“You have to be serious about asking yourself the hardest question: Is what we’re doing leading us to the goals that we have set?” President Jim Yong Kim said at IEG’s Good Practice Awards ceremony on Thursday, June 18. “These awards are elephants, and in fact that’s so appropriate because evaluation, and especially self-evaluation, is always the elephant in the room…We are the first generation in the history of humanity to be able to think about ending extreme poverty. That is such a compelling goal that we have to be willing to be as self-critical as we need to be to make sure we are on the right path.”

Candid self-evaluation promotes accountability and learning, and provides the opportunity for teams to make mid-course corrections as outlined in the World Bank Group strategy. More broadly, evaluation allows staff to look back at a wealth of experience and distill lessons on what works, what doesn’t, and why. Using that knowledge to guide future development projects will help improve the quality and effectiveness of Bank Group investments.

“I see the importance of the project evaluation reports, which help assist development outcomes as well as effectiveness. Self-evaluation has been a great learning tool for MIGA staff,” said Keiko Honda, executive vice president and CEO of MIGA.

In her closing remarks, Nena Stoiljkovic, vice president of Global Client Services in IFC congratulated all recipients, telling them “Your efforts exemplify your commitment to learning in operations, and ultimately will help us improve our development effectiveness.”

IEG Senior Advisor and Deputy Director Rick Scobey pointed out that having the awards on June 18 was particularly meaningful, given that “Exactly one year ago, the World Bank Group started the Results, Measurement and Evidence Stream (RMES),” a collaborative community of practice made up of approximately 300 Bank Group staff who work on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and results management.

The IEG Good Practice Awards were established 11 years ago, with the purpose of recognizing and incentivizing Bank Group staff for excellent work in preparing self-evaluations. This year’s 17 recipients are:

World Bank Implementation Completion and Results Report(ICR) Quality Awards

• India Third National HIV/AIDS Control Project
  Team: Joy de Beyer, Sameh El-Saharty, Bathula Amith Nagaraj, Shafali Rajora, Shanker Lal, Manvinder Mamak, Maria Gracheva, Kees Kostermans
   
• Montenegro Healthcare System Improvement Project
  Team: Lorena Kostallari, Marcelo Bortman, Elda Hafizi, Daniel Dulitzky
   
• Kazakhstan Moinak Electricity Transmission Project
  Team: Mirlan Aldayarov, Joseph Melitauri, Istvan Dobozi, Sunil Khosla, Regina Nesiama, Yelena Yakovleva, Richard Berney, Suzy Yoon, Hiwote Tadesse
   
• Pakistan Irrigation Sector Development Policy Loan Series of Two Operations
  Team: Masood Ahmad, Aslam Rasheed, Shabir Ahmad, Simeon Ehui, Tahira Syed

World Bank Country Program Strategy Completion Report (CPSCR) Quality Awards

• Georgia CPSCR
  Team: Carla Pittalis, Sophie Devnosadze, Iullia Mironova, Inga Pachaidze, Eavan O’Halloran

IFC Expanded Project Supervision Report (XPSR) Quality Awards

• Sonoae Novobord, South Africa
  Team: Nicholas Michael Holdcroft, Andries Smith, Richard Henry, Hayat Abdulahi Abdo, Brenda Kalenga, Judith A. Ombura
   
• QGOG Rigs, Brazil
  Team: Luc Dejonckheere, Roman Novozhilov, Jorge Dario Bongiovanni, Liane Asta Lohde, Dennis E. Reyes
   
• AccessBank, Madagascar
  Team: Eduardo Boechat Junger Laurentino, Tor F. Jansson, Frank Armand D. Douamba, Martin Holtmann
   
• Eassy Cable, Kenya
  Team: Ram Mahidhara, Jeff Mark Anhang, Liane Asta Lohde, Joseph Solan, Chijioke Gbolahan Egejuru
   
• Finandina, Colombia
  Team: Andres Felipe Gomez, Felipe Becker Albertani, Pierre Nadji, Marcos Gomez Sierra, Carlos Francisco Mayorga
   
• Hikal, India
  Team: Rekha Ranganathan, Mandar Parasnis, Pushpinder Bindra, Hayat Abdullahi Abdo, Monica J. Chander

IFC Project Completion Report (PCR) Awards

• Punjab Silos, India
  Team: Neeraj Gupta, Isabel Chatterton, Jay Lurie
   
• ShoreCap Exchange II (Global Initiative)
  Team: Gilles Jaques Galludec
   
• Montenegro Sub-National Competitiveness
  Team: Eugeniu Osmochescu, Jesper Kjaer
   
• Microfinance Transformation Support Project, Azerbaijan and Central Asia
  Team: Cholpon Kokumova, Rolf Behrndt, Soren Heitmann
   
• Ukraine Food Safety Improvement Project
  Team: Sarah Ockman, Patrick Luternauer

MIGA Project Evaluation Report (PER) Awards

• Chongqing Water Group Co., Ltd, China
  Team: Paul Barbour, Nina Chee, Wenhe Zhang

By Jamie Hayes, IEG

Related link: 2013 IEG Good Practice Award Winners