Strengthen safeguards monitoring, evaluation, and completion reporting. The World Bank should: Include performance indicators on environmental and social outcomes in project results frameworks and ensure systematic collection of data to monitor and evaluate safeguards performance. Ensure that Implementation Completion Reports and IEG reviews of those reports rate and report effectively on the outcomes of safeguards and, for all projects with significant environmental and social effects, ensure the results are incorporated as an essential dimension when assessing achievement of the projects development objective, as has already been done for IFC and MIGA
Original Response: 7.4.a) Partially Agreed/Ongoing. Bank Management agrees with the need to strengthen monitoring and evaluation arrangements. To address this issue, the Bank will collaborate on developing guidelines on monitoring and evaluating safeguard performance by the third quarter of fiscal 2011. These guidelines will focus on more systematically measuring outcomes, including through the use of core environmental and social performance monitoring indicators, and on evaluating impacts. Reporting will be integrated in the ISR, building on the new risk framework under the Investment Lending Reform, which is already enhancing the monitoring of environmental and social risk mitigation measures in ISRs. The proposed guidelines on monitoring and evaluation will further emphasize the need for the ICR to evaluate the achievement of the safeguard-related objectives and identify lessons for future projects. Timeline: Guidelines issued by the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2011. 7.4.b) Not Agreed. Bank Management does not agree and will not be held accountable in future Management Action Records for asking clients to use performance indicators on environmental and social outcomes in all project results frameworks.
The intention of adopting an outcome-based approach will not be achievable without Bank support to assist the Borrower. IEG's evaluation had recommended Bank assistance to develop instruments and indicators for monitoring. IEG's comment on the Approach Paper had flagged Environmental and social outcomes would need to be integrated within the results frameworks of projects/programs, with more focus on how these results would be monitored and assessed. IEG continues to stress that the Policy would be strengthened by clarifying the Bank's role in developing and reaching agreement with the Borrower on ES indicators to be monitored and on efforts to build monitoring capacity. Outcome reporting in the completion report will not be feasible without an end-of-project impact assessment. For all projects with High or Substantial Risk, we would recommend that the Bank require an end-of-project assessment of ES impacts.
As part of the overall safeguards review and update process, the Bank is looking at all aspects of the IFC Performance Standards monitoring and indicators to determine if and how they could be adapted for Bank use. This would allow for a more consistent approach to monitoring and use of comparable indicators by the Bank and IFC. An outcome of this process would be to link the monitoring approach and use of indicators to the ISRs and ICRs to allow for better reporting and comparative review. In the meantime, based on the current safeguard policies which will remain applicable until the Board has approved a new policy framework to replace those policies, OPCS has devised an automated mechanism for monitoring safeguard supervision through ISR submissions. In the context of rolling-out the new policy framework - once approved - the Bank will review and clarify roles and responsibilities in developing ES indicators to be monitored and assess efforts to build monitoring capacity in borrower administrations.
7.4a) The World Bank should: Include performance indicators on environmental and social outcomes in project results frameworks and ensure systematic collection of data to monitor and evaluate safeguards performance. (Partially Agreed/Ongoing)
No significant progress noted.
7.4b) Ensure that Implementation Completion Reports and IEG reviews of those reports rate and report effectively on the outcomes of safeguards and, for all projects with significant environmental and social effects, ensure the results are incorporated as an essential dimension when assessing achievement of the project's development objective, as has already been done for IFC and MIGA. (Not agreed)
The World Bank has examined options for improving safeguards monitoring and evaluation arrangements. In light of the recent operationalization of the IFC Sustainability Framework and Performance Standards, the Bank is reviewing a proposed alignment of its approach with that used by the IFC in order to have standardized environmental and social performance monitoring indicators and evaluation of impacts that are consistent between the two institutions. It is anticipated that the adoption of such standardized guidelines for monitoring and evaluation would be linked to the ISRs and ICRs to allow for better reporting and comparative review.
Since the last Management update in the matter, there has been no progress in the Bank's undertaking to look at all aspects of IFC performance standards monitoring and indicators to determine if they could be adapted for Bank use. The outcome of this process, when completed will then need to be linked to the use of indicators to the ISRs and ICRs.
As part of the overall safeguards review and update process, the Bank is looking at all aspects of the IFC Performance Standards monitoring and indicators to determine if they could be adapted for Bank use. This would allow for a more consistent approach to monitoring and use of comparable indicators by the Bank and IFC.
An outcome of this process would be to link the monitoring approach and use of indicators to the ISRs and ICRs to allow for better reporting and comparative review.
In addition, the Bank is conducting discussions with the Regional Development Banks to concerning possible development of a common set of indicators that could be used by all institutions to provide better data for monitoring application of policies for management of environmental and social impacts and risks.
The intention of adopting an outcome-based approach will not be achievable without Bank support to assist the Borrower. IEG's evaluation had recommended Bank assistance to develop instruments and indicators for monitoring. IEG's comment on the Approach Paper had flagged Environmental and social outcomes would need to be integrated within the results frameworks of projects/programs, with more focus on how these results would be monitored and assessed. The draft policy would be strengthened by clarifying the Bank's role in developing and reaching agreement with the Borrower on ES indicators to be monitored and on efforts to build monitoring capacity. Outcome reporting in the completion report for example will not be feasible without an end-of-project impact assessment. For all projects with High or Substantial Risk, IEG has recommended that the Bank require an end-of-project assessment of ES impacts.
As part of the overall safeguards review and update process, the Bank is looking at all aspects of the IFC Performance Standards monitoring and indicators to determine if and how they could be adapted for Bank use. This would allow for a more consistent approach to monitoring and use of comparable indicators by the Bank and IFC. An outcome of this process would be to link the monitoring approach and use of indicators to the ISRs and ICRs to allow for better reporting and comparative review.In the meantime, based on the current safeguard policies which will remain applicable until the Board has approved a new policy framework to replace those policies, OPCS has devised an automated mechanism for monitoring safeguard supervision through ISR submissions.