This country program evaluation (CPE)assesses the outcomes of the World Bank Group (WBG) programin Timor-Leste during the review period (2000 to 2010). TheWBG’s strategy during this period was to support thegovernment of the nascent country in three broad areas: (a)poverty alleviation and the provision of basic socialservices, including health and education; (b) development ofstate institutions, including creating good governance andbuilding the capacity of state institutions; and (c)promoting sustainable nonpetroleum growth, especiallythrough the development of agriculture and the privatesector. The CPE rates the overall outcome of its support tothe country over the review period as moderatelyunsatisfactory. The Bank Group strategy was broadlycongruent with the country‘s own aspirations, but itsrelevance and effectiveness waned through the evaluationperiod. To boost the WBG‘s role as an effective partner inTimor Leste’s development, independent evaluation group(IEG) recommends that the WBG: (i) set its key objective asone of supporting vigorous and sustainable non-oil growth,creating jobs and improving infrastructure; (ii) inconsultation with development partners, sharply prioritizeits program, being realistic about time frames; (iii)increase its focus on effective human resource developmentfor institution building and improved governance; (iv)follow more closely its own guidance on dealing with fragilestates; (v) ensure more active management of its assistanceprogram, strengthening its capacity to deliver timelyhigh-quality policy and technical advice; (vi) be realisticwith regard to the situation on the ground and what isneeded to attain development objectives; (vii) makeInternational Finance Corporation’s (IFC’s) interventions ofsufficient scale to address the objectives of its program;and (viii) bolster monitoring and evaluation (M and E) byfocusing on a few key results and improving statisticalcapacity to obtain reliable data of sufficient frequency.
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