ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Ending Poverty,
Investing in Opportunity
Contents
2 Introduction
3 Message from the President
10 Message from the Executive Directors
12 Message from the Chief Executive Officer of IBRD and IDA
17 Regional Perspectives
43 Providing Sustainable Development Solutions for Our Clients
59 Developing Financial Tools for Global Impact
61 Putting Knowledge to Work in Promoting Development
64 Strengthening Our Impact through Partnerships
67 Improving Our Operations for Development Impact
70 Our Values and Our People
73 Guiding the Institution
74 Ensuring Accountability and Transparency in Our Operations
77 Deploying Resources Strategically
88 Committed to Results

KEY TABLES
82 IBRD Key Financial Indicators, Fiscal 2015–19
86 IDA Key Financial Indicators, Fiscal 2015–19

This Annual Report, which covers the period from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019,
has been prepared by the Executive Directors of both the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development
Association (IDA)—collectively known as the World Bank—in accordance with the
respective bylaws of the two institutions. David Malpass, President of the World
Bank Group and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, has submitted
this report, together with the accompanying administrative budgets and audited
financial statements, to the Board of Governors.
Annual Reports for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral
Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for
Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) are published separately.
Throughout the report, the term World Bank and the abbreviated Bank refer
only to IBRD and IDA; the term World Bank Group and the abbreviated Bank
Group refer to the collective work of IBRD, IDA, IFC, and MIGA. All dollar amounts
used in this Annual Report are current U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified.
Funds allocated to multiregional projects are accounted for at the country
level in tables and text. Fiscal year commitments and disbursements data is in
accordance with the audited figures reported in the IBRD and IDA Financial
Statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis documents for fiscal
2019. As a result of rounding, numbers in tables may not add to totals and
percentages in figures may not add to 100.
Human capital consists of the knowledge, In 2018, the World Bank Group launched the Human Capital Project,
skills, and health that people accumulate
throughout their lives. It is a central driver of a global effort to accelerate more and better investments in people
sustainable growth and poverty reduction. for greater equity and economic growth.

Raise learning outcomes

Reduce stunting
and strengthen skills to and sharpen focus
prepare people for jobs on demographics

Human Capital
PEOPLE-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
Support domestic resource
mobilization, improved Increase engagement
system governance, and in fragile contexts, with
a focus on young people
service delivery THREE PILLARS OF
THE HUMAN CAPITAL PROJECT

Human Scaling Up Country

More than 60 Capital Index Measurement Engagement
countries* are quantifies and Research helps countries tackle the
working with the contribution of health provides insights worst barriers to human
World Bank Group and education to the into what works capital development,
to transform their productivity of the next and where to using a whole-of-
human capital generation of workers target resources government approach
outcomes.

*As of July 2019

Bangladesh: Yemen: Zambia:

Providing basic Ensuring essential Supporting
education and health services to 89,000 girls and
training for 350,000 14 million people women through GEWEL,
HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENTS Rohingya children through the a girl’s education
through the IDA18 Emergency Health and women’s
Refugee Sub- and Nutrition empowerment
Window Project project
#InvestInPeople
 RESPECT
The mission of the World Bank Group centers on
two overarching goals:

I M PA C T
End extreme poverty by 2030 . . .

INTEGRITY
. . . by reducing the share of the global population
living on less than $1.90 a day.

TEAMWORK
Promote shared prosperity . . .

I N N O VAT I O N
. . . by increasing the incomes of the poorest
40 percent of people in every country.
 As development challenges become increasingly complex,
the World Bank remains uniquely positioned to help countries find the solutions
they need to achieve sustainable and inclusive development.

Vital resources: With a diversified portfolio and the support of shareholders,

we can effectively leverage and mobilize capital to finance development efforts.
Combined with our engagement with the private sector, these resources help
ensure that our clients have access to the financing they need to achieve their
development aims.

Global experience: The World Bank’s experience at the local, national, and global
levels provides us with the depth and knowledge to apply best practices and
implement innovative and sustainable solutions for our client countries.

Multisectoral expertise: Few other institutions can cover the full breadth of
sectors and disciplines in development. Our expertise in areas as diverse as energy,
education, climate, and governance makes us a valuable partner for countries who
seek multilayered solutions to their development challenges.

Convening power: With our global reach and experience, the World Bank is able
to collaborate with and bring together diverse partners from around the world to
catalyze action on shared goals for greater development impact.

As a global development leader, the World Bank will

continue to promote innovative, effective, and sustainable ways to
work toward our goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared
prosperity.

2 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Message from the President

Our development mission is clear: to advance shared prosperity and end extreme
poverty. The challenges remain urgent. For many countries, poverty reduction has
slowed or even reversed, while investment and growth will not be enough to raise
living standards. Poorer countries face many challenges in achieving basic develop-
ment gains, including severe deficits in clean water, electricity, health, education,
jobs and private sector competitiveness; barriers to the full inclusion of women in
economies and societies, alongside policies that too often favor elites rather than
creating work opportunities and support for those most in need; the urgency of
environmental and climate challenges; and the surge in debt that is not bringing
true benefits.
Economic growth has been the key engine of poverty reduction around the
world. However, in many countries, especially resource-based economies, the
­benefits of growth weren’t allowed to spread—growth helped increase average
incomes, yet it did not increase median incomes or lift the poorest 40 percent of
the population. With global growth slowing, median income growth is sluggish in
much of the world and declining in many poorer countries. In middle-income coun-
tries slower growth erodes the living standards of the middle class, with many join-
ing the ranks of the poor. This adds to the challenges facing the 2030 Sustainable
Development Goals, and the key poverty reduction goal is at risk of not being met.
World Bank Group commitments to help countries achieve better development
outcomes were nearly $60 billion in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2019.
With weak investment prospects in many developing countries and recession risk
in Europe, it has become even more urgent for the Bank Group—IBRD, IDA, IFC, and
MIGA—to step up our effectiveness and impact.
Working together, these institutions have the tools to help address the chal-
lenges emerging around the world. The IBRD-IFC capital package, approved by
the Board of Governors in October 2018, will provide additional lending capacity
along with institutional and financial reforms designed to ensure IBRD’s long-term
financial sustainability. IBRD has further strengthened its financial management by
introducing a Financial Sustainability Framework, including a sustainable annual
lending limit. A strong IDA19 replenishment in December 2019 will extend our
ability to support good development outcomes
and better lives for the poorest people around
the world.
We are sharpening our focus on selective
and impactful country programs to improve
growth and development outcomes. IBRD com-
mitments exceeded $23 billion this year. Com-
mitments by IDA, which provides grants and
low-interest loans to the world’s 75 poorest
countries, were $22 billion, of which nearly
$8 billion were grants. Together, these Bank pro-
grams helped more countries come closer to
achieving their development priorities.
Demand for human capital investments con-
tinued to grow over the fiscal year—reflecting
the significant role this financing can play in pro-
moting long-term inclusive growth and alleviat-
ing poverty. Over 60 percent of Bank operations
helped address gender gaps and encouraged
full incorporation of women in economies and

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT 3

 societies. Several once-closed societies are allowing welcome improvements in the
legal, economic, and social conditions for girls and women. Much more progress is
absolutely necessary.
The need for the rule of law and greater transparency is an increasingly accepted
development priority. In development finance, transparency in sovereign debt and
debt-like contracts is vital to improve the quality and profitable allocation of capital
and new investment.
For fiscal 2019, 31 percent of IBRD/IDA commitments contained climate
co-benefits, exceeding the Bank’s target of 28 percent by 2020. In December 2018,
the Bank announced a $200 billion five-year mobilization target to help countries
address climate challenges and put adaptation finance on a par with mitigation.
Our goal is for countries to achieve economic success and broad improvements
in living conditions. As they advance, our relationship with them should evolve so
that a growing share of our IBRD lending is available to countries in lower-income
thresholds. For example, China achieved major increases in GDP, median income,
and prosperity, so our interactions are becoming more technical as lending declines.
China’s policies are changing rapidly to improve global public goods, address
environmental and climate change problems, and reduce plastic and micro-plastic
in its rivers. China has evolved from a large-scale borrower to an important voice in
the development dialogue and a key contributor to IDA.
We are working in fragile areas, such as the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, to help
countries build stronger foundations so that young people are more able to stay
rather than seeking to migrate. IDA commitments to countries affected by fragility,
conflict, and violence reached $8 billion in fiscal 2019.
Many countries will need a much bolder agenda for boosting private sector
growth to generate more and better jobs. This entails major changes in the busi-
ness climate so that the private sector can compete with the state on a level playing
field—critical for generating jobs, profit, and innovation.
The World Bank Group is increasing financing for economic and institutional
reforms to enhance private investment and job creation in developing countries.
As the largest global development institution focused on the private sector, IFC
creates markets and opportunities for sustainable private investment where they
are needed most. IFC is shifting its focus to working upstream to create a pipeline
of bankable projects that will increase private investment in the world’s poorest
countries. MIGA is the largest multilateral political risk insurance provider, with a
mandate of creating development impact by helping attract foreign direct invest-
ment to developing countries. Nearly 30 percent of MIGA’s guarantee program over
the fiscal year supported projects in IDA countries and fragile settings, and almost
two-thirds contributed to climate change adaptation or mitigation.
Across IBRD/IDA, IFC, and MIGA, we are working to increase our commitments
to lower-income countries as they improve their development outlook and to shift
resources toward countries suffering from fragility, conflict, and violence. We will
be improving our effectiveness and budget discipline throughout the year to make
more resources available to meet client needs and challenges.
I am deeply optimistic that courageous, enlightened leadership and strong pol-
icies can work to improve living conditions for those most in need. I saw first-hand
the scope and urgency of the development challenges during my trip to Sub-
Saharan Africa in April. I am hopeful there is a path forward, having seen Prime
Minister Abiy and his team launching ambitious reforms in Ethiopia, the potential
of the world’s largest solar energy plant in Egypt, the resilience of the people of
Mozambique after the devastation of twin cyclones, and the inspiration for the
people of Madagascar after its first peaceful leadership transition.
The people in developing countries are facing immense challenges. The World
Bank Group and all our personnel and resources are committed to working with our
partners around the world toward policies and solutions that improve their lives.

DAVID MALPASS
President of the World Bank Group
and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors

4 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

 75 Years of Innovation for Progress and Prosperity

ON JULY 1, 1944, DELEGATES FROM 44 COUNTRIES gathered in Bretton Woods,

New Hampshire, to build a new global financial system that wouldn’t just prevent
war, but promote lasting peace.
The aim at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference was to
design a system that would stabilize exchange rates, bridge imbalances of pay-
ments, rebuild countries scarred by war, and promote development in poorer
parts of the world. Three weeks of discussions resulted in two new institutions:
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruc-
tion and Development (IBRD)—soon known as the World Bank.
The new system reflected a conviction that there are no fixed limits to
prosperity—that all nations could benefit from growth and development. It was
designed to address challenges that individual countries could not tackle on their
own. And underpinning the entire effort was the idea that all people deserve
opportunity. As U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, the chair of the con-
ference, said on the first night, “Freedom of opportunity is the foundation for all
other freedoms.”
As the Bank set up operations, an outline began to emerge for its role, not only
in reconstruction and development, but in shaping the new financial system. In
1947, we signed our first loan—$250 million for reconstruction in France—and
issued our first bond, raising $250 million for reconstruction and development
projects. Our earliest loans invested in equipment and raw materials, but more
importantly, in the collective will of war-scarred people to rebuild their lives.  
By 1952, the Bank’s focus had shifted from rebuilding Europe to advancing
opportunities for people in developing countries. Over the decades, as needs in
these countries grew larger and more complex, we developed new ways to use
capital and expertise to address them. Our organizational structure grew into the
modern World Bank Group with the creation of IFC, IDA, ICSID, and MIGA.
In 1973, our fifth president, Robert McNamara, interjected into our mission a
word not found in our articles of agreement: poverty. Speaking to shareholders
at that year’s Annual Meetings in Kenya, he argued that the Bank’s mission should
be to alleviate “absolute poverty,” which he described as “a condition of life so
degrading as to insult human dignity,” yet, “so common as to be the lot of some
40 percent of the peoples of the developing countries.”
Our commitment to ending extreme poverty remains at the core of our mis-
sion. Today’s Bank Group brings together diverse and talented staff from around
the world. In 1944, only two of the more than 700 delegates at Bretton Woods
were women; today women are nearly 53 percent of our staff and 42 percent of
managers. As the scope of our work continues to expand, we have become more
decentralized, with 141 field offices and staff increasingly based in areas affected
by fragility, conflict, and violence.
Over 75 years, the World Bank Group’s mission has evolved, from rebuilding
after conflict to fostering prosperity and alleviating poverty. In the years to come,
we will continue to pursue breakthroughs that help developing countries raise
median incomes; create jobs; integrate women and young people into econ-
omies; and build a stronger, more stable, and resilient economy for everyone.
These goals—and the cooperation to achieve them—are what Bretton Woods
delegates had in mind from the very beginning. They created strong institutions
in which countries could work together to address urgent global challenges and
improve the lives of people all over the world.

75TH ANNIVERSARY OF BRET TON WOODS 5

 The Institutions of the
World Bank Group

The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding
and knowledge for developing countries. It consists of five institutions
with a common commitment to reducing poverty, increasing shared
prosperity, and promoting sustainable growth and development.

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) lends

to governments of middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries.

International Development Association (IDA) provides financing on

highly concessional terms to governments of the poorest countries.

International Finance Corporation (IFC) provides loans, equity, and

advisory services to stimulate private sector investment in developing
countries.

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) provides political

risk insurance and credit enhancement to investors and lenders to facili-
tate foreign direct investment in emerging economies.

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)

provides international facilities for conciliation and arbitration of invest-
ment disputes.

6 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

World Bank Group Financing for
Partner Countries

TABLE 1
WORLD BANK GROUP COMMITMENTS, DISBURSEMENTS, AND GROSS ISSUANCE
BY FISCAL YEAR, MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
WORLD BANK GROUP
Commitmentsa 59,776 64,185 61,783 66,868 62,341
Disbursementsb 44,582 49,039 43,853 45,724 49,395

IBRD
Commitments 23,528 29,729 22,611 23,002 23,191
Disbursements 19,012 22,532 17,861 17,389 20,182

IDA
Commitments 18,966 16,171 19,513c 24,010d 21,932e
Disbursements 12,905 13,191 12,718c 14,383 17,549

IFC
Commitmentsf 10,539 11,117 11,854 11,629 8,920
Disbursements 9,264 9,953 10,355 11,149 9,074

MIGA
Gross issuance 2,828 4,258 4,842 5,251 5,548

RECIPIENT-EXECUTED TRUST FUNDS

Commitments 3,914 2,910 2,962 2,976 2,749
Disbursements 3,401 3,363 2,919 2,803 2,590
a. Includes IBRD, IDA, IFC, Recipient-Executed Trust Fund (RETF) commitments, and MIGA gross
issuance. RETF commitments include all recipient-executed grants, and therefore total World
Bank Group commitments differ from the amount reported in the Corporate Scorecard, which
includes only a subset of trust-funded activities.
b. Includes IBRD, IDA, IFC, and RETF disbursements.
c. Figures include the commitment and disbursement of a $50 million grant for the Pandemic
Emergency Financing Facility.
d. Figure does not include $185 million in approved IDA18 IFC-MIGA Private Sector Window
instruments, of which IDA has exposure of $36 million in guarantees and $9 million in
derivatives.
e. Figure does not include $393 million in approved IDA18 IFC-MIGA Private Sector Window
instruments, of which IDA has exposure of $106 million in guarantees, $25 million in
derivatives, and $1 million through funding of IFC-PSW related equity investment.
f. Long-term commitments for IFC’s own account. Does not include short-term finance or funds
mobilized from other investors.

PROVIDING WORLD
SUSTAINABLE
BANK DEVELOPMENT
GROUP FINANCING
SOLUTIONS
FOR PARTNER
FOR OUR CLIENTS
COUNTRIES 7
Global Commitments
The World Bank Group maintained its support for developing countries over the past year
as the organization focused on delivering results more quickly, increasing its relevance for
clients and partners, and bringing global solutions to local challenges.

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

$10.7
BILLION

TOTAL

$62.3
BILLION
in loans, grants, equity investments,
and guarantees to partner countries
and private businesses.

Total includes multiregional and global projects.

