Independent Evaluation Group

World Bank

November 11, 2010

Evaluation of Bank Support for Gender and Development

Why Monitor and Evaluate Gender?

“ We measure what we value, and value what we measure” (UN 2001)

• Commitment for gender equality reflected in a policy

• Feedback on Bank policies to the Bank Board

• Informs managers and other stakeholders whether the intervention is meeting its objectives

• Accountability for implementation of gender policy

• Demonstration of results and learning of lessons

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Bank’s Gender Objectives• Gender equality is an instrument for the Bank

for enhancing poverty alleviation and economic growth

• To enhance client ownership 2002 Bank’s Gender Strategy states a clear process to identify country-level objectives

• Other Sector Strategies recommend project-level integration

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The country director oversees the preparation of gender assessments for all countries where the Bank is active.

The country director ensures that the results of the gender assessment are incorporated in the country dialogue and reflected in the CASs.

In sectors and thematic areas where the CAS has identified the need for priority gender-responsive actions, the relevant sector managers ensure that Bank-financed projects and other Bank activities are gender responsive.

The Regional Vice President reports annually to the managing director concerned on the implementation of this policy.

Four-Step Process for Gender Integration at the Country-Level

Integration

Diagnoses

Strategic Integration

Reporting

Why are Objectives Important?

1999: Improved women’s access to health and

education and increase their economic participation

Improved health and education

Increased economic

participation

2009: Gender equality as a tool for

poverty reduction and economic growth

Gender equality?

Results Framework is

critical

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Preparation is Essential

• Scope of the evaluation (time & coverage)• Aggregation level – unit of account• Evaluation framework – why? what? how?• Familiarize with other gender evaluations• Availability of resources

– Money, time, and skills• Dissemination plans• Formulate evaluation matrix

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Frame Evaluation Questions

Relevance of Policy? •Objectives: Consistency between Bank and country priorities? Links between gender equality and poverty reduction and economic growth? •Design issues: Responsive to country contexts? Accountability Framework? Consistency international state of the art knowledge

Quality of Implementation? •Implementation of 4-step process? •Implementation of Sector Strategy recommendations?

What Results? •To what extent were gender-related objectives achieved?•What is gender equality? (Equality, equity, women’s empowerment, women alone, men and women,)

Evaluation Methods Relevance Global and country Level

• Literature Review of links between gender and poverty/growth

• Survey of Bank staff – Is policy relevant in their view?• Desk review of Bank and other donor documents• Participatory workshops with client country stakeholders

Quality of Implementation

Global, country, and project level• Desk Review of almost 2000 Bank documents related to

91 countries and other government/donor documents• Interviewed selected beneficiaries and stakeholders• Regular sessions with Evaluees

Results of Bank Policy

Global, country, and project level• Narrowed down to 12 countries through a weighted

stratified sampling procedure• Desk Review of 163 closed projects• Participatory beneficiary workshops, • Stakeholder interviews • Beneficiary surveys• Field assessments

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Evaluation Results Framework

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• Reduced gender disparity in access to education (assessed along with completion rates)

• Reduced maternal mortality • Increased access to clean water for men and women

Equal Access to Health and

Education

• Increased equality in access to financial and economic services and assets

• Increased equality in access to economic opportunities • Enhanced capacity or skills of both men and women for

productive purposes

Equal access to Economic Assets and Opportunities

• Increased participation in development decision making at the community level

• Increased accountability of local institutions• Increased availability of gender-related data

Equal Voice in

Development

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Challenges of a Gender Evaluation

• Weak availability of gender-related data– Triangulation becomes critical

• Rating system– Aggregation from project to country level

• Assessing Results– Before and after– With and Without

• Setting benchmarks for gender integration is challenging but possible

Sample Findings and Lessons

• Accountability– Scope & quality of

gender integration improved and expanded between 2002 and 2008 over the nineties

– Implementation of the Bank’s gender policy, initially strong, weakened between fiscal 2006 and 2008

• Lessons– A results framework helps to

enhance accountability and guides staff

– Integrating gender delivers better gender –related results

– A multisectoral approach is more effective (eg., Reducing maternal mortality)

– Strategic support for gender-aware policies and institutions must accompany project or sector-specific interventions

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Recommendations

• Improve implementation of the Bank’s Gender Policy by: – Establishing a results framework– Establishing and implementing a realistic action plan for

completing or updating country-level diagnostics, Restore a sector- and/or project-level entry point.

• Establish clear management accountability to monitor the extent to which Bank work

• Strengthen the incentives for effective gender-related actions in client countries bto strengthen the collection, analysis, and dissemination of sex-disaggregated, gender-relevant data and statistics.

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So What Changed?

• Regional VPs have instructed all Country Directors to integrate gender into their CASs

• Reinstated monitoring the number of diagnostics being conducted

• Several regions have established gender action plans

• IEG is also looking into how gender is being addressed in its project-level reviews

• Disseminating the message on results framework through a variety of activities

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Report available on:

http://www.worldbank.org/ieg/gender/