Managing for Development Results at ADB

The Multilateral Development Banks' Common Performance Assessment System (COMPAS) 2008
COMPAS assesses the multilateral development banks' capacity to manage for development results using a common performance framework. It is published annually by the multilateral development banks' working group on MfDR.

The 2008 COMPAS report shows that multilateral development banks have sharpened their focus on results and improved their frameworks and systems for MfDR.

Through its Water Financing Program (WFP), ADB commits to doubling its water investments to improve the lives of over 300 million people in Asia-Pacific. Three years onward, almost 140 million people are expected to benefit from approved WFP projects, over 27 million of them to be supported by the Water Financing Partnership Facility.

This site was created in response to increasing demand for a platform where participants of ADB's Training of Facilitators’ workshops in Results-focused Project Design and Management can discuss and share ideas. The site offers e-learning toolkits on the Design and Monitoring Framework Approach and Implementation Management

The Development Effectiveness Review (DEfR), an annual report by ADB's management, assesses ADB’s progress in implementing its long-term strategic framework, the Strategy 2020. The review covers all operations financed by the Asian Development Fund and ordinary capital resources. It presents emerging trends and identifies actions for improving corporate performance.The DEfR is a key element in mainstreaming the managing for development results approach in ADB's operations.

This rapid assessment guide offers a method for evaluating a country's results management capacity. It is based on five building blocks of results management. By posing questions on each building block, the guide creates an overall picture of the country's capacity to manage for development results. The outcome of this rapid assessment can serve as a basis for the design and implementation of capacity building initiatives for the country.

ADB and the Government of the Republic of Palau have agreed to a five-year strategic partnership aimed at supporting sustainable development and alleviating the impacts of climate change. The Country Partnership Strategy 2009-2013 provides for $9.8 million in lending to build essential public infrastructure and attract private investment.

The impact of the technical assistance will be improved implementation readiness in transport infrastructure projects in India, with minimized delays and consequential cost overruns. The TA will strengthen efficiency and ownership in project implementation from the preparation stage. Enhancing capacity in monitoring and evaluation will help improve the quality of future projects.

CoP-MfDR Publishes Book on Asian MfDR Experiences*

Since its creation in March 2006, the Community of Practice on MfDR has supported the efforts of governments in developing countries to strengthen their capacity for MfDR. Because of its work, the group has accumulated considerable knowledge and experiences across a wide range of countries and public sector environments, which are showcased in the group's 2009 publication, Moving from Concept to Action: Asian Experiences on MfDR.

ADB and Afghanistan Agree on New, Five-Year Strategic Partnership

The Asian Development Bank and the Government of Afghanistan have forged a new Country Partnership Strategy 2009-2013 that retains a sharp focus on investments that will bolster the country's energy, transport, and irrigation sectors.

ADB has been an active member of the development community in supporting the efforts at global and regional levels towards enhancing aid effectiveness. See how ADB is changing people's lives.

Results Matter is a newsletter published by the Results Management Unit of ADB. It provides a platform for sharing ideas and experiences on managing for development results.

Outcome mapping is a method for planning, monitoring, and evaluating activities of development agencies to see if they bring social change. It shifts the focus from changes in state, like reduced poverty, to changes in behaviors, relationships, actions, and activities.

Republic of Kiribati: Technical Assistance for Economic Management and Public Sector Reform [ PDF: 62KB | 16 pages ]

The intended impact of this project is improved fiscal performance and therefore reduced fiscal deficit through use of a disciplined medium term fiscal framework and by taking specific steps to control key expenditure items. The intended outcome is improved understanding and implementation of results management at the country level.

Curriculum for Managing for Development Results

MfDR offers an excellent incentive for best practice in development effectiveness. The MfDR Curriculum at ADB targets different audiences. MfDR involves rank and file staff who need to learn how to manage projects for results, staff performing country programming--the centerpiece of ADB's MfDR action plan and broader agenda--and directors and senior managers who will mainstream MfDR and manage increasing workloads.

The Sourcebook on Emerging Good Practice in MfDR is a valuable resource which provides solution-oriented examples of MfDR in action for practitioners at many levels and in many contexts. By focusing on observable and replicable interventions, the Sourcebook aims to increase the understanding of MfDR and illustrate how many stakeholders are effectively implementing MfDR principles for greater development effectiveness.

The Third Edition of the Sourcebook focuses on the nexus between leadership and MfDR, surveying how leadership drives effective organizational change for results.

This issue of Results Matter focuses on:

• Workshop on Results-Based Country Portfolio Management and Review
• Addressing Issues in Implementing Results-Based Country Partnership
• Strategies Enabling Environment of MfDR in Sri Lanka
• Lao PDR Workshop on Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation
• CoP-MfDR members in OECD-DAC Joint Venture Meetings
• Evaluation of MfDR Implementation over the Last 3 Years

This roundtable, held on 2 September 2008 at the 3rd High Level Forum in Accra, Ghana, focused on the role of donors in achieving development results, through accountability and monitoring of corruption. The keynote presentation was given by V. Sivagnanasothy, Director General of the Department of Foreign Aid and Budget Monitoring of Ministry of Plan Implementation in Sri Lanka. He is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Community of Practice on MfDR.

See also:

• Accra Agenda for Action
• The Community of Practice on MfDR

Capacity Development for Results-Based Management: Social Sector Agencies in a Decentralized Context

This leaflet summarizes the experiences and lessons learned in implementing Regional Technical Assistance (RETA) 6218 on Decentralization in Social Sectors, which was implemented between 2005-2007. A crucial objective of RETA 6218 was to identify and share lessons on how client countries’ decentralization policies and strategies help or hinder results-based management approaches, and how ADB may facilitate a more results-oriented approach. Education and health agencies in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Mongolia participated in the RETA.

High-Level Forum Preparatory Consultations in Asia

Three Preparatory Consultation Workshops took place in Bangkok, Thailand, for East and South Asia on April 21-22, for South Asia on May 5-6, and for Central and West Asia on May 8-9. These consultations were sponsored by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the European Commission (EC), the Government of Japan, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank.

Aid Effectiveness Website Launched

ADB has launched a website highlighting its involvement in the preparation for the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness on 2-4 September in Africa. The site focuses on subregional consultation workshops held recently and is designed to solicit views of stakeholders on HLF-3 documents.

To deepen understanding of aid effectiveness issues, build ownership of the Accra agenda, and develop broad consensus around key issues, the international community is conducting a number of consultation meetings before the Third HLF. These consultations include representatives of partner countries, non-traditional donors and other providers of development aid, and civil society. The consultation with South Asian countries was held on 6-8 May in Bangkok. See meeting documentation

ADB is set for a change in the way it serves its developing member countries in a rapidly evolving and dynamic Asia-Pacific region, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said at the official opening of the organization’s 41st Annual Meeting in Madrid on 5 May 2008.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched Strategy 2020, a new long-term strategy for its vision of an Asia and Pacific region free of poverty.

To fight poverty in a region of more than 600 million poor people surviving on $1 a day, Strategy 2020 will refocus ADB operations on three development agendas—inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.

Each country page spotlights MfDR-related technical assistance projects, case studies, and other documents. It also provides relevant links.