Regional breakdowns reflect World Bank country
classifications.
 EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

$5.8
BILLION EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC

$7.5
BILLION

$8.2
BILLION $11.7
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
BILLION
SOUTH ASIA

$18.4
BILLION
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

2019 SUMMARY RESULTS 9

 Message from the
Executive Directors

Fiscal 2019 saw a change in leadership and notable achievements for the World
Bank Group. The Board unanimously selected David Malpass as President for a five-
year term, which began on April 9, 2019. We actively engaged with management,
and with the President upon his joining, in strategic areas, including implementing
the Forward Look vision for the Bank Group and capital package, adjusting the
lending toolkit to expand Program for Results financing, strengthening the Inspec-
tion Panel’s accountability framework, making operational adjustments under the
IDA18 program, and scaling up transformational projects.
We discussed policy measures and internal reforms to help carry out key deliv-
erables in the Forward Look vision for the Bank Group and the capital package
commitments, such as private sector mobilization, organizational and workforce
realignments, a new financial sustainability framework and crisis buffer, and the
IBRD Fund for Innovative Global Public Goods Solutions.
Recognizing the significant progress in mainstreaming climate change into the
Bank Group’s operations and policy dialogue, we reviewed management’s ambi-
tious new set of targets and actions in this area and endorsed the Action Plan on
Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience. We also welcomed progress on gender
and development, and the Bank Group’s approach to closing the gaps between
men and women and between boys and girls. We recognized advances in diversity
and inclusion among staff and management and urged continued work internally
and with client countries.

10 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Standing (Left to Right): Erik Bethel, United States (Bank/IFC Alternate Director and MIGA Director);
Masanori Yoshida, Japan; Werner Gruber, Switzerland; Adrián Fernández, Uruguay; Nathalie Francken,
Belgium (Bank/IFC Alternate Director and MIGA Director); Kunil Hwang, Korea; Jean-Claude Tchatchouang,
Cameroon; Richard Hugh Montgomery, United Kingdom; Jorge Alejandro Chávez Presa, Mexico; Koen
Davidse, The Netherlands; Susan Ulbaek, Denmark; Guenther Schoenleitner, Austria (Bank/IFC Director and
MIGA Alternate Director); Yingming Yang, China; Roman Marshavin, Russian Federation; Armando Manuel,
Angola (Alternate)
Seated (Left to Right): Juergen Karl Zattler, Germany; Shahid Ashraf Tarar, Pakistan; Aparna Subramani,
India; Hesham Alogeel, Saudi Arabia; Anne Kabagambe, Uganda; Merza Hussain Hasan, Kuwait (Dean);
Kulaya Tantitemit, Thailand; Patrizio Pagano, Italy; Christine Hogan, Canada; Hervé de Villeroché, France
(Co-Dean); Fabio Kanczuk, Brazil

We noted the increasingly challenging external environment for developing econ-

omies amid weak global growth, with greater impediments for countries in situations
affected by fragility, conflict, and violence. We discussed additional efforts to address
debt vulnerabilities, increase resilience to shocks, and boost long-term growth pros-
pects, and noted that the Bank has a significant role to play in debt sustainability.
We discussed the Bank Group’s leadership role on issues such as disruptive and
transformative technology, human capital development, the future of work, regional
integration and trade promotion, and gender equality. We stressed the importance
of collaboration in mobilizing finance for development across the Bank Group. We
also encouraged advancing partnerships with the private sector, financial institu-
tions, governments, and others on reforms to improve productivity and invest in
human capital and infrastructure, which are key to delivering on our twin goals and
the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
To observe the impacts of the Bank Group’s operational engagement in client
countries, we visited project sites to discuss the effectiveness of its delivery model
with government officials, civil society, private sector representatives, and other
stakeholders. This year, Board members traveled to Angola, Cambodia, Mauritius,
Mongolia, Singapore, and Uganda.

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS 11

 Message from the
Chief Executive Officer of IBRD and IDA

During my visit to Rwanda in November 2018, I was asked if the country could
achieve its target of high-income status by 2050. Many countries share such ambi-
tious goals, and I am often asked these questions during my travels. While the
future is hard to predict, we know that rapid progress can be achieved with the
right policies.
The World Bank supports countries in making the smart policy choices that can
lead to development breakthroughs and better opportunities for their citizens. That
means bold reforms, innovative ideas, and investments in people, institutions, and
connectivity. However, while more than a billion people have risen from poverty
over the last 25 years, progress is slowing in some countries; there are even some
where poverty is on the rise. With the global economy slowing down, growth has
become harder to deliver.
For many countries, the risk of debt distress has risen. Over the last 12 months,
we have scaled up our work on debt management, which has become critical in
many countries. We continue to work closely with the international community on
this agenda, notably in the G-7 and G-20, where we also make valuable contribu-
tions on issues such as jobs, taxation, blended finance, gender, and health.
I am pleased to report that we had strong performance in many areas this year.
In fiscal 2019, IBRD and IDA committed a total of $45.1 billion across 351 important
and transformative projects, of which three were IBRD and IDA blended operations,
covering about 100 countries. The geographic spread of our work underlines the
Bank’s role as a truly global development institution that can act as a transmis-
sion line of development best practices between countries. More than ever, we are
­helping our clients tackle shared issues and common challenges.
First, we see that war and instability are increasingly disrupting development
progress. By 2030, 46 percent of the world’s extreme poor will live in countries
affected by fragility, conflict, and violence. On this agenda, we have increased our
financing to $8 billion this year from IDA alone, we have moved more staff into
fragile locations, and we have stepped up cooperation with humanitarian partners.
Such collaboration enables us to bring greater impact during prolonged conflicts
and to anticipate and prevent crises.
Second, many clients seek our support to meet climate change targets, and we
are helping countries reduce emissions and adapt to warmer conditions. In fiscal
2019, 31 percent of IBRD and IDA commitments included climate co-benefits. This
once again exceeded our 2020 target of 28 percent, and we are now setting the bar
even higher. And in December 2018, we announced a $200 billion five-year target
for climate action across the Bank Group—half of which will be made up of direct
finance from IBRD and IDA—and we are leading the world in putting adaptation
finance on par with action to reduce emissions.
Third, as countries have sought new drivers of growth in tough conditions, the
Bank’s leadership on the economics of gender equality has become more promi-
nent. This was reflected in the 10th edition of our flagship report, Women, Business
and the Law. Like so many of our knowledge products, it provides a key reference
point for policy makers and advocacy groups and helps strengthen the case for

12 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

reforms. And I am proud that we are walking the talk inside the Bank: today, women
make up over half of our staff, and last December, we achieved gender parity in our
senior team.
We are constantly striving to bring innovation to our development work. As a
knowledge bank, we drive cutting-edge research and analysis to help countries
identify opportunities as new priorities emerge. The Human Capital Project, which
launched at the 2018 Annual Meetings in Bali, now has 63 early adopter countries
and 24 global champions working to strengthen countries’ investments in their peo-
ple. This work also reflects our 2019 World Development Report, which explores how
innovation and advances in technology are changing jobs, skills, and livelihoods.
Technology offers new paths for the poorest countries to catch up with the rest
of the world, but also a risk that they might fall farther behind. In Africa, where pop-
ulation growth could outpace job creation over the next few decades, the digital
economy presents an exciting opportunity. Through innovations in digital infra-
structure, digital identity, and fintech, technology enables breakthroughs in a wide
range of sectors, creating opportunities for people, governments, and businesses.
This is why we have announced investments of $25 billion through 2030 to support
digital transformation across North and Sub-Saharan Africa and aim to mobilize
another $25 billion from the private sector.
As a learning institution, we always seek new ways to serve our clients better
and improve our delivery model. To this end, we have implemented key reforms to
improve our operational effectiveness and provide better value for our shareholders.
We are shifting more of our staff closer to clients and empowering our managers on
the ground to better serve low-income and FCV countries. We have realigned senior
responsibilities within our global practice groups to strengthen links and cooper-
ation between our sectoral and regional teams, while maintaining the flexibility of
our operational model.
Through our ongoing Agile program, we continue to pilot and evaluate new
ideas to improve how we work and make our operations more efficient. We have
found that this approach reduces project preparation time by up to 10 percent
and frees up more than $8 million worth of staff time annually that we can trans-
fer into value-added and client-focused activities. And that means more work like
the Resilient Homes Design Challenge, which
crowd-sourced over 300 designs for disaster-
resilient and sustainable houses that could be
constructed for under $10,000 for people liv-
ing in areas vulnerable to natural hazards or
disasters.
None of this would be possible without
the dedication of our staff, who continue to
deliver results, often in difficult and complex
environments. Everywhere I travel, I see their
efforts making a difference. When I reflect on
their passion, the confidence of our share-
holders and the values that anchor our work,
I know that our shared goals—as bold as they
may seem—can be achieved.

KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA
Chief Executive Officer of IBRD and IDA

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO OF IBRD AND IDA 13

 Feature: MOZAMBIQUE

Partnering with Mozambique to Promote

Resilience and Inclusive Growth

Mozambique made headlines this year, as two major cyclones had a catastrophic
impact on millions of people. The second-largest port city, Beira, took a direct hit
from Cyclone Idai. Soon after, Cyclone Kenneth made landfall in the country, caus-
ing further damage.
For the world’s poorest countries, this kind of setback has all too often reversed
years of development progress. But devastating as these storms were, they also
showed that Mozambique has made important progress in dealing with climate
risks—an effort in which the World Bank is a key partner.
As part of his first official overseas trip in May 2019, World Bank Group Presi-
dent David Malpass visited Beira, where he announced $350 million in emergency
financing for Mozambique from the IDA Crisis Response Window. This is helping to
reestablish the water supply, rebuild damaged infrastructure and crops, and sup-
port disease prevention, food security, social protection, and early warning systems
in communities. The funds complement other efforts to boost long-term resil-
ience, such as the Disaster Risk Management and Resilience Program for Results,
which seeks to improve financial protection against natural disasters, strengthen
preparedness and response, and build climate-resilient schools.
We have also supported the government’s response, a massive effort through
its National Disaster Management Institute that has brought together more than
14 countries, 1,000 aid workers, and 188 organizations. Within a month of Idai,
over a million people received food assistance, some 900,000 had clean water, and
nearly 750,000 were vaccinated against cholera. The port was also back in opera-
tion as the city cleaned up. This was partly thanks to a World Bank co-investment
with Germany’s KfW for a stormwater drainage system that reduced the severity of
flooding in the city. The project also provides solar-powered street lighting, which
withstood the storm and for a time was the only source of light in the city.
A strong recovery can help the government get back to supporting long-term
economic growth, where progress has been encouraging in recent years. Central
to this, and to ensuring that growth includes everyone, is human capital. Mozam-
bique has struggled with systemic inefficiencies and a lack of coordination that
undermine the quality of education and health care. In 2014, the government
launched the Public Financial Management Program for Results to eliminate bottle­
necks and enhance cooperation across ministries.
This approach is bringing improvements, for example by targeting factors
that had lowered learning outcomes: weak school governance, little community
participation, high absenteeism, and delays in school funding. By 2017, all 1,300
participating primary schools received grants by the start of the school year, let-
ting them purchase learning materials and support the most vulnerable students.
“This is a major improvement, as it allows us to plan better at the beginning of
the year,” explained Matilde Xilume, director of the 3 de Fevereiro primary school
in southern Mozambique.

14 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

 Similarly, the health system is improving service delivery and treatment by
ensuring that public facilities keep medicines stocked and avoid using any expired
and damaged supply. As João Grachane, a senior officer at Mozambique’s health
ministry, put it, “Medicines only have value when they reach the right patient at the
right time.” In 2013, prior to the program’s launch, the availability of medicine for
maternal health at public facilities stood at 79 percent; by 2018, this increased to
83 percent. Meanwhile, the percentage of treatment sites running out of antiretro-
viral drugs had dropped from 27 to 5.
Building on this progress, Mozambique launched a further Program for Results
in 2017, with a focus on primary health care in more remote areas of the country.
This program has achieved encouraging results in its first year, including more
births occurring in health facilities, improved family planning coverage, more staff
allocated to primary health centers and rural areas, and community health workers
reaching more families in remote locations. The program also provided funding
for the reconstruction of health facilities in districts most affected by the recent
cyclones in central and northern regions of the country.
Despite considerable gains, Mozambique remains very poor and faces big
development challenges. Our 2018 Human Capital Index found it to be below
average for its income group and Africa as a whole, based on indicators such as
expected years of schooling, harmonized test scores, survival rates, and childhood
stunting. While growth has been steady in recent years, the benefits have not been
shared broadly enough. High levels of public debt require continued progress in
restructuring and rebuilding trust with investors. And despite the strong start in
cyclone recovery, natural disasters are expected to become a bigger and more
frequent risk to livelihoods and infrastructure.
The Bank remains committed to helping the country address these challenges.
By promoting inclusive growth and long-term sustainability and resilience, we can
help the government alleviate poverty and ensure a better quality of life for every-
one in Mozambique.

FEATURE: MOZAMBIQUE 15
Regional Perspectives

The World Bank operates today out of more than 140 countries world-
wide. An increased presence in client countries is helping the Bank to
better understand, work more effectively with, and provide more timely
services to our partners in those countries. Ninety-six percent of Coun-
try Directors/Country Managers and 45 percent of staff are based in
countries within each of the six geographical regions. The following sec-
tion highlights the major goals achieved, projects undertaken, strategies
implemented, and publications produced in fiscal 2019.
 Africa

Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated at 2.5 percent for 2018, down from
2.6 percent in 2017. Although expected to rebound to 2.9 percent in 2019, growth
remains insufficient to reduce poverty significantly. Although the poverty rate
declined from 54 percent in 1990 to 41 percent in 2015, population growth at 2.6
percent per year has offset these gains, resulting in 130 million more poor people.
Volatility in the global environment—trade tensions, protectionism, and recov-
ering but uncertain commodity prices—continues to have a negative impact on
African economies. Holding back growth within the region are macroeconomic
instability, including poorly managed debt, inflation, and deficits; political and
regulatory uncertainty; and conflict and fragility. For example, fragility in a few
countries is costing the region nearly a half a percentage point of growth per year,
or 2.6 percentage points over five years.

World Bank assistance

The World Bank approved $15.0 billion in lending to the region for 152 operations
in fiscal 2019, (of which two were IBRD and IDA blended operations), including
$820 million in IBRD loans and $14.2 billion in IDA commitments. Revenue from
Reimbursable Advisory Services agreements with six middle- and high-income
countries was $7 million.
Our regional strategy weaves together five core focus areas for stronger devel-
opment: boosting human capital and empowering women; expanding the digital
economy; promoting regional integration; addressing fragility and building resil-
ience to climate change; and mobilizing finance for development.

Strengthening human capital: a focus on women

Building human capital in Africa depends on women’s empowerment, and our
Africa Human Capital Plan, launched in April 2019, seeks to help countries acceler-
ate progress. We will increase our human capital investments by 50 percent, includ-
ing $15 billion in new grants and concessional financing during fiscal 2021–23 to
help drastically reduce child mortality to save 4 million lives, avert stunting among
11 million children, and increase children’s learning outcomes by 20 percent.
In Madagascar, we provided $165 million to help expand the safety net to alle-
viate poverty, build human capital, and strengthen resilience, with an emphasis on
vulnerable women and children. To date, it has reached more than 140,000 fam-
ilies across 17 districts. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, $492 million in IDA
financing will help 2.5 million children under the age of 2 and 1.5 million pregnant
and lactating women—the country’s largest investment in child nutrition to date.

Accelerating digital transformation

The Bank Group and partners are committed to ensuring that every person, busi-
ness, and government in Africa is digitally enabled by 2030. A digital transformation

TABLE 2  AFRICA
REGIONAL COMMITMENTS AND DISBURSEMENTS FOR FISCAL 2017–19
COMMITMENTS ($ MILLIONS) DISBURSEMENTS ($ MILLIONS)
FY17 FY18 FY19 FY17 FY18 FY19
IBRD 1,163 1,120 820 427 734 690
IDA 10,679 15,411 14,187 6,623 8,206 10,190
Portfolio of operations under implementation as of June 30, 2019: $77.7 billion.

18 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

in the region can increase growth in Africa by nearly 2 percentage points per year
and reduce poverty by nearly 1 percentage point per year—and when paired with
investments in human capital, these impacts can be doubled.
This is not just about building infrastructure. It includes investments in skills,
digital identification, e-commerce, and digital business. We will invest $25 billion
in Africa’s digital transformation between now and 2030, and we aim to mobilize
at least $25 billion more from the private sector. Through our current portfolio, we
are supporting digital integration by financing infrastructure for high-speed inter-
net, such as the fiber optic backbone between the Republic of Congo and Gabon,
and helping young African entrepreneurs harness technology to tackle challenges,
including access to education, transport, and health services. In Ghana, Bank-
financed tech hubs are training more than 650 people to help them break into
cutting-edge jobs and new industries.

