For development programs to be effective and sustainable, country partners must have the capacity to manage them. The Bank supports upgrading the skills of its partners through the World Bank Institute (WBI) and specific capacity-building projects. World Bank Institute The World Bank Institute identifies countries’ capacity needs and provides capacity development services that include technical assistance, thematic learning activities, cabinet-level retreats, and other leadership development programs. In fiscal 2006, nearly 100,000 people took part in WBI training and capacity-building activities. WBI supports long-term capacity development in 45 focus countries through multiyear programs. Fourteen of these countries are in Africa, where WBI will play a key role in the Bank’s Africa Action Plan. WBI’s Global Governance Program supports the Bank’s governance and anticorruption agenda by conducting empirical research and publishing worldwide indicators of the prevalence and socioeconomic impact of corruption in more than 200 countries and territories. It also works with the media, legislatures, and civil society to support public demand for good governance. In fiscal 2006, the program worked with more than 30 countries. (See www.worldbank.org/wbi/governance.) Global Development Learning Network The urgency of connecting people with knowledge for development led the World Bank to initiate the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) with 11 Affiliates in June 2000. Initially conceived as a one-directional learning channel, GDLN today is a community dedicated to just-in-time knowledge exchanges that use interactive videoconferencing and e-learning techniques through more than 100 Affiliates worldwide. Three-quarters of GDLN clients are government agencies, civil society organizations, and donor institutions. In fiscal 2006, GDLN Affiliates hosted more than 900 activities on behalf of their clients, providing expert facilitation, event coordination, and technology services. Initiatives to Improve Statistical Capacity To develop programs targeting specific development results, reliable and timely statistics are needed. However, many national statistical systems are underfunded and unable to produce basic indicators. In fiscal 2005, the Bank introduced a new lending program, STATCAP, which simplifies the process of investing in statistical systems so that project quality can ultimately be improved. STATCAP complements the Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building. The Bank is also supporting a new global partnership through the Development Grant Facility. This partnership aims to implement the Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics, which was agreed to at the Second Roundtable on Managing for Development Results. The action plan helps countries develop and implement national strategies for improving official statistics, and it better supports the efforts of international statistical agencies working in priority areas such as population censuses, education statistics, and household surveys. (See www.worldbank.org/data/statcap.) © 2006 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank |
RSS