01. Annual Reports & Independent Evaluations

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The Stop Tuberculosis Partnership

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009-11-19) Independent Evaluation Group

The stop Tuberculosis (TB) partnership is a network of international organizations, countries, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, public and private sector donors, and individuals dedicated to the elimination of tuberculosis as a public health problem. The partnership is a loose coalition of partners working to elevate action on tuberculosis, one of the leading causes of death from infectious disease, on the global agenda. The stop TB partnership was formally established in 2001, as it became clear to the international community that the initial targets set for TB control in 1991.The specific objectives for which the partnership has been accountable have evolved somewhat since 2001, and have recently been stated most clearly in the global plan to stop TB, 2006-2015. Since the present Global Program Review (GPR) covers the period from the initiation of the program to the present, it has reviewed the achievements of the stop TB partnership against four objectives which have been synthesized from core partnership documents going back to 2001, namely: 1) to expand the Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course (DOTS) strategy so that all people have access to effective diagnosis and treatment; 2) to develop and scale-up effective responses to the emerging challenges of drug resistance and HIV-related TB; 3) to improve and expand tools available for TB diagnosis, treatment and prevention; and 4) to strengthen the overall global partnership to stop TB so that proven TB-control strategies are effectively applied.
The Global Invasive Species Program

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009-09-03) Independent Evaluation Group

The Global Invasive Species Program (GISP) is an independent, not-for-profit association whose mission is to conserve biodiversity and sustain human livelihoods by minimizing the spread and impact of invasive alien species (IAS) and which is presently located in the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) in Nairobi, Kenya. Its current membership is limited to the four founding members of GISP. GISP was supported for three years (FY04-FY06) by the World Bank through funds made available through the Development Grant Facility (DGF) and continues to receive Bank support through the Bank-Netherlands Partnership Program (BNPP). Although GISP is a relatively small program, the World Bank's DGF contribution of US$1.7 million accounted for 72 percent of the program's financing during this three-year period. GISP is governed by an Executive Board which at the time of the Global Program Review (GPR) was composed of seven persons, including in some cases the most senior ranked members of the represented member organizations.
Implementing a Subnational Results-Oriented Management and Budgeting System: Lessons from Medellín, Colombia

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009-09) Gómez, Rafael ; Olivera, Mauricio ; Velasco, Mario A.

After a century of political centralization in Colombia, the first public election of city mayors in 19861 began a decentralization trend, which was later reinforced by a constitutional reform in 1991. Subnational governments (departments and municipalities) were made responsible for the planning and management of social and economic development in their jurisdictions. Administrative and political reforms were accompanied by fiscal decentralization, including the transfer of central government revenues. Since 1991 the growth of fiscal transfers has accelerated. Departments and municipalities are now responsible for public health, education, water supply, and sanitation expenditures through earmarked transfers. Out of the total amount of central government expenditures (21.8 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2008) almost one-quarter represent regional transfers (5 percent of GDP), which finance half of all regional expenditures (10.2 percent of GDP). The purpose of this paper is to describe the budget process reform implemented in Medellin, and to analyze its actual performance and evaluate its success. The reform is changing the way public resources are allocated and executed, while gradually institutionalizing supply and demand-side practices beyond the government's political cycles. This paper describes and analyzes how the Results-oriented budgeting (RoB) was designed and implemented, and the achievements of the system to date, in terms of resource allocation and the policy-making process.
GRI Index FY09

(Washington, DC, 2009-06-30) World Bank

The response to the GRI Indicators presents a glimpse into the World Banks (also known as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or IBRD in the capital market) complex suite of activities. Topics that are of interest to sustainable investment communities, NGOs, and country clients determine materiality for the purposes of this report. Reporting priorities are determined annually based on the corporate priorities of the given year and queries by the SRI community. Stakeholders are also identified with the assistance of relevant departments throughout the Bank. This Review encompasses World Bank operations globally. The World Bank consists of two agencies: IBRD and IDA (International Development Agency). Except for the terms of lending to member countries, the agencies are tightly integrated and work as a single unit. Therefore, staff of the World Bank, are considered ‘IBRD’ staff, even if they work on IDA funded projects or for other donor-funded initiatives, through hundreds of trust funds. Similarly, World Bank manages the buildings that house staff that work on IBRD, IDA, MIGA, and GEF projects. GRI indicators for EN apply primarily to performance of Washington, D.C. facilities (which house 60 percent of World Bank staff) with country office data noted, when relevant.
The Global Forum for Health Research

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009-06-23) Independent Evaluation Group

The global forum for health research was established in 1998 as an independent Swiss foundation, to promote health research on the problems of poor countries and people. The creation of the global forum responded to the growing awareness among policy makers in industrial and in developing countries that research related to the health problems affecting developing country populations was receiving inadequate attention on the global agenda. The global forum has devoted its energies increasingly to health equity as a way to focus the attention of researchers and policy makers on the problems of the poor. Annual expenditures on the core activities of the global forum have been about $3.5 million. Bilateral donors and the World Bank finance virtually all of the global forum's activities. This Global Program Review (GPR) assesses the quality and independence of the second evaluation of the global forum; provides a second opinion on the effectiveness of the forum; assesses the performance of the Bank as a partner of the forum; and draws lessons for the future. It contains data from the beginning of the forum to the present, including key developments during the last two years since the second external evaluation was completed. The global forum was chosen for a GPR because it provides lessons for the design and operation of other global programs, especially for advocacy programs, and for international support of health research more generally.
Earnings Growth and Employment Creation: An Assessment of World Bank Support in Three Middle-Income Countries

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-06-01) Independent Evaluation Group

