This is the fifth Annual Review of Development Effectiveness (ARDE). This year's Review highlights the choice of lending and non-lending instruments and activities to achieve development objectives. It complements the Annual Report on Portfolio Performance, the Quality Assurance Group's...

The World Bank Group's success rests on its ability to help its client countries achieve the development outcomes they desire. This demands a strong outcome orientation at the country-level, defined as the Bank Group's ability to generate feedback on what works, what does not, and why, use this...

This first-of-its-kind evaluation assesses the scope of the World Bank Group's convening power and how effectively it is deployed. The report finds that the Bank Group's comparative advantages give it strong convening power that it uses on many development issues. In so doing, it meets the...

World Bank Group strategy continues to position SMEs as key vehicles to promote employment, value chain development, economic and social inclusion, and resilience in the face of fragility and conflict. This note synthesizes findings regarding SMEs and SME support from recent IEG evaluations,...

This evaluation assesses the Bank Group's effectiveness and comparative advantage in fostering regional integration during FY2003-17 and draws lessons that can be used to inform future regional integration operations. Client countries of the World Bank Group have turned to regional integration...

This evaluation is the first comprehensive assessment of World Bank Group's multisectoral engagement in pollution management with 534 projects and USD 34 billion commitment during FY04-17. It finds that the Bank Group has made significant progress in improving pollution management in client...

This evaluation assesses the World Bank Group's record on implementation of the shared prosperity goal since 2013 using the official definition of the goal of fostering income growth of the bottom 40 percent. It also analyzes institutional requirements for effective implementation of the goal,...

This evaluation assesses the World Bank Group's contributions towards capital market development in client countries. It examines the activities the Bank Group has in all segments of capital market development, both in the public and private sectors, including interventions across 64 countries....

The report discusses how challenging it is for the World Bank Group to provide assistance when middle-income countries experience situations of fragility, conflict, and violence. The government may have its own views on how and when to tackle the underlying issues, or may be reluctant to...