Addressing the drivers of fragility and climate risks

With climate shocks straining communities and threatening food security, it is
critical to invest in climate adaptation and resilience as well as disaster risk man-
agement. Under our Africa Climate Business Plan, launched in 2016, the Bank has
approved 176 projects for a total of $17 billion. These are delivering results ahead
of schedule, particularly in climate-smart agriculture and ocean economies, coastal
resilience, integrated watershed management, and renewable energy.
In conflict hotspots, we are helping rehabilitate infrastructure, develop eco-
nomic opportunities, provide basic services, and build the capacity of governments
and civil society. The Bank Group supports the Sahel Alliance, a coalition of partners
helping rebuild the social contract and state presence in recently stabilized areas
of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Somalia. In Mali, we are helping
restore a fishing port that was destroyed by bombardment in 2013. In the Central
African Republic, a successful cash-for-work program is helping create jobs and
boost self-employment.

Promoting private sector–led growth

While private participation in Africa’s development is rising, with infrastructure
investment totaling $7.7 billion according to the 2018 Private Participation in Infra-
structure report, there is scope for much more. The Bank Group is working to lever-
age all sources of finance, expertise, and solutions and working with governments
to create an enabling environment for investors.
With our help, Africa is generating most of its energy cleanly and in partner-
ship with the private sector. To date, we have mobilized over $2 billion in private
investment in Kenya and nearly $1 billion in Cameroon. Our support has also helped
Kenya improve the operational and financial performance of its utilities—with two
major utility companies now publicly listed—and develop renewable sources such
as geothermal and solar.

FIGURE 1 AFRICA
IBRD AND IDA LENDING BY SECTOR • FISCAL 2019
SHARE OF TOTAL OF $15.0 BILLION
Water, Sanitation, Agriculture, Fishing,
and Waste Management 7% 12% and Forestry

Transportation 4%
8% Education
Social Protection 10%

22% Energy and Extractives

Public Administration 12%

Information and
Communications Technologies 3% 5% Financial Sector

Industry, Trade, and Services 8% 9% Health

THE REGIONS 19
 Working across countries for better impact
We have strengthened our support for regional integration following adoption of
the Africa Continental Free Trade Area in March 2017 and are working closely with
Regional Economic Communities to expand our work. At the same time, we have
introduced a spatial approach to address common challenges in the Horn of Africa,
the Lake Chad region, and the Sahel. Our regional integration portfolio amounts to
over $10 billion in more than 70 operations.

SPOTLIGHT

EMPOWERING WOMEN AND GIRLS TO TRANSFORM THE SAHEL

The $295 million Sahel Women Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Project
(SWEDD) was initiated in 2015 to help Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali,
Mauritania, and Niger empower women and adolescent girls; increase their access to
quality reproductive, child, and maternal health services; and help countries develop
policy agendas that make demography and gender central to growth.
Religious leaders are conducting community dialogue to support girls’ secondary
education, delayed childbearing, birth spacing, family planning, and combating gender-
based violence. Men are enrolled in learning programs to encourage participation in
household tasks, healthy sexual and reproductive health behaviors, and reduced violence
against women and children. Established safe spaces are teaching girls life skills, includ-
ing problem solving, negotiation, refusal techniques, reproductive health knowledge, and
nutrition. Adolescent girls and young women are being trained for professions with higher
income opportunities. In Chad, for instance, over 13,000 vulnerable girls have received
support through the provision of school kits, payment of school fees, housing, and aca-
demic support, resulting in a halving of the dropout rate. Nearly 400 safe spaces have
been created in schools, and 280 women have received training in renewable energies
and the operation and maintenance of heavy agricultural machinery.
SWEDD also helps parliamentarians, judges, and lawyers improve legislation, expand
knowledge and application of existing laws, and extend their services to rarely served vic-
tims. Ministries are building capacity to collect data and conduct analysis that can inform
population policy and investments.

20 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

 Bank support to African Centers of Excellence has increased from $165 mil-
lion to $465 million, to improve postgraduate education in 45 universities in 19
countries, focusing on science, engineering, economics, and mathematics. We are
also strengthening partnerships, including with the African Union Commission, the
African Development Bank, the EU, and the UN, to drive stronger outcomes on joint
priorities such as trade, access to electricity, conflict and violence prevention, and
economic integration.

TABLE 3  AFRICA
REGIONAL SNAPSHOT
CURRENT
INDICATOR 2000 2010 DATAa TREND

Total population (millions) 665 869 1,078

Population growth (annual %) 2.7 2.8 2.7
GNI per capita (Atlas method,
551 1,430 1,506
current US$)
GDP per capita growth (annual %) 0.8 2.7 –0.3
Population living below $1.90 a day
391b 409 413
(millions)
Life expectancy at birth, females (years) 52 58 63
Life expectancy at birth, males (years) 49 55 59
Youth literacy rate, females
61 64 72
(% ages 15–24)
Youth literacy rate, males
72 75 79
(% ages 15–24)
Carbon dioxide emissions (megatons) 564 746 822

MONITORING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

SDG 1.1 Extreme poverty (% population
55.3b 46.5 41.0
below $1.90 a day, 2011 PPP)
SDG 2.2 Prevalence of stunting,
43 38 34
height for age (% children under 5)c
SDG 3.1 Maternal mortality ratio (modeled
846 625 547
estimate, per 100,000 live births)
SDG 3.2 Under-5 mortality rate
154 101 75
(per 1,000 live births)
SDG 4.1 Primary completion rate
54 67 69
(% relevant age group)
SDG 5 Ratio of female to male
labor force participation rate 83 84 85
(modeled ILO estimate, %)
SDG 5.5 Proportion of seats held by
12 19 24
women in national parliaments (% total)
SDG 6.1 Access to at least basic drinking
44 53 58
water (% population)
SDG 6.2 Access to at least basic sanitation
24 27 28
facilities (% population)
SDG 7.1 Access to electricity
26 33 43
(% population)
SDG 7.2 Renewable energy consumption
73 71 70
(% total final energy consumption)
SDG 17.8 Individuals using the internet
<1 7 22
(% population)
Note: ILO = International Labour Organization; PPP = purchasing power parity.
a. The most current data available between 2013 and 2018; visit data.worldbank.org for data updates.
b. 2002 data. For poverty estimates, see the regional groups on iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/data.aspx.
c. For prevalence of stunting, all income levels are covered.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/afr and

data.worldbank.org/country.

THE REGIONS 21
 East Asia and Pacific

Growth in developing East Asia and Pacific remained resilient at 6.3 percent in
2018. Domestic demand has remained resilient in much of the region, partly off-
setting the impact of slowing exports. Despite the recent slowdown, the region
remains a key driver of the global economy, accounting for around one-third of
global growth, mainly due to China.
China’s growth slowed moderately to 6.5 percent in 2018, after growing faster
than anticipated in 2017. In Thailand and Vietnam, growth was robust at 4.1 percent
and 7.1 percent, respectively. Indonesia’s growth picked up slightly at 5.2 percent,
credited to improved prospects for investment and private consumption. Growth in
the Philippines slowed to 6.2 percent, but the planned expansion of public invest-
ment is expected to boost it over the medium term. In Malaysia, growth eased at
4.7 percent, with the slowing of export growth and public investments.
In the region’s smaller economies, growth prospects remained robust in 2018,
averaging over 6.5 percent annually in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Repub-
lic, Mongolia, and Myanmar. In Timor-Leste, growth is expected to resume in 2019
following the resolution of a political impasse, while prospects in Papua New Guinea
were affected by a large earthquake in 2018. Growth in the Pacific Island countries
is expected to remain relatively stable, although highly vulnerable to shocks from
natural disasters.
The region has made significant strides in eliminating extreme poverty. The per-
centage of people living on less than $1.90 a day is now estimated at less than 1.5
percent (3.8 percent excluding China). This number is expected to reach 1 percent
by 2021 (2.7 percent excluding China). Nonetheless, an aging population, rapid
urbanization, slowing growth in global trade, and rapidly advancing technologies
present new challenges to sustainable progress in the region.

World Bank assistance

The World Bank approved $5.3 billion for 49 operations in the region in fiscal 2019,
including $4.0 billion in IBRD loans and $1.3 billion in IDA commitments. We also
signed Reimbursable Advisory Services agreements with four countries for a total of
about $5 million. Our regional strategy focuses on three main areas: private sector–
led growth, resilience and sustainability, and human capital and inclusion.

Promoting private sector–led growth

Expanding private sector opportunities and creating an enabling environment for
investment and innovation are crucial to ensuring sustainable growth in the region.
In Malaysia, where new technologies play a large role in ongoing development,
the Bank conducted a diagnostic study to unlock the potential of the digital econ-
omy. The report has guided government action in the sector, leading to expanded,
cheaper, and faster internet access.

TABLE 4  EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC

REGIONAL COMMITMENTS AND DISBURSEMENTS FOR FISCAL 2017–19
COMMITMENTS ($ MILLIONS) DISBURSEMENTS ($ MILLIONS)
FY17 FY18 FY19 FY17 FY18 FY19
IBRD 4,404 3,981 4,030 3,961 3,476 5,048
IDA 2,703 631 1,272 1,145 1,252 1,282
Portfolio of operations under implementation as of June 30, 2019: $36.2 billion.

22 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

 In Fiji, we supported the issuance of the first sovereign green bond by a devel-
oping country, which raised $50 million to support climate change mitigation and
adaptation. For investors, green bonds are an attractive investment proposition, as
well as an opportunity to support environmentally sound projects. At the request of
Fiji’s Reserve Bank, the World Bank and IFC provided technical assistance through-
out the bond development process.

Enhancing resilience and sustainability

In a region highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, the Bank works
with countries and partners to enhance resilience, reduce greenhouse gas emis-
sions, and support clean energy. In China, a Bank-supported program is helping
Hua Xia Bank provide businesses with over $900 million in financing to increase
energy efficiency, invest in clean energy, and tighten air pollution control. The
project focuses on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) region and the surround-
ing provinces of Shandong, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Henan. The funding is
also helping combat climate change by so far reducing carbon emissions by 1.8
million tons per year.
In Lao PDR, the Bank is supporting reconstruction and improving resilience to
natural disasters. The Lao PDR Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Management Project
is helping reduce the impact of flooding in Oudomxay province, while enhancing
monitoring, forecasting, and early warning of natural disasters. The project is also
improving financial resilience to natural hazards through insurance mechanisms
and a national disaster risk financing strategy. Additionally, a roads sector proj-
ect in Lao PDR incorporates climate resilience into  road maintenance.  The IDA
Crisis Response Window is expected to provide funding to both projects to boost
the country’s recovery from costly floods and build resilient infrastructure against
future disasters.

Building human capital and inclusion

Investing in human capital is key to ensuring long-term sustainable growth and
reducing poverty in the region. In Indonesia, we are strengthening social protection
systems to address gaps in safety nets and build human capital. The conditional
cash transfer (CCT) project Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) has contributed to a
reduction in childhood stunting rates, school dropouts, and child labor among par-
ticipants. Building on its strong results, additional funding from a 2017 Program for
Results expanded PKH to cover 10 million households or 17 percent of the popula-
tion, making it the second-largest CCT program in the world and further helping it
expand coverage, strengthen delivery systems, and improve coordination.

FIGURE 2  EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC

IBRD AND IDA LENDING BY SECTOR • FISCAL 2019
SHARE OF TOTAL OF $5.3 BILLION
Water, Sanitation, Agriculture, Fishing,
and Waste Management 7% 5% and Forestry

7% Education
Transportation 10%
7% Energy and Extractives

Social Protection 9% 1% Financial Sector

5% Health

Industry, Trade,
6% and Services
Information and
Communications
Public Administration 40% 3% Technologies

THE REGIONS 23
 A similar CCT program in the Philippines, locally known as the Pantawid Pamilya
Pilipino Program, covers over 4 million households with children under 18, pro-
viding incentives for parents to invest in their health and education. The program
has increased school attendance and reduced the gender gap in enrollment. The
program’s success accounted for a quarter of the country’s total poverty reduction
over the past seven years.

SPOTLIGHT

PROVIDING ON-THE-JOB SKILLS FOR URBAN YOUTH IN

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Since 2010, Papua New Guinea’s Urban Youth Employment Project has helped the coun-
try respond to an increasingly pressing socioeconomic situation, where more than half
the population under age 24 had limited job prospects. In Port Moresby, it engaged
18,500 youth in training and work placement activities, established about 18,000 new
bank accounts, and created about 815,000 days of work.
Before the program, 70 percent of participants reported they never had a waged job,
33 percent never attended high school, 35 percent were involved in crime, and 74 per-
cent never had a bank account. Six months after their on-the-job training, nearly half (41
percent) of the participants reported that they had secured full-time or part-time work,
while employers reported that 97 percent of project participants were qualified for full-
time work.
Co-financed by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the project is
now the country’s most significant public program addressing youth unemployment. Its
full-service approach—taking long-term unemployed youth through vocational training,
job matching, and fully subsidized work placements—will now be expanded to include
Lae City, Papua New Guinea’s industrial hub.

24 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

TABLE 5  EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC
REGIONAL SNAPSHOT
CURRENT
INDICATOR 2000 2010 DATAa TREND

Total population (millions) 1,816 1,966 2,082

Population growth (annual %) 1.0 0.7 0.7
GNI per capita (Atlas method,
914 3,763 7,601
current US$)
GDP per capita growth (annual %) 6.5 9.0 5.6
Population living below $1.90 a day
549b 221 47
(millions)
Life expectancy at birth, females (years) 73 75 77
Life expectancy at birth, males (years) 69 72 73
Youth literacy rate, females
97 99 99
(% ages 15–24)
Youth literacy rate, males
98 99 99
(% ages 15–24)
Carbon dioxide emissions (megatons) 4,197 10,040 11,689

MONITORING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

SDG 1.1 Extreme poverty (% population
29.7b 11.2 2.3
below $1.90 a day, 2011 PPP)
SDG 2.2 Prevalence of stunting,
25 16 12
height for age (% children under 5)c
SDG 3.1 Maternal mortality ratio (modeled
120 79 63
estimate, per 100,000 live births)
SDG 3.2 Under-5 mortality rate
42 23 17
(per 1,000 live births)
SDG 4.1 Primary completion rate
92 102 97
(% relevant age group)
SDG 5 Ratio of female to male
labor force participation rate 82 79 78
(modeled ILO estimate, %)
SDG 5.5 Proportion of seats held by
17 18 21
women in national parliaments (% total)
SDG 6.1 Access to at least basic drinking
78 89 93
water (% population)
SDG 6.2 Access to at least basic sanitation
60 70 75
facilities (% population)
SDG 7.1 Access to electricity
90 95 97
(% population)
SDG 7.2 Renewable energy consumption
32 16 16
(% total final energy consumption)
SDG 17.8 Individuals using the internet
2 29 51
(% population)
Note: ILO = International Labour Organization; PPP = purchasing power parity.
a. The most current data available between 2013 and 2018; visit data.worldbank.org for data updates.
b. 2002 data. For poverty estimates, see the regional groups on iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/data.aspx.
c. For prevalence of stunting, all income levels are covered.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/eap and

data.worldbank.org/country.

THE REGIONS 25
 Europe and Central Asia

Economic growth in Europe and Central Asia slowed to 3.1 percent in 2018. It is
projected to decline further to 2.1 percent in 2019, amid a global downturn and
uncertain prospects.
Growth in countries across the region varied, with Russia, the largest economy,
contributing robustly to regional growth, alongside Albania, Hungary, Poland, and
Serbia. Regional growth is expected to pick up modestly in 2020–21, as antici-
pated gradual recovery in Turkey offsets moderating activity in Central Europe. The
region’s long-term challenges, however, remain formidable.
The share of the working-age population in the region has fallen dramatically,
largely due to declining fertility rates in the 1990s. Productivity slowed to 0.8 per-
cent per year between 2013 and 2017. Investment growth has slowed sharply, from
an average of above 15 percent in the five years prior to the global financial crisis to
an average of just 1.6 percent in 2014–18. Parts of the region—particularly Central
Asia and the Western Balkans—are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts,
including droughts, flooding, and frequent natural disasters.

World Bank assistance

The World Bank approved $4.3 billion in lending to the region for 40 operations
in fiscal 2019, including $3.7 billion in IBRD loans and $583 million in IDA commit-
ments. We also signed 22 Reimbursable Advisory Services agreements with eight
countries for a total of $39 million. These agreements provided technical advice on
issues such as public finance and fiscal reforms, urban planning and development,
and strengthening education and skills for employment.
Our strategy aims to raise productivity and build resilience throughout the
region. To raise productivity, we focus on human capital development, inclusion of
the marginalized, facilitating access for all to new markets and technology, support-
ing competition in markets, and investing in safety nets. Building resilience means
deepening the foundations for inclusive markets by strengthening macroeconomic
and financial stability, developing effective governance to support growth while
addressing climate change challenges, establishing an enabling regulatory system
for the private sector, and fostering regional integration.

Boosting human capital to raise productivity

The Bank continued to advance projects in the region aimed at investing in health
care systems, improving skills, supporting the transition to new technologies, and
investing in safety nets to protect poor households.

