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This first Annual Report reviews the past two years of OVE's work, 2013-2014. It is designed in two parts. Part I reports on OVE's recent evaluation activities and findings, on developments in the Bank's evaluation "architecture" (including management self-evaluations and OVE validations) during the year, and on management's progress in implementing agreed-upon recommendations from previous OVE evaluations. Part II highlights a special topic, seeking to put OVE's work in a broader perspective by bringing new analysis and linking OVE's evaluation work to major themes of importance to development effectiveness. This year's themes are the Bank's core objectives of growth and poverty reduction, as specified in the Agreement for IDB¿s 9th General Capital Increase in 2010. These themes continue to be relevant for the next IDB institutional strategy, which is currently under preparation.

As part of its 2014 annual work plan, the Office of Evaluation and Oversight(OVE) is preparing the Country Program Evaluation (CPE) with Honduras for the period 2011-2014. This approach paper defines the evaluation's scope. This CPE therefore aims to analyze the Bank's relationship with the country, taking an independent and comprehensive view, particularly the program's relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability, including both financial and nonfinancial products offered by the Bank during the period under analysis. This evaluation is intended as an input to the new country strategy document being prepared by the Bank. This CPE is the fourth OVE evaluation of the Bank's program with Honduras. Past evaluations covered the periods 1990-2000 (document RE-263), 2001-2006 (document RE-328), and 2007-2010 (document RE-390). This CPE covers the Bank's program for the period 2011-2014.

The Realignment defined four key goals to respond to a perceived loss of Bank relevance and presence in LAC: sharpening sector focus and expertise, sharpening country focus, strengthening risk- and results-based management, and enhancing institutional efficiency. To achieve these goals, it proposed adjustments to the Bank's structure, processes, and human resources and incentives which included, among other things, the introduction of a new matrix organization, the delegation of additional responsibilities to country offices and project team leaders, the updating of operational and corporate processes, and changes in staffing and HR policies. This evaluation concludes that the Realignment's underlying direction toward a matrix structure and greater decentralization were appropriate, but it has not yet achieved all of its objectives. There are several noteworthy trends on the positive side. The technical skills of Bank staff have improved, the capacity to generate and disseminate knowledge has increased, and more authority has been delegated to country representatives and team leaders, bringing IDB closer to the client. The collaboration between staff in the same sector in country offices and headquarters has increased, as has the continuity of project team membership over the project cycle. However, the matrix is not yet functioning well. VPC has limited authority and few mechanisms to coordinate Bank inputs at the country level to ensure delivery of a coherent and efficient program. VPS and VPP have limited opportunity or incentive to bring their knowledge and influence to bear in country strategy and programming. Sector silos are tall and the pressures to lend and disburse greater than ever. As a result, the Bank and its borrowing countries are not reaping the full potential gains from cross-matrix coordination and collaboration in country strategy and program formulation, project design and implementation, and knowledge sharing. Moreover, the evaluation did not f

The Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB, or the Bank) conducted an impact evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the main types of programs through which IDB has supported small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America and the Caribbean. It does not evaluate Bank projects directly or compare executing agencies, models of interventions or financial instruments, but rather examines the effectiveness of Bank-supported approaches implemented by Brazilian institutions. Focusing only on the manufacturing sector, the evaluation examines how these interventions affect firm-level outcomes such as employment, real wages, exports, and patent and trademark registration. The overarching objective of this exercise is to provide insight for future strategic decisions regarding the targeting of Bank support to SMEs. The rationale for choosing Brazil is threefold: (i) Brazil represents 55% of IDB's total volume of lending supporting SMEs; (ii) country stakeholders have collected data from SMEs exposed to various types of interventions, allowing OVE to learn about alternative SME support approaches in Brazil; and (iii) OVE has access to comprehensive datasets that facilitate impact evaluations in Brazil. OVE bases the analysis on the types of interventions the Bank has supported in Brazil, compares the results they achieved, and draws lessons for the future design and implementation of SME support strategies and budget allocation considerations.

