Integrated Water Resources Management: Quality at Entry Review of AfDB Project Appraisal Reports and Country Strategy Papers

The review aimed to assess to which extent the Bank’s policy principles on Integrated Water Resources Management are reflected in its water operations. The project was part of an evaluation process spearheaded by AfDB’s Operations Evaluation Department. A representative sample of projects was selected to analyse the coherence between the Bank’s IWRM policy principles, Project Appraisal Reports and Country Strategy Papers, and to formulate recommendations for future Bank operations and water policies. HYDROPHIL reviewed forty projects in ten of AfDB’s countries of operation, representing a total investment of about 1.6 billion EUR. A specific methodology (analytical framework) had to be developed to capture all five dimensions of the IWRM policy – institutional, technical, economic, social and environmental – for a wide range of project types.