## IMF Staff Response to the External Midterm Evaluation of the Data for Decisions (D4D) Fund for 2018-2021 ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [IMF Staff Response to the External Midterm Evaluation of the Data for Decisions (D4D) Fund for 2018-2021](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/capacity-developement/d4d/june-2023/action-plan-d4d-fund-mid-term-evaluation-recommendations-room-document.pdf) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/-/media/files/capacity-developement/d4d/june-2023/action-plan-d4d-fund-mid-term-evaluation-recommendations-room-document.pdf.md) - [Structured JSON version](/-/media/files/capacity-developement/d4d/june-2023/action-plan-d4d-fund-mid-term-evaluation-recommendations-room-document.pdf.json) --- ### Overview and context - IMF staff welcomed the external midterm evaluation covering D4D-funded capacity development (CD) activities between June 2018 and April 2021. - Overall assessment: the D4D Fund provides CD that is "relevant, effective, coherent, and efficient"; however, "more could be done to ensure that it achieves a longer-term sustainable impact." - Evaluator priorities highlighted: - Move from a CD-delivery-centered approach toward a change management approach, emphasizing organizational change. - Increase focus on use of data for policy decisions, integrated into CD delivery, ex-ante assessments, and monitoring of results. - Implementation responsibility: Actions to be undertaken primarily by the Statistics Department (STA) in close collaboration with the Institute of Capacity Development (ICD), other Capacity Development Departments (CDDs), and Area Departments (ADs). - Timing and phases: - Most actions to be implemented during the remaining cycle of D4D Fund Phase I and the proposed D4D Fund Phase II to start in July 2025. - Some organizational role repurposing planned during FY24. - Blended learning rollout piloted during FY23. - Priority categories used: High Medium Low. ### Findings emphasized by IMF staff - Confirmation that the IMF’s demand-driven CD approach is relevant. - Positive impact of IMF CD on building national statistical systems and supporting new or improved statistical products in low- and lower middle-income countries. - Country authorities value the Fund’s high quality of CD delivery. - Persistent challenges: - Sustainable impact is limited where recipient engagement and ownership are weak and where underfunding of statistical programs persists. - Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (FCS): - Synergies with IMF departments are deepening under the IMF’s new FCS Strategy with more tailored needs assessments supported by country engagement strategies. - CD planning evolution: - Shift from one- to three-year roadmap orientation through medium term work (MTW) plans under the Capacity Development Management and Administration Program (CDMAP). - Information dissemination: - IMF Staff Operational Guidance on the Dissemination of Capacity Development Information (issued in 2022) provides for wider, more active, and timelier sharing of CD information, including dissemination of high-level summaries of strategic final CD outputs. ### Recommendation 1 — Move from "CD delivery" to a "change management" approach - Evaluators’ aims: - Increase likelihood that short-term CD effects translate into longer-term organizational change and policy improvements (especially for M1 and M3). - Encourage authorities to allocate resources to sustained data collection, dissemination, and use. - Ensure knowledge strengthening translates into improved data production and usage for policy decisions. - IMF staff planned actions: - Orient CD interventions to country context and lasting impact; leverage CDMAP-driven three-year MTW plans and earlier discussion of roadmaps with authorities and ADs to strengthen policy relevance and resource implications. - STA will: - (i) proactively discuss resource needs and CD impact with high-level country authorities during IMF Annual and Spring Meetings; and - (ii) work with AD teams (including IMF Resident Representatives) to identify—and seek action by country authorities on—underfunding of statistical programs. - Include more specific macroeconomic statistics recommendations in IMF Article IV reports (based on prioritization), with particular attention to countries under an IMF Program. - Leverage new CD modalities for more continuous country engagement via regular informal check-ins between CD missions. - Repurpose role of regional managers and country coordinators (during FY24) to ensure regular dialogue with ADs on country data needs, MTW progress, and data usage for policy decision making. - Encourage documentation of country data compilation processes; promote STA online learning, How-to Notes, and develop a Compilers’ Hub as a knowledge sharing tool. - Orient training to data compilation with use of country or synthetic datasets where applicable; integrate existing tools (e.g., supply-use