This Country Program Evaluation (CPE) with Honduras covers the period between January 2011 and April 2014 and is the fourth occasion on which the Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE) has evaluated the Bank's program with the country. Previous evaluations covered the periods 1990-2000 (document RE-263), 2001-2006 (document RE-328), and 2007-2010 (document RE-390). Under the Protocol for Country Program Evaluation (document RE-348-3), the main goal of a CPE is to "provide information on Bank performance at the country level that is credible and useful, and that enables the incorporation of lessons and recommendations that can be used to improve the development effectiveness of the Bank's overall strategy and program of country assistance."The current country strategy (document GN-2645) was approved in November 2011 and does not coincide with the country's political cycle. President Porfirio Lobo's administration was in office from January 2010 to January 2014. IDB Management expects to submit a new country strategy to the Board of Executive Directors in December 2014. The evaluation is structured into four chapters, plus an annex. Chapter I analyzes the general context of the country. Chapter II provides a general analysis of the Bank's program between January 2011 and April 2014, with particular attention devoted to the relevance of the country strategy and an analysis of the program actually implemented. Chapter III provides a sector-based analysis of the implementation, effectiveness, and sustainability of operations and of progress made toward the Bank's proposed strategic objectives. Chapter IV presents conclusions and recommendations.

This paper describes OVE's approach to the preparation of its 2014 AnnualReport. As discussed in OVE's Proposed 2014-2015 Work Program and Budget (RE-462), OVE's annual reports will describe routine OVE activities, summarize keyevaluation findings and recommendations in the context of development issues of special interest for the Bank and the region, and report on the system for tracking Management's implementation of OVE recommendations. OVE will summarize 2013 and 2014 evaluations in the context of IDB's two institutional mandates: to help reduce poverty and inequality and to promote sustainable growth in the region.

Following up on the IDB-9 commitments, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB, or Bank) established a new Access to Information Policy that took effect on January 1, 2011. The new policy was expected to match international best practices and to increase the overall transparency of the Bank, strengthening its governance and development effectiveness. This review assesses the extent to which the access to information reform has been fully and effectively implemented. The review finds that the new policy largely matches best practices in comparator institutions, with, however, one provision that is unique to the IDB policy and inconsistent with the core principle of transparency: a broadly written exception to disclosure of country-specific information to which a country objects. As evidence of country use of this exception already suggests, this exception could completely undermine the access to information reform endeavor. The policy cannot be implemented effectively unless the country-specific exception is narrowed. Overall, the Bank is in the process of fully implementing the Access to Information Policy. Implementation progress has been substantial in the key areas of designing a regulatory framework, training staff, upgrading the Bank's document management system, and establishing governance structures and processes; and issues are being addressed as they become evident. Still, key steps to full and effective implementation remain under way. As a consequence, the effectiveness of the new policy has been significant in relation to the disclosure of key documents (such as Board-related information) but remains limited overall. Important revisions to the Implementation Guidelines have taken much longer than planned, and remain a work in progress. Timely disclosure and improved online access remain challenges. The share of documents made public under the new policy has decreased marginally, and staff and external stakeholders report limited awareness of the new pol

The Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE) is preparing the Country Program Evaluation (CPE) for the Dominican Republic for the period 2009-2013. This approach paper defines the evaluation's scope. This CPE ims to analyze the Bank's relationship with the country, taking an independent and holistic view, assessing in particular the program's relevance and effectiveness, including both financial and nonfinancial products offered by the Bank during the period under analysis. This evaluation is intended as input for the new strategy document the Bank is preparing. In 2009 the Bank's Management developed a new country strategy document model to equip the Bank with an effective tool to sharpen the country focus while ensuring the flexibility envisaged during the realignment process. In this framework, new guidelines were drawn up that reformulate the country strategy to emphasize the need for results-focused, risk-based programming that takes a flexible, programmatic approach and responds to the country's needs. Apart from these general principles, the most significant practical effects of the new strategy papers were: (i) separation between the country strategy, which is prepared every four years, and actual programming, which is annual; (ii) a new emphasis on sector notes; and (iii) strengthening the results matrix with specific indicators. This CPE is the third occasion on which OVE has evaluated the Bank's program with the Dominican Republic. The previous evaluations covered the periods 1991-2003 (document RE-306) and 2004-2008 (document RE-371). This CPE covers the Bank's program for 2009-2013.

This Country Program Evaluation (CPE) for the Dominican Republic covers the period 2009-2013. The evaluation is structured into four chapters, plus annexes. Chapter I analyzes the general context in the country from two perspectives. First, the structural characteristics of the country's growth model are briefly described. Second, the main economic events during the 2009-2013 period covered by the Bank's program are described. Chapter II provides a general analysis of the Bank's program in 2009-2013, with particular reference to the relevance of the country strategy, together with analysis of the program actually implemented. Chapter III provides a sector-based analysis of the implementation, effectiveness, and sustainability of the operations, and of the level of progress towards the Bank's proposed strategic objectives. Chapter IV presents conclusions and recommendations. Lastly, the annexes present the sectoral analyses upon which the evaluation's findings are based.