Analytic and Advisory Activities: An essential and increasingly important part of the World Bank's contribution to development is the analytical and advisory work that is carried out for client countries. Analytic and advisory activities (AAA) provide a foundation for defining strategic priorities and informing policy dialogue and decisions on projects and programs. These activities comprise Economic and Sector Work , Non-lending Technical Assistance, Knowledge Management as well as Aid Coordination, Country focussed research, Client Training and Research Services.  The Quality Assurance Group has been carrying out assessments of analytic and advisory activities since fiscal year 2000. Initially the assessments were focused on AAA products like, Country Economic Memoranda, Public Expenditure Reviews, Sector Reviews, and Poverty Assessments. Currently the emphasis has shifted from individual AAA tasks to include the entire range of AAA activities treating the country as an integrated whole, and framed along country and sector lines. QAG carries out assessments of Economic and Sector Work, and Non Lending Technical Assistance. Links to these reports are provided below: Country AAA Assessment: Phase 1 Report: 2005: QAG has undertaken 36 country AAA assessments since early 2002. This report synthesizes the findings from these 36 country assessments. The report raises several common concerns that relate to how country AAA priorities and programs are set, how management oversight of country AAA is exercised, how well AAA is managed, and how effectively the AAA program is being used to help create a climate for reform. The report also presents good practice examples and suggestions on how to address the above issues.  Findings from the Report indicate that: - the Country AAA approach is able to produce well substantiated quality assessments of AAA at the country level
- the methodology for carrying this out is robust and cost effective at scale.
- The country wide approach has brought about significant extension of accountability at the management level as well as providing a major opportunity for learning, notably through timely inputs into the preparation of a new CAS and as a contribution to the overall process of improving the planning, design, and implementation of AAA.
Additionally the Review also recommended a continuation, with some enhancements, of the more integrated, CAS synchronized, multi year approach that is now in place. Country Sector AAA: The Country Sector AAA Assessment is a pilot assessment designed to review the impact of a sector’s Strategy Paper and a range of AAA activities conducted at the country level (whether they are managed by a unit from the sector being assessed or by other sector/country units) on: Country strategy and the formulation of sector strategies by the country and the Bank; The integration of the sector’s AAA activities into Bank country operations, including policy dialogue and lending.
 Non Lending Technical Assistance: QAG conducted an assessment of about 85 tasks coded as Non Lending Technical Assistance (NLTA) in FY04. The assessment gave due consideration to the ambiguity of the earlier guidelines for NLTA, the uneven compliance, and the frequent use of the category as a residual for activities hard to fit anywhere else.  Thus, the assessment was: (i) limited to FY04 tasks; (ii) excluded tasks costing less than $20,000; and (iii) looked at loose compliance with processing guidelines only to the extent that it significantly affected the quality and impact of the activity. The ultimate goals were institutional learning and the building of a reliable baseline against which to assess future quality developments in this important area of Bank assistance. |  | | |
Assessments of Other Economic and Sector Work: Other ESW (OESW), like regular ESW, is defined as an analytical effort, owned by a specific Bank unit and designed to influence policies and programs of an external client. However, unlike regular ESW, it usually does not have a formal report as its output. OESW includes structured policy notes which are informal reports providing "just in time" advice to a client on a range of development issues.QAG conducted an Assessment of Other ESW activities in Fiscal Year 05. The objectives of the Assessment were to: Promote accountability by providing management and staff with robust quality indicators based on credible, independent assessments; Identify systemic strengths and weaknesses in Other ESW and promote appropriate changes in policies and procedures relating to Other ESW, including its management and review, and Learn from experience by disseminating findings and conclusions, including examples of best practice.
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