This evaluation report was prepared by a team from the Independent Evaluation Group led by Lauren Kelly, lead evaluation officer. The core team included Liz Dodds, Xiaoyi (Baker) Lu, and Mees van der Werf. The extended team included Elisabeth Goller, Patrick Harrison, Paul Holden, Sally Judson, Vijaya Nagarajan, Daniel Palazov, John Redwood III, and Emmajil Rowanna. Paul Barker and David Craig provided guidance and key inputs on country and governance issues. Patricia Acevedo and Dung Thi Kim Chu provided administrative support. Harsh Anuj, Ariya Hagh, and Estelle Rosine Raimondo provided methodological contributions. Sriram Kalyanaraman Govindarajan supported human resources data collection.

The report was conducted under the guidance and supervision of Jeffrey Allen Chelsky (manager) and finalized with the guidance of Carmen Nonay (director). The work was overseen under the overall direction of Oscar Calvo-Gonzalez (acting Director-General, Evaluation) and Sabine Bernabè (Director-General, Evaluation, and vice president).

Peer reviewers for this evaluation are Dr. Melinda Jane Sutherland, former assistant director at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and currently a senior evaluation specialist in the Independent Evaluation Department at the Asian Development Bank, and Stephen Howes, professor of economics at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University and the director of the Development Policy Centre.

The Independent Evaluation Group is grateful to government officials, development partners, and other stakeholders who provided valuable insights into the World Bank Group’s program in Papua New Guinea. We are also thankful to Bank Group management and staff who provided documents and information and participated in various meetings.