Emmanuel Jimenez

Emmanuel-Jimenez
Designation: Director General, Independent Evaluation Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Emmanuel Jimenez is Director General, Independent Evaluation Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Reporting to ADB’s Board of Directors, his responsibilities include assessing ADB’s development effectiveness, as well providing lessons to inform ADB operations. Prior to joining ADB, Mr. Jimenez worked as an Independent Consultant who provides advice, and conducts research and training on evaluation, economics, development management, education and social protection programs. Prior to this, he was the Executive Director and CEO of 3ie. In this role, he led and conducted impact evaluations and evidence reviews. He provided strategic direction to the organization as it championed the generation and use of evidence to guide decisions regarding policies and programs that improve lives in low and middle-income countries. Previously, Mr. Jimenez had worked for 30 years in the World Bank Group (WBG) and held several senior management roles across several departments such as the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), the South Asia, East Asia, and Pacific Groups, and the Policy Research Department. Mr. Jimenez was a faculty member of the Economics Department of Western University in London, Canada. Throughout his career, he has published extensively, including articles in peer-reviewed professional journals, books and reports on economic development and served as managing editor of several international development journals.

Born in the Philippines, Mr. Jimenez is a national of Canada. He holds a Doctorate in Economics from Brown University in the United States, a Master’s degree in Economics from University of Toronto in Canada, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from McGill University in Canada.

Blogs by author

Innovating to learn

We are in the midst of a global learning crisis. This is the clear message from recent major reports: According to the World Bank’s 2018 World Development Report on learning, “hundreds of millions of children reach young adulthood without even the most basic life skills.” And the Education Commission’s 2016 Learning Generation report estimates that “over three-quarters of a billion young people in low- and middle-income countries will not be on track to acquire basic secondary-level skills.”

How qual improves quant in impact evaluations

Bridging divides, be they across ethnicities, religions, politics or, indeed, genders, is never easy.  There have been many books written about them, including some that made millions – for example, John Gray’s idea that men and women come from different planets, Mars and Venus respectively, is apparently the best-selling hard cover non-fiction book ever. One shouldn’t begrudge them because the payoffs – domestic or planetary peace – are high indeed.

What did I learn about the demand for impact evaluations at the What Works Global Summit?

At the recently concluded What Works Global Summit (WWGS) which 3ie co-sponsored, a significant number of the sessions featured presentations on new impact evaluations and systematic reviews. WWGS was a perfect opportunity to learn lessons about the demand for and supply of high-quality evidence for decision-making because it brought together a diverse set of stakeholders. There were donors, knowledge intermediaries, policymakers, programme managers, researchers and service providers. They came from both developed as well as developing countries.

How synthesised evidence can help with meeting the Sustainable Development Goals

In early 2016, 193 governments across the world put together a to-do list that would intimidate even the most workaholic overachiever: wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change over the next 15 years. The United Nations led in articulating these into 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were then translated into 169 target indicators that will be monitored – a remarkable feat given the disparate views of the various stakeholders.

Private outcomes and the public interest: a call for more impact evaluations?

The 2015 Year of Evaluation has now come and gone. There were many noteworthy events (more than 80 conferences, workshops, seminars and the like, according to some accounts), most of which focused on the needs in developing countries. Participants included some of the best known from the evaluation community across the public or non-government sectors. However, the interesting question raised in these events was, Where was the private sector?