Documents Available from the Public Information Center

  1. Economic and Sector Reports include macroeconomic analysis of a country's economy, analyses of major economic sectors, and other reports on specified issues such as poverty assessments, private sector investments, and public expenditures. (Abstracts available on-line.)

  2. Environmental Assessments and Analysis are detailed studies required for projects likely to have significant impact on the environment. Such studies are available before the final appraisal of the viability of a project.(Titles available on-line.)

  3. Environmental Data Sheets give summary information on the areas of environmental impact of a proposed project and announce the studies that are to be done to address the issues raised. EDSs are prepared for every project in the Bank's pipeline and updated quarterly. (Full document available on-line.)

  4. Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a program of grants to assist developing countries to deal with environmental problems that transcend borders, in four areas: global warming, pollution of international waters, destruction of biodiversity, and depletion of the ozone layer. The GEF is jointly implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank.

    The Montreal Protocol (MP) provides grants to developing countries for technical assistance, demonstration projects, pre-investment and investment activities that lead to reductions in ozone-depleting substances. The program is implemented by UNDP, UNEP, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the World Bank.

    Publicly available documents on GEF and MP projects prepared by the World Bank are project information documents (PIDs) similar in purpose to the Bank's PIDs described below (full text on-line), and final Project Documents issued upon project approval by management, similar in purpose to the SARs described below. (Titles available on-line.)

  5. IDA10 Report reviews the IDA program, activities, and initiatives during FY94. (Preface available on-line.)

  6. Eligibility for the Provision of Goods, Works and Services in Bank-Financed Procurement. (Full document available on-line.)

  7. International Finance Corporations (IFC) Documents: IFC Environmental Assessments (EAs) are studies required for projects that may result in diverse and significant environmental impacts. (Titles available on-line.) IFC Environmental Review Summaries (ERSs) present key findings of studies carried out for projects that may result in specific environmental impacts and require adherence to certain predetermined standards. (Full text available on-line.) IFC Summaries of Project Information (SPIs) provide a brief factual summary of the main elements of the evolving project. (Full text available on-line.)

  8. National Environmental Action Plans (NEAPs) prepared by borrowing governments describe the major environmental concerns of a country, identify the principal causes of problems and formulate policies and concrete actions to deal with the problems. (Titles available on-line).

  9. Operational Policies and Procedures establish the parameters for the conduct of Bank operations. They include the core set of Bank policies and procedures for ensuring quality and consistency across the regional and central vice presidencies. (Table of Contents available on-line.)

  10. OPERATIONS EVALUATION DEPARTMENT (OED) REPORTS OED PRECIS AND LESSONS & PRACTICES are short publications offering lessons and recommendations for development policy and practice, based on the Bank's evaluation experience. They draw heavily from a variety of other Bank documents on evaluation and auditing of individual projects supported by the Bank. (Full document of OED Precis available on-line). OED REVIEWS AND STUDIES track and analyze trends in the Bank's portfolio and draw conclusions and recommendations for policy and practice, based on the Bank's experience. (Abstracts available on-line.)

  11. Project Information Documents (PIDs), give a brief summary of an evolving project and are subject to updating and expansion as project preparation proceeds. (Full text available on-line).

  12. Rain Forest Pilot Program is a program of grants designed to address the underlying causes of deforestation in Brazil's rain forest. Projects will help strengthen the capacity of the public sector to set and enforce sound environmental policy; improve management of special protected areas, including parks, extractive reserves, national forest, and indigenous reserves; and increase the knowledge based on conservation of the rain forest and sustainable utilization of its resources. (Abstracts available on-line.)

  13. Sectoral Policy Papers (SPPs) present reviews of major issues relevant to a specific economic sector and provides broad guidelines on the Bank's policy for assistance to that sector. (Abstracts available on-line.)

  14. Staff Appraisal Reports (SARs) contain a description of a project and the plan for its implementation, including procurement procedures. Certain types of projects (Structural adjustment operations, technical assistance loans, emergency loans) do not have an SAR. In these cases, a Technical Annex (TA) may be publicly available. (Abstracts available on-line.)

    NOTE: Should an interested party request more technical information about a project on which the Bank is working, the Country Department Director responsible may release factual technical documents, or parts thereof, after consultation with the government concerned.


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