| Impact evaluations assess the degree to which a particular policy, program or policy has affected the well-being of individuals. They can play a tremendous role in making effective policy and necessitate a larger discussion in the context of efforts to improve development effectiveness. On January 15 to 16 2008 the conference “Making Smart Policy: Using Impact Evaluation for Policy Making” was held at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The conference was organized by the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM), Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), and Development Economics (DEC) networks of the World Bank, with co-sponsorship by DFID and the Government of the Netherlands.
Chaired by Kyle Peters, this session examined Impact Evaluation through various initiatives set forth by the World Bank. Ariel Fiszbein, Lead Economist for the Human Development Department in the Latin America and Caribbean region of the World Bank, spoke about the DIME Initiative. DIME was founded over three years ago in response to the growing demand for impact evaluations and with the goal of promoting impact evaluation within the World Bank. Fiszbein elaborated on the program’s primary objectives to increase the number of Bank-supported evaluations, improve staff coordination and program implementation, and creating a process for systematic learning. Fiszbein then went onto address issues concerning bank wide efforts to build capacity, regional initiatives, staff resources, links between research and operations, and the integration of impact evaluations as a business product.
Arianna Legovini discussed impact evaluation from the perspective of the African Impact Evaluation initiative. Legovini explained the importance of the Bank’s role as facilitator and the goal of empowering agencies. She went onto illustrate program objectives, creation, themes, and the overall scope of evaluations.
Maureen Lewis discussed the Spanish Government Trust Fund, which Lewis felt was important because the program is new, large, and relevant to issues addressed by previous panelists. Among many points, Lewis explained that the overall goal of the initiative was to provide global knowledge regarding successful strategies, capacity building, disseminating knowledge and improving the effectiveness of social policy.
Discussing Impact Evaluation from the perspective of PREM, was Emmanuel Skoufias. Skoufias addressed related support and activities within the poverty group and their role as a central resources base. Additionally, Skoufias explained their work in creating sector specific methodological papers and generating impact evaluations for PREM activities, including local governance and judicial reform programs.
Howard White, the Executive Director of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation from the World Bank’s Impact Evaluation Group, discussed his group’s background and role concerning Impact Evaluation. He covered his group’s active areas, which are production, consumption, advocacy, and quality control.
Finally, Kyle Peters began the question and answer portion by asking the panelists to address issues related to sectoral and regional imbalance, the strengthening link between country programs and country ownership, and how to effectively move onto the next stage of impact evaluation.
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