LEADING ON GLOBAL ISSUES is a core pillar of World Bank Group strategies. International collective action is needed to provide policies, investments, and public goods that respond to global risks. This evaluation explores what global issues the Bank Group convenes on, what factors drive its convening choices, and what factors determine its convening effectiveness.
This first-of-its-kind evaluation assesses the scope of the World Bank Group’s convening on major global development challenges, and how effectively it is deployed. The report finds that the Bank Group’s comparative advantages give it strong convening power that it uses on many development issues. In so doing, it meets the demands of shareholders and stays highly relevant as a global actor often making strong and relevant convening contributions. There are many examples of effective Bank Group convening efforts, such as the Scaling up Nutrition initiative, the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, and initiatives in the areas of carbon finance, financial inclusion, development data, poverty measurement, river blindness, and several other global heath partnerships. The evaluation finds that the Bank Group is more likely to be effective when the external context is favorable, the Bank Group’s internal capacities are strong, when initiatives have clear objectives and are put into effect in country programs, and when engagement is sustained over time. The Bank Group has room to become a more effective convener by more selectively scoping its convening contributions, improving processes to manage convening initiatives over their lifecycle, and by more closely aligning convening initiatives with country programs.
Overview
Management Response
Chapter 1: Introduction (including methods)
Chapter 2: Why, What, and How the Bank Group Convenes
Chapter 3: Effectiveness of Bank Group Convening and its Constraints
Chapter 4: Conclusions and Recommendations
Job Aid | Setting up and managing convening initiatives: Criteria to consider
Published: 2020