table balancing tool for the national accounts) and practical exercises into D4D-funded in-country/regional workshops. - Continue the D4D-funded online learning curriculum including modules on use of data for policy purposes. ### Recommendation 2 — Include explicit needs assessments for data use during intervention planning and design - Evaluators’ expectations: - For CD recipients (mostly M1 and M3): assess how interventions fill data gaps, local interest in using improved data for macroeconomic analysis and policy, and which agencies would use the data; involve recipients in designing terms of reference and selecting realistic outcomes/milestones. - For area departments (mostly M1 and M3): include IMF country team assessment of data gaps addressed, relevance for surveillance or program monitoring, and a score reflecting likelihood of usage by area departments. - For third-party data users: qualitatively assess user needs (e.g., survey third-party users for the FAS). - IMF staff planned actions: - Improve understanding of data needs and drivers for implementation, including incentives and obstacles for stakeholders. - STA will consult extensively with country authorities at project design to assess data use needs; regional workshops will cover how potential CD interventions address data gaps and readiness of authorities. - IMF Country Engagement Strategies will inform CD planning and design on macroeconomic statistics for FCS. - Assessments of data adequacy for surveillance are included in IMF Article IV Reports. - Form a FAS Advisory Group under M2 consisting of policymakers, reporting countries, stakeholder organizations, and academia to provide feedback on FAS development. - Encourage national user consultations for key CD projects such as a GDP rebasing for standard macroeconomic datasets (M1). ### Recommendation 3 — Systematic assessment of ownership and absorption capacity in CD planning and design - Evaluators’ expectations: - Require explicit assessment of political willingness to reform and absorption capacity (capacity gaps among recipient organizations) during CD planning. - IMF staff planned actions: - Design and implement interventions owned by authorities at all levels through systematic pre-design engagement. - STA will continue pre-design engagement to identify pressing data gaps and discuss required resources to achieve project objectives. - Diagnostic missions will include use case analysis where feasible and address resource availability and absorptive capacity through engagement with key stakeholders, including compiling and source data-providing agencies. - Regional workshops on new statistical products (e.g., residential property price index) will emphasize user outreach prior to decisions on D4D-funded country engagement. ### Recommendation 4 — Improve impact monitoring and evaluation at the level of data users - Evaluators’ recommendation: - Include user-level indicators in the strategic log frame. - Encourage project teams to report user-level indicators more systematically in progress reports. - Conduct more frequent post-mission follow-up monitoring (especially for Module 1). - Specify responsibility for monitoring and allocate a share of the D4D budget to monitoring. - Actions proposed by evaluators: - Monitor use of improved data by: - IMF area departments (examples: Article IV reports, DSAs, REOs, WEO). - National authorities (examples: use by government or central bank agencies in reports/publications and on websites). - Relevant third parties (examples: rating agencies, investment banks, researchers, development partners, NGOs). - Clarify responsibility for follow-up monitoring; consider STA economist, STA project manager, Resident Representative offices, or IMF country team for Module 1. - Allocate a share of the D4D Fund budget to monitoring user-level outcomes by short-term experts or STA staff; monitoring could include ex-post surveys for training courses. - IMF staff planned actions: - STA will explore feasibility of including qualitative information on use of improved data for policy analysis and decisions in D4D Fund progress reports, drawing on available government policy publications. - Outreach to national policymakers and IMF mission chiefs will be undertaken; examples of successful data use will be included in D4D Fund Annual Reports. - STA will continue monitoring internal usage of the FAS data including in Staff Reports, Policy Notes, Article IVs, and other documents under M2. - STA's Data Product Evaluation will continue to estimate FAS user statistics and references of FAS data and definitions in IMF internal documents using data mining, subject to caveats on third-party data dissemination. - Under CDMAP, active project monitoring during the project life cycle is the responsibility of the STA project manager; short-term experts’ contract arrangements limit their role on country engagement to mission duration. - IMF will assess feasibility of integrating