Publications & Documents

This Glossary defines concepts and terms commonly used in evaluation and results-based management. It provides a shared understanding to support the design, management, monitoring and evaluation of interventions for sustainable development. As a reference document, it is helpful for those commissioning, managing, or conducting evaluations, as well as people involved in strategy or programme development, management and implementation. While originally developed for international development co-operation, the Glossary can be applied in any field of public policy and is also useful for civil society, academia, and other non-state actors. This second edition includes updated content, including new definitions for the widely used evaluation criteria – relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability – endorsed by the OECD Development Assistance Committee in 2019. It also provides minor updates to the original text to reflect current good practice. As concepts and language are constantly evolving, the document will be revisited and updated in due course.

This paper gives an overview of all development finance sources available to countries of the Organisation of Eastern-Caribbean States (OECS) for enhancing their economic and climate resilience, and progress towards their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). After reviewing political and macroeconomic contexts, it examines some of the specific challenges and opportunities they meet in financing their development, including the mobilisation of private finance and domestic resources; public debt sustainability; and the alignment of official development finance (ODF) with their evolving needs. It stresses the risks of inadequately preparing for the end of eligibility to official development assistance (ODA), when countries reach high-income status while remaining highly vulnerable. Finally, it presents recommendations for the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members to better support and accompany OECS countries as they transition to higher-income status.

In an era defined by the urgent climate crisis, unpredictable weather patterns and increasingly frequent natural disasters, ensuring infrastructure resilience to such events is paramount. This report discusses ways of enhancing government capacities to prevent, react and rebuild, thereby minimising the impact of natural disasters on infrastructure assets and operations. It identifies data, collaboration and technologies as drivers of resilience, and highlights financial resources, technical skills and regulatory frameworks as key enablers. The report presents seven actionable principles to ensure infrastructure resilience, drawing from global good practices and in-depth analyses of infrastructure projects in Colombia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mozambique and the United States.

This paper examines the role of mobilising political will in establishing the conditions necessary for economic and social inclusion of refugees, internally displaced persons, and formerly displaced persons who achieve durable solutions such as voluntary return. It investigates the role and conditions to mobilise political will for more comprehensive and inclusive policies that can lead to long-term local development in contexts of forced displacement in low- and middle-income countries (LICs and MICs). Case studies from Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ecuador, Iraq and Lebanon illustrate the ways in which political will, or its absence, can shape the approach to supporting the forcibly displaced and hosting communities. The paper also proposes a conceptual model for mobilising political will to facilitate sustainable development support in contexts of forced displacement.

Countries in Asia and the Pacific face a heightened risk of flooding as disasters increase worldwide due to climate change. Yet these countries often lack the infrastructure necessary to prepare for and respond to floods effectively. When flood protection measures exist, they generally rely only on grey, hard-engineered infrastructure, which has been increasingly challenged in recent years. Nature-based solutions (NbS) offer a new approach for flood management, with several co-benefits beyond the reduction of risks. This approach has gained recognition from policy makers in the region, but they are confronted with a number of challenges, including the lack of a clear, common definition and guidelines, as well as financing issues. The growing imperatives of climate adaptation call for complementary, innovative and forward-looking solutions, such as a combined approach incorporating both NbS and grey infrastructure.

What are the structural barriers to women's empowerment and inclusive development in Southeast Asia? Building on data from the fifth edition of the SIGI, the SIGI 2024 Regional Report for Southeast Asia: Time to Care provides new evidence-based analysis on the progress and setbacks in eliminating the root causes of gender inequality in 11 countries of the region. It underscores how multiple personal status laws perpetuate gender-based legal discrimination. The analysis also shows that social norms governing gender roles and responsibilities worsened between 2014 and 2022, particularly affecting women’s educational and economic rights. The report explores a critical policy area for the region, the care economy. Stressing the gendered, informal, and unpaid dimensions of care, it draws on social, demographic, educational and economic evidence to forecast a growing demand for care services in Southeast Asian countries. The report advocates for the strategic development of formal care systems as a unique opportunity to accelerate women's economic empowerment, build inclusive societies and strengthen the region's resilience to external shocks – including those induced by climate change. To dismantle the barriers that prevent the emergence and expansion of such a formal care economy, it provides concrete recommendations to policy makers and other stakeholders.