Toolkit

Improving the World Bank's Development Effectiveness

The pace of change in the overall performance of the developing world has not altered markedly over the past 20 years. Since the mid-1990s, the World Bank has dramatically altered its direction to emphasize poverty eradication as the institution's main mission. Many programs and policies have been revised, with the objective of making the Bank more effective in its support of the global fight against poverty.

Executive Summary
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Overview

Related Evaluations

	2004 Annual Review of Development Effectiveness (ARDE): The World Bank's Contributions to Poverty Reduction
	Country Assistance Evaluation Retrospective
	Evaluating The World Bank's Approach to Global Programs: Addressing the Challenges of Globalization
	Capacity Building in Africa: An IEG Evaluation of World Bank Support

This evaluation uses recent IEG evaluations to assess the development effectiveness of the World Bank and how it could be improved. It covers three questions:

1. What is the measurable progress in improved living conditions in the developing world over the last 10-15 years, and how does it compare with the previous decade?

2. How effective has the World Bank been in helping countries improve their living conditions through its various interventions and programs?

3. Finally, what broad lessons emerge from IEG evaluations on improving the Bank's development effectiveness.

Recommendations

	Emphasize institutional development and capacity building even more strongly.
	Re-think areas of punctured optimism, such as growth, private provision of infrastructure, and turn-around situations.
	Tailor programs and projects to the circumstances of each country, and adapt strategies to the local political economy.
	Lend mainly to countries with improving policies and institutions, but find ways to deal with poor, misgoverned states.
	Introduce greater flexibility into programs with well-managed middle income countries.
	Make better use of the Bank's knowledge and technical assistance.
	Improve monitoring and evaluation for results, and start measuring what is important.
	Improve coordination within the Bank and across the World Bank Group.

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