post-project follow-up into existing processes. - STA will propose to the D4D Fund Steering Committee a share of the Phase II budget for implementing systematic monitoring, including post-project surveys; the proposal will be articulated in the Program document for endorsement. ### Recommendation 5 — Enhance coordination and strengthen synergies with other development partners - Evaluators’ recommendations: - Include a systematic overview in D4D Fund Annual Reports of CD activities of other development partners (potentially based on PARIS21). - Disseminate D4D Fund TA reports more widely and publish summaries. - Communicate complementarities between D4D-supported CD and other DPs and specify which improved data are expected. - Institutionalize regular information sharing with the World Bank on statistics-related CD projects past the design phase. - Increase coordination at design stage and align project field codes with the World Bank. - Strengthen external coordination at project level and monitor overlaps/complementarities between FAS (M2) and World Bank Global Findex. - IMF staff planned actions: - Leverage granular information in the Clearinghouse for Financing Development Data to enhance coordination mechanisms. - Beginning in 2024, D4D Fund Annual Reports will feature more systematic reporting on complementarities with other development partners. - Advance sharing of CD outputs in line with the IMF Staff Operational Guidance on the Dissemination of Capacity Development Information issued in 2022: disseminate high-level summaries (HLS), increase number of technical assistance reports (TARs) on the IMF website, and report progress in D4D Fund Annual Reports. TARs may be shared with other DPs on request and subject to country agreement. - Establish and strengthen mechanisms with the World Bank for coordination on activities of mutual interest (e.g., public sector debt statistics, national accounts, prices, climate); since 2022, the World Bank has been engaging STA at project design phase to facilitate upstream coordination. - Pursue coordination avenues with other DPs for each new project/activity under the D4D Fund and tap expertise of other international organizations for remaining online courses. - Under M2, coordinate with the World Bank's Findex to enhance financial inclusion data collection; FAS and Findex are discussing complementarities in the context of the FAS pilot data collection and Data Gaps Initiative 3 Recommendation 12: Fintech-enabled financial inclusion. FAS is also harnessing complementarities with FSB's Fintech Credit survey, World Bank’s Global Payment System Survey, OECD's financial literacy surveys, etc. ### Recommendation 6 — Further tailor the RBM framework to the D4D Fund - Evaluators’ recommendation: - Discuss with ICD how the RBM framework can be better adapted to, or merged with, the D4D Fund Strategic Log Frame to reduce duplication and burden on project managers. - Expand granularity of the RBM Catalogue to include more outcomes and indicators suited to country context while remaining general enough for the Catalogue. - Include outcomes and outcome indicators usable as proxies for data use. - Strengthen linkage between project/country-specific milestones and general outcomes, especially for Module 1. - Combine country-specific outcomes/milestones with global or regional targets and report both in annual progress reports. - Ensure STA project managers rate outcomes and milestones in CD-MAP timely and provide guidance for consistent RBM ratings. - IMF staff planned actions: - Design Phase II strategic log frame in close consultation with ICD. - STA has updated its RBM catalogue and will undertake further updates based on business needs; expansion already includes more objectives (example: real sector statistics now has 4 for national accounts instead of 1 in the old catalog); expansion will continue (e.g., for climate statistics CD delivery). - Global or regional targets will build on country-specific outcomes in Phase II strategic log frame. - Inputs for monitoring and reporting of the strategic log frame will be directly drawn from CDMAP to ensure timely ratings of outcomes and milestones; annual project assessments are part of CDMAP deliverables. - STA has implemented an RBM data completeness monitor to improve quality of assessments. ### Recommendation 7 — Continue developing and institutionalizing the blended (online and in-person) CD delivery model - Evaluators’ recommendation: - Use remote tools systematically prior to missions for pre-CD assessments and to determine need for M3 online courses or online components. - Offer online training prior to CD missions (e.g., one month in advance) to improve absorption capacity and level the playing field. - Consider requiring M3 course certification by senior technical staff as a precondition for follow-up TA from M1 or related TA. - During missions, encourage participants to sign up for online courses when gaps are identified. - Use