Evaluation

Ongoing Evaluations
Sector Assistance Program Evaluation for the Urban Sector and Water Supply and Sanitation in Viet Nam

Team Leader: Tomoo Ueda, Senior Evaluation Specialist
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This evaluation will assess the approach and results of ADB's program in the urban sector and water supply and sanitation in Viet Nam from 1997 to 2007. It will look at how ADB's development assistance to the sector is linked to the sector's socioeconomic performance, and identify opportunities for improving future program performance.

The urban sector in this study covers urban infrastructure and its related services, urban road, local governance, urban drainage, urban solid waste management, and awareness and education on public hygiene. The study will feed into the Viet Nam Country Assistance Program Evaluation planned for 2009, particularly in terms of assessing the effectiveness of ADB assistance in project implementation and financial management, as the sector is on the frontline of promoting delegation of power from central Government to provincial people's committees and municipalities. It will also contribute to the country evaluation in assessing the impact of ADB programs on Government's efforts to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals and reduce poverty at provincial and local levels.

This study will evaluate the sector using (i) bottom-up and (ii) top-down assessment. Some of the key questions will be:

a. Bottom-up assessment:

• What additional value had ADB loans and technical assistance extended to the communities, and executing and implementing agencies in the area of "environmentally sustainable growth"?
• Through many urban-integrated ADB projects, in comparison to other external assistance partners, were there any new initiatives, technologies, and high standard of quality control introduced to the country?
• Have ADB projects tackled poverty alleviation in the target towns and through policy advice?

b. Top-down assessment:

• What was the strategic positioning of ADB assistance, in terms of assisting provincial capitals throughout the country and selectivity of target towns?
• How suitable were ADB's policies, systems, and lending instruments to urban development and water supply and sanitation sector?
• How have ADB's strategies evolved and taken into consideration lessons from previous interventions and Government's priorities?