This evaluation was carried out by an Independent Evaluation Group team led by Rashmi Shankar (lead economist). The report’s main author is Estelle Raimondo (program manager). The task was conducted under the guidance of Jeffrey Allen Chelsky (manager), the direction of Theo Thomas (director), and the overall guidance of Sabine Bernabè (Director-General, Evaluation).

The core evaluation team included Patricia Acevedo (program assistant); Harsh Anuj (data scientist); Dung Thi Kim Chu (program assistant); Shahrzad Mobasher Fard (consultant, evaluator); Professor Gary Fields (consultant, senior technical adviser); Pablo Fleiss (technical adviser); Lars Johannes (senior economist); Thomas Kenyon (senior economist); Doruk Yarin Kiroglu (portfolio analyst); Melissa Metz (senior economist); Denita Pious (research analyst and consultant); Andrea Rojas (consultant and evaluator); Rashmi Shankar (task team leader and lead economist); Xiaolun Sun (senior evaluation officer); Sandra Jane Wark (consultant and evaluator); Andrei Wong (portfolio analyst and consultant); and Marwane Zouaidi (extended-term consultant and project officer).

The report was peer-reviewed by Dr. Gordon Betcherman (professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, School of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa) and Abebe Shimeles (director of research, African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi, Kenya).

The team is grateful to the Independent Evaluation Group Methods team and to colleagues from the Jobs Group, Global Practices, International Finance Corporation, development finance institutions, Operations Policy and Country Services, and Regions, as well as external stakeholders for extensive consultations.