TABLE 6  EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

REGIONAL COMMITMENTS AND DISBURSEMENTS FOR FISCAL 2017–19
COMMITMENTS ($ MILLIONS) DISBURSEMENTS ($ MILLIONS)
FY17 FY18 FY19 FY17 FY18 FY19
IBRD 4,569 3,550 3,749 2,799 4,134 2,209
IDA 739 957 583 310 298 931
Portfolio of operations under implementation as of June 30, 2019: $27.1 billion.

26 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

 In fiscal 2019, we provided $33 million for a project in North Macedonia that
aims to expand access and improve the quality of social services. In Tajikistan,
additional financing of $2 million to the ongoing Social Safety Net Strengthening
Project continued to help the most vulnerable citizens gain access to important
social assistance benefits. In Belarus, additional financing of $102 million to the
Education Modernization Project helped the country improve student learning and
modernize the school system. A $103 million loan for the Innovation, Inclusion,
and Quality Project in Georgia will help enhance human capital development by
expanding access to preschool education and improving education quality.

Building solid foundations and resilience for growth

Our key priorities in the region continue to include deepening macroeconomic and
financial stability, developing effective governance and institutions, and building
capacity to adapt to evolving threats, such as climate change.
In fiscal 2019, we supported a $52 million Tax Administration Modernization
Project in Serbia that aims to improve the effectiveness of tax collection and lower
the compliance burden for taxpayers. In Moldova, a $45 million Competitiveness
Enhancement Project continued to increase the export competitiveness of Mol-
dovan enterprises and decrease regulatory burdens. We also supported the Kyrgyz
Republic through a $20 million loan to strengthen the country’s capacity to respond
to natural disasters and reduce their adverse financial impacts.

Enabling markets to achieve high productivity in the private sector

This year’s projects aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, competition, and inno-
vation; facilitating access to new markets and technology; fostering regional eco-
nomic integration; and participating in global value chains.
A $15 million project in Kosovo helped improve the competitiveness and capac-
ity of export-oriented firms. In Uzbekistan, we approved a $200 million loan to help
rural micro-, small, and medium enterprises across the Ferghana Valley gain greater
access to financial resources, advisory assistance, and markets in urban areas. A
$400 million project in Turkey will help improve access to longer-term finance for
women-inclusive enterprises and firms in regions affected by the influx of Syrians
Under Temporary Protection.
The Bank also produced important thought leadership pieces and analyses on
key policy issues. The report, Toward a New Social Contract: Taking on Distribu-
tional Tensions in Europe and Central Asia, looks at labor, taxation, and social wel-
fare policies and calls for a fundamental rethinking of these policies to ease the
growing divide in societies across the region.

FIGURE 3  EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

IBRD AND IDA LENDING BY SECTOR • FISCAL 2019
SHARE OF TOTAL OF $4.3 BILLION
Water, Sanitation,
Transportation 2% 5% and Waste Management

5% Agriculture, Fishing,
Social Protection
11% and Forestry

13% Education
Public Administration 24%
12% Energy and Extractives

Information and
Communications Technologies 3% 11% Financial Sector

Industry, Trade, and Services 12% 3% Health

THE REGIONS 27
 A flagship report, Critical Connections: Promoting Economic Growth and Resil-
ience in Europe and Central Asia, analyzes the impact on growth of various types
of connectivity—trade, investment, migration, communications, and transport—to
help policymakers maximize the economic benefits of these connections across
the region.

SPOTLIGHT

BOOSTING REGIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION IN THE

WESTERN BALKANS
Delays at crossings in the Western Balkans are five times longer than in many EU coun-
tries. If logistics costs can be brought in line with average EU levels, annual savings could
exceed $1.1 billion, or 1 percent of the region’s combined GDP. Although exports from
the Western Balkans can enter the EU without tariffs, only 10 to 20 percent of firms
here are exporters. Compliance with procedures—including inspections and customs—
and time spent at crossing points dampens efficiency, increases costs, and hinders trade.
Breaking down these barriers to economic integration and improving connectivity and
trade are critical to sustainable growth.
The Bank’s multiphase Western Balkans Trade and Transport Facilitation Project will
provide a total of $140 million to six participating countries, with a focus on regional inte-
gration to facilitate cross-border movements of goods, improve the efficiency of transport
systems, and enhance market access and investment.
The first phase was approved this year, providing financing for Serbia ($40 million),
North Macedonia ($30 million), and Albania ($20 million). It is projected to reduce annual
export and import costs by more than 10 percent. By improving infrastructure, introduc-
ing new technologies, and increasing coordination among agencies in the region, the
project will promote trade and growth. Modernizing transport infrastructure and services,
as well as improving traffic flows, will also help lower greenhouse gas emissions and sup-
port countries’ efforts to achieve their climate change mitigation targets.

28 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

TABLE 7  EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
REGIONAL SNAPSHOT
CURRENT
INDICATOR 2000 2010 DATAa TREND

Total population (millions) 392 399 418

Population growth (annual %) 0.0 0.5 0.5
GNI per capita (Atlas method,
1,784 7,440 7,781
current US$)
GDP per capita growth (annual %) 8.0 4.5 2.3
Population living below $1.90 a day
28 11 7
b
(millions)
Life expectancy at birth, females (years) 73 75 77
Life expectancy at birth, males (years) 63 66 69
Youth literacy rate, females
98 99 100
(% ages 15–24)
Youth literacy rate, males
99 100 100
(% ages 15–24)
Carbon dioxide emissions (megatons) 2,693 3,014 3,030
MONITORING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)
SDG 1.1 Extreme poverty (% population
6.0b 2.4 1.5
below $1.90 a day, 2011 PPP)
SDG 2.2 Prevalence of stunting,
— — —
height for age (% children under 5)c
SDG 3.1 Maternal mortality ratio (modeled
56 29 25
estimate, per 100,000 live births)
SDG 3.2 Under-5 mortality rate
36 19 13
(per 1,000 live births)
SDG 4.1 Primary completion rate
94 97 98
(% relevant age group)
SDG 5 Ratio of female to male
labor force participation rate 73 72 71
(modeled ILO estimate, %)
SDG 5.5 Proportion of seats held by
7 15 21
women in national parliaments (% total)
SDG 6.1 Access to at least basic drinking
93 95 96
water (% population)
SDG 6.2 Access to at least basic sanitation
87 91 93
facilities (% population)
SDG 7.1 Access to electricity
99 99 100
(% population)
SDG 7.2 Renewable energy consumption
6 6 6
(% total final energy consumption)
SDG 17.8 Individuals using the internet
2 36 66
(% population)
Note: ILO = International Labour Organization; PPP = purchasing power parity.
a. The most current data available between 2013 and 2018; visit data.worldbank.org for data updates.
b. 2002 data. For poverty estimates, see the regional groups on iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/data.aspx.
c. Data is not available due to insufficient population coverage in the estimates.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/eca and

data.worldbank.org/country.

THE REGIONS 29
 Latin America and
the Caribbean

Growth in Latin America and Caribbean was 1.6 percent in 2018 and is forecast to
rise to 1.7 percent in 2019. Our aim is to expand upon the profound social transfor-
mation during the first decade of the 21st century, when the commodity boom and
widespread growth cut the region’s poverty rates in half. Between 2003 and 2016,
the share of the population living in extreme poverty in the region fell from 24.5
percent to 9.9 percent. Since then, however, economic prospects have dimmed,
and many people are at risk of slipping back into poverty.
The semiannual report, Effects of the Business Cycle on Social Indicators: When
Dreams Meet Reality, highlighted that much of this poverty reduction was due to a
favorable phase of the economic cycle rather than an improvement in the underly-
ing, long-term economic structure of the region. It remains a challenge for countries
to address these limitations to support stronger, inclusive growth.

World Bank assistance

The World Bank approved $6.1 billion in lending to the region for 37 operations in
fiscal 2019 (of which one was an IBRD and IDA blended operation), including $5.7
billion in IBRD loans and $430 million in IDA commitments. We signed 18 Reim-
bursable Advisory Services agreements with eight countries for a total of $6 million.
Our strategy for the region centers on three pillars. The first pillar focuses on
inclusive growth by promoting greater productivity, competitiveness, transparency,
and accountability; inclusion of traditionally excluded groups, including Indigenous
Peoples, Afro-descendants, and rural communities; and attracting private invest-
ment. The second pillar emphasizes investing in human capital to prepare people
for the challenges and opportunities that come with digitalization and the changing
nature of work. The third seeks to build resilience so that countries can better man-
age and withstand shocks such as natural disasters, economic upheaval, migration,
and crime and violence.

Promoting inclusive growth

The Bank is committed to promoting inclusive economic and social growth, with a
focus on higher productivity, greater accountability, and expanding opportunity. The
$300 million Metropolitan Buenos Aires Urban Transformation Project is supporting
the physical and social integration of Barrio 31, an informal poor neighborhood, with
the rest of Argentina’s capital, creating economic opportunities for residents. The
Bank’s Expanding Rural Finance Project in Mexico helped the financial system reach
areas where traditional banking was weak or had no presence, delivering more than
150,000 loans and expanding credit for smaller-scale rural enterprises, with a focus
on women and marginalized areas.

TABLE 8  LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

REGIONAL COMMITMENTS AND DISBURSEMENTS FOR FISCAL 2017–19
COMMITMENTS ($ MILLIONS) DISBURSEMENTS ($ MILLIONS)
FY17 FY18 FY19 FY17 FY18 FY19
IBRD 5,373 3,898 5,709 3,885 4,066 4,847
IDA 503 428 430 229 223 340
Portfolio of operations under implementation as of June 30, 2019: $30.0 billion.

30 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

 The Community Investment in Rural Areas Project in Bolivia brought basic ser-
vices infrastructure to the poorest and most isolated rural communities in Chuqui-
saca, Cochabamba, La Paz, and Oruro, with improvements in irrigation, rural roads,
drinking water, sanitation, and electrification that have benefited nearly 282,000
people. The Quito Metro Line One Project in Ecuador brought effective collabo-
ration between IBRD and several other multilateral development banks, including
Banco de Desarrollo de America Latina, the Inter-American Development Bank, and
the European Investment Bank. The $1.7 billion project is almost 80 percent com-
plete, with no expected delays or cost overruns.

Investing in human capital for growth and prosperity

Increasing human capital through education, health, and opportunities is fun-
damental to growth and prosperity. Following Brazil’s $200 million Bolsa Família
Program, which provides cash transfers to poor households conditioned on school
attendance and use of maternal and child health services, a similar conditional cash
transfer program is being supported by our Global Partnership for Social Account-
ability Social Audit Project in Paraguay. Informed by local feedback on how to reduce
absenteeism in schools, enhance the quality of medical care, and ensure the supply
of basic medicines, the project is benefiting more than 13,000 children in the poor-
est areas of the country.
In Peru, a technical assistance project improved the performance, coverage, and
monitoring of social inclusion programs administered by the Ministry of Devel-
opment and Social Inclusion, such as conditional cash transfers, pensions for the
extremely poor, and a school meal program for children in pre- and primary schools.

Building resilience
Latin America and the Caribbean is heavily exposed to natural disasters and is
also facing high levels of migration from Venezuela and Central America. Colom-
bia received a $32 million grant from the Bank-administered Global Concessional
Financing Facility in support of policies to manage the flow of migrants and refu-
gees from Venezuela and improve their access to jobs and basic social services, as
well as for host communities.
To help Dominica recover from Hurricane Maria, which damaged 75 percent of
its power network, the Bank supported the government’s National Resilient Devel-
opment Strategy to diversify the energy matrix. This includes $27 million to build
a seven-megawatt geothermal power plant, which will support Dominica’s goal of
becoming the “the first climate-resilient country in the world.” It will also increase
the share of renewables and offer a clear road map for private sector investment in
cost-effective and climate-resilient geothermal alternatives.

FIGURE 4  LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

IBRD AND IDA LENDING BY SECTOR • FISCAL 2019
SHARE OF TOTAL OF $6.1 BILLION
Water, Sanitation, Agriculture, Fishing,
and Waste Management 9% 3% and Forestry

Transportation 2% 8% Education

4% Energy and Extractives

Social Protection 19% 12% Financial Sector

5% Health

Public Administration 20%

Information and
Communications Technologies 1% 17% Industry, Trade, and Services

THE REGIONS 31
 Employing advisory services, technical assistance,
and convening power
The Bank provided Reimbursable Advisory Services, technical assistance, and
in-depth analyses to support the development goals of countries in the region. In
the Dominican Republic, our services supported policy reforms for addressing insol-
vency issues and improving the investment climate. In response to the Venezuelan
migrant crisis, the Bank conducted a migration impact assessment to help Colombia
formulate a national response policy and strategy; similar studies are underway in
Peru and Ecuador. The report, Afro-descendants in Latin America: Toward a Frame-
work of Inclusion, highlighted the progress made by the Afro-descendant commu-
nity in reducing poverty and gaining a voice for its concerns, along with overcoming
structural barriers that prevent their full social and economic inclusion. The October
2018 semiannual report, From Known Unknowns to Black Swans: How to Manage
Risk in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighted the importance of under-
standing the different types of insurance mechanisms available to manage risk.
The Bank also convened key policymakers and multilateral partners on shared
goals. These included a high-level conference on Building Resilience to Disasters
and Climate Change in the Caribbean; an Investor Forum, co-hosted with the Argen-
tine government on the eve of the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires, to identify steps
for boosting long-term and sustainable private sector investment; and the Panama
Accord, co-sponsored with the Organization of American States and the govern-
ment of Panama, to fight corruption and mobilize greater private financing for
development.

SPOTLIGHT

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DEFINING THEIR OWN DEVELOPMENT

To help design inclusive and successful development models, the Bank engages in stra-
tegic dialogue with Indigenous Peoples organizations and communities throughout Latin
America. We recognize their distinct development vision and aspirations, as well as the
disproportionate levels of poverty and inequalities they face. Through an $80 million
project, we are supporting the implementation of Panama’s Indigenous Peoples Devel-
opment Plan, putting these communities at the forefront of defining the development
agenda. The project benefits over 200,000 people, with a focus on women and youth.
It supports investments proposed and prioritized by the Indigenous Authorities, with
an emphasis on culturally pertinent, accessible, and high quality services in the health,
education, water, and sanitation sectors.
To overcome longer-term structural
barriers and long-standing ethnic inequal-
ities, the project includes investments to
improve governance capacity, planning,
and coordination between Indigenous
Authorities and the government. The proj-
ect has already achieved two of its results
indicators—an Executive Decree to legally
formalize the National Indigenous Peoples
Development Council, which serves as a
permanent consultation platform with the
government and Indigenous Peoples, and
inclusion of a woman advisor in each dele-
gation that participates in the council.

32 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

TABLE 9  LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
REGIONAL SNAPSHOT
CURRENT
INDICATOR 2000 2010 DATAa TREND

Total population (millions) 456 519 565

Population growth (annual %) 1.5 1.2 0.9
GNI per capita (Atlas method,
3,741 7,719 7,968
current US$)
GDP per capita growth (annual %) 2.7 4.4 0.9
Population living below $1.90 a day
63b 36 24
(millions)
Life expectancy at birth, females (years) 74 77 79
Life expectancy at birth, males (years) 68 71 72
Youth literacy rate, females
95 98 99
(% ages 15–24)
Youth literacy rate, males
94 97 98
(% ages 15–24)
Carbon dioxide emissions (megatons) 1,095 1,376 1,530

MONITORING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

SDG 1.1 Extreme poverty (% population
11.8b 6.1 3.9
below $1.90 a day, 2011 PPP)
SDG 2.2 Prevalence of stunting,
17 12 10
height for age (% children under 5)c
SDG 3.1 Maternal mortality ratio (modeled
104 84 70
estimate, per 100,000 live births)
SDG 3.2 Under-5 mortality rate
35 25 19
(per 1,000 live births)
SDG 4.1 Primary completion rate
98 99 98
(% relevant age group)
SDG 5 Ratio of female to male
labor force participation rate 60 66 67
(modeled ILO estimate, %)
SDG 5.5 Proportion of seats held by
15 23 31
women in national parliaments (% total)
SDG 6.1 Access to at least basic drinking
90 94 96
water (% population)
SDG 6.2 Access to at least basic sanitation
73 81 84
facilities (% population)
SDG 7.1 Access to electricity
91 96 98
(% population)
SDG 7.2 Renewable energy consumption
31 31 30
(% total final energy consumption)
SDG 17.8 Individuals using the internet
3 33 60
(% population)
Note: ILO = International Labour Organization; PPP = purchasing power parity.
a. The most current data available between 2013 and 2018; visit data.worldbank.org for data updates.
b. 2002 data. For poverty estimates, see the regional groups on iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/data.aspx.
c. For prevalence of stunting, all income levels are covered.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/lac and

data.worldbank.org/country.