remote tools systematically for post-mission follow-up (e.g., regular meetings). - Maintain remote CD as a complement, not substitute, for in-person CD given IT and attention constraints and limits on hands-on support. - Integrate Modules 1 and 3 through blended learning. - IMF staff planned actions: - Mainstream blended CD delivery across work streams, countries, and regions; roll out courses piloted during FY23 to all work streams. - Request authorities to encourage staff registration for online courses; in some instances make completion of online (foundational) courses a precondition for attendance at in-person workshops and trainings. - Expand blended modality to scheduled TA activities with embedded training components, leveraging the online learning curriculum developed under M3 (either full courses or selected videos). - Continue leveraging hybrid CD delivery to widen audience reach and tap expertise of other international/regional organizations to sharpen focus on use of data in training programs (example: World Bank to discuss use of Quarterly External Debt Statistics during STA training on external debt statistics). *IMF Staff Response to the External Midterm Evaluation of the Data for Decisions (D4D) Fund for 2018-2021.* ### Section 1 ### IMF Staff Response to the External Midterm Evaluation of the Data for Decisions (D4D) Fund for 2018-2021 ### Overview and context - The IMF staff welcomes the comprehensive midterm evaluation covering D4D-funded capacity development (CD) activities between June 2018 and April 2021. - Overall assessment: the D4D Fund provides CD that is "relevant, effective, coherent, and efficient"; however, "more could be done to ensure that it achieves a longer-term sustainable impact." - Key evaluator recommendations highlighted: - Move from a CD-delivery-centered approach toward a change management approach, emphasizing organizational change. - Increase focus on use of data for policy decisions, integrated into CD delivery, ex-ante assessments, and monitoring of results. - Implementation responsibility: Actions will be undertaken primarily by the Statistics Department (STA) in close collaboration with the Institute of Capacity Development (ICD), other Capacity Development Departments (CDDs), and Area Departments (ADs). - Timing: Most actions are to be implemented during the remaining cycle of D4D Fund Phase I and the proposed D4D Fund Phase II to start in July 2025. - Priority categories noted: High Medium Low. ### Findings emphasized by IMF staff - The IMF’s demand-driven CD approach is confirmed as relevant. - IMF CD has a positive impact on building national statistical systems and supporting new or improved statistical products in low- and lower middle-income countries. - Country authorities value the Fund’s high quality of CD delivery. - Challenges remain in achieving sustainable impact where recipient engagement and ownership are limited and where underfunding of statistical programs persists. - For Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (FCS), synergies with IMF departments are deepening under the IMF’s new FCS Strategy with more tailored needs assessments supported by country engagement strategies. - CD planning has shifted from a one- to a three-year roadmap orientation through medium term work (MTW) plans under the Capacity Development Management and Administration Program (CDMAP). - An IMF Staff Operational Guidance on the Dissemination of Capacity Development Information (issued in 2022) provides for wider, more active, and timelier sharing of CD information, including dissemination of high-level summaries of strategic final CD outputs. ### Recommendation 1 — Move from "CD delivery" to a "change management" approach - Evaluators’ core aims: - Increase likelihood that short-term CD effects translate into longer-term organizational change and policy improvements (especially for M1 and M3). - Encourage authorities to allocate resources to sustained data collection, dissemination, and use. - Ensure knowledge strengthening is translated into improved data production and usage for policy decisions. - IMF staff responses and proposed actions: - Planned orientation to design and implement CD interventions better tailored to country context and geared to lasting impact. - CDMAP-driven shift to three-year MTW plans; STA will discuss roadmap proposals earlier with authorities and in conjunction with ADs to strengthen links to policy relevance and resource implications. - STA will: - (i) proactively discuss resource needs and CD impact with high-level country authorities during IMF Annual and Spring Meetings; and - (ii) work with AD teams (including IMF Resident Representatives) to identify—and seek action by country authorities on—underfunding of statistical programs. - More specific recommendations on macroeconomic statistics to be included in IMF Article IV reports (based on prioritization), with particular attention to countries under an IMF Program. - Leverage