01. Annual Reports & Independent Evaluations
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Publication Results in the Latin America and Caribbean Region, 2016, Volume 7(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-04) World Bank; Palladini, EricOver the last decade, the countries of the Latin America and the Caribbean region experienced a deep economic and social transformation which lifted millions out of poverty and swelled the ranks of the middle class. Strong economic growth driven by both domestic reforms and a favorable global economic environment, was responsible for this progress. Complementary social programs, made possible by growing fiscal space, helped finance programs that supported the poor and disadvantaged. Economic tailwinds have now receded and much of the region is now working to hold on to the recent economic and social gains. Governments are having to adjust to the new global conditions which an increasing number of analysts are regarding as 'the new normal'. This means that the region will need to work harder to (i) revive economic growth through productivity gains and stable macroeconomic policies; (ii) invest in sustainable cities and infrastructure for an increasingly urban population; and (iii) help the poor get out of poverty through quality education and health services and affordable social protection programs.Publication Supporting Transformational Change for Poverty Reduction and Shared Prosperity: Lessons from World Bank Group Experience(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-02-25) Independent Evaluation GroupTransformational engagements are a critical pillar of the World Bank Group’s strategy for achieving its twin goals of extreme poverty elimination and shared prosperity. This learning product uses evaluative evidence from the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) to understand the mechanisms and conditions for transformational engagements and the implications for the World Bank Group if it seeks to rely on such engagements to more effectively pursue its goals.Publication Results in the Latin America and Caribbean Region, 2015, Volume 6(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-10-01) World Bank; Palladini, EricLatin America and the Caribbean (LCR) will be center stage in the global development debate as leaders from around the world convene in Lima, Peru for the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund. Critical progress in poverty reduction has been made in the region over the last decade. The region’s bottom 40 percent of the population saw growth eclipsing that seen by the group in every other region in the world. However, a global slowdown in economic growth and activity challenges these positive strides. The stories in this report embody concrete successes of countries working together with the World Bank. Innovative development approaches were designed and implemented. Individuals, communities, countries, and even regions benefited from better health, education, governance, disaster risk management, and more.Publication 2015 Sustainability Review(Washington, DC, 2015-10) World BankThe 2015 Sustainability Review provides insights into activities undertaken to manage environmental, social, and economic impacts in the World Bank’s internal business operations. The content and data in this document relate to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), together the World Bank.Publication 2015 GRI Index(Washington, DC, 2015-10-01) World BankThis 2015 index of sustainability indicators has been prepared in accordance with the internationally recognized standard for sustainability reporting Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines and complies with the ‘core option.’ The GRI Index provides an overview of sustainability considerations within the World Bank’s lending and analytical services as well as its day-to-day operations and management of staff. The World Bank aims to be comprehensive in its reporting and thus the Index includes indicators from GRIs financial sector supplement. The GRI Index covers activities from fiscal 2015, July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015.Publication World Bank Group and World Bank Corporate Scorecards, October 2015(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-10) World Bank GroupIn July 2013, the World Bank Group launched its Strategy, outlining how it will partner more effectively with clients to help them achieve the ambitious goals of eradicating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity through economic growth, inclusion, sustainability and resilience. In April 2014, the World Bank Group Corporate Scorecard was launched for the first time and the World Bank Scorecard revised to monitor the implementation of the strategy. The World Bank Group Scorecard provides view of the results and performance indicators of the three World Bank Group institutions: the World Bank (WB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). This brochure presents the scorecards, updated with the latest data available in fiscal year 2015. The scorecards are structured in three tiers. A tier one and two presents indicators monitoring aspects of growth, inclusiveness, and sustainability and resilience. Tier three captures the progress in implementing the World Bank Group strategy and includes measures of both operational and organizational effectiveness.Publication Managing Environmental and Social Risks in Development Policy Financing(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-07-27) Independent Evaluation GroupEffective environmental and social risk management in development policy financing (DPF) is central to achieving the World Bank’s goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. If the World Bank is supporting far-reaching member country reforms that are intended to contribute to the twin goals, then it should seek to understand the impact of those reforms on the poor. It should also ensure that the country’s natural capital and long-term growth prospects will not be undermined. The objective of this learning product is therefore to assess the application of the elements of the World Bank operational policy (OP 8.60) governing DPF related to the implementation of the environmental and social risk management requirements of the policy, and identify lessons learned and good practices. The focus of the study is on Bank actions, policies, procedures, and guidance for environmental and social risk management, based largely on a desk-based portfolio review of a large, random sample of development policy operations (DPOs), complemented by assessment of other relevant documents, and interviews with key stakeholders. This approach requires the Bank to determine whether specific policies supported by a DPO are likely to have significant poverty and social or environmental effects. The Bank emphasized the potential of OP 8.60 to promote positive environmental and social development from the time the policy was approved in 2004.Publication Results in the Latin America and Caribbean Region 2015, Volume 5(Washington, DC, 2015-04) World BankIn the past decade, Latin America and the Caribbean has achieved impressive social and economic successes. For the first time in history, more people are in the middle class than in poverty. Inequality, although still high, declined markedly. Growth, jobs and effective social programs have transformed the lives of millions. In a striking departure from the crisis-prone Latin America of the past, the region has shown it is better prepared to weather the brunt of the global economic slowdown. Now, the region faces the challenge of maintaining and expanding its hard won gains in an adverse context of low growth. This is caused in part by a decrease in commodity prices and reduced economic activity in major commercial partners such as China. In such a scenario, achieving development results - and learning from them - becomes more important. This publication showcases stories about people and how their lives have been improved through better health and education, youth employment, disaster recovery and preparedness, infrastructure, and more.Publication Guinea-Bissau: The World Bank Group Country Opinion Survey FY 2014(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-02) World Bank GroupThe Country Opinion Survey in Guinea-Bissau assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in gaining a better understanding of how stakeholders in Guinea-Bissau perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and civil society in Guinea-Bissau on 1) their views regarding the general environment in Guinea-Bissau; 2) their overall attitudes toward the WBG in Guinea-Bissau; 3) overall impressions of the WBG’s effectiveness and results, knowledge work and activities, and communication and information sharing in Guinea-Bissau; and 4) their perceptions of the WBG’s future role in Guinea-Bissau.Publication World Bank Group Engagement in Resource-Rich Developing Countries: The Cases of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Zambia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015) Independent Evaluation GroupThis report by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) summarizes the experiences of and draws lessons from the country program evaluations of four natural resource-rich countries: the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Zambia. It concludes that although the challenges identified in these countries are not unique, they manifest themselves with particular intensity in three closely interrelated areas that need to be defined and structured as a coherent strategy: (i) management of revenues from an exhaustible resource; (ii) growth and employment in the non-extractive sectors, and (iii) inclusive growth and reduction of poverty. Overall, looking at the four resource-rich countries in this evaluation, one does not see the World Bank Group as having a consistent framework for engagement, driven by the defining characteristics of these countries—their rich endowment with non-renewable natural resources and dependence on revenues from their exploitation. Each of the four stories evolved in a unique way that depended on how the country teams decided to react to differing country circumstances. The main challenge for the Bank Group in these countries today is how to stay relevant and competitive, as its value proposition is no longer its financial resources, but its knowledge and global experience, which may call for a more modest scope of interventions while keeping the focus on key challenges.