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Previous Features: 2006March Sector Assistance Program Evaluation: Agriculture and Natural Resources in Lao People's Completed: 2005  This
report covers two decades of assistance from 1986 when the country
embarked on a New Economic Mechanism for transition to a market-based
economy. During 1986–2004, the agriculture and natural resources
sector accounted for 13% of ADB lending to the country, 22% of
technical assistance, and 27% of project preparatory technical
assistance to the country. The overall performance of this sector
assistance is rated partly successful.
Country Assistance Program Evaluation: Indonesia Completed: 2005  This
country assistance program evaluation, the first prepared for
Indonesia, focuses on the responsiveness of the ADB country strategy
and program to changes and challenges between 1990 and 2004. On
a cumulative basis, Indonesia is ADB's largest borrower and largest
recipient of technical assistance. This evaluation rated the overall
performance of the ADB strategy and program in Indonesia as partly
successful.
When do Rural Roads Benefit the Poor and How? Completed: 2006  This
study provides evidence of the link between rural roads and poverty
reduction. Case studies are drawn from past ADB operations in
Indonesia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka. The conclusions, lessons,
and recommendations emanating from the study could help ADB and
other development partners to improve the design and implementation
of rural road components to achieve sustainable benefits for the
poor.
April Sustainability of Policy Reforms through Selected Advisory Technical Assistance Completed: 2001
Special Evaluation Study on Program Lending Completed: 2001
Special Evaluation Study on Capacity Development Assistance of the Asian Development Bank to the Lao People's Democratic Republic Completed: 2004
Special Evaluation Study on the Effectiveness of Participatory Approaches Completed: 2004
Special Evaluation Study on Project Implementation Units Completed: 2005
Special Evaluation Study on Project Cost Estimates Completed: 2004  The
large number of ADB projects that have had either significant
cost underruns or overruns has been an issue in ADB operations
for years. Project cost overruns and underruns have an impact
on both developing member country development and ADB operations.
Loan savings could have financed additional projects, and for
ordinary capital resources, loans may incur unnecessary
commitment fees.
May Capacity
Building for Managing Water Supply and Sanitation to Pacific Developing
Member Countries Completed: 2003 Special Evaluation Study of the Policy Impact of Involuntary Resettlement Completed: 2000
Sector Assistance Program Evaluation for the Social Sectors in Pakistan Completed: 2005 
The performance of the social sectors is poor and Pakistan’s social
indicators lag those of comparator countries. Although the Government
has expressed optimism that most of the millennium development
goals are potentially achievable, this will require a turnaround
from negative performance in the 1990s or much faster progress
than has been achieved in the past.
June Country Assistance Program Evaluation: Lao People’s Democratic Republic Completed: 2006  The
Country Assistance Program Evaluation for the Lao PDR rated
ADB’s overall Country Strategies and Programs as successful.
The Board’s Development Effectiveness Committee considered the
report excellent. The report developed a systematic set of criteria
to assess the quality at entry of the CSP in terms of relevance/harmonization
and positioning/coherence. It also provided a results matrix to
trace results chain by sector.Special Evaluation Study on Participatory Approaches in Forest and Water Resource Operations in Selected Developing Member Countries Completed: 2003
Special Evaluation Study on Lessons in Capacity Development: Sectoral Studies in Sri Lanka Completed: 2006
Special Evaluation Study of ADB Interventions on Nutrition and Food Fortification Completed: 2004
Special Evaluation Study on the Effectiveness of Poverty Targeting Completed: 2006  Applying
a Poverty Exit Framework, this study systematically examined how
rural poor selected strategies to rise out of poverty, how various
factors—household resources and the contextual conditions they
faced—influenced their selection of the strategies, how sustainable
the poverty exit was, and how effective poverty reduction interventions
were.
August Country Assistance Program Evaluation for Uzbekistan Completed: 2006
Special Evaluation Study on Urban Sector Strategy and Operations Completed: 2006
Special Evaluation Study on the Fisheries Policy of the Asian Development Bank Completed: 2006
Special
Evaluation Study on Privatization of Public Sector Enterprises Completed: 2001
Country Assistance Program Evaluation for Cambodia Completed: 2004
Evaluation of Timor-Leste Water Supply and Sanitation Rehabilitation Projects Phase I and II Completed: 2004
Special Evaluation Study of Cost Recovery in the Power Sector Completed: 2003
Special Evaluation Study on Project Performance Management System in the Asian Development Bank and its Projects in Developing Member Countries Completed: 2003  This
study was prepared in response to a request from some ADB donors to review the implementation of ADB’s project
performance management system. The study concludes that ADB has
made substantial progress towards more results-based project management.
