ADB's long term strategic framework, Strategy 2020, argues that knowledge solutions must be enriched through internal learning from operational practice and external learning from long term knowledge partnerships. The Guidelines for Knowledge Partnerships offer a framework for strengthening such partnerships. They specify the essentials of designing for performance, articulate building blocks, and underscore success factors and special considerations. The guidelines are offered as a resource document and reference to ADB staff members in general. They may also help other organizations design and manage their knowledge partnerships better.

The critical importance of well-performing public institutions and good governance for development and poverty reduction has come to the forefront in the 1990s. Reforming public institutions is a complex and difficult task. This publication is primarily intended as a guide for World Bank staff but it is also intended to serve the broader development community. It outlines a strategy which envisions significant changes in the focus of the Bank's work in this area. Some of these changes such as an enhanced focus on governance, capacity building and anticorruption, are already underway. The agenda for the next three years is to continue to foster these changes through a the advancement of analytical tools, new approaches t the design of lending operations, expanded emphasis on partnership with clients and other donors and progressive shifts in staffing, incentives and evaluation techniques. Included as an annex is an inventory of the Bank's governance and institutional reform programs which are in place.