THE REGIONS 33
 Middle East and
North Africa

Growth in the Middle East and North Africa is expected to be a modest 1.5 percent
in 2019, down from 1.6 percent in 2018, largely due to weaker global growth and
global financial market volatility. Real per capita growth across the region will be
–0.1 percent, improving slightly on 2018’s decline of –0.2 percent.
Conflict continues in the Republic of Yemen and Libya and, though diminished,
in Syria as well. This has contributed to an increase in the region’s extreme poverty
rate, which nearly doubled from 2.7 percent in 2011 to 5 percent in 2015. Iraq’s
recovery and reconstruction efforts are moving forward, if slowly. The Arab Republic
of Egypt, with strong reforms on the fiscal and energy fronts, will post a growth
rate of 5.5 percent in 2019. Jordan and Lebanon, still bearing the cost of millions of
refugees, are preparing to embark on significant economic reforms, while in Tunisia,
upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections have slowed the reform agenda.
Morocco remains stable, though with slow growth. Djibouti’s 7 percent growth rate
for 2019 is the region’s fastest, though it has had little impact on the country’s high
level of poverty. Growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) remains around
2 percent, with reforms in many countries, most notably Saudi Arabia.

World Bank assistance

The World Bank approved $5.5 billion in lending to the region for 19 operations
in fiscal 2019, including $4.9 billion in IBRD loans and $611 million in IDA commit-
ments. Revenue from Reimbursable Advisory Services agreements, including with
countries from the GCC, was around $56 million. The expanded advisory program
continues to provide ongoing support to the reform process in the GCC.
Our regional strategy has the promotion of peace and social stability at its core.
It has expanded since 2018, with added focus on mobilizing finance for develop-
ment, human capital, and digital development. It retains the four pillars of forging a
new social contract; increasing regional cooperation; building resilience, including
addressing the challenges of forcibly displaced people; and supporting recovery
and reconstruction. The expanded strategy incorporates the Bank’s three priorities
of sustainable and inclusive growth, investment in human capital, and strengthen-
ing resilience. Many of our activities include more than one of these pillars, as well
as the new areas of focus.

Renewing the social contract

Our key regional priorities continue to include promoting more accountable and
inclusive structures to support the private sector; generating more and better jobs;
and focusing on education, health, and opportunities presented by digital technolo-
gies. For example, the $700 million Financial Inclusion and Digital Economy Program
in Morocco supports entrepreneurship and the expansion of digital opportunities.
Tunisia’s $75 million Innovative Start-Ups and Small and Medium Enterprises Project

TABLE 10  MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

REGIONAL COMMITMENTS AND DISBURSEMENTS FOR FISCAL 2017–19
COMMITMENTS ($ MILLIONS) DISBURSEMENTS ($ MILLIONS)
FY17 FY18 FY19 FY17 FY18 FY19
IBRD 4,869 5,945 4,872 5,335 3,281 4,790
IDA 1,011 430 611 391 569 647
Portfolio of operations under implementation as of June 30, 2019: $19.3 billion.

34 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

supports the start-up ecosystem, including entrepreneurs focused on digital tech-
nologies. The $1.0 billion Private Sector Development for Inclusive Growth Program
in Egypt supports mobile services for microentrepreneurs, strengthens capital mar-
kets and the environment for start-ups, and modernizes tax systems.

Increasing regional cooperation

The Middle East and North Africa is the world’s least economically integrated region.
Hence the Bank supports greater cooperation, efficiency, and interdependence,
particularly in the energy and private sectors, to enhance cross-border investments
and reinforce moves toward a regional market. Jordan’s $1.5 billion Second Equita-
ble Growth and Job Creation Program emphasizes opening up markets to foreign
investment, particularly from the GCC and elsewhere in the region, while intro-
ducing greater efficiency and private sector participation. New electricity reform
programs in Jordan and Lebanon will allow better regional interconnectivity, also
to attract investors from the region. Egypt’s $200 million Entrepreneurship for Job
Creation Project seeks to improve the environment for start-ups, c­ atalyzing oppor-
tunities for investors to invest in innovative local firms.

Building resilience to forced displacement

In countries across the region, especially Djibouti, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon, the
forcibly displaced, including refugees and internally displaced persons, continue to
pose challenges for local services. In Djibouti, where many displaced people and
refugees have settled in cities, a $20 million project partly supported by the IDA18
Refugee Sub-Window is improving access to urban and social services and better
job opportunities for more than 120,000 residents. In Jordan, $141 million in addi-
tional financing for the Emergency Health Project will focus on health services for
Syrian refugees and their host communities.
The latter project will also receive concessional funding from the Global Conces-
sional Financing Facility (GCFF), which is supported by funds from nine supporting
countries and the EU for middle-income countries affected by refugee crises. To
date, the GCFF has approved $452 million for nine Bank-funded operations in the
Middle East and North Africa, which in turn has leveraged $2.1 billion.

Supporting economic recovery and reconstruction

Recovery and reconstruction—including assisting populations in the midst of con-
flict where the authorizing environment allows—is an important part of our regional
strategy, particularly as conflicts abate or end. Iraq’s $200 million Electricity Services
Reconstruction and Enhancement Project will support repairs and service expansion,

FIGURE 5  MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

IBRD AND IDA LENDING BY SECTOR • FISCAL 2019
SHARE OF TOTAL OF $5.5 BILLION
Water, Sanitation, Agriculture, Fishing,
and Waste Management 6% 0% and Forestry
Transportation 0% 10% Education

Social Protection 13% 16% Energy and Extractives

Public Administration 15%

Information and 18% Financial Sector

Communications Technologies 6%

Industry, Trade, and Services 10% 6% Health

THE REGIONS 35
 while encouraging private investment. In Gaza, which is still recovering from conflict
and subject to bouts of violence, the $17 million Gaza Emergency Cash for Work and
Self-Employment Support Project supports small entrepreneurs, as well as the poor
though cash transfers, while $10 million in additional financing for the Emergency
Labor-Intensive Gaza Project provides temporary employment opportunities for
vulnerable populations. In fiscal 2019, the Republic of Yemen received three grants
totaling $540 million for health and nutrition, urban services, temporary employ-
ment, and emergency provision of electricity.

SPOTLIGHT

SUPPORTING FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND THE DIGITAL ECONOMY IN

MOROCCO
Morocco has made significant social and economic progress over the past 15 years, due
to large public investments and wide-ranging reforms, while successfully ensuring macro-
economic stability. Yet substantial development challenges remain. Job creation is down;
unemployment is high, particularly among youth and women; service delivery is inad-
equate; and social and territorial disparities persist. Private sector development, which
is key for new jobs, is hampered by lack of inclusion, with poor access to finance for
entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The education system is not
delivering the skills required for jobs.
This has led to a comprehensive response from the Bank in support of the government’s
2017–21 program, which is reinforced by national strategies for digital development and
financial inclusion. The jointly developed Financial Inclusion and Digital Economy Program
not only aims to unlock Morocco’s entrepreneurial potential, especially among youth and
women, but also use digital technologies to expand financial inclusion and support start-
ups and SMEs. This made the project an ideal regional launch platform for our efforts
to create, within a short time-bound period, modern broadband coverage for all and a
nationwide digital payment system. The expected time for completion is 2021.
The program includes three interlinked components. The first pillar aims to enhance
financial inclusion by diversifying traditional and alternative financing instruments with
institutional and regulatory changes targeting microfinance, agro-finance, and insurance,
with a special focus on women. The second pillar supports development of digital plat-
forms and infrastructure, with a focus on expanding connectivity and mobile payments,
while the third pillar provides support to digital entrepreneurs. With strong ownership
from the government and the Moroccan private sector, the project will showcase its
achievement during the 2021 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Marrakech.

36 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

TABLE 11  MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
REGIONAL SNAPSHOT
CURRENT
INDICATOR 2000 2010 DATAa TREND

Total population (millions) 279 333 383

Population growth (annual %) 1.8 1.8 1.7
GNI per capita (Atlas method,
1,576 3,983 3,868
current US$)
GDP per capita growth (annual %) 2.6 3.4 1.3
Population living below $1.90 a day
10b 8 16c
(millions)c
Life expectancy at birth, females (years) 71 74 75
Life expectancy at birth, males (years) 68 70 71
Youth literacy rate, females
80 84 87
(% ages 15–24)
Youth literacy rate, males
89 91 92
(% ages 15–24)
Carbon dioxide emissions (megatons) 872 1,282 1,418

MONITORING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

SDG 1.1 Extreme poverty (% population
3.4b 2.3 4.2c
below $1.90 a day, 2011 PPP)
SDG 2.2 Prevalence of stunting,
23 18 15
height for age (% children under 5)d
SDG 3.1 Maternal mortality ratio (modeled
125 99 90
estimate, per 100,000 live births)
SDG 3.2 Under-5 mortality rate
46 30 25
(per 1,000 live births)
SDG 4.1 Primary completion rate
81 91 89
(% relevant age group)
SDG 5 Ratio of female to male
labor force participation rate 24 25 25
(modeled ILO estimate, %)
SDG 5.5 Proportion of seats held by
4 11 17
women in national parliaments (% total)
SDG 6.1 Access to at least basic drinking
87 90 92
water (% population)
SDG 6.2 Access to at least basic sanitation
83 86 88
facilities (% population)
SDG 7.1 Access to electricity
91 95 98
(% population)
SDG 7.2 Renewable energy consumption
3 3 3
(% total final energy consumption)
SDG 17.8 Individuals using the internet
<1 21 50
(% population)
Note: ILO = International Labour Organization; PPP = purchasing power parity.
a. The most current data available between 2013 and 2018; visit data.worldbank.org for data updates.
b. 2002 data. For poverty estimates, see the regional groups on iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/data.aspx.
c. Poverty data for the region is from 2015 and may have changed as a result of conflict or fragility in the region.
d. For prevalence of stunting, all income levels are covered.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/mena and

data.worldbank.org/country.

THE REGIONS 37
 South Asia

South Asia remains the fastest-growing region in the world, with growth projected
at 6.9 percent in 2019, 7.0 in 2020, and 7.1 percent in 2021, driven by strong private
consumption, recovering exports, and investments due to policy reforms and infra-
structure upgrades. The region has also experienced political stability, with demo-
cratic and peaceful transition of governments in most countries. Risks to the outlook
mainly stem from domestic factors, including weak exports, slow progress on fiscal
consolidation, high deficits, and disruptions due to natural disasters.
Robust growth has translated into declining poverty and impressive improve-
ments in health and education. But as of 2015, the proportion of people living
on less than $1.90 a day was still an estimated 12.4 percent, or about 216 million
people1—a third of the global poor—and multidimensional poverty is higher than
the global average. Many countries in the region also suffer from extreme forms of
social exclusion and significant infrastructure gaps. The region has also seen one
of the largest refugee inflows in modern times, with more than 740,000 Rohingya
refugees fleeing to Bangladesh since August 2017, according to UN estimates.

World Bank assistance

The World Bank approved $8.9 billion in lending to the region for 54 operations in
fiscal 2019, including $4.0 billion in IBRD loans and $4.9 billion in IDA commitments.
We also delivered 178 advisory services and analytical products to eight countries,
totaling $79 million, providing technical advice on issues such as energy sector
reform, female labor force participation, and climate change.
Our regional strategy emphasizes promoting sustainable and inclusive growth,
investing in people, and strengthening resilience. It focuses on supporting policy
reforms for private sector–led job creation; addressing stunting with multisec-
toral solutions; increasing female labor force participation; supporting refugees,
returnees, and internally displaced persons; and addressing climate risks, including
through disaster preparedness and management.

Supporting sustainable growth and creating jobs

The region can sustain high growth only if both investments and exports grow
stronger. With an estimated 1.5 million people entering the job market every month
over the next two decades, job creation is essential. To address these challenges, the
Bank supports efforts such as the $250 million Jobs Programmatic Development
Policy Project in Bangladesh to address jobs challenges and strengthen systems
that protect workers and build resilience. In Afghanistan, the $100 million Women’s

1
This estimate is based on a regional population coverage of less than 40 percent. The criterion
for estimating survey population coverage is whether at least one survey used in the reference year
estimate was conducted within two years of the reference year.

TABLE 12  SOUTH ASIA

REGIONAL COMMITMENTS AND DISBURSEMENTS FOR FISCAL 2017–19
COMMITMENTS ($ MILLIONS) DISBURSEMENTS ($ MILLIONS)
FY17 FY18 FY19 FY17 FY18 FY19
IBRD 2,233 4,508 4,011 1,454 1,698 2,598
IDA 3,828 6,153 4,849 3,970 3,835 4,159
Portfolio of operations under implementation as of June 30, 2019: $53.4 billion.

38 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Economic Empowerment Rural Development Project aims to increase the social and
economic empowerment of poor rural women.
The Bank Group is also helping countries maximize their development resources
by drawing on sustainable private sector solutions. In Nepal, a $100 million project—
the first in a series of two—is supporting the financial viability and governance of
the electricity sector, while the IDA18 IFC-MIGA Private Sector Window will provide
$103 million in financing and guarantees for the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Plant,
lowering risk and encouraging the private sector to invest. In India, the $400 mil-
lion Innovation in Solar Power and Hybrid Technologies Project supports renewable
energy and battery energy storage solutions.

Investing in people and supporting inclusive growth

To strengthen human capital as a driver of growth, the Bank is helping the region
improve access to and quality of education, address childhood stunting and malnu-
trition, strengthen health systems and services, and expand safety nets to protect
the poorest. Alongside development partners, we organized human capital sum-
mits in Bhutan, Nepal, and Pakistan. The new Pakistan@100: Shaping the Future
report emphasized the country’s urgent need to invest more and better in its peo-
ple, if they are to be richer, better educated, and healthier by 2047. Meanwhile,
initiatives such as the $400 million Program toward Elimination of Tuberculosis in
India build on earlier efforts to improve the quality and accessibility of health and
nutrition services.

Fostering resilience to conflict and climate change

Conflict and fragility risks are increasing in South Asia, resulting in greater displace-
ment and growing border tensions. We are working with partners to provide basic
services to the displaced and hosting communities, such as the $200 million grant
for the Afghanistan Eshteghal Zaiee–Karmondena Project, which aims to strengthen
jobs and economic opportunities in cities with a high influx of displaced people.
South Asia is also highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including
climate-induced natural disasters and rising sea levels. The South Asia’s Hotspots:
Impacts of Temperature and Precipitation Changes on Living Standards report
suggests that 800 million people in the region live in areas where livelihoods are
vulnerable to climate change impacts. Progress depends on reducing carbon emis-
sions, changing the energy mix, mitigating the effects of climate change, and build-
ing resilience. For example, the $125 million Climate-Smart Irrigated Agriculture
Project in Sri Lanka will improve agricultural productivity and diversification through
the adoption of climate-smart practices and better water management. The
$246 million Andhra Pradesh Integrated Irrigation and Agriculture Transformation
Project in India aims to enhance productivity, profitability, and climate resilience

FIGURE 6  SOUTH ASIA

IBRD AND IDA LENDING BY SECTOR • FISCAL 2019
SHARE OF TOTAL OF $8.9 BILLION
Water, Sanitation, Agriculture, Fishing,
and Waste Management 8% 13% and Forestry

Transportation 20% 6% Education

11% Energy and Extractives

Social Protection 3%
2% Financial Sector

Public Administration 15% 11% Health

Information and
Communications Technologies 4% 7% Industry, Trade, and Services

THE REGIONS 39
 for smallholder farmers. The $175 million Bangladesh Sustainable Forests and
Livelihoods Project will improve forest management and increase benefits for
forest-dependent communities, with emphasis on women and adolescent girls.

Promoting regional integration

South Asia remains one of the least economically integrated regions in the world.
Hence we support cross-border trade, transport and energy connectivity, and long-
term water security and environmental sustainability in the region. The $460 million
Khyber Pass Economic Corridor Project aims to expand economic activity between
Pakistan and Afghanistan by improving regional connectivity and promoting private
sector development along this key corridor. The Exports to Jobs: Boosting the Gains
from Trade in South Asia report analyzes how labor market policies can help various
groups of workers acquire the right skills and ensure that the gains of increased
exports are shared more broadly across societies. Our report, A Glass Half Full: The
Promise of Regional Trade in South Asia, unpacks critical barriers to trade integra-
tion and offers precise, actionable policy recommendations that could help achieve
measurable progress in key areas of trade and integration, benefiting all countries
in the region.