September Special Evaluation Study on Involvement of Civil Society Organizations in Asian Development Bank Operations Completed: 2006
Annual Report on Loan and Technical Assistance Portfolio Performance for the Year Ending 31 December 2005 Completed: 2006
Special Evaluation Study on Environmental Safeguards Completed: 2000
Special Evaluation Study on the Social and Environmental Impacts of Selected Hydropower Projects Completed: 1999
Special Evaluation Study on Policy Implementation and Impact of Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Completed: 2000
Impact Evaluation Study on Water Supply and Sanitation Projects in Selected Developing Member Countries Completed: 2002
Special Evaluation Study on the Impact of Poverty Reduction of Selected Projects: Perceptions of the Beneficiaries Completed: 2002
A Review of the Asian Development Fund I–V Operations Completed: 2001
Special Evaluation Study of the Asian Development Fund VI–VII Operations Completed: 2003
Special Evaluation Study on Environmental Mitigation Measures in Selected ADB-Financed Projects Completed: 1998  The study assesses the effectiveness of measures included in selected projects to mitigate adverse environmental impacts to examine whether ADB is emphasizing the correct expenditure and mitigation measures and what could be done to implement them more effectively.
October Special Evaluation Study on Involuntary Resettlement Safeguards Completed: 2006
Special Evaluation Study on ADB Policy for the Health Sector Completed: 2005
Country Assistance Program Evaluation for the Philippines Completed: 2003
Program Performance Audit Report on the Corporate Governance and Enterprise Reform Program in the Kyrgyz Republic Completed: 2003
Program Performance Audit Report on Public Sector Reform Program in the Federated States of Micronesia Completed: 2003
Program Performance Audit Report on the Agriculture Sector Program in the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam Completed: 2002
Program Performance Audit Report on the Social Action Program in Pakistan Completed: 2001
Special Evaluation Study on Gender and Development Completed: 2001
 ADB has provided 14 technical assistance (TA) grants to build evaluation capability in seven of its developing member countries (DMCs). This report evaluates six of these TAs and identifies lessons to assist in future TAs to develop DMCs' evaluation capabilities, as well as follow-up actions to enhance their impact and sustainability.
November Evaluation of ADB's Assistance to the Philippine Power Sector Completed: 2005
Bangkok Urban Transport Project Completed: 2005
Country Assistance Program Evaluation for Bhutan Completed: 2005
Country Assistance Program Evaluation for Nepal Completed: 2004
Country Assistance Program Evaluation for Bangladesh Completed: 2003  The country assistance program evaluation for Bangladesh covers the period from 1986 to 2002, a time when the ADB's role and strategic objectives were undergoing quite dramatic shifts in particular dominant development themes and objectives. The CAPE attempts to assess the impact and development effectiveness of assistance provided by ADB in the form of public and private sector lending, and advisory and nonlending services, using five evaluation criteria: relevance, efficacy, efficiency, sustainability, and institutional and other development impacts.
Country Assistance Program Evaluation for Viet Nam Completed: 2000  This evaluation assessed the relevance, efficacy, and efficiency of ADB's total developmental assistance to Viet Nam for 1993-1998.
December
ADB’s Assistance to the Road Sector in Pakistan Completed: 2006
Country Assistance Program Evaluation for Papua New Guinea Completed: 2003
Country Assistance Program Evaluation for the People’s Republic of China Completed: 1998  This study evaluated ADB’s assistance to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from 1987-1997. At the outset, ADB’s and PRC’s planning frameworks were not fully aligned, contributing to limited ADB involvement. Among others, the study found that the differences of views between ADB and the PRC need to be resolved, and that ADB operations should focus more sharply on specific and strategic issues where it has a comparative advantage.
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This
study reviews the sustainability of policy reform efforts of ADB
through selected advisory technical assistance (TA) operations.
The study focuses on policy reforms in power and water sectors.
The study identified factors that could enhance overall effectiveness
and sustainability in TA future operations. Barring a few isolated
success stories, the contribution of advisory TAs to a sustainable
policy reform remains below its potential.
This
study assesses the effectiveness of program lending in promoting
policy reforms in the developing member countries, and identifies
generic measures that could further enhance its effectiveness.
Program lending has been the main instrument through which ADB has supported policy reforms of developing
member countries. However, its overall impact has been smaller,
and less clear, than anticipated.
