| The
Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) is an independent
unit within the World Bank; it reports directly to
the Bank's Board of Executive Directors. The goals
of IEG 's evaluations are to draw lessons from Bank
experience, and to provide an objective basis for
assessing the results of the Bank's work. |
The evaluation finds the PRS Initiative is relevant to the development challenges in low-income countries and warrants continued Bank support. The PRS Initiative has begun to orient stakeholders in low-income countries toward a focus on poverty, attention to results, and an overarching framework for aid management.
The PRS Initiative has not yet fulfilled its full potential to enhance poverty reduction efforts in low-income countries. Countries have focused more on completing documents, which give them access to resources, than on improving domestic processes. Most PRSPs to date have focused on public expenditures and not considered the full range of policy actions required for growth and poverty reduction. External partners have supported PRSP formulation, but neither donors nor the Bank have defined specifically whether or how they should change the content of their programs to reflect PRSPs.
IEG
recommends that the World Bank:
-
Place greater emphasis on improving domestic processes geared towards poverty reduction and less on completion of documents.
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Change the way it reviews and comments on countries' PRSPs, so that it is clear that this is the country's own strategy.
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Do more to help countries understand which actions will give them the greatest poverty pay-off in their particular circumstances.
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Make sure its own assistance programs are anchored in the country's PRSP.
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