Office of Independent Evaluation

The Office of Independent Evaluation's (OIE's) Annual Report on Evaluation 2025 documents a defining year of transition and transformation for the Caribbean Development Bank's (CDB's) evaluation function. The report covers the renewal of CDB's Evaluation Policy - approved by the Board in December 2025 - and the development of two new operational manuals guiding independent and self-evaluation. It presents OIE's work across six interconnected streams: governance and systems, conducting evaluations, building evaluation culture and capacity, partnerships and networks, follow-up on recommendations, and communication and knowledge dissemination. Key highlights include completed country and corporate evaluations, the launch of a pilot Real-Time Evaluation in Guyana, the establishment of the inaugural Evaluation Advisory Committee, and the start of a regional capacity-building partnership with CLEAR-LAC. The report also outlines OIE's vision to 2030 and priorities for the new 2026-2028 Work Programme.

The Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) serves as the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB’s) primary poverty-reduction instrument and has demonstrated ongoing success. The BNTF program achieves its objectives through active community participation and by aligning design with national priorities, thereby supporting national development initiatives to improve access to and delivery of basic services and enhance human development outcomes in its Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs). The synthesis shows that BNTF achieved its goals through its community-based approach, which enabled people to participate in decision-making (a demand-driven approach) and used funding to build essential social structures and develop skills.The study confirms that BNTF remains highly important because it stems from community needs and delivers results. The program achieved its multiple objectives by enhancing accessibility, developing human potential, and establishing new economic opportunities, leading to improved health outcomes for Caribbean inhabitants. BNTF will achieve its maximum developmental effect through its focus on outcome-level evidence, its use of new approaches, and its refinement of particular thematic frameworks. 

The Evaluation Policy of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) sets out the principles that guide a strong, independent evaluation function: supporting learning, accountability, evidence‑based decision‑making, and transparency across the Bank. Updated to reflect CDB’s core values, lessons learned since the first policy in 2011, and significant advances in global evaluation practice, the policy responds to the 2024 external peer review’s call for urgent revision. The result is a modern, forward‑looking policy aligned with internationally accepted evaluation standards.

This Country Strategy and Programme Evaluation (CSPE) examines the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) Country Strategy and Programme (CSP) for Trinidad and Tobago for the period 2017–21; and activities implemented and designed by the Bank until 2024. The evaluation, drawing on international evaluation standards for CSPEs, uses a mixed-methods approach, combining document reviews, portfolio analysis, and stakeholder interviews, to inform the next Country Engagement Strategy (CES).