Independent Evaluation Group

The Management Action Record (MAR) is an annual report that provides an independent view of The World Bank Group’s progress in implementing Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) recommendations. Bank Group management assesses its implementation progress, and IEG independently validates that assessment. IEG assessed progress on 66 recommendations from 29 #evaluations: ✅ 21 reached “change of direction,” with the share increasing from 17% in 2025 to 32% in 2026 ⚠️ 8 remained at the same progress level for three years or more The validation finds progress in areas including nutrition, financial inclusion, jobs, and crisis preparedness. Among countries with nutrition operations, use of a multisectoral approach increased from 36% in FY23 to 96% in FY25, while women and women-led businesses using financial services through World Bank interventions increased from 6.8 million to 24.8 million between FY24 and FY25. Where progress has remained unchanged, the validation points to unresolved issues related to ownership, resources, and intent, including in areas concerning state-owned enterprises, the World Bank’s global footprint, and private investment in fragile and conflict-affected situations. A key lesson is the importance of evidence that goes beyond documenting activities and outputs to demonstrate changes in decisions, institutions, or operational conditions. The validation also points to the importance of clearer pathways between recommendations and intended outcomes, evidence of results, clear #accountability, and sustained engagement between management and IEG throughout the recommendation cycle. 📖 Read IEG’s independent validation of the Management Action Record 2026 prepared by Susan Caceres and Tony Tyrrell: https://lnkd.in/gXxy8Qxx

Biodiversity is not just an environmental concern. It is foundational to productive economies and jobs. As the world heads into #COP17 Armenia, how can countries translate that recognition into commitments that shape policy and investment? Listen in for a conversation on what the evidence tells us about achieving biodiversity-positive growth, the challenge of moving from promising pilots to scale, and what it will take to make national #biodiversity strategies work for people and nature alike. We are grateful to have Genevieve Connors (The World Bank Group), Geeta Batra (GEF - IEO), Lauren Kelly, and Penelope Jackson-Vougo (Independent Evaluation Group). Listen to our new #podcast: https://lnkd.in/gt5pudu3

Lessons from the Philippines 🇵🇭: Does the World Bank’s Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat DDO) deliver on its promise? In the #Philippines, more than a decade of Cat DDO engagement helped transform how the government plans for and finances disasters. Supported by strong government ownership, sustained policy dialogue, and The World Bank Group technical assistance, the Cat DDO became embedded in fiscal policy, budgeting, and debt management and part of a broader disaster risk financing strategy. This helped expand financial preparedness and shorten budget mobilization and recovery planning. But lengthy approvals, coordination challenges, and central-local tensions continued to delay disbursements for recovery and reconstruction. The case shows the potential of sustained Cat DDO engagement to strengthen fiscal preparedness and its limits when downstream bottlenecks remain. In addition to the Philippines, Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) new cluster #evaluation draws on case studies from Malawi, Romania, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to examine how the Cat DDO not only provided rapid financing but also contributed to stronger disaster-related fiscal preparedness. 📖 Read our evaluation: https://lnkd.in/dTe2QDtx 💬 Or read our blog: https://lnkd.in/eafTbMRz Alvina Erman, Sanittawan Tan, Melody Benavidez, Avjeet Singh, Carmen Nonay, Sabine Bernabe, Estelle Raimondo, Diana Stanescu, Jean-Jacques Ahouansou, Daniel Clarke, Oscar A. Ishizawa, Zafer Mustafaoglu, Yoonhee Kim, Zoe Trohanis, Fides Borja, Eric Dickson, Lizardo Narvaez Marulanda, Everette Villaraza, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

How has the World Bank been getting AI-ready? And what have we learned from this process? In our new #podcast, listen to Craig Hammer, Manager of the The World Bank Group's Development Data Group and its Global Data Facility and Estelle Raimondo, Head of Methods at the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), as they discuss how the Bank and IEG have been integrating AI into their workflows, from investing in robust data and building AI skills across staff, to advancing the governance and culture shifts that the responsible use of #AI demands. 🎧 Listen now: https://lnkd.in/eVchbr82

The next pandemic is a question of when, not if. How can the World Bank Group build a more strategic approach to prevent, detect, and be ready for the next #pandemic? The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) recently assessed over two decades of The World Bank Group support for epidemic and pandemic preparedness, covering a core portfolio of approximately $20 billion across 145 countries between 1991 and 2024. ✅ What works Sustained, long-term engagement delivers stronger results than standalone projects. Managerial incentives are a powerful and underused enabler of collaboration across World Bank Group institutions. Regional operations diffuse tested practices across borders and perform better than the overall portfolio. Investments in data, digital systems, and coordination consistently enable results. Partnerships have expanded financing and introduced innovation across countries. ⚠️ Where gaps persist One Health remains an aspiration rather than an operational model, with limited engagement in animal #health and zoonotic risk reduction. Because most activities are embedded in noncore projects — those not explicitly designed for preparedness — the Corporate Scorecard, with its focus on core projects, may miss up to 60 percent of preparedness results. Emergency financing instruments are available but not yet fully operationalized. Public-private complementarities remain underused, and partnership-driven innovation is not consistently translated into scale. 💡 IEG offers four recommendations to strengthen the Bank Group's preparedness architecture: 1️⃣ Strengthen the Bank Group-wide coordinated One Health approach. 2️⃣ Strengthen measurement to capture preparedness results across sectors. 3️⃣ Strengthen mechanisms for long-term engagement in high epidemic risk countries. 4️⃣ Increase countries' readiness to deploy emergency financing. Read the full #evaluation by Jenny Gold and Mercedes Vellez: https://lnkd.in/eCkYd8dq

🆕 Evaluations of the World Bank's Environmental and Social Framework and IFC's Sustainability Framework At a pivotal moment for reforms to The World Bank Group's approach to managing environmental and social (E&S) risks, Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) has released two new evaluations of the World Bank's Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) and IFC's Sustainability Framework (SF). Together, they assess how these frameworks are performing in practice and what is needed to realize their full potential. The evaluations find that both frameworks have significantly influenced E&S risk management across development finance. They also identify implementation challenges as risks, financing models, and operating contexts continue to evolve. For the World Bank's Environmental and Social Framework, IEG recommends: ▪️ Realigning incentives and strengthening how E&S risk information is generated, interpreted, and used. ▪️Establishing a single E&S data platform and performance measurement framework to support tracking, learning, and course correction. ▪️Adopting a more coherent institutional approach to building borrower E&S capacity. ▪️Making sexual exploitation, abuse, and sexual harassment (SEA/SH) an explicit, mandatory, and traceable requirement within the ESF. For IFC - International Finance Corporation's Sustainability Framework, IEG recommends: ▪️Expanding hands-on E&S support in higher-risk and more complex operations while improving transparency and disclosure. ▪️Clarifying accountability and the application of E&S requirements in financial intermediary and capital market operations. ▪️Strengthening requirements on social risks, stakeholder engagement, grievance management, SEA/SH, child protection, and vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. For both frameworks, IEG recommends advancing environmental and social harmonization across the World Bank Group by addressing material differences in standards, requirements, and guidance while embedding adaptive management in the E&S architecture. 📖 Read the evaluations: ▪️ Implementing the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework by Lauren Kelly and Joy K. Butscher: https://lnkd.in/ez7j_aRG ▪️ The International Finance Corporation’s Sustainability Framework (Fiscal Years 2012-25) by Rasmus Heltberg and Maria Elena Pinglo : https://lnkd.in/exzDE_GU #OneWBG #SustainabilityFramework #EnvironmentalAndSocial #Evaluation