To achieve the goals of sustainable growth and poverty reduction, developing countries need strong national institutions. To this end, the World Bank has devoted significant resources to building the capacity of institutions and organizations in client countries. The Bank helps countries build...

Growth is good for the poor, but the impact of growth on poverty reduction depends on both the pace and the pattern of growth. A pattern of growth that enhances the ability of poor women and men to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from growth should not come at the expense of a slower...

Over the past year, the response to the global financial crisis has continued to dominate development and the work of international institutions, including the World Bank Group. Challenges of poverty and fragile states, environment, and climate change remain daunting. But the manner in which...

This report has been prepared in the context of a major global effort in the past eight years to better measure results in development assistance. The agenda for this effort was articulated and refined in a series of international conferences, beginning with the international conference on...

The World Bank Group's (WBG) safeguards and sustainability policies were put in place to prevent or mitigate adverse impacts of its projects on people and the environment. These goals remain critical given current environmental and social trends. Recent global experience in the financial and...

The purpose of this study is to update the review of World Bank experience in Irrigation (IEG 1994) and to broaden the scope of evaluation to include all water lending for agricultural development. Since that first study, the proportion of World Bank lending for agricultural water management...

This evaluation assesses knowledge-based activities in nine country programs selected from 48 knowledge-intensive programs supported by the Bank Group. It identifies the factors in the success or failure of those activities as they contribute to policy making or development outcomes. It also...

The unanticipated spike in international food prices in 2007-08 hit many developing countries hard. The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Development Association) organized rapidly for short-term support in the crisis, launching a fast-track...