Jeddah, KSA, October 8-9, 2024 – The Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) hosted the 6th IsDB Group Evaluation Symposium under the theme “Cherishing Learning and Charting out the Future: The Strategic Value of Evaluation in Decision-Making.” This two-day hybrid event brought together a diverse range of experts and stakeholders to explore how evaluation can enhance strategic programming and drive sustainable development. In his opening remarks, H.E. Dr. Zamir Iqbal, VP Finance and CFO, representing H.E. Muhammad Al Jasser, Chairman of IsDB Group, reflected on the institution's 50-year journey, stating: " Let us honor the progress we have made and the lessons we have learned while looking ahead with a shared sense of purpose and a renewed commitment to deliver meaningful, sustainable development for generations to come.

" The symposium’s sessions covered key topics such as leveraging evaluation for strategic insights, responding to global shifts, and corporate evaluation learnings. A number of Panelists emphasized the importance of independence and rigor in evaluation. Dr. Sabine Bernabè from the World Bank Group said: “We must focus on harnessing new data, technology, and methods to improve the rigor, quality, and usefulness of evaluations, and most importantly, refocus on outcomes.” Discussions also centered on the role of evaluations in addressing major international issues, including climate change. Discussants highlighted the importance of aligning operational strategies with evaluation recommendations to strengthen IsDB’s effectiveness and stressed the need to consider both intended and unintended impacts of development efforts. Corporate evaluation was another focus area that enabled senior IsDB Group executives to shed light on how evaluations can influence organizational planning, improve risk management, and enhance development effectiveness.

The discussions showed a growing need for more precise evaluations, particularly in corporate functions and ongoing operations. On the second day dedicated to the private sector, insightful sessions explored adaptive evaluation strategies for the private sector to address global challenges and contribute to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. H.E. Eng. Hani Sonbol, CEO of ITFC and Acting CEO of ICD, emphasized the importance of using sound monitoring and evaluation data to guide decision-making and accurately measure the social and environmental impacts of the entities’ financing. He stated: "If we are serious about moving from strategic intention to effective impact, which I know we are, we need robust monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems to guide our actions and measure their effectiveness. Reliable data and evidence are the lifeblood of impact management." The sixth edition of the Symposium was intended to foster innovative ideas and establish evaluation as a critical tool for shaping the strategic direction of the IsDB Group. As Mr. Ahmed Ag Aboubacrine, Acting Director of IEvD, noted in his closing remarks: “One of the key takeaways from this Symposium is that Learning is not an endpoint but a continuous process. Our ability to embrace learning at every opportunity ensures we stay agile, resilient, and forward-thinking in an ever-changing world.”

IEvD Symposium 2024 Highlight video

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Symposium Program

Symposium 8-9 October 2024

October 08, 2024 (Day 1), Country Operation Day

Sub-theme: Enhancing Efficiency, Strategic Programming, and Impact

• Session I: Leveraging Evaluation for Strategic Insights, October 8, 09:30-10:45am
• Session II: Responding to Global Shifts and Charting out the Future of Country Demands, October 8, 11:00am-12:30pm
• Session III: Corporate Evaluation – Learnings from IsDB Experiences, October 8, 2:30pm-4:00pm 

Please click here to watch the full recording of Day 1

October 09, 2024 (Day 2)

Private Sector Day.

Sub-theme: Adaptive Evaluation: Meeting the Demands of a Transformative Era

Please click here to watch the full recording of Day 2

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IsDB's Independent Evaluations Department Participates in 31st EvalNet Meeting

​Paris, June 19, 2024 — The Independent Evaluations Department of the IsDB participated in the 31st Meeting of the Development Assistance Committee Network on Development Evaluation (EvalNet) held from 18 to 19 June 2024 at the OECD Secretariat Paris, France. The department was represented by Br. Ahmed Ag Aboubacrine and Br. Ehtisham Ul Hassan. The OECD-DAC EvalNet contributes to better development results using evaluation to build a strong evidence base for policy-making and learning.

The EvalNet meetings, provide a forum for discussion on, i) Strengthening evaluation systems and building capacity, ii) Improving the quality of evaluations, and iii) Cultivating and communicating lessons and evidence to policy communities to improve impacts.

The meeting convened EvalNet's permanent members, observer members, and new observers, including representatives from the Council of Europe Bank (CEB), New Development Bank (NDB), GAVI, WHO, and other notable organizations. The gathering provided a unique platform for participants to acquaint themselves with the new members and foster collaborative efforts in the field of Development Evaluation. During the meeting, members shared updates on various initiatives, including the launch of new evaluation strategies and innovative approaches to strengthen the independence of evaluation functions in their organizations. These discussions underscored the importance of continuous improvement and adaptation in evaluation practices.

A highlight of the event was a series of engaging sessions, notably, one focused on System-wide Evaluation. This session delved into the methodologies and practices for evaluating development programs across multiple systems, offering valuable insights for participants.

