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Interim report on the evaluation of the Integrated Framework

6 August 2003

After much delay, the Bretton Woods Project has obtained a copy of the interim report of the team chosen to do the evaluation of the Integrated Framework (IF) for trade-related technical assistance. The report by Canadian consulting firm Capra International was presented to the IF Heads of Agencies 10 July 2003 in Washington. The final report is due 29 August to “ensure its availability for review prior to the Ministerial Meeting of the WTO in Cancun”.

The IF is a multi-agency initiative to coordinate national ministries, donors and multilateral agencies in the provision of trade-related capacity building. It is being touted as a model for cooperation in capacity building, with the World Bank taking a lead role in the diagnostic studies which make up the first phase of the work programme. These studies have been completed in a dozen countries. Some twenty-two further studies for both least developed and low-income countries are planned within the next two years.

The interim evaluation report is short on substance. Objectives and theoretical framework have been taken from the terms of reference. The copy obtained by the Bretton Woods Project did not contain two annexes alleged to contain an “Evaluation Framework” and the “Logic Model”. A detailed travel plan for consultation is included; unfortunately, by the time the report was made available, the team had finished its consultations. Details of civil society groups consulted are as yet unavailable.