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This document presents an evaluation by the Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE) of the Country Program of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB, or the Bank) with Colombia over the period 2011-2014. According to the Bank's Protocol for Country Program Evaluations (CPEs) (RE-348-3), the main function of a CPE is "to provide information on Bank performance at the country level that is credible and useful, and that enables the incorporation of lessons and recommendations that can be used to improve the development effectiveness of the Bank's overall strategy and program of country assistance." Like other CPEs, this evaluation examines Bank support to the country, with the dual purpose of strengthening accountability and facilitating learning.

The main objective of this evaluation is to identify elements that have contributed to the greater or lesser success of a number of land regularization and administration projects; it also seeks, on the basis of these, to identify aspects of both design and execution that warrant special attention in order to make these projects more efficient, effective, and sustainable. The secondary objective is to provide information on the performance and outcomes of the projects evaluated. The evaluation is based on a number of selected projects that are not representative of the full range of Bank activities in this area, and its conclusions are limited to the scope of those projects. The evaluation does not, therefore, claim to offer conclusions that can be extrapolated to all such activities, or to make any judgment about the future relevance of land administration projects in the region.

As part of its 2014 annual work plan, the Office of Evaluation and Oversight(OVE) is preparing its evaluation of the country program with Colombia for the period spanning January 2011 to June 2014. This document sets out the proposed approach and planned methodology for the country program evaluation (CPE), which represents the fourth time that OVE will evaluate the Bank's program with Colombia. Previous evaluations covered the periods 1990-2002 (document RE-280), 1998-2006 (document RE-337), and 2007-2010 (document RE-393).

This Country Program Evaluation (CPE) for Belize: 2008-2012 is the third time the Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE) has evaluated the work of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB, or Bank) with Belize. The main goal of the CPE is to provide information on Bank performance at the country level that is credible and useful, and that enables the incorporation of lessons and recommendations that can be used to improve the development effectiveness of the Bank's overall strategy and program of country assistance. Chapter 1 briefly describes the social and macroeconomic context in which the Bank's program was executed. Chapter 2 describes the main objects of the evaluation the Country Strategy and its associated program and discusses their relevance for Belize's economic development in light of the issues raised in the previous chapter. Chapter 3 assesses the efficiency of the Bank's work in Belize relative to its work in other countries and tries to identify the factors that contribute to it. Chapter 4 is concerned with the results of some of the operations executed during the period. The operations evaluated are those that closed between 2008 and 2012 or that progressed sufficiently in their execution as to be able to show some results.

The IDB has been working on land titling and regularization projects since its founding. A first set of projects was financed between 1960 and 1995. In 1995, a second set of projects began with the objective of regularizing land ownership and improving its administration. As of December 31, 2011, twenty five projects of this type have been approved throughout the region. This evaluation will analyze the implementation and results of the latter set of projects. The evaluation will assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of project results. The in-depth analysis of a sample of nine projects in four countries will constitute the core of the evaluation, and it will have a comparative approach.

Belize's 2008-2012 Country Strategy approved in June 2009 stated that the IDB would continuously monitor fiscal sustainability and calibrate its financing in accordance with changing country conditions. Rather than establishing specific sectors for IDB support, the Country Strategy identified four development objectives to which it would contribute: (1) ensuring sound fiscal management and public sector transparency; (2) creating or restoring the conditions for sustainable, private sector-led growth; (3) improving human resource development and social protection; and (4) rehabilitating road infrastructure damaged by floods in November 2008. The evaluation will analyze whether program implementation was consistent with the country's development needs and with the objectives laid out in the Country Strategy. The evaluation will use various data sources including interviews with IDB staff, government authorities, people participating in IDB operations, beneficiaries, as well as the review of IDB documents, readily available evaluations, and primary data when available.

This evaluation examines the IDB's Country Program with Colombia for the 2007-2011 period. The evaluation found social investment and decentralization as two areas in which the IDB maintained presence and relevance during this period. In social investment, the IDB was consolidated as a stable partner to Colombia in the creation and operation of a long-term social safety net. In regards to decentralization, cooperation was crosscutting, as the IDB worked with subnational institutions in diverse sectors, such as transportation, business development, housing, and modernization of the State. The IDB also continued its long-term work with Colombia to modernize and improve the efficiency of oversight agencies and the judicial branch, helping the country to obtain sizeable savings. To continue to improve the strategy with Colombia, OVE recommends that the IDB should: (i) increase its efforts to lower the transaction costs of IDB's cooperation with the country; (ii) improve the evaluability, monitoring and evaluation of the Country Strategy and the projects financed by the IDB; (iii) identify and strengthen the IDB's capacity in the areas and sectors in which the country will concentrate its demand for financial cooperation; and (iv) identify international development experiences that have been successful and present them to Colombia.