Development and Cooperation


	Contributions from the Column Monitor Multistakeholder initiatives: No substitute for multilateral policy-marking Good evaluation grades for KfW Climate change: Germany supports poor countries Fighting corruption in the pharma trade In dealing with Iran old and new lines of conflict loom "Human Development Report 2006: Water crisis worse than war Corruption: The World Bank suspends Lahmeyer Asia on track for Millennium Goals 12/2006		Good evaluation grades for KfW Seven out of ten projects undertaken by KfW Entwicklungsbank, the German development bank, succeed. Seventeen percent show positive effects but do not suffice, while the remaining 12% are inadequate or fail entirely. These figures are from KfW’s 9th Evaluation Report, which was published in Frankfurt in November. The report is based on 177 projects in 52 countries that the KfW Evaluation Unit, which operates independently from the bank’s other departments, assessed in 2004/2005. Evaluations take place three to five years after projects have ended, in order to check whether projects turned out to be sustainable, efficient, effective and relevant to development. KfW evaluation reports are published every two years. Wolfgang Kroh, board member of the parent company KfW Bankengruppe, expressed satisfaction with the results. According to him, development banks must not succumb to the temptation of avoiding risks, striving for one hundred percent success rates. Development cooperation geared towards long-term effectiveness, he maintains, is always associated with risk. As an example, Kroh cited the Grameen Bank of Mohammad Yunus, winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Price. When the KfW decided to support the Grameen Bank many years ago, that was “relatively risky” because the microcredit concept had not been tested yet. In the meantime, it has been implemented successfully all over the world as a means to fight poverty. (ell)