Putting Social Development to Work for the Poor : An OED Review of World Bank Activities

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Foreword, Prólogo, Avant-Propos -- Executive Summary, Résumen, Résumé Analytique -- Acronyms and Abbreviations -- 1 The Analytic Context for the Review -- Evolving Staff and Shareholder Values Led to Changes in Focus -- Social Development Is a Fuzzy Concept -- Differing Perspectives Have Bureaucratic Implications -- The Bank's Social Development Objectives -- Study Design -- 2 Where Is Social Development Being Conducted? -- Is There a Social Development "Portfolio"? -- It's Done Everywhere, but the Portfolio Varies by Region and Sector -- 3 Is Social Development Relevant? -- It Is Relevant to the Bank's Broader Development Objectives -- It Is a High Priority at the Country Level -- It Is Relevant at the Project Level -- 4 Have Social Development Interventions Been Effective? -- Effectiveness of Projects with Social Development Components Compares Well with Others -- Projects with Overlapping Social Development Themes Have Better Ratings -- 5 What Challenges Affect Implementation of Social Development? -- Consistency: Treatment Received by the Various Social Themes Is Highly Variable -- Maintaining the Flow of Socially Relevant Information -- Borrower Institutional Development in the Broadest Sense -- The Interdependence of Social Themes -- 6 What Are the Implications for Bank Organization and Procedures? -- The Bank's Focus on, and Support for, Social Development Could Be Improved -- More Work across Internal Units Would Help -- Bank and Borrower Social Development Inputs Could Be Fine-Tuned -- Good Social Assessments Focus on Vital Issues -- 7 Conclusions and Recommendations for the Bank's Sector Strategy -- The Closer You Get to the Poor, the More You Need Social Development -- Recommendations -- Annexes -- A: Supplemental Charts and Tables -- B: Methodological Note -- C: Definitions of Social Development.