Publication: Opportunities and Challenges from Working in Partnership: Findings from IEG's Work on Partnership Programs and Trust Funds
Date
2015
ISSN
Published
2015
Author(s)
Independent Evaluation Group
Abstract
Partnerships and trust funds are big
business for the World Bank Group. It participates in around
126 global partnership programs and administers more than
1000 trust funds which have become a significant source of
revenue for the Bank Group and its clients. Partnership and
trust funds offer opportunities for the Bank to benefit from
partners skills and resources, extend its reach, and
innovate. Some programs and funds are complementary to the
Bank or fill gaps, for example on global public goods. IEG
has found that most partnership programs tackle relevant
development problems and that the Bank often makes strong
contributions. But there are also risks, for example
proliferation of uncoordinated or competing initiatives and
high transaction costs. A key challenge facing the World
Bank Group, therefore, is to make sure that its engagements
in partnerships and trust funds create shared value for its
client countries and support its goals of ending extreme
poverty and boosting shared prosperity goals. As emphasized
in the World Bank Group strategy, engaging in strong and
well-aligned partnerships can help the Group enhance its
contributions to global development, but the evaluation
experience summarized in this note suggests that there is
room to improve. IEG has recommended reforms (summarized at
the end of this note) to help the Bank address these
challenges via internal reforms to ensure selectivity,
routine corporate oversight, and policies and standards
around partnership governance, engagement strategies for
individual programs, empowerment of staff serving on
partnership boards, and results frameworks.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Independent Evaluation Group. 2015. Opportunities and Challenges from Working in Partnership: Findings from IEG's Work on Partnership Programs and Trust Funds. IEG learning note;. © World Bank Group, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21779 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”