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Amba Tadaa / International development

Multilateral development bank experience

Experience involving multilateral development banks spans institutional reform, agricultural value chains, employment systems and development responses to displacement. The portfolio distinguishes bank-financed programmes, joint assignments and direct work on operational systems, with particular examples involving the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and African Development Bank.

Scope of experience

The work connects development-bank priorities with the institutions and analytical systems needed for delivery. World Bank-related programmes in Afghanistan and Somalia addressed public-sector capacity, staffing and monitoring. Asian Development Bank-related assignments addressed horticultural value chains and, jointly with UNDP, women’s economic participation. Work with ILO and the African Development Bank developed the Youth Marker in two distinct phases. A joint UNHCR–AfDB study examined how development banks could adapt portfolios and financing to displacement contexts. These relationships are described at project level: financing a programme, commissioning analysis and participating in consultation are different forms of involvement. Discussion with other banks in financing studies does not turn each institution into a client or employer.

Institutions and implementation capacity

The Capacity Building for Results programme connected expert-team management with sector investment programmes and public financial management in Afghanistan. Somalia’s Capacity Injection work addressed organisational structures, staffing and coordination across institutions. Humanitarian-sector mapping added a partner-capability and procurement dimension. These examples focus on the systems through which public programmes operate and the information needed to make delivery decisions.

Employment objectives inside lending operations

The AfDB Youth Marker began with comparative analysis and mapping of sovereign and non-sovereign project cycles. The second phase developed tagging structures, templates, indicators and reporting guidance. The distinction between phases matters: institutional design established the approach, while operationalisation addressed application within Bank processes and practical requirements for different sectors, financial intermediaries and private borrowers.

Evidence for inclusive development responses

Afghanistan work includes agricultural economic analysis under an ADB-financed initiative and a joint UNDP–ADB gender study. The displacement study examined portfolios, instruments and cross-institutional cooperation across African settings. These are specific examples of connecting sector or population evidence with financing and programming choices, rather than a claim that every study resulted in executed investments or uniform operational change.

In practice

Selected assignments

Afghanistan

Institutional capacity and sector investment planning in Afghanistan

The World Bank-funded Capacity Building for Results programme supported Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance and line ministries. Technical assistance linked institutional capacity with revenue generation, budget execution and service delivery, combining expert-team management with operating arrangements, sector investment programmes and monitoring systems.

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Somalia

Civil-service capacity and institutional restructuring in Somalia

The Somalia Capacity Injection programme connected civil-service reform with the capacity to implement policy and deliver services. Work with government institutions and the World Bank addressed organisational structures, staffing requirements and institutional coordination, informed by fieldwork and dialogue with national and subnational counterparts.

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Africa · regional operations

Designing the African Development Bank’s Youth Marker

The first phase of the African Development Bank’s Youth Marker examined how jobs and skills objectives could be integrated into lending operations. Comparative research and internal consultation connected the marker’s design with project cycles, institutional responsibilities and the practical limits of employment reporting.

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Africa · regional operations

Operationalising the African Development Bank’s Youth Marker

The second Youth Marker phase translated initial design into operational tagging and reporting arrangements for the African Development Bank. It connected sovereign and non-sovereign project processes with jobs-and-skills categorisation, templates, indicators and guidance for applying the marker across sectors.

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Afghanistan

Women’s livelihoods and economic participation in Afghanistan

A mixed-methods study for UNDP and the Asian Development Bank examined women’s livelihoods and economic participation in Afghanistan. Survey evidence covering 8,000 women, interviews and focus groups connected constraints on work, finance and services with feasible options for gender-responsive programming.

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Africa · regional study

Development finance for forced-displacement responses in Africa

A joint UNHCR and African Development Bank study examined how development banks could strengthen responses to forced displacement. Portfolio analysis and institutional consultation connected financing instruments, investment platforms and cross-institutional cooperation with the needs of displaced people and host communities.

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Reports & publications