Description

This report validates, from an independent perspective, ADB's final review of the results of operations conducted in Azerbaijan from 2000 to 2011. It assesses the quality of the final review as a self-evaluation exercise. This report has been prepared in a timely manner to identify lessons and recommendations for improving the design and implementation of ADB's Azerbaijan Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) 2013–2017. This is the first country level assessment that ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department has prepared for the Azerbaijan program since it joined ADB in 1999.

This validation report concurs with the final review’s overall rating of the ADB-supported activities as successful. However, it criticizes the lack of a CPS for many years in Azerbaijan, and the very slow cultivation of a partnership with the government, although this has improved in recent years. The absence of a country strategy and program or CPS for over 10 years is contrary to ADB guidelines. Insufficient explanation of this situation rendered the quality of the final review less than satisfactory.

This validation recommends that ADB always have a valid country strategy under which to operate, that it channel investments and initiatives directly towards secondary towns and rural populations to promote inclusive growth, and that it prioritize economic diversification in its operations.