Operations Evaluation

The Operations Evaluation Department (OPEV) of the African Development Bank is an independent unit that reports to the Bank’s Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE)—a committee of the Bank’s Boards of Directors. OPEV serves the Bank by undertaking independent evaluations of Bank Group operations, policies, and procedures to ensure learning and accountability and promote development effectiveness.

OPEV promotes learning and accountability through four key activities:

• Delivery of project- and programme- level evaluations,
• Delivery of high-level evaluations,
• Knowledge management and dissemination,
• Evaluation capacity development and training.

The Department follows widely accepted guiding principles for evaluation of development effectiveness – namely, independence, usefulness, credibility and transparency.

OPEV’s independent status helps to ensure the credibility of its work. However, the Department also seeks to be relevant, responsive and useful to the Bank’s senior management, technical departments, and country teams, as well as to the Bank’s regional and non-regional clients and partners.

Functions

OPEV undertakes evaluations of completed projects, sector policy reviews, country assistance evaluations, business process reviews and other studies relevant to the Bank’s policies, operations and results. Additionally, OPEV is tasked with oversight of the overall evaluation system within the Bank; internal and external communication of evaluation findings and lessons; and promotion of evaluation capacity development.

Independence

To ensure that OPEV is operationally independent of management, the Department’s Director reports directly to the Bank’s Committee on Operations and Development Effectiveness (CODE). CODE maintains oversight of OPEV’s work and approves OPEV’s work plans. OPEV’s budget, once approved by the Board, is ‘ring fenced’ (that is, not subject to management influence or control).