new CD modalities to explore more continuous country engagement through regular informal check-ins between CD missions. - Repurpose role of regional managers and country coordinators (during FY24) to ensure more regular dialogue with ADs on country data needs, MTW progress, and data usage for policy decision making. - STA will encourage documentation of country data compilation processes and promote STA online learning and How-to Notes; STA is developing a Compilers’ Hub as a knowledge sharing tool. - Training activities will be further oriented to data compilation (including use of country or synthetic datasets where applicable); existing tools (e.g., supply-use table balancing tool for the national accounts) and practical exercises will be integrated into D4D-funded in-country/regional workshops. - The D4D-funded online learning curriculum includes modules on use of data for policy purposes and will be continued. ### Recommendation 2 — Include explicit needs assessments for data use during intervention planning and design - Evaluators’ expectations: - For CD recipients (mostly M1 and M3): assess how interventions fill data gaps, local interest in using improved data for macroeconomic analysis and policy, and which agencies would use the data. - Involve recipients jointly in designing terms of reference and selection of realistic outcomes/milestones to increase ownership. - For area departments (mostly M1 and M3): include IMF country team assessment of data gaps addressed, relevance for surveillance or program monitoring, and a score reflecting likelihood of usage by area departments. - For third-party data users: qualitatively assess user needs (e.g., for the FAS, conduct a survey among third-party data users). - IMF staff responses and proposed actions: - Planned actions aim at understanding data needs and drivers for implementation, including incentives of all stakeholders and potential obstacles. - STA will consult extensively with country authorities at the design phase of each project to clearly assess data use needs; regional workshops will cover how potential CD interventions address data gaps and readiness of authorities. - IMF Country Engagement Strategies will inform CD planning and design on macroeconomic statistics for FCS. - Assessments of data adequacy for surveillance are included in IMF Article IV Reports. - A FAS Advisory Group is being formed under M2, consisting of prominent policymakers, reporting countries, stakeholder organizations, and academia to provide feedback on FAS development work. - For standard macroeconomic datasets (M1), IMF staff encourage countries to undertake national user consultations for key CD projects such as a GDP rebasing. ### Recommendation 3 — Systematic assessment of ownership and absorption capacity in CD planning and design - Evaluators’ expectations: - CD planning should require explicit assessment of political willingness to reform and absorption capacity (capacity gaps among recipient organizations). - IMF staff responses and proposed actions: - Planned actions will aim to design and implement interventions that are owned by the authorities at all levels. - STA will continue systematic pre-design engagement with country authorities to identify pressing data gaps and discuss required resources to achieve project objectives. - Diagnostic missions will include use case analysis where feasible and address resource availability and absorptive capacity through engagement with key stakeholders, including compiling and source data-providing agencies. - Regional workshops on new statistical products (e.g., residential property price index) will communicate the importance of user outreach prior to decisions on D4D-funded country engagement. ### Recommendation 4 — Improve impact monitoring and evaluation at the level of data users - Evaluators’ expectations: - Include user-level indicators in the strategic log frame. - Encourage project teams to report user-level indicators more systematically in progress reports. - Conduct more frequent post-mission follow-up monitoring (especially for Module 1). - Specify who is responsible for monitoring and allocate a share of the D4D budget to monitoring. - IMF staff responses and proposed actions: - Planned actions aim to measure and document data use for policy decisions, beyond data compilation and dissemination. - STA will consider inclusion of user-level indicators in the strategic log frame and/or the next version of the RBM Catalogue. - Project teams will be encouraged to report qualitative, country-specific proxies or examples of successful use of improved data for policy analysis and decisions in progress or annual reports. - STA will examine the feasibility of implementing systematic post-mission follow-up (C3) particularly for new statistical products; post-project sustainability is also gauged via surveillance or lending missions and gaps in countries’ reporting to STA databases and/or compliance with IMF data standards. *IMF Staff Response to the External Midterm Evaluation of the Data for Decisions (D4D) Fund for 2018-2021.