BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: The Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB), through its Office of Independent Evaluation (OIE), today opened the inaugural Caribbean Evaluation Space (CEvalSpace) 2026, officially launching a first-of-its-kind regional forum designed to strengthen evaluation systems, improve decision-making, and support stronger public institutions across the Caribbean.

Running from September 1 to 3 at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Barbados, CEvalSpace 2026 brings together policymakers, government officials, development practitioners, academics, private sector representatives, civil society organisations, evaluators, and young and emerging professionals and evaluators from across the Caribbean to examine how evidence and learning can improve governance, enhance accountability, and help delivering better development results. The initiative forms part of CDB's commitment to strengthening institutions, a central pillar of the Bank's 10-year Strategic Plan 2026-2035.  

Speaking at the Opening Ceremony, CDB President Daniel M. Best explained how strong institutions are essential to helping Caribbean countries navigate an increasingly complex development landscape. 

"Today, evaluation is no longer a technical exercise conducted at the end of a project. It has become a strategic function of leadership and learning institutions," he said. "Independent evaluation is central to ensuring that institutions remain accountable for the resources entrusted to them and, more importantly, for the development results they promise to the people they serve." 

President Best noted that as Caribbean countries confront climate change, fiscal pressures, digital transformation, and shifting demographic realities, evidence-informed decision-making has become indispensable. 

"In such an environment, intuition alone is not enough. Experience alone is not enough. Good intentions are certainly not enough. We need evidence that helps us invest wisely, learn continuously, and adapt quickly," he explained. "Strong organisations are not those that never make mistakes. They are those that learn the fastest." 

Conceived as a dedicated forum for Caribbean perspectives, priorities, and knowledge systems, CEvalSpace is intended to become the region's flagship platform for knowledge exchange, professional networking, and evaluation capacity development. The inaugural event has attracted more than 150 participants from over 15 Caribbean countries and features 20 sessions and 45 speakers exploring topics ranging from institutional performance and public sector effectiveness to innovation, opportunities for the use of artificial intelligence and data, accountability, and contribution to development results. 

The Head of CDB's Office of Independent Evaluation, Dr. Roberto La Rovere, said CEvalSpace reflects a growing recognition that the Caribbean must increasingly draw on its own experience and evidence to shape development solutions. 

"What we are building is not limited to these few days together. We are creating a space where policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and emerging leaders can learn from one another, strengthen a culture of evaluation and evidence, translate knowledge into action. The Caribbean needs leaders who can ask hard questions, generate the evidence, and use it to strengthen accountability, improve performance, and build stronger institutions." 

The first CEvalSpace is being delivered in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank's Office of Evaluation and Oversight (IDB,OVE), the Caribbean Evaluators International (CEI), the University of the West Indies (UWI), and the CLEAR Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean (CLEAR-LAC). Public sessions and plenaries from the event will be streamed live on CDB’s Website, LinkedIn and YouTube. 
 

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Photo caption: The Honourable Marsha Caddle, Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning in the Office of the Prime Minister of Barbados (centre), is flanked by Mr. Daniel M. Best, President of the Caribbean Development Bank (right), and Dr. Roberto La Rovere, Head of CDB's Office of Independent Evaluation, at the Opening Ceremony of the inaugural Caribbean Evaluation Space (CEvalSpace). The first-of-its-kind regional forum was created to strengthen evaluation systems, improve decision-making, and support stronger public institutions across the Caribbean through evidence-based learning and accountability. The leaders joined forces to open the three-day event, which runs from September 1 to 3 at the Wyndham Grand Barbados. 
 

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