Three years ago, the World Bank Group established its goals to end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost shared prosperity.
So how are we doing?
One way to check: A website being relaunched today -- easy to use on mobile phones -- that tracks progress on a dozen targets aligned with our twin goals.
The website, overseen by the President’s Delivery Unit (PDU), offers a window into the Bank Group’s key development targets as well as commitments that will help achieve its bigger, long-term anti-poverty and prosperity goals.
The site updates an earlier version with new factoids, infographics, videos, data, and links to deeper content to help uncover the details behind the numbers – such as what it will take to connect 1.5 billion people online by 2020, or how much it would cost per year per child to meet the global goal on childhood stunting.
“People appreciate real time and immediate access to information,” said Melanie Walker, PDU director and senior advisor to President Jim Yong Kim. “This site was reimagined after hearing from partners inside and outside our institution – and hopefully brings our data to life in the most accessible and transparent way possible”
The Delivery Unit was launched more than three years ago to track progress on specific, time-bound targets set by President Kim. The targets monitored a range of indicators related to our performance and delivery as an institution, from enabling financial access to mapping every World Bank investment project and even reducing the amount of time between a project’s conception and the disbursement of funds to implement it.
Many of the targets are aligned with the World Bank Scorecard, which tracks over 80 indicators on key development challenges faced by developing countries, the results achieved, and the Bank Group’s operational and organizational effectiveness.
In addition to monitoring targets, the PDU site highlights several World Bank Group development commitments, including a new international fund to address the refugee crisis, our pledge to invest $2.5 billion in education projects to empower adolescent girls, and the first-ever pandemic insurance for the poorest countries.
Over the years, some PDU targets have been completed or modified based on feedback from our stakeholders.
But progress has been lagging on other targets. One involves the amount of time it takes to prepare and approve a project. Hart Schafer, vice president of operations, said we are looking closely at how to achieve greater efficiency while maintaining quality. He also said that the World Bank Group has recently launched a new internal program to find better ways of working, known as the Agile Pilots. Under the program, operational teams will identify roadblocks and possible solutions to how the Bank Group could move more quickly to implementation and strengthen efficiency.
These targets help us get closer to our goals. Help us track them. Suggest indicators. We welcome your feedback and your support as we work to end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost shared prosperity.
