(1) IEG recommends that the Bank provide staff with recognition and validation of the time taken for coordination by introducing specific budget codes for staff to charge time spent on coordination, for both task-related as well as non task-related coordination activities.
IEG finds that internal incentives facing Bank staff and management play a role in implementing H&A, but such incentives are not very strong in the Bank. Bank staff, in particular sector staff, coordinate with other partners mostly because coordination is needed for their tasks and less because they value coordination as important in and of itself. The evaluation also finds that all three groups of stakeholders (Bank staff, government, and donor officials) indicate that more H&A activities need to be undertaken in the future. These findings indicate that the Bank needs to strengthen internal incentives for coordination through recognition and validation of staff time required for coordination.
Original Response: Management supports the spirit of the evaluation's recommendation that the Bank continue to remain heavily involved in aid coordination at the country level. But management disagrees with the finding that internal incentives for harmonization and alignment are not very strong within the Bank, as incentives do not appear to be the problem. Management also does not agree with the specific action to introduce additional budget codes, which may only serve to promote coordination as an end in itself. Management does not agree that coding for coordination that is undertaken in conjunction with task preparation should be identified with separate budget codes. While management disagrees on incentives, it does agree that recognition of ongoing staff efforts in support of harmonization and alignment is important. Management is revisiting its existing coding as part of the analytic and advisory activities review and will make any changes to coding for self-standing coordination based on this analysis.
IEG looks forward to the completion of the reform in the coding system that would help the Bank capture and report on aid coordination activities being undertaken, but not fully recognized,in a wide variety of areas.
Management supports the spirit of the evaluationï¾s recommendation for the Bank to remain heavily involved in aid coordination at the country level. Management did not agree with the specific action to introduce additional budget codes to promote coordination as an end in itself. As informed in in 2013, the Bank has initiated a reform of its coding system and to devise a dedicated code for donor activities, including knowledge work, aid coordination and administrative activities. The reform should help the Bank capture and report on aid coordination activities and assess the budget that is being spent on these activities.
Management supports the IEG finding that internal incentives facing Bank staff and management play a role in implementing H;A, but believes that incentives do not appear to be the problem. Since the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in 2011 the emphasis in development effectiveness efforts has moved from donor harmonization towards country ownership and alignment. The Bank has been and is actively supporting this development, both at global level and at country level. The World Bank was a leading institution in the preparations for the Busan HLM and now represents the Multilateral Development Banks at the steering committee of the Global Partnership of Effective Development Cooperation. The Bank translates its global commitment into country level implementation. A recent example is the July 2014 World Bank Group guidance note on Country Program Framework Products, which advises to include a customized discussion of the role of development partners, aid coordination mechanisms, and WBG support for strengthening country-led aid management. Likewise, the guidance advises to outline strategies to strengthen and expand the use of the countryï¾s systems and institutions for public financial management including procurement, project management, and the production and use of statistics.
IEG looks forward to the coding for donor activities so that coordination activities can be captured an reported. Additional work to ensure validation and recognition would be required to fulfill the recommendation in its entirety.
The Bank has initiated a reform of its coding system and will devise a dedicated code for donor activities. These will include knowledge work, aid coordination and administrative activities. The reform process is ongoing and expected to be completed in 2013. This will allow the Bank to capture and report on aid coordination activities and assess the budget that is being spent on these activities. This will allow for a review of IEG's recommendation if aid coordination should receive a separate budget.