Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – November 13, 2025 – The Islamic Development Bank Group successfully concluded its first Results & Evaluation Week, a landmark initiative to strengthen accountability, learning, and performance across the institution; reaffirming that evaluation will remain central to its transformation, and the collective effort of staff, partners, and stakeholders will ensures knowledge and evidence continue to drive sustainable development across its 57 member countries.
The joint Results and Evaluation Symposium united, for the
first time, the Independent Evaluation Department (IEvD), the Strategy, Budget, and Corporate Performance Department (SBCP), and the development effectiveness teams of ICD, ITFC, and ICIEC. Sessions explored evaluability, strategic learning, and the integration of development results, corporate performance, and evaluation insights into the IsDB Group's corporate strategies.
"Evaluation ensures accountability by providing an objective, evidence-based assessment of our performance, impact, and value creation. However, beyond accountability, evaluation is our engine of institutional learning," said H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, Chairman of the IsDB Group, in a message delivered by H.E. Dr. Zamir Iqbal, Vice President, Finance.
Dr. Syurkani Ishak Kasim, Director of SBCP, highlighted progress in embedding monitoring and evaluation into IsDB's strategic planning and operations, reaffirming the Bank's commitment to transparency, effectiveness, and continuous learning.
In his closing statement, Mohameden Mohamed Sidiya, Director of IEvD, underscored that the insights from this week translate into concrete actions. Evaluability cannot be an afterthought – it must be designed into our strategy from day one. This means clear theories of change, clearly stated objectives with measurable indicators and baselines, realistic risk assessment, and governance structures that enable rather than constrain delivery.
The event featured keynote addresses and high-level panels with representatives from the Asian Development Bank, World Bank Group, International Fund for Agricultural Development, member countries and academia. Highlights included the 2025 Evaluation Awards, which recognized excellence in evaluation practice within the IsDB Group. Awards were presented in two categories: Best Project Completion Reports (PCRs), with first, second and third place winners; and Best Contributors to STEER (Systematic Tracking of Execution of Evaluation Recommendations), recognizing one Regional Hub and one Headquarters department. Pre-symposium seminars on performance-driven culture and Bayesian evaluation methods, and participation from over 300 IsDB staff and global partners, further enriched the event.
Jeddah, KSA, 3 June 2025 —The Independent Evaluation Department (IEvD) recently hosted an insightful webinar titled "Beyond Projects: Evaluating Sustainability, Efficiency, and Growth for a Lasting Development Impact" as part of the Glocal Evaluation Week.
IEvD’s Director, Br. Mohameden Mohamed Sidiya, opened the session by emphasizing the critical importance of long-term thinking in development work. "As development actors, we know that success cannot be measured by project completion alone. True impact lies in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the development results achieved by the interventions.", he stated, setting the tone for a thought-provoking discussion on project sustainability and adaptive learning through evaluation.
Dr. Ahmed Abdelgawad delivered a key presentation focused on lessons learned from IEvD project evaluations. His analysis highlighted critical challenges including poor sustainability planning, inadequate operation and maintenance frameworks, and over-reliance on donor financing while emphasizing that evaluation must be concerned with the sustainability of project outputs beyond immediate completion.
The subsequent panel discussion, moderated by Br. Javeed Ahsan, featured valuable contributions from three distinguished speakers who addressed critical aspects of development project sustainability. Dr. Mohamed Suhail from IsDB's Special & Trust Funds Division discussed scaling mobile healthcare initiatives in fragile settings and underserved populations, focusing on barriers to sustainability including limited government ownership and service continuity gaps, while also addressing strategies to strengthen countries' institutional capacities for ensuring sustainability and ownership. Br. Wadi Yousif from BADEA's Independent Evaluation Division analyzed the causes of cost overruns and delays in development projects, examining how evaluation processes can identify systemic planning gaps and support strategies to improve project efficiency.
Br. Mohammed Alsayed Ahmad from IsDB's IEvD introduced the significance of sustainability in development projects and conducted a comparative analysis of sustainability outcomes between public-financed versus private sector-financed projects, while exploring measures needed to ensure financial and technical viability of public-financed projects from design to closure.
Three fundamental principles for sustainability emerged from the discussions. First, sustainability cannot be an afterthought but must be embedded at the project design stage, including planning for local ownership, ongoing maintenance, and financial viability beyond donor funding. Second, successful projects require localizing both services and financing mechanisms, with capacity building tailored to specific local needs to reduce over-reliance on external donors. Third, development initiatives should be integrated into existing national programs and institutional frameworks rather than operating as standalone projects, to ensure continuity.
This webinar is part of IEvD's broader EvalTalks initiative, a series of learning events designed to enhance evaluation knowledge and practice. Staff can look forward to upcoming EvalTalks webinars which will explore other relevant topics related to evaluation and development impact.
Rome, Italy, 6 March 2025 - The Independent Evaluation Department (IEvD) of IsDB participated in the International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS) 2025 Annual Conference held in Rome, Italy, from March 4 to 6.
Mr. Bashirullah Najimi of IEvD participated in two panel discussions, including an IsDB panel on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), highlighting challenges in aligning M&E systems with local priorities, cultural contexts, and community needs. The session explored ways international organizations and local entities can collaborate to enhance M&E systems. He also took part in the AIIB panel on evaluating development projects in the Global South, where discussions centered on tailoring evaluation approaches to the specific challenges and opportunities in BRICS and other Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs).
Key learnings from the conference included the importance of engaging parliamentarians in development evaluation, particularly in macro evaluations. The event also highlighted the need for a review of IsDB’s project rating criteria in comparison with other MDBs to ensure alignment with international best practices.
As part of IEvD’s outreach and capacity-building efforts, Mr. Najimi’s participation aimed to enhance IsDB’s visibility in global evaluation discussions, strengthen professional networks with other Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), and gather valuable insights to inform IEvD’s future evaluation practices.
IEvD’s active participation in IDEAS 2025 Annual Conference highlights the department’s commitment to strengthening its evaluation practices to enhance IsDB’s development effectiveness.
Paris, France, 27 February 2025 – The Independent Evaluation Department (IEvD) participated in the 32nd EvalNet Meeting held on February 26-27, 2025, in OECD Secretariat, Paris. The meeting organized by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), brought together evaluation experts from international institutions to discuss pressing issues, challenges, and advancements in development evaluation.
The two-day event featured discussions on pivotal topics, including partnerships for locally-led evaluation, the integration of artificial intelligence in evaluation processes, and strategies for assessing unintended consequences of development financing. Mr. Ehtisham Ul Hassan and Mr. Javeed Ahsan, representing IEvD at the event, contributed their insights during sessions focused on strengthening evaluation norms, fostering country-led evaluation mechanisms, and aligning evaluation strategies with climate transition efforts.
A key highlight of the meeting was the session on the use of AI in conducting evaluation, where participants not only benefitted from the learnings shared by the World Bank but also discussed the issues pertinent to practical applications of emerging technologies to enhance efficiency and accuracy in assessment methodologies. Discussions also revolved around strengthening the DAC Evaluation Resource Centre (DEReC), a critical knowledge bank repository of evaluation reports supporting evidence-based policy decisions.
The IsDB delegation highlighted the significance of strengthening collaboration among international development institutions to enhance evaluation capacity development for Member countries. The delegation reflected IsDB’s commitment to fostering high-quality evaluations that inform sustainable development policies across its member countries.
The EvalNet Meeting concluded with a shared commitment to advancing evaluation methodologies and reinforcing partnerships that support impactful and equitable development outcomes worldwide.
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