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As with other donor agencies, the World Bank uses an objectives-based approach to monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of projects. When projects run into problems and fail to meet their objectives, experience suggests that many of the problems could have been avoided or mitigated through a more systematic focus, from the outset, on the project’s objectives, the outcomes embedded in those objectives and the associated results framework. This article discusses how to improve the prospects of achieving sustainable outcomes by addressing specific questions from the very start of project design, or, in other words, by beginning with the end in mind.
Acknowledgements
The authors are staff or consultants at the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank. Background work was conducted by Filippo Cavassini and Stephanie E. Trapnell. Rich Kraus provided administrative support. Comments from Marie Gaarder, Hugh Waddington, and Howard White are gratefully acknowledged. While the article draws heavily on World Bank experience, most of the conclusions are relevant for development interventions more generally.