This independent evaluation of the Caribbean Development Bank’s Technical Assistance (TA) programme was undertaken in 2019-2020. The Terms of Reference enjoins the evaluators to “… assess technical assistance operations, and the effectiveness and usefulness of the technical assistance policy and operational strategy (TAPOS)1 … and make forward-looking recommendations.”
The evaluation assessed CDB’s TA against four performance criteria – relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability.

This evaluation focused on a “core” set of 318 projects that were approved from 2010 to the end of 2018, out of a total of about 550 in the grants database, all funded by the Special Development Fund (Unified) - SDF(U).

The set of projects is diverse and the way that they were delivered was representative of most technical assistance by the Bank. Of the 318 projects, a stratified sample of 34 was selected for closer examination. These included 24 regional projects (approximately 10% of the 233 regional projects in the sampling frame) and 10 national projects (approximately 12% of 85 national projects in the sampling frame).

The evaluators visited Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Guyana where they conducted 84 interviews, in addition to approximately 50 interviews with staff of the Caribbean Development Bank. Interviews were followed up with a written questionnaire. 
The evaluation examined project records and compiled tables for CTCS projects that were approved between 2010 and 2018. Of these, seventeen were examined in depth and three are written up as mini case studies in this report. These latter are intended to illustrate strengths, weaknesses and lessons learned, and cannot be viewed as representative of the total portfolio.