The primary aim of this evaluation is to develop lessons from the Bank’s experience in the three selected countries of Columbia, Tunisia, and Turkey regarding assistance aimed at employment creation and earnings growth. The evaluation focuses on employment creation and earnings growth because these have a strong bearing on the extent to which the central objective of poverty reduction is achieved. The evaluation assesses the impact of the Bank’s assistance on employment outcomes and focuses on relevance and effectiveness of Bank engagement on employment issues. Two findings in connection with outcomes across the three countries are highlighted. First, progress in economic growth and earnings was better than progress in employment and unemployment. Second, although the availability of statistics on employment and earnings outcomes has improved, there are still significant deficiencies. These findings suggest a number of implications for Bank support during the global unemployment crisis as follows: (a) deploy the Bank’s integrative capability to provide support in the different areas affecting employment outcomes; (b) focus on the classical, cyclical, and structural sources of unemployment; (c) update and improve employment and earnings data; (d) adjust programs to emphasize support with strong employment earnings effects;(e)advise countries on affordable fiscal stimuli; (f) support the development of unemployment insurance mechanisms; and (g) develop strategies to advance job flexibility and worker protection. IEG recommends that the Bank continue focusing on advice and projects to improve coverage and quality.
Global Development Network

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009-05-28) Independent Evaluation Group

This is the Global Program Review (GPR) of the Global Development Network (GDN). Established in 1999 as a global partnership program with a secretariat located in the World Bank, it was spun off as an independent not-for-profit organization based in Washington, DC, in 2001 and then relocated to New Delhi, India, as an international organization in 2004. GDN's overarching goal has been to promote the generation, sharing, and application to policy of multidisciplinary knowledge for the purpose of development. To accomplish this, GDN has focused on three core program objectives: (1) generating high-quality, policy-relevant research in developing and transition countries; (2) building research and policy outreach capacity among researchers in those countries to improve the quality and expand the policy influence of their work on a national and international level; and (3) promoting greater linkages between researchers and the policy process to foster effective, evidence-based policy-making.
Egypt - Positive Results from Knowledge Sharing and Modest Lending : An IEG Country Assistance Evaluation 1999-2007

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009) Independent Evaluation Group

This country assistance evaluation reviews World Bank support to the Arab Republic of Egypt from fiscal 1999 through 2007. Egypt's economic performance over the period improved substantially. This was particularly true after 2004, following improvements in economic management, an increase in the pace of structural reforms, and correction of the exchange rate. Gross domestic product growth averaged about five percent over the period, rising to almost seven percent in 2006 and 2007. Human development indicators improved significantly. However, progress in poverty reduction has been disappointing, with a deterioration in the poverty headcount, particularly in Upper Egypt. Future Bank strategy needs to reflect Egypt's middle-income status by including a flexible lending program and an emphasis on knowledge services, including reimbursable technical assistance. The Bank can further strengthen the partnership by focusing on: (i) the persistent issue of poverty and inequality; (ii) analytic work on macroeconomic analysis and income disparities and its improved dissemination; (iii) further financial sector reforms and promoting continued reforms in systems that indirectly combat corruption; and (iv) sectoral strategies and policy and institutional reforms in infrastructure and energy.
Uganda Country Assistance Evaluation, 2001-2007: Joint IEG/OPEV Country Assistance Evaluation

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009) Independent Evaluation Group ; Africa Development Bank

The World Bank’s assistance strategies showed strong client orientation and were aligned with Uganda’s poverty reduction strategy. The programs were substantially effective in decentralization, public sector reform, growth and economic transformation, education, and water and sanitation. However, more could have been done to help counter the perception of increasing corruption, improve power supply, reduce transport costs, enhance agricultural productivity, and help with family planning and reproductive health. The AfDB’s assistance was also relevant and aligned with the government’s development goals. Its support substantially achieved its objectives for decentralization, public sector finance, growth and economic transformation, improved competitiveness, agriculture, and water and sanitation, as well as education and health. However, there were some shortcomings in the assistance provided for power and roads and in reducing corruption. This report evaluates World Bank and African Development Bank assistance to Uganda during 2001-07. The motivation to undertake a joint evaluation was the shift to a common strategic framework, the Uganda Joint Assistance Strategy (UJAS), to guide the formulation and delivery of their programs. Under a common strategic framework joint evaluation is, in principal, more cost effective than the equivalent separate evaluations, since at least some aspects of the evaluation can be done together. This also helps to reduce government transaction costs. The evaluation discusses the outcome of the support of each bank, rates each independently, noting that the two banks are of different size, capacity, and institutional setting. In addition, the two banks have programs that were not implemented jointly but in parallel, although they regularly engaged with one another as development partners. The outcome ratings for the two institutions are therefore not comparable and should not be used to imply that one institution did ‘better’ than the other.
Lessons from World Bank Group Responses to Past Financial Crises

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009) Independent Evaluation Group

A worldwide financial crisis of enormous magnitude continues to unfold rapidly. Unlike other crises in recent decades, the current episode is rooted in industrial countries' financial systems and is affecting low-income and middle-income countries (MICs) alike. Defaults on securitized sub-prime mortgages as a real estate market bubble burst led to failures or near-failures of several large financial institutions and a collapse of inter-bank and commercial paper markets. A tightening of credit, combined with declining consumer confidence, has brought on worldwide recession with growing unemployment, and many fear that the downturn will be severe and protracted. At the same time, the rapidly multiplying signs of contraction are prompting strong responses, including fiscal stimulus packages and reductions in benchmark lending rates, on the part of several of the affected developed countries. The Bank Group is well placed to help mitigate the impact of the current crisis with financing and advisory services, and its clients are already requesting increased support. A rapid, high-quality response that combines financial and advisory support can do much to ease the inevitable ramifications of the crisis. Lessons from evaluations of previous Bank Group responses to past crises can help inform the response to the current crisis in order to increase its effectiveness.