Evaluating the World Bank Experience with CDD

3.1.4 Evaluating the World Bank Experience with CDD

62. Evaluating the performance of the World Bank in implementing CDD has been a controversial issue. The World Bank OED (2005) evaluation and the Management Response (Annex-S to the report) illustrate the dramatic divergence in opinion about the results and impact of its CDD operations. To a large extent, this divergence in opinion is because there is very little rigorous evaluation data with which to definitively judge the impacts of CDD projects, and most evaluations have tended to focus on both

CBD and CDD operations. 79 Given this controversy, the World Bank experience is evaluated here by presenting both the positive features/achievements and the negative features one by one, 80 with a view to

providing guidance to ADB.

63. On the positive side, although CDD operations by the World Bank are relatively new, the evaluations and reviews that exist reveal that the approach has indeed delivered on its promise of equity, efficiency, governance, and human-rights objectives described in Chapter 2. Some of the main positive features and achievements of World Bank CDD operations include the following:

impact through greater access to and use of basic services, small-scale social infrastructure, and gains in basic welfare, including primary enrollment, educational attainment, improved

child health, and increased availability of water and sanitation services. 81 Similar results have been obtained in single-project evaluations and review of many CDD operations, especially

when compared with alternative approaches to service delivery. non-CDD projects. The average outcome ratings for CBD-CDD projects combined were

found to be satisfactory or better for 73% of the cases over 1999–2003, 82 while social fund projects had satisfactory or better average outcome ratings in as many as 96% of cases. 83

CDD projects are, therefore, clearly among the high performers in the World Bank.

78 For more details see McNiel et al. (2004). 79 One of the recommendations by Management in the World Bank OED (2005) report was that a separate CDD-only

evaluation study be undertaken by OED, which is under consideration. 80 The description in this subsection relies mainly on three documents: World Bank OED (2002), World Bank OED (2005),

and Rawlings et al. (2004). 81 Rawlings et al. (2004).

82 World Bank OED (2005). 83 World Bank OED (2002).

infrastructure tends to be more cost effective 84 and of higher quality than alternatives. These have raised access to and use of basic service facilities.

World Bank suggest that they have achieved progressive geographical targeting of the poorest communities, although they have been less successful in household-level targeting of the poorest households in communities. They have, however, managed to reach a large number of beneficiaries and transferred resources to poor communities.

partnerships, and strengthening local decision making. CDD programs have increasingly supported government decentralization reform and have helped changed attitudes of government officials about working with communities, thus enabling the creation of a more participatory culture of governance.

programs by the World Bank have been especially successful in post-crisis/conflict settings because they have provided visible outputs quickly to distressed societies, thus kick-starting the reconstruction and reintegration process.

64. On the negative side, many of the limitations of the CDD approach mentioned in Chapter 2 are based on the review of experience of the World Bank and these are repeated briefly here.

circumstances and the presence of complementary inputs to support the physical hardware created under the project.

85 and there have been instances of elite capture. Targeting was also hindered in many cases by political interference and lack of data.

criticism. Many projects have been guilty of creating parallel institutional structures to the government, and very few have managed to ensure that the CDD approach gets internalized in public service delivery and governance.

many CDD programs. Also, the one-year subproject cycle is too short to obtain any significant empowerment effects.

CBD/CDD projects; coordination problems across sectors; and perhaps most importantly, safeguard and fiduciary compliance policies that have not been suitably adapted to CDD

projects. 86 impact of these projects on outcomes like poverty reduction or livelihoods, as opposed to

inputs and outputs.

65. The verdict on CDD at the World Bank is still somewhat unclear. In large part, this is because there is a genuine lack of evaluation data on CDD projects, and those evaluations that have been done

84 As mentioned earlier, Rawlings et al. (2004) find unit costs to be 25–40% lower for subprojects that had more community control over decisions and resources. The Management Response to the World Bank OED (2005) report notes two

independent cost-benefit analyses of the Indonesian KDP program that found internal rates of return in excess of 60% for rural roads. See Annex S, pp.162.

85 Rawlings et al. (2004) note that many subprojects of CDD programs tend to be at the “community level.” (e.g., school facilities or tube wells) where there will naturally be a lot of nonpoor beneficiaries.

86 However, the Management Response notes that there is no evidence that compliance is any worse for these projects.

have not really compared CDD, as an approach, with alternative more top-down approaches. 87 Instead, most reviews look at the performance of CDD projects in and of themselves.

66. The main conclusion is basically that the CDD approach is better than alternatives in terms of achieving the ultimate objective of poverty reduction. However, there is still significant room for improving the way CDD is implemented. CDD is a still-evolving approach that has potential to improve with greater experience.

67. The evolving nature of CDD is realized by World Bank practitioners as can be seen from the Management Action Record to the World Bank OED (2005) evaluation of CBD/CDD approaches. 88 The eventual World Bank Board conclusion following the OED report was to continue supporting the scaling- up of World Bank assistance for CDD in response to country demand, but with greater vigilance in designing CDD operations.