Description

Background

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved the Policy on Gender and Development (GAD) in May 1998. The Special Evaluation Study (SES) on ADB's support to GAD has been carried out in two phases. Phase I assessed the relevance of the GAD policy, ADB's broader corporate response and results, based on a desk-review. The Phase I study was completed in December 2009, and the report was discussed by the Development Effectiveness Committee of ADB's Board of Directors on 23 February 2010. Phase II (this study) brings a country and project perspective to bear on the implementation and outcomes of ADB's GAD policy between 1998 and December 2009. It consists of a main paper (this report) summarizing overall results, and six country case studies.

This study involved five key steps to ensure comparability across the country case studies: (i) desk-review of available country and project-specific documentation; (ii) interviews with headquarters-based GAD specialists, and resident mission-based GAD staff; (iii) based on the preceding steps, purposive selection of projects for in-depth assessment; (iv) in-country consultations with key stakeholders, including executing agencies, government agencies, ADB resident mission staff, key development partners, and civil society organizations, along with site visits to some of the sample projects; and (v) in-depth assessment of sample projects, including rating of the gender design features using IED's four evaluation criteria: relevance, effectiveness in achieving gender-related outputs and outcomes, efficiency in implementation, and sustainability of gender outcomes.

Overall assessment

In total, 55 projects were selected through purposive sampling for in-depth assessment and rating from GAD perspective. The results show that GAD related performance of the projects was modest. About 51% the projects were rated successful or higher in GAD related performance. The gender performance ratings show that about 82% of the sample projects were rated GAD relevant or higher; 44% effective or higher in achieving the intended GAD outcomes; and 31% efficient or higher; and 45% likely to be sustainable in terms of continuity of GAD outcomes. This is despite the fact that 45 out of the 55 projects in the sample were category I and II and they were, therefore, expected to produce substantial GAD outcomes.

Cross-tabulation of overall success ratings for the sample projects, in terms of GAD categories and Strategy 2020 core and noncore and/or other sectors, validates the present focus on category I and II projects. Of the 20 category I and II projects in core sectors, 50% were rated successful or higher, whereas of the 25 category I and II projects in noncore and/or other sectors, 60% were rated successful or higher. However, of the 10 category III and IV projects, 30% were rated successful or higher and the only highly successful project in the sample was in category III.

The other findings of the study include:

1. while country gender assessments captured the country specific gender issues and government gender priorities, the evidence was weak on the influences of country gender assessments to ADB's country partnership strategies;
2. capacity to address gender issues, including in category I and II projects, was often limited; and
3. ADB's business processes, particularly for project implementation and related management information systems, were weak in capturing gender-related performance data.

Findings from the assessment of technical assistance (TA) activities include the need for greater allocations of resources for mainstreaming gender in country strategy and programming processes and for evaluations of GAD achievements. Increased clarity is needed on the twofold categorization process at entry that exists for TA activities. More systematic and periodic monitoring of TA funded gender achievements and policy dialogue are required to track its contribution to wider country gender mainstreaming efforts. ADB's TA activities have tended to focus on sector ministries rather than national women's machineries or gender departments.

Key issues

Key issues identified by the study include the following:

• Review of gender categorization of projects during implementation and likelihood of achieving intended gender outcomes by them is important.
• Capacity of executing agencies in addressing GAD matters is limited.
• Use of gender analysis is limited.
• Tracking of gender results is weak.
• Continued awareness of gender equality in ADB business processes and gender reporting practices is needed.

Lessons

Key lessons identified by the study are as follows:

1. several specific factors contribute to successful gender mainstreaming:
   • strong coherence between upstream analytical work
   • downstream project design and implementation
   • project-specific gender analysis strengthens responsiveness, and provides a foundation for assessing potential and actual impacts
   • project documents that pay explicit attention to gender-related targets, output and outcome indicators, can facilitate monitoring of implementation progress
   • provision of resources to implement gender-focused design features is critical both to successful design and effective implementation
   • capacity development of executing and implementing agencies and others responsible for project implementation to address gender-related issues in the sector and project is crucial for effective implementation of gender-related design features
2. gender mainstreaming involves many actors, and opportunities to build and strengthen partnerships exist; and
3. the quality of project implementation and operations is fundamental in achieving intended gender outcomes.

Recommendations

While acknowledging a satisfactory progress made by Management in implementing Phase I recommendations, this study puts forward three main recommendations for consideration by Management to further deepen the outcome orientation of the implementation of ADB's Policy on GAD and maximize gender related achievements at the country level. They are:

• Make more effective use of country and sector level gender assessments in the preparation of country partnership strategies, sector road maps, results frameworks, operations business plans, and project preparation;
• Strengthen tracking of gender results in ADB project performance monitoring systems; and
• Increase collaboration with development partners, including nongovernment and community-based organizations in developing member countries to jointly deepen gender focus in country policy dialogue, technical assistance activities and in strengthening capacity of executing agencies.

Contents

• Executive Summary
• I. Introduction and Background
• II. Gender and Development Results: Findings of the Desk Review
• III. Gender and Development Results: Findings from Country Case Studies
• IV. Overall Assessment, Key Issues, and Recommendations
• Appendixes
• Supplementary Appendixes