COMPAS, the Common Performance Assessment System, was designed in 2005 as a framework through which the multilateral development banks (MDBs) could track their capacities to manage for development results. COMPAS has become an established and recognized report for constructive dialogue within and among MDBs and partners to sharpen their focus on managing for development results (MfDR).

COMPAS focuses on measuring the MDBs’ capacities to apply and improve operational processes toward achieving results on the ground. As a self-reporting exercise, COMPAS aims to measure MfDR capacity and progress consistently through the analysis of key performance indicators consolidated into a concise and convenient format, and comparable within each MDB. COMPAS is not designed to make direct comparisons across institutions, although the matrix format of the report does provide opportunities for the MDBs to learn from one another.

COMPAS reports data on eight categories relevant for an MDB’s implementation of an improved MfDR agenda: country capacity to manage for development results, country strategies, allocation of concessional resources, projects, institutional learning from operational experience, results-focused human resource management, harmonization and the use of country systems among development agencies, and private sector operations.