Water Resource Management
The Real-Time Evaluation (RTE) of the Water Supply Improvement Project (WSIP) was designed as a learning oriented, decision-support exercise embedded in the project’s implementation phase.
Annual Report on Evaluation 2024
Annual Report
Complete
Summary
In 2024, the Office of Independent Evaluation (OIE) moved from being a small, largely external-facing function to a genuine engine of learning within the Bank. The Peer Review by Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and World Bank (WB) experts presented an honest mirror, and action was taken: a revised Evaluation Policy, a new Lessons Learned database, a Power BI dashboard tracking every recommendation in real time, and Gender-Responsive Evaluation Guidelines - all developed in 2024. Evaluations tackled the issues that matter most to the Caribbean: water security, climate resilience, poverty reduction, and how the Caribbean Development Bank's (CDB's) flagship concessional fund - the Special Development Fund - is performing on the ground. A first-ever Synthesis Study pulled together lessons from five country evaluations to sharpen future strategy. Expanding global reach, OIE represented the CDB at evaluation forums in China, Guatemala, and The Bahamas, advocating for evaluation approaches built for Small Island Developing States - not just adapted from elsewhere.
Key Findings / Highlights
The Peer Review - a frank reckoning
Independent experts from IDB, IFAD, and the WB reviewed everything: our independence, our quality, and how our findings get used. Their verdict was direct: too few resources, too much outsourcing, too little dissemination. Only 40% of the required Project Completion Reports were being filed. Management responses were slow. The learning culture was weak.
We heard it. OIE now has a roadmap to fix it - and the resources to deliver.
Seven evaluations - in one year
The most OIE has ever delivered in a single year. Covering:
- CDB's Water Sector (2017–2023)
- The Resilience Approach
- Special Development Fund, cycles 8 & 9
- Bahamas Country Strategy & Programme
- Synthesis of five country evaluations
- Environmental & Social Review Procedures
- Peer Review of CDB's Evaluation Function
Three more are underway: Trinidad & Tobago, Urban Sector, and a Real-Time Evaluation pilot in Jamaica.
What the water evaluation found
CDB's investments are relevant and valued - but sanitation is underserved, implementation runs late, and too many utilities can't cover their own costs. Climate resilience in water infrastructure needs to be built in from day one, not added later.
Resilience - strategic on paper, uneven in practice
CDB's Resilience Approach is the right idea. But in 2024's Corporate Review, we found it was embedded in strategy documents more than in actual project design, M&E, or results frameworks. The fix: a clear Theory of Change for resilience, mission-oriented programming, and stronger links to regional partners like CDEMA.
The SDF evaluation - what four decades of concessional finance shows
The Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) has been central to development in the Caribbean for 40+ years. The evaluation of cycles 8 & 9 found it effective in education, infrastructure, and crisis response - but slowed by disbursement delays, weak M&E, and limited follow-through. Five recommendations now inform SDF 11 negotiations.
The Synthesis Study - five countries, one picture
For the first time in years, OIE published a Synthesis Study - pulling lessons across Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, Suriname, and The Bahamas. What worked: alignment with national priorities, deep regional knowledge, agile COVID-19 response. What didn't: long-term follow-through, gender integration, and monitoring that actually tracks results.
CDB's first AI chatbot - built by OIE
OIE and CDB's IT Department built the Bank's first AI-powered tool: a chatbot that searches across all evaluation reports and surfaces findings on demand. Staff, senior management, and Board members can now ask a question and get evidence-based answers in seconds. Launch to the full Board is set for March 2025.
Tracking recommendations - in real time
Gone: static Word documents. In: a live PowerBI dashboard tracking 34 recommendations from nine evaluations. At a glance: 15% fully implemented, 36% at advanced stages, 3% delayed. The Board can now see exactly where follow-through is happening - and where it isn't.
Gender and evaluation - new guidelines
OIE published Gender-Responsive Evaluation Guidelines aligned with UN Women and EIGE standards. They're practical: a gender rating system, checklists for every evaluation phase, and guidance on designing questions that actually surface gender outcomes - not just count them.
Resources tripled for OIE in 2025
In December 2024, the Board approved a tripling of OIE's financial resources and staff - from 3 to 7 people. This isn't incremental growth. It's a strategic bet on independent evaluation as a driver of development effectiveness across the Caribbean.