* ### Section 2 ### action-plan-d4d-fund-mid-term-evaluation-recommendations-room-document - Section 2 ### Recommendation 4 — Improve impact monitoring and evaluation at the level of data users - Key evaluative recommendation: - Include user-level indicators in the strategic log frame. - Encourage project teams to report on user-level indicators more systematically in progress reports. - Carry out more frequent post-mission follow-up monitoring (especially for Module 1). - Specify who should be responsible for such monitoring. - Allocate a share of the D4D budget to ensure that such monitoring can take place. - Actions proposed by evaluators: - Monitor use of improved data by: - IMF area departments (examples of data use for Article IV reports, DSAs, REOs, WEO, etc.). - National authorities (examples of data use by relevant government or central bank agencies in their reports/publications and on their websites). - Relevant third parties (examples of data use by rating agencies, investment banks, researchers, development partners, NGOs, etc.). - Clarify responsibility for follow-up monitoring; consider handing over follow-up monitoring to STA economist, STA project manager, Resident Representative offices (if present), or the IMF country team, especially for Module 1. - Allocate a certain share of the D4D Fund budget to monitoring of user-level outcomes by short-term experts or STA staff; monitoring could also be conducted via ex-post surveys (especially for training courses). - IMF Staff response and proposed actions: - STA will explore feasibility of including in D4D Fund progress reports qualitative information on the use of improved data for policy analysis and decisions, drawing on readily available information in government policy publications. - Outreach to national policymakers and to IMF mission chiefs will be undertaken; examples of successful use of data will be included in D4D Fund Annual Reports. - STA will continue monitoring internal usage of the FAS data including in Staff Reports, Policy Notes, Article IVs, and other documents under M2. - STA's Data Product Evaluation will continue to estimate FAS user statistics and references of FAS data and definitions in IMF internal documents using data mining, subject to caveats related to data dissemination in third-party websites. - Under CDMAP processes, active project monitoring during the project life cycle is the responsibility of the STA project manager. IMF contract arrangements with short-term experts limit their role on country engagement to mission duration. IMF will assess feasibility of integrating post-project follow-up into existing processes. - STA will propose to the D4D Fund Steering Committee a share of the Phase II budget for implementing systematic monitoring, including post-project surveys. The proposal will be articulated in the Program document for endorsement. ### Recommendation 5 — Enhance coordination and strengthen synergies with other development partners - Key evaluative recommendation: - Include a systematic overview in the D4D Fund’s annual reports of CD activities of other relevant development partners (DPs) in macroeconomic statistics, potentially based on PARIS21 information. - Disseminate D4D Fund TA reports more widely and publish summaries. - Communicate how D4D Fund-supported CD is complementary to other DPs and which improved data are expected. - Institutionalize regular information sharing with the World Bank on relevant statistics-related CD projects that have passed the design phase. - Increase coordination at the design stage and improve mapping/alignment of project field codes with the World Bank. - Strengthen external coordination at project level (e.g., involve UN Statistics Division in online M3 courses such as NASx; monitor overlaps/complementarities between FAS (M2) and World Bank Global Findex). - IMF Staff response and proposed actions: - STA will leverage granular information in the recently launched Clearinghouse for Financing Development Data to enhance coordination mechanisms. - Beginning in 2024, D4D Fund Annual Reports will feature more systematic reporting on how D4D Fund-supported CD is complementary to those of other development partners. - STA will advance sharing of CD outputs in line with the IMF Staff Operational Guidance on the Dissemination of Capacity Development Information issued in 2022: disseminate high-level summaries (HLS), increase the number of technical assistance reports (TARs) on the IMF website, and report progress in D4D Fund Annual Reports. TARs may be shared with other DPs on request and subject to CD-recipient country agreement. - STA has established and will further strengthen mechanisms with the World Bank for coordination on activities of mutual interest (e.g., public sector debt statistics, national accounts, prices, climate). Since 2022, the World Bank has been