Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1 September 2024 – The Independent Evaluation Department (IEvD) convened the launch meeting of the Cluster Evaluation of the Special Assistance Operations in Ethiopia. The evaluation team, composed of Mr. Bashirullah Najimi and Dr. Reem Ahmed, presented key elements of the evaluation approach paper to gather feedback from stakeholders.
This evaluation will cover fifteen projects, primarily within the education sector. For most projects, field missions will be undertaken to conduct stakeholder interviews, focus group discussions, and observations. Data for the remaining projects will be collected through secondary data sources, project-specific questionnaires, virtual interviews, and focus group discussions.
IEvD Director, Mr. Ahmed Ag. Aboubacrine emphasized the benefit of this participatory approach, urging participants to actively engage in discussions and provide technical inputs to enhance the evaluation process and outcomes. "This evaluation is not merely about assessing the effectiveness of our projects; it represents a crucial opportunity for us to learn and enhance our future initiatives," stated Mr. Aboubacrine.
The meeting participants recognized the importance of this evaluation, particularly due to Ethiopia's status as a non-IsDB member country with the second highest Muslim population, its historic role in Islam, and the value of consolidating insights across various projects under the Special Assistance Program. A potential expansion of the evaluation to include the Ethiopia Scholarship Program was also discussed and will require further engagement with the relevant team.
The Evaluation team reiterated its commitment to closely collaborate with all relevant stakeholders, including the Ethiopian Muslim Affairs Supreme Council, to ensure the evaluation’s success. Mr. Abdirashid Warsame, Country Manager (Non-Member Country) from Special Assistance Division, noted that "the IEvD should also enlighten us about the context of our operation and help us understand any existing potentials to collaborate with other like-minded organizations and donors to amplify our impact and further contribute to inclusive development." Colleagues from the Cooperation & Capacity Development Department assured their utmost cooperation during the evaluation exercise to ensure a successful evaluation of the Special Assistance Operations in Ethiopia.
This evaluation is part of a broader effort to assess the effectiveness of the Islamic Development Bank’s (IsDB) Special Assistance Operations in Ethiopia. The IsDB has been working for many years to improve the lives of the communities it serves in Ethiopia, particularly through its Special Assistance Operations.
Jeddah, KSA, 19 August — Dr. Hilal Houssain, Associate Manager of Knowledge Solutions and Br. Mohamad Naamani, Senior Knowledge for Development Specialist at the IsDB Institute (IsDBI), conducted an insightful Brown Bag Knowledge Session on the Islamic Finance Artificial Intelligence Assistant (IFAA). The session, organized by the Independent Evaluation Department (IEvD), brought together 18 participants from various departments, eager to learn about this cutting-edge project. Dr. Houssain and Br. Naamani provided an overview of IFAA, an AI-powered chatbot trained on peer-reviewed publications related to Islamic finance. They highlighted the benefits of the platform in generating tailored content for knowledge seekers, as well as the challenges faced during the development phase, particularly the need to fine-tune the bot's answers. This was addressed by involving subject matter experts in Islamic finance to review and refine the bot's responses to ensure accuracy and reliability. The session provided an opportunity to gain insight into the various types of Large Language Models (LLMs) and explore their potential applications across the Islamic Development Bank. Participants engaged actively, asking pertinent questions about the future opportunities IFAA and similar chatbots present. They also considered how such innovative tools could be used to streamline their own work, enhance efficiency, and foster learning.
