and utilization of evaluation in Europe and beyond. The EES seeks to advance evaluation knowledge and to encourage adoption of good practices by fostering evaluation excellence, independence and partnerships.

EBRD is an institutional member of the EES.

Evaluation policy

The EBRD Evaluation Policy was approved by the Board in January 2013 to strengthen evaluation practices within the Bank. It establishes the scope and objectives served by evaluation in the EBRD.

The Policy was revised in 2023 to take into account the evolution of the results framework and evaluation architecture at EBRD, including independent evaluation and evaluation by Management. The Policy presents the purpose of evaluation, emphasising its “critical role in improving EBRD’s effectiveness by contributing in two equally important and mutually reinforcing ways: by reinforcing institutional accountability for the achievement of results; and by promoting institutional learning through the provision of objective analysis and relevant findings to inform operational choices and to improve performance over time”. It also puts forward seven principles underlying evaluation at EBRD: impartiality, independence, partnerships, evaluability, credibility, transparency, and usefulness.

The Policy outlines the evaluation-related activities and specific roles and responsibilities of the Independent Evaluation Department (IEvD), Management, and the Board of Directors (the Board) and any Delegated Committee designated by the Board. It provides the essential framework for a conducive institutional environment for a credible, reliable and effective evaluation system, and specifically covers access to information, as well as internal circulation and external disclosure of evaluation products. In addition, it makes specific provisions pertaining to the Chief Evaluator, the IEvD work programme and budget, and IEvD staff.

Methodology

In 2016, the Evaluation department introduced a new performance rating methodology for all project evaluations, reported annually in the Annual Evaluation Review. The system follows the Good Practice Standards established by the Evaluation Cooperation Group and evaluates objectives and results at three levels: Outputs, Outcomes, and Impacts.

Evaluation questions are designed around the OECD DAC Criteria and information is collected from documentation and interaction with participants. Overall performance is assessed based on Relevance, Results, and Efficiency.

Report on the Bank's evaluation system

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development commissioned an independent external report on its evaluation system. It was carried out by Colin Kirk. The aim of the study was to assess whether the EBRD’s evaluation system reflects best practice, is meeting the needs of the Bank and is contributing to improving institutional performance, learning and accountability. The study has made some important recommendations.

EBRD Management has responded to the report and has reaffirmed its commitment to a culture of learning at the Bank.

IEvD has also commented on the report. Find IEvD’s comments.

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Independent Evaluation

About the Department

Upcoming Evaluations

Work Programme 2025-2027

Archive

Knowledge Management

Capacity Development

Partnerships

Evaluation policy

Related documents

Methodology

Report on the Bank's evaluation system

Related documents

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Independent Evaluation

About the Department

Upcoming Evaluations

Recent Annual Evaluation Reviews

2023 Annual Evaluation Review

2022 Annual Evaluation Review

2021 Annual Evaluation Review

2020 Annual Evaluation Review

2019 Annual Evaluation Review

Work Programme 2025-2027

Knowledge Management

Capacity Development

Partnerships

Evaluation policy

Methodology

Report on the Bank's evaluation system

Annual Evaluation Review 2024

Evaluation of EBRD's Policy Dialogue and Results 2017-2023

Annual Evaluation Review 2023