Partnerships and trust funds are bigbusiness for the World Bank Group. It participates in around126 global partnership programs and administers more than1000 trust funds which have become a significant source ofrevenue for the Bank Group and its clients. Partnership andtrust funds offer opportunities for the Bank to benefit frompartnersskills and resources, extend its reach, andinnovate. Some programs and funds are complementary to theBank or fill gaps, for example on global public goods. IEGhas found that most partnership programs tackle relevantdevelopment problems and that the Bank often makes strongcontributions. But there are also risks, for exampleproliferation of uncoordinated or competing initiatives andhigh transaction costs. A key challenge facing the WorldBank Group, therefore, is to make sure that its engagementsin partnerships and trust funds create shared value for itsclient countries and support its goals of ending extremepoverty and boosting shared prosperity goals. As emphasizedin the World Bank Group strategy, engaging in strong andwell-aligned partnerships can help the Group enhance itscontributions to global development, but the evaluationexperience summarized in this note suggests that there isroom to improve. IEG has recommended reforms (summarized atthe end of this note) to help the Bank address thesechallenges via internal reforms to ensure selectivity,routine corporate oversight, and policies and standardsaround partnership governance, engagement strategies forindividual programs, empowerment of staff serving onpartnership boards, and results frameworks.
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