'The Annual Review of Development Effectiveness 2009' presents evidence on the World Bank s efforts in two areas. Part I tracks the outcomes of Bank projects and country programs and the evolution of monitoring and evaluation (M and E). Part II examines the Bank s support for environmentally sustainable development compatible with economic growth and poverty reduction. The Bank s project performance rebounded in 2008, allaying concerns about the weakened performance in 2007. As previous ARDEs have shown, project performance has been improving gradually for 15 years according to the traditional measure percent of projects with satisfactory (versus unsatisfactory) outcomes. But IEG ratings of M and E quality for completed projects indicate considerable room for progress. Information to assess impacts continues to be lacking although preliminary data suggests improvements in baseline data collection. Bank support for the environment has recovered since 2002 due to new sources of concessional finance. The outcomes of environment projects have improved in recent years. A growing number of regional projects are addressing the shared use of water resources. New global partnerships are deepening the Bank s involvement in climate change issues. But M and E remains weak: three-quarters of environment-related projects those managed by sectors other than environment lack reporting of environmental outcomes.

The 2008 World Bank project performance data shows improvement in achieving development outcomes, allaying concerns that the weakened 2007 performance could signal a new downward trend. The decline in performance in 2007 was modest, and it has rebounded in 2008. Bank performance is rated on a six-point scale, from highly satisfactory to highly unsatisfactory. The percentage of satisfactory projects increased in 2008, continuing a steady upward trend over the past 15 years. Analysis of the dates of the major turnarounds in project performance suggests that a combination of better Bank sector policies and improved country circumstances outside of Bank control may explain much of the turnaround, rather than internal administrative reforms at the Bank, although the latter may have facilitated improvement already underway. The 2009 Management Action Record (MAR) tracks Bank adoption of recent Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) recommendations and shows that adoption levels are declining. IEG is currently examining ways to improve the MAR to create a more effective product for tracking implementation of recommendations and identify reasons for the trend decline. Although part of this may be attributed to the shifting nature of development assistance, not all of it is. An assessment of the use of cost-benefit tools in environmental projects largely confirms this conclusion. This issue will be taken up in greater detail in an IEG special report in FY2010.

The UNECA-OECD 2010 Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness in Africa: Promise and Performance provides information on the main commitments made by Africa and its development partners, the extent to which they have been delivered and their results, and future policy priorities.

The Annual Review of Development Effectiveness 2009 presents evidence on the World Bank's efforts in two areas. Part I tracks the outcomes of Bank projects and country programs and the evolution of monitoring and evaluation (M&E). Part II examines the Bank's support for environmentally sustainable development compatible with economic growth and poverty reduction. The Bank's project performance rebounded in 2008, allaying concerns about the weakened performance in 2007. As previous ARDEs have shown, project performance has been improving gradually for 15 years according to the traditional measure -- percent of projects with satisfactory (versus unsatisfactory) outcomes. But IEG ratings of M&E quality for completed projects indicate considerable room for progress. Information to assess impacts continues to be lacking although preliminary data suggests improvements in baseline data collection. Bank support for the environment has recovered since 2002 due to new sources of concessional finance. The outcomes of environment projects have improved in recent years. A growing number of regional projects are addressing the shared use of water resources. New global partnerships are deepening the Bank's involvement in climate change issues. But M&E remains weak: three-quarters of environment-related projects - those managed by sectors other than environment - lack reporting of environmental outcomes.

This is the sixth annual review which assesses the effectiveness of World Bank programmes in helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and related targets designed to address global poverty. This year's review finds that the organisation's programmes are consistent with MDG themes, but can be greatly enhanced by defining quantified, time-bound targets for poverty reduction and other development outcomes. Areas needing further attention include: helping clients to monitor and evaluate development outcomes, working to establish cross-sectoral strategies, and clarifying the role and objectives of itself and other partners. Above all, the World Bank needs to fully assess MDG implications at the corporate, country sector and global levels and to address the implications in its use of lending and administrative resources.

The Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness is an exercise in mutual accountability undertaken jointly by the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the OECD following a request of NEPAD Heads of State and Government in 2003.