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.

Poverty Alleviation

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 Work Programme encompasses the evaluative initiatives planned for the forthcoming fiscal year (2026), along with a forward-looking tentative plan for the subsequent fiscal period (2027). This document presents the adjustments to evaluation activities scheduled in the current fiscal year (2025), supported by justifications that reflect changing priorities and contexts and OIE’s new vision. The changes are also due to the completion, in 2025, of the 5-year rolling WP 2020-2025, the transition in OIE leadership during the first half of 2025, and the start of a new OIE rolling WP that, from 2026 onwards, will be in 3-year cycles to reflect the more dynamic nature of global changes. The 2026-2028 WP anticipates and strategically aligns with broader milestones, including the completion of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030, as well as the simultaneous development and upcoming entry of the Bank into a new CBD’s Strategic Plan 2026-2035.