The Matrix System at Work - Independent Evaluation Group - World ...

APPENDIX K
WORLD BANK SECTOR STRATEGY PAPERS
Year Network Sector Board Document
2010 SDN Urban Development
Systems of Cities: Harnessing urbanization for growth and poverty
alleviation
2011 HDN Education
Education Strategy 2020: Learning for All Investing in People’s
Knowledge and Skills to Promote Development
PRM Trade
The World Bank Group Trade Strategy, 2011-2021: Leveraging
Trade for Development and Inclusive Growth
Source: World Bank database and OPCS
Note: In 2006, ESSD and INF were merged into SDN and * Denotes Corporate Strategies.
106. Sector Strategy Papers (SSPs) are not strategies in the usual sense because
they are designed to cover all of the Bank’s clients. The SSPs examined for the matrix
evaluation were those for which a prior Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) sector
or thematic evaluation had been conducted in the last five years. Those SSPs were
approved between FY01-07. They typically did not include an implementation plan,
a results framework with indicators and targets, a monitoring and evaluation plan,
or a budget for implementation aside from occasional trust fund resources. Because
of their global coverage, SSPs have little direct influence on country programs. The
primary influence of SSPs on future Bank activities comes from the participatory
nature in which they are prepared and the integration of sector priorities by the
sector staff on the country teams.
107. In most cases, the Bank is not able to fully implement its sector and corporate
strategies. A review of 10 recent IEG evaluations of the Bank’s performance in
individual sectors or subsectors found a substantial or high degree of
implementation in only three, as shown in Table K.2. This reflects less on the
performance of sector staff and managers in the Regions, and more on the efficacy of
the strategy itself. Given the primacy of client demand in the design of country
programs, it is unreasonable to expect an unfunded global strategy to accurately
predict the needs of countries as far as a decade in advance.
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