SPOTLIGHT

MAKING NEPAL AN ATTRACTIVE DESTINATION FOR INVESTMENT

Four years ago, Nepal was reeling from a devastating earthquake that claimed thousands
of lives. Today, its future looks considerably brighter. Extreme poverty is steadily falling,
and growth has remained relatively strong for the last two years. For the first time in
decades, Nepal also has a stable, majority government to carry out a long-term develop-
ment vision. New laws aim to encourage foreign direct investment, improve the business
climate, and protect intellectual property.
This combination of factors helped attract more than 700 foreign investors from over
300 companies representing 40 countries at the Nepal Investment Summit, organized by
the government in March 2019. When the summit concluded, some 15 deals had been
signed to develop hydro and solar power, 5G network services, a high-end resort, grain stor-
age warehouses, and public-private partnerships. Investors’ applications were also received
for 11 other projects in response to the 77 that were showcased by the government.
The Bank Group hosted a pre-summit roadshow in Malaysia and Singapore to help
raise interest among investors in those countries. The Bank Group’s financial and tech-
nical support for the summit reaffirms the 50-plus year engagement with Nepal and sup-
ports our commitment to the country’s ambitious goal of becoming a middle-income
country by 2030.

40 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

TABLE 13  SOUTH ASIA
REGIONAL SNAPSHOT
CURRENT
INDICATOR 2000 2010 DATAa TREND

Total population (millions) 1,391 1,639 1,814

Population growth (annual %) 1.9 1.4 1.2
GNI per capita (Atlas method,
444 1,153 1,925
current US$)
GDP per capita growth (annual %) 2.1 6.2 5.5
Population living below $1.90 a day
555b 401 274
(millions)
Life expectancy at birth, females (years) 64 68 71
Life expectancy at birth, males (years) 62 66 67
Youth literacy rate, females
63 77 86
(% ages 15–24)
Youth literacy rate, males
80 87 90
(% ages 15–24)
Carbon dioxide emissions (megatons) 1,181 1,969 2,516
MONITORING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)
SDG 1.1 Extreme poverty (% population
38.6b 24.6 16.1
below $1.90 a day, 2011 PPP)
SDG 2.2 Prevalence of stunting,
51 42 35
height for age (% children under 5)c
SDG 3.1 Maternal mortality ratio (modeled
388 228 182
estimate, per 100,000 live births)
SDG 3.2 Under-5 mortality rate
94 63 45
(per 1,000 live births)
SDG 4.1 Primary completion rate
70 88 95
(% relevant age group)
SDG 5 Ratio of female to male
labor force participation rate 36 34 34
(modeled ILO estimate, %)
SDG 5.5 Proportion of seats held by
8 20 18
women in national parliaments (% total)
SDG 6.1 Access to at least basic drinking
82 86 88
water (% population)
SDG 6.2 Access to at least basic sanitation
24 39 46
facilities (% population)
SDG 7.1 Access to electricity
57 75 86
(% population)
SDG 7.2 Renewable energy consumption
53 42 38
(% total final energy consumption)
SDG 17.8 Individuals using the internet
<1 7 30
(% population)
Note: ILO = International Labour Organization; PPP = purchasing power parity.
a. The most current data available between 2013 and 2018; visit data.worldbank.org for data updates.
b. 2002 data. For poverty estimates, see the regional groups on iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/data.aspx.
c. For prevalence of stunting, all income levels are covered.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/sar and

data.worldbank.org/country.

THE REGIONS 41
Providing Sustainable Development
Solutions for Our Clients

TODAY, THE GLOBAL POVERTY RATE IS AT ITS LOWEST POINT EVER—a testament

to the success of development efforts by the international community to end

extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. But progress is slowing, with

poverty remaining high or even increasing in some places, particularly in Sub-

Saharan Africa. The impressive gains are also threatened by global challenges:

tightening macroeconomic prospects, fiscal strains on governments, natural

disasters, slow income growth for the poorest, record levels of displacement, and

ongoing conflict and fragility. These challenges are further compounded by soft-

ening global growth and downside risks, including trade barriers, renewed financial

stress, and slowdowns in major economies.

To protect countries’ hard-earned gains and accelerate progress, the World Bank

works closely with partners to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth,

promote more and better investments in people, and build resilience. We do this

by serving all clients, creating markets, mobilizing finance for development, and

leading on global issues. These pillars are outlined in the Bank Group’s overarching

strategic framework and vision, the Forward Look, which lays out the pathway for

supporting the 2030 development agenda and achieving the Sustainable Develop-

ment Goals (SDGs).

Our unique strength in the development sphere comes from our global expe-

rience, our extensive knowledge in a broad range of sectors, and our ability to

convene key stakeholders. We take a multisectoral view, helping maximize impact

and provide more holistic solutions, whether in ensuring that women and girls

have access to safe and reliable transport, building resilient infrastructure that can

withstand climate impacts, or improving health systems in areas affected by fra-

gility, conflict, and violence. Through work that spans regions and sectors, we are

helping countries find sustainable solutions to their development challenges in an

increasingly complex and interconnected world.

PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS FOR OUR CLIENTS 43

 INCLUSIVE, SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

Promoting debt transparency

Debt financing is critical for development. Used wisely, it can help countries finance
investments and achieve sustained and inclusive growth. But indebtedness is
resurfacing as a risk across emerging and developing economies, underscoring
the need for prudent management of public debt through sound institutions,
processes, and capacity.
Our work on public debt management is aimed at enhancing three main
aspects. By promoting debt transparency, sovereign borrowers will be able to make
informed borrowing decisions, while creditors and rating agencies will be able to
assess sovereign creditworthiness and price debt instruments properly. Through
effective debt and fiscal risk management, countries can reduce their financial vul-
nerabilities, contribute to macroeconomic stability, preserve debt sustainability, and
protect their reputation among investors. By better monitoring and managing the
fiscal risks from contingent liabilities, countries can ensure that their debt levels do
not reach unsustainable levels.
In 2018, the Bank and the IMF announced a new collaborative work program,
the Bank-Fund Multipronged Approach for Addressing Emerging Debt Vulnerabil-
ities. This work is taking place in the context of the global development agenda—
including the SDGs—and supports better monitoring of debt vulnerabilities,
structural reforms to help reduce debt vulnerabilities, greater debt transparency,
and scaled-up capacity building on debt management. Key elements of this effort
and other aspects of sustainable financing were laid out in recent IMF-Bank notes
for the G-20.
Working with the IMF, we also implemented the revised Debt Sustainability
Framework for low-income countries. It allows creditors to tailor their financing
terms in anticipation of future risks and helps countries balance the need for funds
with the ability to repay their debts. The framework guides countries in supporting
the SDGs when their ability to service debt is limited.
The Bank Group’s signature Debt Management Facility provides advisory sup-
port, training, analytical tools, and peer-to-peer learning that strengthen countries’
ability to manage debt. Since its inception in 2008, it has supported capacity build-
ing and reforms in over 75 countries and implemented more than 290 technical
assistance missions. In 2019, the Bank launched the third phase of the facility to
scale up support on debt management and transparency.

Promoting a vision of global trade that benefits all

Trade is an important engine of growth that creates jobs, reduces poverty, and
increases economic opportunity. Since 1990, growth underpinned by open trade
has helped over 1 billion people escape poverty. Trade can also improve women’s
economic inclusion. Exporters in developing countries employ more women than
non-exporters, with women comprising up to 90 percent of the workforce in export
processing zones.
To ensure that every member of society can reap the benefits of trade, the Bank
Group promotes a broad range of reforms and investments, including more resilient
economies with strong safety nets; education that prepares students for the jobs of
the future; and retraining, job search assistance, and relocation benefits that help
workers transition to new jobs.
Global value chains are an integral part of open trade and a key contributor to job
creation. They help less diversified and smaller economies find niches in the global
economy. Many countries have managed to see substantial growth gains through this

44 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Helping countries gather data on poverty trends
Despite tremendous global progress in reducing extreme poverty, rates remain stubbornly
high in low-income countries and those affected by conflict and political upheaval. The
total number of poor people has been increasing in Sub-Saharan Africa, where more of the
world’s extreme poor lived in 2015 than in the rest of the world combined. By 2030, under
all but the most optimistic scenarios, poverty in the region will remain in double digits.
Tackling this challenge starts with more and better data. In 2015, the Bank committed
to helping the world’s poorest countries conduct household surveys every three years, an
increase in frequency that is crucial to understanding progress against poverty. With our
support, 41 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa conducted household surveys between 2015
and 2018, versus just 18 between 2012 and 2015. Between 2018 and 2020, an estimated
34 countries—with 76 percent of the region’s population—will conduct a survey. We will
keep up this momentum in Africa and elsewhere.

approach, including Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Lesotho, Vietnam, and, most recently,
Ethiopia. Value chains are the focus of the 2020 World Development Report.

Leveraging economic transformation to create more,

better, and inclusive jobs
Economic growth has the power to transform societies, boost incomes, and help
citizens thrive, but growth alone is not enough. To reduce poverty and ensure
shared prosperity, growth needs to create more, better, and inclusive jobs. Improv-
ing financial access, strengthening skills training, supporting a strong private sector,
and building sustainable infrastructure all connect people to job opportunities that
can help end extreme poverty in the poorest countries.
Close to 600 million people will be looking for jobs over the next decade, mostly
in the world’s poorest countries. South Asia alone will need to create more than
13 million jobs a year to keep pace with its expanding population. In Sub-Saharan
Africa, despite a smaller population, the challenge will be even greater—15 million
new jobs will be needed annually. And with 60 percent of its population under the
age of 24, the Middle East and North Africa will need to create 10 million jobs each
year. Most developing countries face three challenges: creating more jobs in the

PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS FOR OUR CLIENTS 45

 formal sector, increasing the quality of informal jobs, and connecting vulnerable
groups to jobs or to better jobs.
The Bank helps developing countries design and implement integrated, multi-
sectoral job strategies. First, Jobs Diagnostics help client countries identify key jobs
challenges at the macro, firm, and household levels; the diagnostics are an integral
part of our Systematic Country Diagnostics and Country Partnership Frameworks.
Second, we help mobilize global knowledge to identify solutions to common jobs
challenges. Third, we help countries implement job strategies through lending and
investment operations and policy reforms. In addition, we design monitoring and
evaluation tools to standardize how jobs outcomes are measured in projects.
IDA has been at the forefront in supporting countries’ efforts to create jobs, with
jobs and economic transformation identified as one of the special themes under
our current three-year funding cycle for IDA, known as IDA18. We are funding inno-
vative projects, using financial instruments and enhanced analytics and applying
new tools to evaluate and measure jobs impact. As of June 2019, the Bank has 579
active jobs-related projects, representing investments of about $78 billion.
In Jordan, a Program for Results provides a holistic approach to the influx of
Syrian refugees, helping both host communities and refugees. It seeks to attract
new investments and facilitate easier access to the EU market with simplified rules
of origin, helping create jobs for Jordanians and Syrian refugees while supporting
the post-conflict Syrian economy. The project has issued almost 43,000 work per-
mits for refugees, with a target of 130,000 by December 2019.

Building effective and accountable institutions that serve

all citizens
The Bank’s country opinion surveys consistently show that corruption and gover-
nance issues are among the top concerns of our client countries. We help them
tackle corruption to improve institutional quality and capacity and strengthen the
social contract. In Indonesia, we carried out three phases of a Public Expenditure
Review. The result was greater budget allocation to pro-growth and pro-poor pro-
grams, as well as more effective program design and implementation in sectors as
diverse as social protection, education, health, and water.
In Liberia, we supported improvements in pay and performance through the
strengthening of payroll management in the public sector. The project helped
improve the transparency and predictability of salaries and human resources issues
such as career tracks, grade, recruitment, and promotion. It also helped improve
management of the wage bill.
Revenue shortfalls pose challenges for the ability of poorer and fragile countries
to fund development priorities and ensure macroeconomic stability. In addition to
offering diagnostic assessments, the Bank works with governments to raise addi-
tional resources through policy reforms to broaden tax bases, as well as to improve
compliance, enforcement, and collection through technology.

Ensuring that markets can spur private sector growth

The Bank Group is helping countries mobilize more resources for development,
with a focus on deeper involvement from private investors. Our approach combines
upstream help in implementing market enabling reforms with downstream financial
and technical support to projects. Through our lending and advisory services, we
help lower public sector risks and barriers to entry for the private sector. The focus
includes supporting sound fiscal policy and macroeconomic management, promot-
ing micro-reforms, and improving the ease of doing business in a country.

46 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

 The Country Private Sector Diagnostic is a new Bank Group product that aims to
assess a country’s economy-wide and sector-specific constraints to private sector
investment and identify policy recommendations to address them. We now have
diagnostics underway in more than 25 countries. In Nepal, for example, a devel-
opment policy operation is addressing the cross-cutting recommendations made
by the diagnostic. The country has set up a Better Regulation Unit in the Prime
Minister’s office, and the Bank Group is advising on a transport master plan. We will
also help increase financial access, improve skills, and aid the energy, tourism, and
agribusiness sectors.
The Joint Capital Markets Program is a Bank Group approach focusing on eight
countries and one subregion to develop markets through joint diagnostics and
sector initiatives that are reinforced by transformative demonstration transactions.
It aims to strengthen government efforts to crowd in private sector investments
for development and support our G-20 commitment on local capital markets and
financial resilience. It mobilizes experts from across the Bank Group and client
countries to create markets, unlock synergies, and encourage systemic impact.
Establishing and maintaining financial stability is also a key driver of growth. The
Financial Sector Assessment Program, a joint initiative with the IMF, has promoted
policy dialogue and financial sector reforms for 20 years. Eight assessments have
been completed, with another 10 ongoing or initiated this year. The program is
evolving to cover topics such as fintech, cybersecurity, and climate risk, reflecting its
flexibility and changes in the financial policy landscape.

Providing financing and solutions for infrastructure

Helping countries meet the basic service and infrastructure needs articulated in
the SDGs—while meeting the rising aspirations of billions around the globe—is an
enduring challenge. We take an integrated approach to improving and financing
infrastructure in developing countries, focusing on broader access, higher quality
services, greater affordability, and sustainability.
Underpinning this work is the Bank Group’s commitment to crowding in all
sources of finance, innovation, and expertise to deliver infrastructure. The aim is
to preserve scarce public resources for areas where private sector financing is not
optimal or available. This also means intensified collaboration among the World
Bank, IFC, and MIGA. At the project level, Bank Group staff determine whether there
is a sustainable and affordable private solution for an infrastructure challenge. If not,
we look at how reforming policy and addressing risks—including solutions to lower
risks that are made possible by the IDA18 IFC-MIGA Private Sector Window—could
advance this result. We ground our project work in a shared vision with client coun-
tries on sectoral transformation to improve financial viability and service delivery.
At the country level, the Bank Group has developed a standardized approach for
assessing a country’s potential to leverage private sector finance and expertise to
deliver on priority infrastructure investments and performance improvements. This
approach, called an infrastructure sector assessment program (InfraSAP), provides
a coordinated package of policy reforms, advisory services, and investment to find
the right mix of public and private solutions.
Several partnerships and funding mechanisms support this work. The Global
Infrastructure Facility (GIF) supports project preparation, structuring, and advi-
sory to clients in developing countries. As of June 30, 2019, GIF’s portfolio of 70
projects is expected to mobilize over $66 billion in total investments. In 2019, the
Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility celebrated 20 years of supporting
stronger developing-country investment climates. The Quality Infrastructure Invest-
ment Partnership, established by the Bank and the Japanese government, scales
up the design of projects with a focus on efficiency, sustainability, and resilience
against natural disasters.

PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS FOR OUR CLIENTS 47

 Expanding access to electricity and scaling up clean energy
The Bank is one of the largest providers of finance for renewable energy and energy
efficiency projects in developing countries. We are also helping countries transition
to clean energy through financing, risk mitigation measures, and guarantees, as well
as technical and policy advice.
Globally, 840 million people have no access to electricity, with over 570 million of
them living in Sub-Saharan Africa. Between fiscal 2014 and 2018, the Bank helped
provide new electricity connections for more than 52 million people and signifi-
cantly expanded support to energy access. During IDA18, we will contribute more
than $1 billion to grid and off-grid solutions for electricity access in countries with
the highest deficits, including Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar,
Mozambique, and Zambia. We also manage a clean cooking and heating portfolio
of more than $350 million; our programs in 37 countries have reached nearly 20
million people.
In 2018, the Bank announced a $1 billion program to accelerate investments in
battery storage for energy systems in developing countries, with the aim of attract-
ing another $4 billion in public and private financing. In South Africa, we are work-
ing to develop 1,440 megawatt hours of battery storage capacity to enable the
integration of current and future variable renewable energy capacity. In India, the
Innovation in Solar Power and Hybrid Technologies Project will help strengthen
institutional capacity to facilitate scale-up of innovative renewable energy technol-
ogies, including battery storage solutions.
Coupled with our support for an enabling policy environment and sector
reforms, our energy financing is designed to advance public-private partnerships
and mobilize private investments. In Armenia, for example, we supported the coun-
try’s first competitively tendered solar project, which attracted a competitive tariff.
In Cameroon, the Nachtigal Hydropower Project benefited from Bank guarantees
and will allow the country to increase installed generation capacity by 30 percent.
In May 2019, we launched a Climate-Smart Mining Facility dedicated to improv-
ing the sustainability of mining for minerals and metals that are essential to the
clean energy transition. It helps emerging economies benefit from the increasing
demand for these strategic minerals and metals.

