The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is preparing to conduct an evaluation of the work it did in up to 11 of its Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) between 2005 and 2017. The countries make up the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Overseas Dependent Territories (ODTs).

The Country Strategy and Programme Evaluation (CSPE) is scheduled for completion by mid-2019, and is a tool used by multilateral development banks to assess and interpret past performance, and provide forward-looking conclusions and recommendations.

Through country strategies, often presented in Country Strategy Papers, CDB identifies where and how it can provide support in a results-oriented manner to achieve a country’s development objectives and poverty reduction goals. Strategies are developed in consultation with governments, development partners and other stakeholders.

“The Country Strategy and Programme Evaluation will assess performance with respect to the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the portfolio of loans and technical assistance provided to the countries that make up the OECS and the ODTs,” said James Melanson, Head of the Office of Independent Evaluation, CDB.

“The Evaluation is quite timely, and will provide a valuable baseline on the performance of Bank programmes in these countries,” he added.

The questions for which the CSPE is expected to provide answers include whether CDB’s strategies and operational programmes were relevant to the development challenges facing the BMC; whether the Bank’s assistance took particular account of the vulnerability of the OECS and ODTs, and the extent to which its assistance contributed to reducing vulnerability.

The lessons and recommendations from the Evaluation will be used to improve the Bank’s country strategies and programme performance in the targeted countries—Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The OECS and ODTs accounted for approximately 46 percent of the Bank’s total approvals during the 2000-2017 period.