engaging STA at the design phase of their statistics CD projects to facilitate upstream coordination. - Avenues for coordination with other DPs involved in statistical development will be pursued for each new project/activity under the D4D Fund (including tapping expertise of other international organizations for remaining online courses to be produced). - Under M2, coordination with the World Bank's Findex has helped enhance financial inclusion data collection. The FAS and Findex are discussing complementarities, particularly in the context of the FAS pilot data collection and Data Gaps Initiative 3 Recommendation 12: Fintech-enabled financial inclusion. FAS is also harnessing complementarities with FSB's Fintech Credit survey, World Bank’s Global Payment System Survey, OECD's financial literacy surveys, etc. ### Recommendation 6 — Further tailor the RBM framework to the D4D Fund - Key evaluative recommendation: - Discuss with ICD how the RBM framework used by the D4D Fund can be better adapted to, or merged with, the D4D Fund Strategic Log Frame to reduce duplication and burden on project managers. - Expand the granularity of the RBM Catalogue to include more outcomes and indicators that better fit country context while remaining general enough for the Catalogue. - Include outcomes and outcome indicators usable as proxies for data use. - Require a more direct link between project- or country-specific milestones and general outcomes, especially for Module 1. - Combine country-specific outcomes and milestones with global or regional targets to account for exogenous country circumstances; report both country targets and global targets in annual progress reports. - Ensure STA project managers rate outcomes and milestones in CD-MAP timely and provide guidance to ensure consistent RBM ratings. - IMF Staff response and proposed actions: - To be undertaken in designing the strategic log frame for Phase II of the D4D Fund in close consultation with ICD. - STA has updated its RBM catalogue and will undertake further updates based on business needs. Expansion already includes more objectives (example: real sector statistics now has 4 for national accounts instead of 1 in the old catalog); expansion will continue (e.g., for climate statistics CD delivery). - Global or regional targets will build on country-specific outcomes in the design of the strategic log frame of Phase II. - Inputs for monitoring and reporting of the strategic log frame will be directly drawn from CDMAP, ensuring ratings of outcomes and milestones are properly and timely recorded in CDMAP. Annual project assessments are part of CDMAP deliverables, and STA has implemented an RBM data completeness monitor to improve the quality of these assessments. ### Recommendation 7 — Continue developing and institutionalizing the blended (online and in-person) CD delivery model - Key evaluative recommendation: - Leverage remote tools systematically prior to missions to conduct pre-CD assessments (assessment of need for M3 online courses or an online component). - Offer online training prior to CD missions (e.g., one month in advance) to improve absorption capacity and level the playing field for participants. - Consider making M3 course certification by senior technical staff a requirement for receiving follow-up TA from M1 or other TA in same area. - During missions, encourage staff and experts to recommend participants sign up for online courses if gaps are identified. - Following missions, use remote tools more systematically to follow up (e.g., regular meetings). - Maintain remote CD as complement, not substitute, for in-person CD given IT constraints, attention/focus issues, and limits on hands-on support. - Integrate Modules 1 and 3 through blended learning. - IMF Staff response and proposed actions: - Planned actions will fully mainstream blended CD delivery. - Blended learning is now an established CD delivery modality. STA will continue to roll out the blended learning courses piloted during FY23 to all work streams, countries and regions. - STA will request authorities to encourage their staff to register for available online courses; in some instances, STA will make completion of online (foundational) courses a precondition for attendance to in-person workshops and trainings. - STA will expand the blended modality to scheduled TA activities with embedded training components, leveraging the online learning curriculum developed under M3 (either full courses or selected videos). - STA will continue to leverage hybrid CD delivery to widen audience reach and tap expertise of other international/regional organizations to sharpen focus on use of data in training programs (example: World Bank to discuss use of Quarterly External Debt Statistics during STA training on external debt statistics). --- _Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/capacity-developement/d4d/june-2023/action-plan-d4d-fund-mid-term-evaluation-recommendations-room-document.pdf_