This evaluation builds upon OED's earlier work to assess how well the PRS Initiative has helped thus far in putting the CDF principles into action, how relevant it is to countries' quest for sustainable poverty reduction, and how effectively the Bank has supported and aligned its own programs...

Home to almost 500 million people, roughly half of whom earn less than a dollar a day, fragile states, until recently known in the World Bank as Low-Income Countries Under Stress (LICUS), have attracted increasing attention. The Bank identified 25 such countries in fiscal 2005 based on their...