This review provides an independent assessment of the World Bank Group's performance in achieving key development objectives, with a special focus on support for environmentally sustainable development consistent with economic growth and poverty reduction.

Development patterns, increasing population pressure, and the demand for better livelihoods in many parts of the globe all contribute to a steadily deepening global water crisis. Development redirects, consumes, and pollutes water. It also causes changes in the state of natural water reservoirs, directly by draining aquifers and indirectly by melting glaciers and the polar ice caps. Maintaining a sustainable relationship between water and development requires that current needs be balanced against the needs of future generations. The development community has transformed and broadened its...

This study from the Independent Evaluation Group draws lessons for development and climate change mitigation from the World Bank Group's far-reaching portfolio of projects in energy, forestry, transport, coal power, and technology transfer. Reviewing what has worked, what hasn't, and why, the evaluation's key findings include: Energy efficiency can offer countries direct economic returns that dwarf those of most other development projects, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Tropical forest protected areas, on average, significantly reduce tropical deforestation, preserving carbon...

This assessment underscores the strong countercyclical role that the World Bank Group has eventually played, with partners and countries, to help withstand the global downturn.

The 1997 Bank reforms that introduced the matrix management concept aimed to adapt the organization to changing circumstances and address concerns among external stakeholders about the role of aid in development. The reforms were motivated largely by widespread recognition that the Bank's development programs were excessively driven by a culture of lending, with insufficient attention to client needs and the quality of results, which are crucial to development effectiveness. A previous round of reforms in 1987 had strengthened the country focus, but quality remained a concern. Furthermore,...

Impact evaluation has grown more popular as a method for identifying the causal links between interventions and outcomes. These kind of evaluations assess changes that can be attributed to a particular intervention. Both innovations in statistical methods and the demand for evaluations that can measure such development results are increasing. The World Bank Group is the largest producer of impact evaluations among all development institutions. Thus, IEG has evaluated the relevance, quality, and influence of World Bank and IFC impact evaluations. IEG finds that the World Bank Group portfolio...

Youth employment issues are a major concern for many countries because they have negative effects on the welfare of young people, and may also adversely affect economic performance and social stability. This is the first Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) evaluation of the World Bank Group's support to countries trying to address youth employment issues. The World Bank lending portfolio for youth employment is relatively small, although components of programs appear in 57 countries. Most projects include interventions in skills development and school-to-work transition. Half of the projects...

This evaluation is about the nature and magnitude of the cost savings and other benefits of business license simplification in one of the central districts of Lima, Peru. IEG asked whether the project's license simplification reform reduced costs and operating procedures and whether it increased business registration. The project was implemented from 2005 to 2007. Two evaluations done in 2007 and 2008-11 examined, respectively, whether the project led to reductions in time and procedures and whether it led to improved business outcomes. This evaluation reviewed both of those, collected...

This report evaluates the outcomes of World Bank Group support to Liberia from its post-war reengagement in 2003 through 2011. The country has moved from total disarray to a solid foundation for inclusive development. Although development has not moved forward as quickly as hoped, substantial progress has been made. Public finance and key institutions have been rebuilt; crucial transport facilities have been restored; and hospitals, schools, and universities are operating. The debilitating burden of massive external debt has been eliminated. Although the government deserves most of the...

The World Bank Group has made important contributions to poverty reduction in developing countries. But to stay relevant under the uncertain conditions that characterize today's global development context, the Bank Group needs to enhance its capacity to help clients cope with weak economic growth, address persistent disparities in development progress, and manage the increasingly global and cross-cutting nature of development solutions. The messages in this report from the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) seek to help the Bank Group improve its programs and development outcomes. Thus the...