Connecting the Dots for GreaterDevelopment Impact
These important links all into three categories. Therst is horizontal, across areas such as education andemployment; water supply, sanitation and health;and roads and the environment. Here, the sector-wide approach modality—whereby developmentpartners and governments pool resources to supportintegrated development—is expected to be amongthe best ways to increase eciency in projectimplementation. For example, evaluation showedthat it proved efective in an ADB sector assistanceprogram or universal coverage o primary educationin Bangladesh, which beneted rom strongcoordination links. The second link is vertical, going rom inputs orinitial interventions to the more nal outcomes—orexample, rom immediate relie and reconstructionduring a natural calamity to incorporating preventivemeasures to deal with recurring disasters. The third is a time dimension that distinguishes thedifering impact o similar interventions over time orthe difering ways in which the past connects to theuture. For example, in the need to build inrastructurediferently rom even successul cases in the past toincorporate climate considerations. Better data andinormation are crucial to appreciating and acting onthese connections.
Evaluation
Independent
April 2012
Evaluative evidence pointsto the vital role linksplay in the patterns o development. These involveprojects and programsin diferent areas, atdiferent times, and thework o diferent players.Building synergies acrossareas, across times, andacross players seems key toimproving the developmentefectiveness o the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB)and other developmentpractitioners andpolicymakers.
The development patterns o nations eature multiple dots, eachwith distinct histories, geographies, and characteristics. Connectingthese dots, according to evaluation ndings, is key to getting goodresults rom various interventions.
The stakes in strengthening these links are high. The proportion o the population living in poverty in the Asia and Pacic region hascome down sharply over the past decade—aster than anywhereelse in the world. Yet, because populations have surged, the absolutenumbers living on less than $2 a day is still 1.6 billion people in theregion, and has actually increased in some countries. Add to thispicture the rise in the incidence and severity o economic and naturalcrises, and the stress on Asia’s poor becomes more acute. That is whygetting stronger results rom development eforts is a top priority.
But what diferentiates strong outcomes rom weak ones? Evaluativeevidence points to the vital role links play in the patterns o development. These involve projects and programs in diferentareas, at diferent times, and the work o diferent players. Buildingsynergies across areas, across times, and across players seems key toimproving the development efectiveness o the Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB) and other development practitioners and policymakers.
Learning Lessons
Seizing synergies magnifes outcomes
Individual project outcomes, even when positive, donot necessarily translate into equally positive countryoutcomes. That is because other actors, such as theefectiveness o projects in other arenas and nationalpolicy considerations, inuence aggregate countryimpacts.What is more, ocusing eforts on one sector, let aloneone project, to get to a wider impact may not beadequate or even optimal. In seeking health impacts,or example, improving access to sae drinking wateror improving sanitation can have a more powerulhealth impact than some interventions that all withinthe sole ambit o the health sector. And investments inwater and sanitation have a better chance o reducingwater-related diseases i joined with education efortspromoting good hygiene, as evaluative lessons(1992–2009) rom ADB lending to rural water supplyand sanitation projects showed. Such relationshipshighlight interactions within and across sectors that inturn can inuence country outcomes.A series o evaluative ndingsat the projector sector levelsmake the case orconnecting the dotshorizontally. Anevaluation o ruralroads showed thatmany poor peoplesimply do not havethe means to takeadvantage o a ruralroad. In Bhutan, theuse o electricity orincome-generationhad been limited in the absence o investments inaccess roads, market development, irrigation systems,and skills. Similarly, research in Viet Nam identiedlinks between education outcomes and returns toirrigation, especially or the poorest. These examples call into question the merit o overshooting the target o a certain percentage in thetotal nancing or core inrastructure related sectorsin ADB’s strategy; as has been the case recently.Considerations o development efectiveness wouldthereore call or a balance in ADB’s presence in highlycomplementary areas, rather than lopsided portolioareas.
Inrastructure investments need to be complementedby investments in people and natural resources toenable the expected benets rom connectivity. That said, individual projects are not required tohave multiple eatures, but eforts are needed tolink related elements. For example, it was ound thatinvestments in roads unded by ADB in the Pacicislands, to have the expected impact, needed to beefectively connected with investments in capacitydevelopment rom partners.
Immediate objectives must connectto the fnal
Responding quickly to urgent development needs,essential as this is, oten diverts attention romroot causes and underlying issues; compromisingthe nal goals. When natural disasters strike, switresponses are critical. But quality is easily traded orspeed in many post-disaster situations. Immediateinterventions also need to eed into longer-termsolutions. I not, countries acing persistent risksrom natural disasters—such as cyclone ravagedBangladesh or the Pacic islands—can ndthemselves in a near-permanent state o recovery.Disaster preparedness and prevention programsneed to become part o development strategies orcountries prone to natural calamities.In education projects, countries and multilateraldevelopment banks have largely ocused onincreasing access to schooling. Most past efortsdid not achieve adequate impacts on improvedreading, writing, and math skills and other learningoutcomes. Where an assessment o such outcomeswas done—or example, by measuring improvedstudent learning or increased cohort survival or basiceducation or by increased employment opportunitiesor higher education—the results oten looked weak.New strategies or education in countries and somemultilateral development banks have begun toaccount or these links.