This
study assesses the effectiveness of ADB's different capacity development
approaches in the Lao PDR, identifies factors that influenced
the outcome of assistance, and recommends improvements for future
operations. The study includes agriculture, power, road transport,
urban development, and water supply and sanitation sectors.
Typical
forms of participatory approaches did not offer an effective solution
to conventional problems in rural development projects. Using
the principal-agent model as a conceptual framework, the study
examines the roles of policymakers, project providers, and beneficiaries
in resource control, information, decision making, project delivery,
and accountability.
This
study contributes to a wider debate in the donor community regarding
project implementation units (PIUs), particularly their efficiency
and role in capacity development. The debate revolves around frequent
observations that PIUs, as supported by external agencies, would
have high direct and indirect costs, would tend to develop into
parallel organizations, and dilute central government policy through
their allegiance to donor agendas. 
This study reviews ADB’s experience in the water supply and sanitation
sector in four countries—Fiji Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea,
and the Republic of the Marshall Islands—to assess how ADB support
affected institutional performance and to draw lessons for ongoing
and future assistance.
ADB adopted an involuntary resettlement policy
in 1995. The policy requires that people who lose assets or livelihood
because of a project receive assistance from the project for relocation
and resettlement, and be paid market or replacement value for
assets acquired by the project. OED’s first assessment of the
progress made was issued in the year 2000.
This
study presents an analysis of participatory processes applied
in six projects in the water resources and forestry sectors in
the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam.
The study has found that participatory approaches can add value
to natural resources management project design, implementation,
and operation.
This
study assessed the success and impact of ADB's past and ongoing capacity development activities in selected
sectors, identified generic lessons from past experiences, and
provided some guidance on the design of future capacity development
support.
This
special evaluation study reviews and analyzes current and future
nutrition and food fortification related issues. It explores whether
links with malnutrition are included and examined in ADB's poverty assessments conducted in 24 developing
member countries, as well as in 33 country strategy and program
updates. From 1985 until July 2004, ADB financed 31 regional technical
assistance projects related to health, nutrition, population,
and early child development for a total of $32.8 million. 
The study provides an independent assessment of ADB’s strategy and program from their start in 1996 to 2004. It was an input to the following country strategy and program for Uzbekistan.
The urban sector strategy (USS) was one of several sector strategies formulated around the end of the 1990s, and was intended to bring more coherence to the ADB's work in the urban sector. ADB recently decided to review and revise the USS. To provide the necessary analysis to revise the USS, it was agreed that the Operations Evaluation Department (OED) would contribute to the review preceding this revision.
This study assesses the relevance of the 
The
study was designed to help increase understanding of the privatization
process and provide guidance on how the objectives of privatization
should be managed and incorporated in project designs.
The
study assessed the performance of ADB’s country strategies and
programs (CSPs) for Cambodia during 1992–2002. It found the overall
performance of the Cambodia CSP to be successful, based on the
combined ratings at the strategic and program/sector levels.
This
report reveals interesting lessons on post-emergency response
and the community management model for water supply schemes.
Provision
of electricity is a capital-intensive commercial utility service.
Cost recovery has been a central concern of power sector operations
in ADB, as reflected in its Energy Policy.
This study evaluates the financial cost recovery performance of
the power sector in 14 developing member countries during the
1990s.
This
study assessed the extent to which participatory development processes
enhanced the effectiveness and sustainability of projects in selected
sectors financed by ADB. The study includes
suggestions on appropriate participatory development methodology
and institutional changes that could contribute to increased participation
in preparing and implementing future projects.
This study assessed ADB's cooperation with civil society organizations (CSOs), derived lessons, and collated good practices of CSOs' involvement in ADB operations. The study reviewed the progress of, and identified lessons from the implementation of the 2002 ADB business practices in the effort to ensure broad stakeholder participation and ownership, and to improve quality-at-entry processes, particularly in relation to CSOs.
The Annual Report presents the most complete and accessible summary data and analyses available in ADB of its public sector lending, private sector investment, and technical assistance grant operations for the year 2005, along with trend analyses that for the most part cover the decade 1996–2005.
ADB's Environmental Policy is found relevant to ADB’s activities and the needs of its developing member countries. The current environmental safeguard procedures have been effective in avoiding major adverse environmental impacts from ADB’s programs and projects. However, the efficiency and sustainability of ADB’s current procedures are questionable due to high transaction costs and limited benefits.
