The Multilateral Organisations Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN)

12 July 2010

MOPAN is a network of 16 donors with a common interest in assessing the organisational effectiveness of the major multilateral organisations that they fund. DFID is a leading member of this fast expanding network that now includes most of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members.

The network has developed a new assessment tool that asks 19 sets of questions, ranging from the quality of an agency’s strategic management to the quality of programmes and projects at a country level.

It gathers responses from donors (in-country and at headquarters) and direct partners (often recipient governments). These responses are converted into scores, which are then used to give a summary of views of multilateral effectiveness. The numbers are backed up by qualitative data, in the form of comments.

It is vital that we assess the performance of multilateral organisations as nearly 60% of programme expenditure goes through them. The findings of MOPAN will help to inform future resource allocation decisions.

In 2009 the World Bank, the African Development Bank, UNDP and UNICEF were assessed. Electronic versions of the reports can be found in on the MOPAN website.

The results will be used as part of the negotiations for International Development Association (IDA, the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries) and the African Development Fund. The findings will also be used to inform our policy dialogue with UNDP and UNICEF, including by updating the targets in the agencies’ Institutional Strategies for 2010.

In 2010 the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) will be assessed. The network will also be testing the approach on a Global Fund and a Humanitarian Organisation in up to three countries.