Looking ahead, the 32nd EvalNet meeting will take place on February 26-27, 2025, providing another opportunity for members to converge, share knowledge, and advance the field of Development Evaluation.

 For further details, please check out the brief introduction of EvalNet and the meeting Agenda.

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_{2024 National Evaluation Capacities Conference}

Click here for more details.

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5th IsDB Group Evaluation Symposium 2023

The Future of Development Evaluation: Adapting to a Changing Landscape Dates: 2nd & 3rd of October 2023

The Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB Group) is pleased to announce the 5th IsDB Group Evaluation Symposium 2023 to be held in person on 02-03 October 2023 at the Tent Hall, IsDB headquarters – Jeddah.

Background

Today’s world faces multiple intersecting crises, from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis to climate change, rising conflicts, and exacerbated social inequalities. These rising challenges often exacerbate existing development challenges, such as food insecurity, failing health infrastructure, and gender-based violence, in new and unanticipated ways. While every crisis brings unique challenges, lessons learned from past crisis responses can help inform future interventions and enhance the impact of these efforts. This makes the generation and use of evidence even more important in today’s world. Evaluation has a critical role to play in improving crisis responses by ensuring that available evidence is timely and relevant. However, for evaluation to rise to the needs of today, the practice of evaluation must learn from current challenges and embrace forward-looking, innovative, adaptation, and inclusive practices to stimulate transformation in a meaningful way. Part of this work is learning from the recent experiences of partner organizations, countries, and contexts where strategic planning mechanisms have efficiently aided pandemic management and recovery; another key aspect is leveraging innovative methods and technologies to enhance evidence generation from evaluation.

Symposium Objectives & Expected Outcomes

The theme of the 5^th Evaluation Symposium is “The Future of Development Evaluation: Adapting to a Changing Landscape”. The overall goal of this Symposium is to leverage future innovations in development evaluation that will contribute towards accelerating development effectiveness within institutions and at country levels. The Symposium will enable the dissemination of evidence-based best practices that promote development effectiveness and assimilation of innovations in key functions (data analytics, corporate performance, country strategy, operations efficiency, results management, etc.).

The specific objectives of the Symposium are as follows:

• Enhance the learning culture within the evaluation community and within the IsDB Group,
• Boost the quality and speed of the Realigned IsDB Strategy 2023 - 2025
• Support institutional readiness and governance oversight.
• Strengthen the IsDB Group’s external credibility.

The expected outcomes of the symposium are as follows:

• Creating conducive spaces for debates and enlightenment on evaluation.
• Advancing knowledge and understanding of what works, and what does not, in evaluation practices.
• Sharing insights on the future of innovation and adaptive evaluation
• Strengthening future operations design, delivery, and efficiency through incorporating best practices
• Sharing corporate-level knowledge to guide continuous improvements, organizational change, and learning
• Keeping abreast of the latest advancements in evaluation practices and ensuring their use in addressing the development challenges and opportunities presented by a rapidly changing world.
• Promoting collaboration via networking and collaboration among evaluation professionals other business units and key decision makers.

Expected Participants

The primary targeted audience is all IsDB Group staff, including those in regional hubs. Then, some in-depth technical sessions will target mainly staff working in self-monitoring, quality assurance, results measurement, and evaluation functions within IsDB Group. Evaluation practitioners from other peer MDBs will be also invited as well as Saudi-based partners.

For more details please click here

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2022 IsDB Group Evaluation Symposium: Reshaping Evaluation Through the Lens of Recovery

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Operations Evaluation Department (OED), in close collaboration with the evaluation functions of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), organized the 2022 IsDB Group Evaluation Symposium under the theme "Evaluation Through the Lens of Recovery"  from 29 to 30 March virtually and in person on March 31st at the Tent Hall in IsDB headquarters. The main objectives of the symposium consisted in shedding light on promoting evaluative thinking to enhance development interventions, informing decision-making processes, and more notably, leveraging partnerships to accelerate recovery in the context of the post global pandemic.

Evidence from Monitoring and Evaluation will be a powerful compass for the future to shape well-targeted public policies, correct course and ultimately deliver better outcomes. Thus, reshaping evaluation through stronger M&E capacities and systems is instrumental for charting a path to national development goals, effective crisis response, and sustainable recovery. To this end, it will require sustained efforts, at scale, across the world. Doing this as quickly as possible can only be achieved through collaboration and cooperation amongst a wide range of actors.

The symposium brought together prominent speakers from the multilateral development banks (MDBs), King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, the Saudi Fund for Development, the Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results from Anglophone Africa and South Asia, the Global Evaluation Initiative, and academia. The event was well received as it provided a forum for evaluation practitioners from Saudi based institutions to emphasize the apparent shift in the dialogue on the role organizations can play in making the world a better, more sustainable place.

Please click on the following links to watch the fascinating discussions held on the in-person day of the symposium. 

Day 3 Sessions recordings: YouTube Links 1 & 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RInr1pVw_KM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R8diP0_bpM

https://idbgbf-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Keosg46dSCS8O7rklInuXQ