Resource information
The main purpose of an appraisal
framework for transport infrastructure projects and programs
is to provide an objective and transparent basis for
decision-makers to ascertain the feasibility and levels of
priority of major transport projects and policies. An
appraisal framework also serves a second, more general,
purpose: to contribute to upgrading internal management
processes aimed at improving the quality of expenditure. An
adequate appraisal framework needs to: 1) strike a balance
between an objective economic evaluation and a broader
multi-criteria evaluation; and 2) provide clear
methodologies and norms to guide appraisers, and ensure
comparability among project appraisals, when time comes to
prioritize the projects. To ensure that an appraisal
framework can deliver on the two above-mentioned purposes,
it is important to raise public awareness as to the basic
principles and objectives of appraisals, and to structure
public sector capacity to undertake or lead, as well as
review appraisals, to ensure that they are reliable and of
adequate quality. Appraisal frameworks are at different
stages of development in different countries, with the most
advanced frameworks. Brazil has made a lot of progress in
that area since the end of the 1990s. Today, the legal
framework is conducive to the systematic undertaking of
appraisals. While progress has been made on structuring a
series of norms and guidelines to allow for the
implementation of the framework's directives, the
normative body, overall, is still relatively vague and incomplete.
