Gender equality has been a high-level commitment of the World Bank Group for at least two decades. In its gender strategy for fiscal years 2016-23, the Bank Group committed to maximizing the impact of its efforts to close gender gaps in key development outcomes, while steering activities and their monitoring toward measurable results. Moreover, gender has been an International Development Association (IDA) special theme since the 16th Replenishment that channeled financial resources to address gender inequalities in IDA countries.

This evaluation assesses World Bank Group support to countries to address gender inequalities between fiscal years 2012 and 2023. It analyzes the factors that enabled and constrained success, includes three recommendations and provides lessons that are relevant for implementation of the recently approved Gender Strategy 2024-2030.