This evaluation, which covers the period fiscal 2002-08, finds that the Bank made progress in gender integration, compared with an earlier evaluation by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) on gender covering the period fiscal 1990-99. Gender integration into Bank support increased both in...

The amount of available water has been constant for millennia, but over time the planet has added 6 billion people. Water is essential to human life and enterprise, and the increasing strains on available water resources threaten the mission of institutions dedicated to economic development. The...

The amount of available water has been constant for millennia, but over time the planet has added 6 billion people. Water is essential to human life and enterprise, and the increasing strains on available water resources threaten the mission of institutions dedicated to economic development. The...

The Independent Evaluation of International Finance Corporations (IFC's) Development Results (IEDR) is the annual flagship report of the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG). It reviews IFC's effectiveness in supporting private sector development and its contributions to economic growth and...

The goal of Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSCs), introduced in early 2001 under World Bank Interim guidelines, was to help countries implement comprehensive, country-owned development strategies to promote growth, improve social conditions, and reduce poverty. PRSCs were intended to ease...

This year's annual review of development effectiveness (ARDE) is being written against the backdrop of a global financial crisis, declining growth, and massive fiscal stimulus efforts to revitalize markets. Demand for greater development support from the World Bank has grown, along with concerns...

In 1996, the World Bank committed itself to becoming a 'global knowledge bank,' using knowledge to improve the development effectiveness of its work. In fiscal 2008, the Bank reiterated its focus on knowledge and learning, naming it as one of its six strategic directions. This evaluation focuses...

This year's annual review of development effectiveness focuses on assessing the World Bank's development effectiveness, with special attention to global public goods. It notes some encouraging developments. Project performance has improved over the medium term; country programs have worked...

The purpose of this evaluation is threefold. First, it seeks to assess how, and how well, the World Bank Group has supported its public and private sector clients in their efforts to achieve greater environmental sustainability over the past 15 years. Second, it attempts to identify the...

The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) prepared this synthesis note as an input to the ongoing process surrounding the international agenda for Small States. Its purpose is to provide a perspective on some of the issues small states face through a review of World Bank experience with country and...