Focusing only on the immediate predicament orproximate needs risks losing sight o the desiredresults. In these instances, the implication may notbe that a single nancier tries to support all thegoals, but rather that the strategy o each sees thebigger picture and the work o diferent players is
An evaluation of ruralroads showed that the poorsimply do not have themeans to take advantageof a rural road. In Bhutan,the use of electricity forincome-generation hadbeen limited in the absenceof investments in accessroads, market development,irrigation systems, and skills.
Learning Lessons
connected. Evaluation consistently shows that suchcoordination or collaboration across areas and amongpartners has been a weak link in the developmentprocess. Both mundane bureaucratic issues, whichdeter partnerships rom blossoming, and deepermotivational issues or acting as true partners, need tobe addressed. Within multilateral development banksthe system o incentives needs to encourage staf tomove away rom thinking in boxes and ocus on cross-cutting and results-oriented interventions.
The changing links between the pastand the future
In a rapidlychangingenvironment,developmentchallenges in Asiaand the Pacicare becomingmore complex.Replicating whatworked in thepast—even orhighly ratedprojects—is no guarantee or continuing success.Context matters, and when contexts change ways o addressing them may need to change. Policymakersneed to ocus on underlying conditions and adapt todynamic situations. Take the pressing issue o sustainable watermanagement in Asia. Besides constraints onavailability, new challenges such as coastal zonemanagement, pollution reduction, and groundwaterconservation are emerging. In the transport sector,besides a burgeoning demand or roads, cruciallinks with energy, land use, urbanization, climatechange and the environment require cross-cuttingapproaches. Evaluation on reducing carbon emissionsin ADB-backed transport projects recommendedthat ADB ocus more resources on supporting soundurban planning and management that integratestransport, urban design, land use, and environmentalprotection; rather than standalone transport plans andcapital projects. Clearly, a given investment need notcover all aspects, nor can one agency do it all. But itis important to connect the dots; rst in the planningprocess, then making sure they are connected duringimplementation through adequate provision ormonitoring evolving outcomes.
The environment increasingly constitutes a majorchallenge or Asia and the Pacic and new approachesneed to be tested soon. The share o projects withenvironmental sustainability objectives increasedrom 8% in Asian Development Fund (ADF) VIII to34% in ADF X. Work is ongoing at ADB on severalenvironmental initiatives related to climate change,clean air in Asian cities, energy eciency, sustainabletransport, and the nexus between environmentand poverty. Because these initiatives are airlynew, results have yet to be assessed. There are earlyndings on the greenhouse gas implications o ADB’senergy operations and progress in reducing carbonemissions rom transport projects. But eforts need tobe stepped up.
As conditions change, evaluative lessons rom pastexperience may need to be coupled with creative andinnovative approaches when applying them to thedynamic situations o the uture. For next-generationprojects, the ocus needs to shit to tackling thetoughest challenges to achieve better developmentresults. Such shits may call or moving beyondrepeating easy-to-implement projects and taking onriskier activities in the interest o greater developmentimpacts that are sustainable. One challenge orevaluation is to encourage taking on riskier andmore innovative directions; recognizing that efortsare being made under more dicult circumstanceswhile at the same time ensuring results are judgedobjectively and rigorously.
Conclusion
For some time now, ADB and other multilateraldevelopment banks have been moving away romsimply providing nance to ensuring that undingachieves benecial results. But linking nancing andother inputs to the desired development resultsrequires logical steps related to cause and efect. It isimperative to understand how key interventions addup to produce results by seeing their links horizontally,vertically, and over time; and reecting them incountry partnership strategies.Development processes will benet i the dots—bethey the work in diferent sectors or the work o diferent partners—are better connected. Evaluationhas a special role to play in highlighting these criticalbut oten overlooked links and providing the re
sults intime to inuence decision making.
Replicating what worked inthe past—even or highlyrated projects—is noguarantee or continuingsuccess. Context matters,and when contexts changeways o addressing themmay need to change.
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
Connecting the Dots for Greater Development Impact
What differentiates strong outcomes from weak ones? Evaluative evidence points to the vital role links play in the patterns of development. These involve projects and programs in different areas, at different times, and the work of…
(More)
255
Reads
0
Readcasts
192
Embed Views
More From This User
Notes
Load more
