The nominated projects are evaluated by an International Team of Evaluators selected based on their international experience in development projects evaluation, their thorough knowledge of the theme of the Prize and indeed for their objectivity and fair assessment. The composition of this Team may vary each year, depending on the thematic focus selected for each year. Eligible nominations of all categories are evaluated in accordance with specific criteria dealing with the elements of creativity in the project, the efficiency and effectiveness of its management as well as the impact of the project. The evaluation shall be conducted based on the information provided in the Nomination Form, all documents sent in support of the nomination and on field visits to the project site if the need arises. The AGFUND Prize Secretariat sorts the projects based on the results of the evaluation, it adopts a specific approach using both Ranking & Scoring. This approach depends on the calculation of grades awarded to each project by each of the three experts (Scoring), and in the same time depends on the experts ranking of the projects (Ranking). The aim is to avoid the problem of the disparity in awarding grades between experts. This ensures reasonable and realistic result. The final report, including the first five projects in each category of the Prize, is then prepared and submitted to the Prize Committee for selection of the winning projects.

• Innovative ways with which the project relates to AGFUND mission, values and objectives and to the theme of the Prize.
• Contribution of project design to efficient and effective management and to the fulfillment of project objectives.
• Degree of relevance of project objectives to the theme of the Prize.
• Project impact in terms of types of services provided, and access to project’s benefits and services.
• Participation of target beneficiaries in the process of project design and preparation.
• Project transferability or adaptability to other areas/ countries.
• Efficiency of financial management and resource utilization and timelyimplementation.
• Fulfillment of project objectives.
• Sustainability of project activities, benefits and services.
• Environmental and social impact.

AGFUND (Arab Gulf Programme for Development) is a development institution that works to alleviate poverty in poor countries by focusing on a number of factors that militate against development. These include improvement of educational level in poor countries for children and women in particular, improvement of health condition, institutional development and capacity building, ensuring that development projects or activity today do not harm the capacity for development tomorrow, etc.

The aim of the Prince Talal International Prize is to identify development projects that best contribute to the objectives of AGFUND and to give them recognition with the hope that their innovative features will influence the implementation of similar projects in other parts of the developing world.

The evaluation of development projects, particularly when they are not of the large-scale infrastructural types (roads, power plants, industrial structures ... etc) is not easy. To complicate matters further, the comparison of projects from different socioeconomic setups present special problems. There is no guidance that can be given to evaluators that will enable them to precisely quantify in the same way aspects of projects that are in the final analysis not precisely quantifiable.

The evaluation guidelines provided here should therefore be seen as an attempt to focus the minds of the evaluators in similar areas. They are not meant to be comprehensive or to exclude giving credit to other good features of projects that have not been highlighted. The evaluators, who have been recognized as experts in their fields, should feel free to draw attention to innovative aspects of projects that may not be specifically asked for in the evaluation criteria.

To facilitate the work of the Prize Committee in selection of the winners, the evaluators are requested not to give two or more projects the same score i.e. each project shall be given a different score.