This study analyzes which aspects of the public expenditure management cycle ADB’s technical assistance addresses and which approaches it uses for building capacities.
This evaluation study aims to provide recommendations for improving the design and processing of ADB-funded hydropower projects to minimize adverse environmental and social impacts.
This study found ADB’s funding for agriculture and natural resources research appropriate to the evolving needs of Asian agriculture.
This evaluation study analyzes the effect of ADB lending and technical assistance for water supply and sanitation projects in selected countries, and recommends a plan of action to facilitate and accelerate the implementation of ADB’s water policy.
This is a follow-up assessment of another OED study conducted in 1999 to assess the impact of ADB's poverty reduction measures, and how effectively poverty reduction objectives were incorporated into project design. It examines through the eyes of beneficiaries how well selected ADB projects reduced poverty.
The study seeks to answer questions relating to the reasons for establishing the Asian Development Fund; the objectives, policies, and strategies governing its use; its allocation; the performance and development impacts of the projects it funded; as well as lessons and insights for current and future ADB direction and operations.
Completed in 2003, this study evaluates the impact and effectiveness of the Asian Development Fund in meeting the challenges facing the region from 1992–2000.
The Involuntary Resettlement Policy is assessed as relevant to ADB as an institution that funds infrastructure provision and aims to reduce poverty. The policy has been broadly effective in achieving outcomes for affected persons and creating resettlement capacity in many executing agencies. However, it has been less than efficient in terms of inputs and processes, and is less likely sustainable given the high costs for ADB and clients. 
Using case studies from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Viet Nam, the evaluation found that the project designs failed to recognize the most relevant gender issues or lacked effectiveness in their targeting provisions, owing to the inadequate baseline data or absence of gender specialists in the preparatory stage.
The outcome of investment projects in the Philippine portfolio has not been encouraging. Given the lack of success in a large number of investment projects, it seems that ADB's lending program has not had a major impact on economic growth or poverty reduction.
After the Kyrgyz Republic became independent in 1991 following the break-up of the Soviet Union, a major program for macroeconomic reforms and structural adjustments followed. In this context, ADB prepared a Corporate Governance and Enterprise Reform Program. This study evaluates the performance of this program.
This report assesses the performance of a public sector reform program supported by an ADB policy-based loan, and identifies issues, lessons and recommendations designed to improve the performance of ongoing and future operations.
The Agriculture Sector Program was formulated within the context of rapid and comprehensive reform to promote economic growth by establishing a policy environment supportive of a dynamic, market-oriented and diversified agriculture sector. This evaluation rates the performance of this program as successful, bordering on highly successful.
This report evaluates the performance and achievements of ADB's first loan in support of the Government's Social Action Program and concludes that although it was an innovative program at the time of design, it was rated as only partly successful. However, it was a relevant program that generated the much needed dialogue on the need for better social outcomes in Pakistan.
Using case studies from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Viet Nam, the evaluation found that the project designs failed to recognize the most relevant gender issues or lacked effectiveness in their targeting provisions, owing to the inadequate baseline data or absence of gender specialists in the preparatory stage.
This evaluation focuses on ADB's assistance to the Philippine power sector over the last 34 years, covering 26 ADB loans and equity investments and 21 technical assistance grants. The study has found that ADB-supported projects have mostly achieved their expected outputs, though often with serious delays, scope reduction, or cost overrun. Despite progress, the power sector faces major challenges.
At a time when Bangkok's traffic jams were notorious, the ADB-supported project combined investments in a 5.1 km highway in western Bangkok with development of a transport model predicting the effects of road construction on traffic speeds, transport policy development, and training. It all worked out well; the project was rated highly successful. The evaluation holds good lessons for road development in many megacities.
The study assesses the performance of ADB's country operational strategies and country assistance programs for Bhutan during 1983-2003.
This study was undertaken to examine the effectiveness of ADB's assistance program during the 1988-2003 period. It provides a historical perspective of ADB's past operations, a background framework that can be used to assess the success of these operations and a guide for the preparation of the next country strategy and program.
This study reviewed ADB’s assistance to the development of the road sector in Pakistan over the period 1985 to 2005. It was also designed to provide an input to the Pakistan Country Assistance Program Evaluation being undertaken by the Operations Evaluation Department.
This evaluation aimed to assess ADB’s assistance to Papua New Guinea’s development and generate feedback for the forthcoming country strategy and program. The report found that ADB supported the right development areas, but issues related to the machinery of government could have been recognized and incorporated into the program at an earlier stage.