Regional : Mainstreaming Impact Evaluation Methodologies, Approaches, and Capacities in Selected Developing Member Countries - Subproject 1

Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Agricultural policy, institutional and capacity development

Education / Education sector development

Energy / Energy sector development and institutional reform

Finance / Inclusive finance

Public sector management / Social protection initiatives

Transport / Transport policies and institutional development

Enhanced knowledge has improved the development effectiveness of ADB finance and partnerships.

Consideration of evidence on the effectiveness of interventions in ADB operations and discussions informing DMC policies expanded.*

*Impact evaluation has three main outcome pathways: 1) direct pathway of study findings informing the design of similar subsequent projects; 2) process pathway of interaction between the impact evaluation and project teams leading to improvements prior to any findings; and 3) broader conceptual pathway in which findings inform other research and discussions to influence policies in a range of contexts and countries. The third pathway is often the most important over the long term, but is also difficult to track or predict in the short term, so it has no direct target.

Impact evaluation studies conducted

IE awareness and capacity enhanced

- Nine impact evaluation studies are ongoing covering a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, education, energy, social protection, and transport, and are spread across 7 countries encompassing every ADB region

- Two impact evaluation training workshops conducted for Indonesia and Pakistan

- Maintenance of IE portal for repository, internal dissemination, and knowledge sharing

Each of the IE studies will require a team of consultants, both international and national, to be engaged separately. The consultants will (i) provide technical guidance and feedback on the initial IE concept, (ii) develop the design of the IE studies together with the ADB team, (iii) assist in guiding and overseeing the implementation of IE studies, (iv) assist in survey and sampling design, (v) implement the surveys, and (vi) assist in data analysis and report preparation. In addition, other consultants will need to backstop activities beyond the individual studies (including Output 2, as well as overall support to Output 1), by supporting outreach, helping to monitor and improve IE efforts by the study teams, ensuring that ADB knowledge products are generated from studies, preparing synthesis reports, and contributing to capacity building.

Consequently, the TA will require the services of a mix of individual consultants and firms. Requisite fields of expertise and cost estimates of consulting services will be finalized upon selection and approval of IE proposals by the IEC. Support beyond individual IE studies by international IE experts and editors and national research associates, project coordinators, and layout artists will be through individual consulting services. The precise composition of firms and individual consultants for IE studies funded under Output 1 will depend on the proposals approved by the IEC. Some studies may contract specific roles through individual consultant selection or framework agreements, supplemented by nonconsulting services for data. Others may be contracted to firms via selection methods defined based on the resource needs of the IE studies. Purchase of goods, data and IT equipment within consulting contracts will be allowed if justified to be cost-effective and approved by ADB. Subject to approval of the Procurement, Portfolio, and Financial Management Department, single source selection will be utilized when the proposed engagement is a continuation of previously initiated work and/or there is only one firm with capacity to deliver the proposed IE tasks. The consultants will be engaged in accordance with the ADB Procurement Policy 2017, as amended from time to time and the associated project administration instructions and/or staff instructions.