Finding out what works: tracking results in the Inter-American Development Bank

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was established in 1959, and its independent Office of Evaluation and Oversight was established in 1999. The Development Effectiveness Framework (DEF), established in 2010, provides a framework for agency results measurement. DEF has three components: (1) the Development Effectiveness Matrix (DEM), which measures a project's 'evaluability' at entry; (2) the Project Monitoring Report, which measures a project's progress during implementation; and (3) the Project Completion Report, a self-evaluation of results prepared after project closure. The Development Effectiveness Overview (DEO) consolidates this information and reports annually on IDB's overall effectiveness. Planning for an impact evaluation of the proposed investment scores points in the DEM, which has been a factor in the strong growth of impact evaluations of IDB projects. The DEO draws on impact evaluation findings in its annual assessments of IDB performance, and a range of other evaluations provide complementary performance information. However, challenges remain in aligning agency incentives with achieving results rather than disbursing funds.