Partnerships Global partnerships are increasing because of the growing integration of the world’s economies and the existence of development challenges that cross national boundaries. These partnerships promote efforts in areas of common concern such as combating communicable diseases, preserving the environment, acquiring and sharing knowledge, integrating trade, addressing international migration issues, and developing infrastructure. The Bank is also continuing its work with development partners on cooperative measures that minimize the cost of delivering aid and thereby increase aid effectiveness. The Bank participates in some 170 global and regional partnerships, for which it committed more than $170 million from its own resources in fiscal 2007. The Bank plays different roles in these initiatives, including trustee of donor funds, financial contributor, and implementing agency. The Global Development Learning Network Launched in 2000, the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) is a partnership of more than 110 learning centers (known as Affiliates) in 60 developing countries. GDLN Affiliates collaborate in holding events that connect people across countries and regions for learning and dialogue on development issues. Offering a combination of distance-learning tools, such as interactive videoconferencing and the Internet, and expert facilitation and learning techniques, GDLN Affiliates enable individuals, teams, and organizations anywhere in the world to communicate, share knowledge, and learn from each others’ experiences in a timely and cost-effective manner. The GDLN hosted approximately 1,000 videoconferences in fiscal 2007, reaching some 90,000 people worldwide. A majority of these conferences were organized by small government agencies and nongovernmental organizations. Trust Funds The World Bank has been mobilizing concessional resources for poverty reduction and sustainable development for nearly 50 years. IDA continues to be the primary channel for such resources. However, in recent years there has been strong growth in complementary channels that are also administered by the Bank, both at the country level and in support of global priorities. The Bank takes on this role largely in response to the international community’s desire that it help leverage donor resources for a broad range of development initiatives. These initiatives vary significantly in size and complexity, ranging from multibillion dollar arrangements—such as Carbon Finance; the Global Environment Facility; the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative; and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria—to much smaller and simpler freestanding ones. These activities are further described in the World Bank's Trust Funds Annual Report. Top Ten Trust Fund Donors Cofinancing Cofinancing is any arrangement under which funds from the Bank are associated with funds provided by sources outside the recipient country for a specific lending project or program. In fiscal 2007, 130 Bank projects leveraged $6.3 billion in cofinancing. Major cofinanciers were the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development ($1 billion) and the African Development Bank ($0.6 billion). The regions that benefited the most were Africa ($3 billion), the Middle East and North Africa ($1.1 billion), and South Asia ($1 billion). Energy and Mining; Health, Nutrition, and Population; and Transportation received $1.8 billion, $1.1 billion, and $0.8 billion, respectively. Multilateral agencies contributed $2.4 billion in cofinancing. Enhancing World Bank–IMF Collaboration Although there are many examples of good collaboration between the Bank and the International Monetary Fund, room remains for further improvement according to a report released in February 2007 by the External Review Committee on IMF–World Bank Collaboration. Its main recommendations are to strengthen the culture of collaboration between the two institutions, to promote cooperation in crisis management, to improve integration and harmonization of work on fiscal issues, to better coordinate technical assistance undertaken by the institutions, and to continue to improve collaboration and clarify roles in financial sector development. © 2007 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank |
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