The Bank and the New Aid Architecture In addition to client responsiveness and technical excellence, the reforms of 1997 were intended to address new efforts to increase coordination among donors and align donor systems with country systems to improve aid effectiveness. The United Nations adopted the Millennium Development Goals in September 2000. The central units (network anchors) became the external face of the Bank on issues relating to their sectors, adding an important external responsibility to their internal Bank function as aggregators and disseminators of knowledge. This aspect of the network anchors has greatly expanded over time, in line with the evolving international aid architecture and the emergence of new global partners. This expansion has gone well beyond what was expected in 1997, and has coincided with the emergence of global public goods and crossnational challenges as new features of Bank assistance. The Bank’s action in these areas developed in a reactive manner in response to external demands and expectations, and often without a clear results framework linking objectives, instruments, and expected results.
Notes 1 The Wapenhans Report (1992) and first Quality Assurance Group (QAG) reviews, which cover older projects approved prior to 1997, indicated that about one third of Bank projects were not likely to have satisfactory outcomes. 2 In 1991, the Technical Departments were reduced in size—one third of the staff went to the country departments, one third to Central Vice Presidencies, and one third stayed in the Technical Departments within the Regions.
References De Vries, Barend A. 1967. “External Aid for Plans or Projects: An Alternative Approach.” Economic Journal. Vol. 77, No. 307. Hirschman, Albert O. 1958. The Strategy of Economic Development. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press Please, Stanley. 1984. The Hobbled Giant: Essays on the World Bank. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. Schiavo-Campo, S. and Singer, H.W. 1970. Perspectives of Economic Development. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company. Wapenhans, Wili A. 1992. The Wapenhans Report. Portfolio Management Task Force. Washington, DC: World Bank. (Also published as Effective Implementation: Key to Development Effectiveness.)
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The Matrix System at Work