Connecting people to services and opportunities

Transport is critical to social and economic development and ending extreme pov-
erty. Mobility solutions connect billions of people to jobs, education, and health
services; help make cities and countries competitive and inclusive; and promote
global trade and growth. In rural Morocco, better access to roads tripled girls’ school
enrollment. In Thailand, reducing traffic fatalities by 50 percent could add 22 per-
cent to the country’s GDP over two decades.
To be sustainable, transport must meet four essential goals. It should be acces-
sible for all, including the poor, women, and vulnerable populations. It should be
green; transport generates 23 percent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.
It should be safe; road crashes claim the lives of 1.3 million people annually. And it
should be efficient; traffic congestion costs cities millions of dollars every day, which
technology could help reduce.
In fiscal 2019, the World Bank–led Sustainable Mobility for All Initiative devel-
oped the Global Roadmap of Action toward Sustainable Mobility, the first-ever look
across the four goals for policy measures that could help countries address transport
challenges holistically. We also launched a ground-breaking report that lays out
principles for electric mobility programs around the world. In addition, we pushed
for partnerships between African academic institutions and those in developed
economies to boost capacity building for transport professionals. Promoting con-
nectivity and climate resilience in small island countries, a vital development priority,

48 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

was also a focus in fiscal 2019, with eight approved projects totaling almost $240
million in Africa and the Pacific.

Managing natural resources at the tipping point

The world’s natural resources are under intense strain, with polluted oceans,
unhealthy air, degraded landscapes, and dwindling fish stocks. We are helping
countries value their natural capital so that they can make policy and investment
choices that support sustainable development. Our Blue Economy Program and
the new PROBLUE Trust Fund help address the threat posed by marine pollution,
supporting better management of fisheries and aquaculture and more sustainable
coastal development. Another new initiative, the Global Program on Sustainability,
is working with 18 countries to value and measure the economic contribution of
natural assets like forests, land, and water.
Tackling air pollution is also a priority: in 2016, it cost the global economy $5.7
trillion—4.8 percent of global GDP. We are helping the countries hit hardest, includ-
ing the Arab Republic of Egypt, India, and Nigeria. In China’s Hebei province, we are
supporting efforts to control emissions from industry, agriculture, mobile sources,
area pollution and dust, and energy generation. From 2013 to 2017, China’s three
regions with the worst air quality averaged a 36 percent decrease in concentrations
of particle pollution, partly through interventions supported by the Bank.
We are bringing innovative approaches to forest conservation, including pay-
ments for reducing carbon emissions from deforestation. The Democratic Republic
of Congo and Mozambique, for example, signed landmark Emission Reductions
Payment Agreements with the Bank in 2018, unlocking results-based payments and
rewarding communities that are working to protect forests.

Transforming food systems for farmers, consumers, and

the planet
Some 79 percent of the extreme poor live in rural areas, with about 500 million
smallholder farmers among the world’s poorest groups. About one in three peo-
ple is not eating enough or eating unhealthy food, contributing to food insecurity,
anemia, obesity, and non-communicable diseases. Food systems currently account

PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS FOR OUR CLIENTS 49

 for a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, 70 percent of freshwater withdrawal,
and many forms of pollution.
The Bank is working to help realign incentives and reward farmers for sustainably
producing safe, healthy, and affordable food; partners include the World Resources
Institute, EAT, and the Food and Land Use Coalition. We are also helping countries
transform food systems through a range of tools and programs. These include diag-
nostic work to understand what drives food loss and waste; new technology such as
the Ag Observatory, which provides real-time analysis of weather anomalies affect-
ing agriculture; inputs and technical assistance that support a shift to climate-smart
practices; and public-private partnerships to revitalize valuable food supply chains
and create jobs. For example, in Uruguay, we are supporting government efforts to
help farmers adopt more climate-smart practices by deploying new technologies. By
2021, around 25 percent of the country’s arable land will be under sustainable land
management, strengthening resilience and productivity while reducing emissions.

Achieving a water-secure world for all

Water touches every aspect of development. But a host of challenges—gaps in
access to water supply and sanitation, rapid urbanization and population growth,
pollution, climate impacts, and more water-intensive patterns of growth—are mak-
ing water insecurity one of the greatest threats to economic progress, poverty alle-
viation, and sustainable development.
To achieve a water-secure world for all, we are working with countries and part-
ners to improve resource management, facilitate universal access to water and sani-
tation, and optimize water use in agriculture. This also helps build resilience through
systems that can better withstand climate extremes while addressing fragility in
water-stressed countries.
In Angola, we helped create and strengthen six water supply utilities that are
providing household services to over 800,000 new customers; the project also
helped establish a new regulator and a water resources management institution. In
Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, we supported investments in water infrastructure to mit-
igate the impacts of flooding and saline intrusion exacerbated by climate change;
helping protect and enhance the use of water resources bolsters gains in agricul-
tural productivity, benefiting 215,000 farmers’ households.
By bringing innovation, new knowledge and evidence, and flexibility to Bank
lending operations, the Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership, a multi­
donor trust fund launched in 2017, helps client countries build capacity and
strengthen the institutions, infrastructure, and inventiveness needed to adequately
supply current and future generations with water, food, and energy. The 2030 Water
Resources Group—a public-private–civil society partnership—supports government-
accelerated reforms with the aim of ensuring sustainable water resources manage-
ment for the long-term development and economic growth of their countries.

Harnessing digital innovation for greater access and

opportunity
Digital technologies can help address some of the toughest development chal-
lenges by connecting people to services and opportunities. But technology trends
also pose risks that include disruption of labor markets and livelihoods. Many devel-
oping countries lack the skills, firms, and legal and regulatory frameworks to harness
technology’s potential. The Bank helps countries create the economic framework for
digital transformation, identify new determinants of competitiveness and growth,
and enable new business models brought about by technological change. We also
work with governments to identify constraints to technology-led development. The

50 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Public Expenditure Review for Science, Technology, and Innovation, for example, is
a new diagnostic tool that helps governments formulate policies, adopt good prac-
tices, and improve coordination. It has been piloted in Chile, Colombia, and Ukraine.
Today, about 4 billion people are still not connected to broadband internet, and
in the least developed countries, only one in seven people has access. This digital
divide can worsen existing inequalities and leave parts of the world behind. To
help bridge this gap, the Bank has enabled 20 African countries to connect to
broadband submarine cables and is committed to doubling broadband connec-
tivity across Africa by 2021. This is a key milestone of our support to the ambitious
Digital Transformation Agenda launched by the African Union in 2019, which aims
to digitally enable all people, businesses, and governments across the continent
by 2030. This will help turn the opportunities provided by the digital economy
into new pathways for growth, economic mobility, innovation, job creation, and
access to affordable services. The focus includes promoting digital infrastructure,
platforms, financial services, entrepreneurship, and skills.
Digital technology is also driving growth in the so-called “gig economy,” where
organizations and individuals contract with independent workers for short-term
engagements. These new forms of work blur the line between formal and casual
employment, challenging social protection models that assume most people are in
stable employer-employee contracts. The digital era is also shifting the demand for
skills. Adaptability is increasingly valued by the labor market, while the changing
nature of work means that skills acquisition must be a matter of lifelong learning.
For societies to benefit from the potential that technology offers, they need a new
social contract centered on larger investments to protect those at risk.
Despite decades of efforts to broaden the formal economy, informality still aver-
ages 65 percent globally. The changing nature of work intensifies the need to focus
on human capital and rethink social protection. To fund these critical investments,
the World Development Report 2019: The Changing Nature of Work offers sug-
gestions on how governments can mobilize more revenues. Property taxes in large
cities, excise taxes on sugar or tobacco, and carbon taxes are among the ways to
increase a government’s revenue, along with elimination of tax avoidance strategies
that many firms use to increase their profits.
Digital technology also presents opportunities to improve access to public ser-
vices and promote more inclusive development. About 1 billion people worldwide
have no way of proving their identity and are thus excluded from crucial services
and opportunities. In 2019, our Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative
launched the “Mission Billion” global challenge to help find innovative ways to pro-
vide digital identification that is secure and protects privacy.
Meanwhile, fintech continues to have global impact on financial services. Mobile
payment services have been among the key early developers, with broad implica-
tions for inclusion. New entrants to the market are challenging incumbents, who are
responding. This evolution could boost competition and efficiency, while raising
new risks to financial stability and integrity. Balancing competing policy priorities
is also a key challenge. In response to calls from countries for greater cooperation
and guidance to address these issues, the Bank Group and the IMF published the
Bali Fintech Agenda in October 2018. The agenda is comprised of 12 high-level
considerations for policymakers and the international community to harness the
opportunities and manage the potential risks posed by fintech.
To promote the use of technology in making public services more efficient,
transparent, and accountable, the Bank launched the GovTech Global Initiative in
2019. This partnership convenes key stakeholders in digital governance, includ-
ing governments, technology companies, IT experts, development partners, and
civil society organizations. It aims to ensure that developing countries are not left
behind by digital innovation.

PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS FOR OUR CLIENTS 51

 INVESTING IN PEOPLE

Unleashing the real wealth of nations by investing in

human capital
Investing in people—through nutrition, quality health care, education, social pro-
tection, jobs, and skills—helps develop human capital, a key driver of economic
growth, and is critical to ending extreme poverty and creating more inclusive soci-
eties. To drive more and better investments in people, the Bank’s Human Capital
Project is mobilizing countries and partners for a world in which all girls and boys
grow up well-nourished and ready to learn; attain real learning in school; and enter
the job market as healthy, skilled, and productive adults. To date, more than 60
countries have joined the project. Our work with countries emphasizes building the
efficiency and quality of services, policy reforms, and domestic resource mobiliza-
tion, so that countries aren’t just spending more—but spending better.
Countries are already taking concrete actions to improve outcomes in the areas
of social protection and jobs, financing and accountability, education, health, and
gender—as well as essential services like water, sanitation, and electricity—all of
which are critical to building human capital.
As part of the project, the Bank launched the Human Capital Index at our Annual
Meetings in October 2018 in Indonesia. It links outcomes in health and education
to productivity and economic growth and shows that nearly 60 percent of children
born today in the 157 countries covered will be, at best, half as productive as they
could be with good health and quality education. The index is based on measure-
ment of child survival and nutrition, expected years of schooling and quality of
learning, and health status.
In April 2019, we unveiled the Africa Human Capital Plan to help the region
strengthen its investments in people and enable its young people to grow up with
optimal health and the skills to compete in the digitizing global economy. The plan
sets ambitious targets to be achieved by 2023, including a drastic reduction in child
mortality to save 4 million lives, averting stunting for more than 11 million children,
and increasing schools’ learning outcomes by 20 percent. It also aims to empower
women and girls through programs that prevent early marriage and pregnancy for
adolescent girls. The Bank will increase investments in human capital in Africa by
50 percent in the next funding cycle.

Delivering systemic change in education

Education is fundamental to building the human capital that allows people and
countries to thrive. While developing countries have made tremendous strides in
getting children into the classroom, more than 260 million children worldwide are
still not in school. And for those in school, learning is not guaranteed; in Sub-Saharan
Africa, almost 90 percent of students lack minimum proficiency in reading and math.
Education systems in developing countries need to be strengthened and aligned
to ensure that all children learn. The Bank helps countries develop and improve
their systems as well as identify the interventions needed to deliver learning. We
are moving away from financing inputs to financing systemic reforms, where all
inputs—textbooks, hardware, teachers’ support, and curriculums—are part of a
holistic effort that leads to better learning.
The Bank is the largest financier of education in the developing world, with
programs in over 80 countries. In fiscal 2019, we provided $3.0 billion for edu-
cation programs, technical assistance, and other projects designed to improve
learning outcomes and provide everyone with the opportunity to succeed. Our
current portfolio totals $16.0 billion, highlighting the importance of education
for accelerating progress in building human capital. Our focus is five key drivers

52 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

 Increasing living standards for women to achieve human
capital potential
In many countries, girls and women face barriers that prevent them from trans-
lating human capital investments into the same economic opportunities as boys
and men. Globally, countries are losing $160 trillion in wealth due to differences
in lifetime earnings between men and women.
Priorities to close gender gaps include reducing maternal mortality, ensur-
ing better coverage of reproductive health services, and expanding access to
early childhood education. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, our Health
Systems Strengthening Project supports adolescent sexual and reproductive
health, addresses risks of early pregnancy and maternal death, and helps parents
plan families and improve child nutrition.
To reduce barriers to women’s employment opportunities, we focus on
access to care services from early childhood to old age and are working with
governments and the private sector to develop parental leave policies that
enable women and men to balance care responsibilities. Our Burkina Faso Youth
Employment and Skills Development Project, for example, provides mobile child
care for workers in labor-intensive public works. In Turkey, where the female
labor force participation rate is 35 percent, a Bank project is advising on new
tax incentives for private nursery schools to increase child care supply as well
as labor market regulations to introduce more flexible work. Other priorities
include tackling occupational sex segregation, ensuring safe and affordable
transportation, and helping women access digital economy opportunities.
We are also helping countries remove barriers to women’s ownership and
control of assets such as land and housing, as well as improve access to finance,
technology, and insurance services. In the utilities sector, an increasing number of
operations support women’s participation in decision making.
Unleashing the potential of women entrepreneurs supports more inclusive
global growth, job creation, and poverty reduction. The Women Entrepreneurs
Finance Initiative (We-Fi), launched in 2017, is a partnership of 14 governments,
six multilateral development banks, and numerous other stakeholders in the
public and private sectors that aims to unlock financing for women-led and
-owned businesses in developing countries. During two calls for proposals in
2018 and 2019, We-Fi allocated $249 million to multilateral development bank
programs that will benefit over 114,000 such businesses and aim to mobilize
$2.6 billion from the public and private sectors. Projects will be implemented in
dozens of countries, with over half of the funds going to IDA countries, includ-
ing many facing fragile and conflict-affected situations.
As one of the implementing partners under We-Fi, the Bank Group received
$75 million for activities targeting women’s businesses, improving their access
to credit and markets, and boosting entrepreneurial ecosystems. Implemented
jointly by the Bank ($26 million) and IFC ($49 million) in partnership with
public and private partners, projects in 25 countries include e-commerce
platforms in the Middle East and North Africa, fintech in Nigeria and Zambia,
performance-based incentives in Vietnam, and supplier diversity projects in
Bangladesh, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, and Senegal.
The Bank also contributes data and knowledge to boost women’s economic
and social empowerment. A new report, Profiting from Parity: Unlocking the
Potential of Women’s Businesses in Africa, draws attention to challenges facing
Africa’s women entrepreneurs, uses household and firm-level data to pinpoint
barriers to growth and profitability, and identifies solutions. Meanwhile, our
Gender Data Portal helps countries access sex-disaggregated data, especially on
jobs and assets, and regional Gender Innovation Labs generate evidence on what
works to close gender gaps, with more than 100 impact evaluations underway
during fiscal 2019.

PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS FOR OUR CLIENTS 53

 of learning: equipping learners of all ages for success, helping teachers at all ­levels
become more effective, leveraging technology for learning, building safe and inclu-
sive learning environments, and strengthening management of schools and systems.

Achieving universal health coverage

Today, half the world’s population lacks access to quality health services, and 100
million people are driven into extreme poverty by health expenses every year.
Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030, in line with SDG 3 to “ensure
healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages,” is at the core of our engage-
ments with country governments, development partners, and other stakehold-
ers. We prioritize sustainable financing of country health systems to meet their
specific challenges, including ending preventable maternal and child mortality,
ensuring that women and children can access comprehensive health services,
reducing childhood stunting, promoting pandemic preparedness and country
capacity for rapid response to disease outbreaks, and preventing and treating
non-communicable diseases.
The Bank is increasing focus on critical health challenges in fragile and conflict-
affected areas. For example, a project in South Sudan, in partnership with the Inter-
national Committee of the Red Cross and UNICEF, will help internally displaced
populations, particularly in high-risk communities; train and deploy community
health workers for preventive and basic curative services; and train health profes-
sionals in areas such as counseling and treatment for victims of sexual and gen-
der-based violence.
We invest in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health,
especially in high-fertility and fragile contexts, which have seen the slowest prog-
ress. Between fiscal 2015 and 2019, our portfolio consisted of 60 projects that
included reproductive and maternal health, totaling $7.7 billion in multisectoral
IBRD and IDA commitments. One example is the Sahel Women’s Economic Empow-
erment and the Demographic Dividend Project in six countries of the Sahel region
(see spotlight on page 20).
The Global Financing Facility (GFF), an innovative country-driven financing
platform hosted by the World Bank Group, maximizes countries’ human capital
investments, especially for women, children, and adolescents. It catalyzes $7 in
IDA investments for every $1 of GFF grant funding, with promising early results in
countries like Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
A successful $1 billion replenishment in November 2018, with support from key
donors including Norway, Canada, Japan, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
will enable the GFF to expand from 27 countries to as many as 50.
In 2019, an estimated 149 million children under 5 suffered from stunting, which
compromises brain development, education attainment, and later earnings as adults.
Our investments in nutrition, which help end stunting, are approaching $2 billion
globally. They prioritize long-term approaches in countries like Madagascar and
have catalyzed private sector financing partnerships with The Power of Nutrition in
IDA projects in Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
The Bank Group is also a founding member of Scaling Up Nutrition, a partnership
with over 60 member countries and nearly 3,000 civil society partners, donors, and
foundations.
In late 2018, we co-signed a Global Action Plan with 11 other global agencies,
aiming to help countries accelerate progress toward SDG 3 by mobilizing more
resources for health, investing them better, and strengthening health system capac-
ity. With the World Health Organization (WHO), the Bank Group also co-convenes
UHC2030, a multi-stakeholder platform focused on strengthening health systems.
In addition, the G-20 Finance Ministers and Leaders’ Summits in Japan in June 2019
focused for the first time on sustainable financing for UHC-based health systems as
a critical component of inclusive economic growth.

54 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Ensuring preparedness for health emergencies
Strong health systems that reach all people—especially the most vulnerable—with
effective services are the only way to ensure protection from major disease out-
breaks for the whole population. Under IDA18, we committed to help at least 25 IDA
countries develop pandemic preparedness plans and strengthen their governance
and institutional arrangements for multisectoral health emergency preparedness,
response, and recovery. To date, 37 IDA countries have already developed, costed,
and prioritized these plans, with work underway in at least 14 more.
To enhance regional preparedness following the devastation caused by Ebola
in West Africa in 2014 and 2015, we expanded IDA financing in 2018 for the third
Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement Program. This is strengthening
national, regional, and cross-sectoral capacity for integrated disease surveillance
and response in select countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.
In fiscal 2019, in response to the 10th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) announced in August 2018, the World Bank Group
provided $80 million in grants and credits through IDA to finance the response
efforts led by the government with international partners. The Bank has also
provided technical support to strengthen DRC’s health system and invested in
pandemic preparedness in the nine countries bordering the DRC in case the
outbreak crosses borders.
At the global level, we work with the WHO in convening the Global Prepared-
ness Monitoring Board annually to assess and publicize the state of global and
country-level preparedness against pandemic threats.

PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS FOR OUR CLIENTS 55

 BUILDING RESILIENCE

Promoting universal social protection in a changing

world of work
Social protection plays a critical role in driving human capital gains, from the early
years through adulthood into old age. It can also directly improve labor and liveli-
hood outcomes. Well-designed and implemented programs enhance human cap-
ital and productivity, reduce inequalities, build resilience, and help break cycles of
poverty across generations. However, the Bank’s Atlas of Social Protection Indi-
cators of Resilience and Equity shows that only 45 percent of people around the
world are covered by some form of social protection; in the poorest countries, only
one in five poor people have access to it. We are committed to helping countries
develop national systems to substantially increase coverage by 2030, working with
partners to achieve the results in line with the SDGs.
Our annual lending for social protection and jobs, as of June 30, 2019, reached
$17.2 billion, including $11.1 billion to IDA countries. This supports safety net pro-
grams, including cash transfers, public works, and school feeding programs. In
Indonesia, the national conditional cash transfer program has expanded coverage
from 1 percent of the population in 2008 to 10 percent (28 million people) in 2018,
while social protection programs overall reach 90 percent of the poorest quintile.
In Tanzania, the Productive Safety Nets Program has also expanded rapidly—from
0.5 percent of the population in 2013 to 10 percent in 2018.

Adapting to climate change risks

Climate change is an acute threat to global development and efforts to end pov-
erty, particularly affecting the poorest and most vulnerable. Its impacts could push
an additional 100 million people into poverty by 2030 and drive migration, with
families and whole communities forced to seek more viable and less vulnerable
places to live. As reflected in the Action Plan on Climate Change Adaptation and
Resilience, the Bank Group is making adaptation and resilience a key priority, plac-
ing it on an equal footing with climate mitigation.
Climate action also offers a major opportunity to ensure sustainable develop-
ment and boost inclusive growth. Through 2030, a shift to low-carbon, resilient
economies could bring $26 trillion in economic benefits and create over 65 million
jobs. In December 2018, the Bank Group announced major new climate targets
doubling current five-year investments to around $200 billion from 2021 to 2025,
comprising about $100 billion in financing from IBRD and IDA and another $100
billion in combined financing from IFC, MIGA, and private capital mobilized by the
Bank Group. The targets include a doubling of support for adaptation and resil-
ience to address mounting climate impacts on lives and livelihoods, especially in
the poorest countries.
The targets will also help governments mainstream climate action into their
policies, planning, and budgeting. In April 2019, finance ministers from over 25
countries launched a new coalition, supported by the Bank, aimed at driving stron-
ger collective action. Led by the finance ministers of Chile and Finland, the coalition
endorsed six Helsinki Principles that promote national climate action, especially
through fiscal policy and the use of public finance.

Building inclusive and sustainable cities and communities

Our social development programs span all sectors, promoting inclusion of the poor
and vulnerable by empowering people, building cohesive and resilient societies,
and making institutions accessible and accountable to citizens. Supported by our

56 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Increasing support to fragile and conflict-affected places
Fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) remains a critical development challenge, threatening
efforts to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. By 2030, forecasts suggest that
around half of the world’s extreme poor will live in fragile and conflict-affected situations,
facing serious risks such as rising inequality, violent extremism, climate change, pandemics,
and food insecurity.
The Bank has doubled resources for FCV-affected countries to more than $14 billion
under IDA18. New financing mechanisms include $2.0 billion to support refugees and host
communities, $2.5 billion to spur private enterprise, and a risk mitigation regime that sup-
ports proactive initiatives to help countries prevent violent conflict and mitigate fragility
risks. For the IDA18 Refugee Sub-Window, eligibility was established for 14 countries that
collectively host over 6 million refugees, or more than 72 percent of refugees residing
in IDA and IBRD/IDA blend countries (countries that are eligible for both IDA and IBRD
loans): Bangladesh, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Niger, Pakistan, Rwanda, and Uganda.
The sub-window seeks to promote the social and economic inclusion of refugees while also
helping host communities. As of the end of fiscal 2019, 19 projects have been approved in
10 countries, totaling $927 million.
The Bank also administers the Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF), which pro-
vides concessional financing to middle-income countries hosting large numbers of refu-
gees. Launched in 2016 by the Bank, the UN, and the Islamic Development Bank, it has
provided around $500 million in grants to unlock more than $2.5 billion in concessional
financing for Jordan and Lebanon to help address the influx of Syrian refugees, as well as
for Colombia (which became eligible for GCFF support in 2019) to help address the needs
of more than 1.2 million displaced Venezuelans and their host communities.
Given the need for a different approach to development in FCV settings, where extreme
poverty is becoming increasingly concentrated, the Bank Group launched global consul-
tations in April 2019 to inform development of our first formal FCV strategy. It will seek to
address the drivers of FCV in affected countries and their impact on vulnerable populations,
with the goal of contributing to peace and prosperity. Face-to-face and online consultations
have already engaged over 1,700 stakeholders in 88 countries and territories from govern-
ments, civil society organizations, international partners, and the private sector to draw on
their experiences and lessons learned. The strategy is expected to be finalized by the end
of 2019.

analytical work, we emphasize citizen engagement across our operations. We have

an active portfolio of projects on community empowerment and community-driven
development, an approach that gives control of planning decisions and investment
resources for local development projects to community groups. Through the Inclu-
sive Community Resilience Initiative, we are also integrating citizen engagement,
social inclusion, and gender into disaster and climate risk management investments.
The Bank Group is also partnering with the private sector, governments, and
civil society to manage fragility risks by engaging early to build clean and efficient
cities and communities that are more resilient to climate change and natural haz-
ards. This includes confronting barriers that prevent marginalized groups from fully
participating in political, economic, and social life. The Bank has invested close to
an average of $6 billion each year in urban development and resilience projects
during fiscal 2017–19, excluding investments in urban transport and water, while
our annual disaster risk management financing across the entire portfolio increased
from $3.7 billion in fiscal 2012 to $4.5 billion in fiscal 2019.
Our City Resilience Program works to help cities to strengthen resilience and
access a broad range of financing options. Since June 2017, it has worked with
57 cities in 39 countries for a combined $2.3 billion ($1.3 billion from IDA and
$975 million from IBRD). So far, 52 Rapid Capital Assessments have been completed

PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS FOR OUR CLIENTS 57

Supporting resilience through financial instruments
The Bank Group promotes green growth in several ways: strengthening client countries’
capacity to assess the macroeconomic and fiscal impacts of mitigation and adaptation pol-
icies; providing green finance; improving capacity for environmental fiscal reforms; and
integrating climate issues into medium-term fiscal frameworks, development policy, and
other operations. We are also supporting finance ministries through the Climate Action Peer
Exchange, where we work with central banks and supervisors to share best practices and
mobilize finance for the transition toward a sustainable economy. The Global Risk Financing
Facility is a $145 million multidonor trust fund that responds to the call from developing
countries to scale up technical and financial assistance to help manage the financial impact
of exogenous shocks.
The Bank Group works with client countries to increase resilience to climate risks and
disaster shocks through sustainable and cost-effective financial protection and instruments,
such as catastrophe bonds and insurance solutions.
We provide risk insurance for countries. By intermediating between client countries and
capital markets and through direct Bank bond and over-the-counter derivative transactions,
we help countries build resilience to risks from natural disasters and other destabilizing
events. Risk transfer coverage provides protection to governments without increasing pub-
lic debt; it complements other sources of funding, including emergency funds, budget
reserves, credit lines, and international aid.
The Development Policy Loan with a Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat DDO)
is a contingent financing line that provides liquidity to help countries address shocks related
to natural disasters or health-related events. It serves as immediate financing while funds
from other sources, such as bilateral aid or reconstruction loans, are being mobilized. Cat
DDOs are accompanied by programs to strengthen disaster mitigation and response, build
country capacity, and reduce the impact of disasters before they strike. In 2018, the Bank
also pioneered the issuance of the first regional catastrophe bond. Creating a shared risk
instrument, the $1.4 billion bond provided coverage for earthquakes to the four countries
of the Pacific Alliance: Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.
Our Global Index Insurance Facility provides catastrophe risk transfer solutions and agri-
culture insurance to smallholder farmers, microentrepreneurs, and microfinance institutions
in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
We also help countries design green bonds and Shariah-compliant green sukuk to
mobilize sustainable financing. In conflict scenarios, the Bank Group helps ensure that
solutions are available to those negatively affected, such as through the GCFF.

to help cities build their capacity for attracting private capital to infrastructure
projects. The program has also delivered 13 City Resilience Scans, which lay out
cities’ risk profiles and built environments.
Ensuring secure rights to land is important to sustainable growth, as this allows
people to invest in and better manage their resources, engage with the private
sector, and improve their livelihoods. Achieving the SDG 5 target of “all men and
women having equal rights to ownership and control over land by 2030” will
require a systematic effort and more investment by the global community to help
poor households secure property rights. The Bank is a founding member of “Stand
for Her Land,” a multi-stakeholder effort that aims to close the gap between law and
practice on women’s land rights, in collaboration with global and regional partners
and local communities.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/topics.

58 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Developing Financial Tools for
Global Impact

Through global capital markets, IBRD has been mobilizing finance for our client
countries for over 70 years, raising nearly $900 billion since its first bond in 1947.
During fiscal 2019, IBRD leveraged $16 billion in paid-in capital from its share-
holders to fund around $120 billion in projects and programs that help countries
address development priorities around the world. We leverage IBRD’s triple-A rating
to cost effectively raise $50–60 billion annually to support the Bank’s sustainable
development mandate, develop financial tools and instruments that advance global
development priorities, and help clients manage risk and build resilience. In fiscal
2018, IDA entered the capital markets for the first time with an inaugural $1.5 billion
benchmark bond. Total orders for the IDA bond reached $4.6 billion from around
the world. This has enabled IDA to significantly scale up its support toward the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while offering investors an efficient way to
contribute to global development.

Promoting capital market instruments for

global development
The Bank’s capital market instruments give the private sector the opportunity to
engage in global development priorities. In fiscal 2019, these included an Indone-
sian rupiah–denominated five-year bond to promote women’s empowerment in
rural areas and a Swedish krona (SKr) 2.5 billion five-year bond to raise awareness
for sustainable cities and communities. In December 2018, the Bank priced new
SDG index-linked bonds for retail investors in Hong Kong SAR, China, and Singa-
pore, with returns linked to an equity index that tracks the performance of com-
panies advancing the goals, including on climate, gender, and health. We are also
seeking to harness emerging technologies for development. In August 2018, for
example, we issued the world’s first global blockchain bond, bond-i, in partnership
with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Microsoft.
We also issue green bonds, which tap capital markets to support climate-related
projects and shift investor focus to the environmental, social, and governance com-
mitments of issuers. We issued the world’s first labeled green bond in 2008, and our
green bonds have raised the equivalent of $13 billion through more than 150 trans-
actions in 20 currencies. In November 2018, we marked the 10-year anniversary
of the first green bond with three major benchmark issuances in euros, Australian
dollars, and U.S. dollars, raising $1.3 billion equivalent.
The Bank also helps countries build green bond markets. This work helps clients
demonstrate leadership on sustainability and climate action, while offering inves-
tors an opportunity to support development solutions that address climate change.
In 2009, California became the sole investor in our first U.S. dollar–denominated
green bond. We celebrated the long-standing partnership with a new issuance in
October 2018, for a total of $1.5 billion over 10 years. In September 2018, the Bank
also issued the first green bond guide for issuers—the Green Bond Proceeds Man-
agement and Reporting Guide—providing guidance to public sector issuers and
furthering global thought leadership.
In August 2018, we launched an initiative to highlight the critical role of water
and ocean resources. A range of institutional and retail investors globally have

DEVELOPING FINANCIAL TOOLS FOR GLOBAL IMPACT 59

 supported the effort by buying World Bank Sustainable Development Bonds, total-
ing 23 bonds in 10 currencies to date. In November 2018, IBRD raised $660 million
in bonds to raise awareness for the SDGs for clean water and sanitation (SDG 6) and
life below water (SDG 14). In May 2019, we issued a 13-year SKr 500 million sustain-
able development bond that highlights the urgency of addressing water and ocean
pollution, particularly plastic waste in oceans.
We also helped the Seychelles develop the world’s first sovereign blue bond to
support sustainable marine and fisheries projects; this launched in October 2018.
Proceeds will support expansion of marine protected areas, better governance of
key fisheries, and development of the country’s blue economy. As one of the world’s
biodiversity hotspots, the Seychelles is balancing its needs to develop economically
and protect its natural environment.
We are furthering the transition to sustainable capital markets by deepening our
partnership with Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund. As part of this, the
Bank’s Treasury convened the first-ever roundtable on environmental, social, and
governance issues to promote open and productive dialogue between institutional
investors and sovereign bond issuers.

Helping clients manage public debt

Effective, strategic, and efficient public debt management is important for financial
stability and sustainable fiscal policy. It requires sound practices, including to ensure
that public debt does not undermine development objectives.
In fiscal 2019, the Bank worked with over 50 sovereign and subnational debt
management offices to help governments build institutional capacity for public
debt management. These advisory services reached more than 1,000 practitioners
through webinars, workshops and forums, online communication and virtual peer
groups, and in-person meetings to build and manage long-term relationships
among counterparts.
We are increasingly adapting our services and offerings as developing countries’
debt portfolios become more complex. We provide technical assistance to coun-
tries designing and implementing debt management strategies, assessing debt sus-
tainability, and developing their local currency markets (see also “Promoting debt
transparency,” on page 44).
To meet countries’ growing needs, this year the World Bank Treasury developed
the first-ever workshop on sovereign balance sheet risk management, published
working papers on sovereign assets and liabilities, and designed and deployed
the first analytical tool specifically for countries to manage cash and cashflow
projections.
The Reserves Advisory and Management Program is our rapidly growing plat-
form for delivering demand-driven capacity building and asset management ser-
vices to official sector asset managers in developing countries and international
institutions. It helps central banks, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds build
human capital, strengthen governance and operations, and deliver returns on finan-
cial resources consistent with their mandates and risk parameters. Demand for the
program continues to grow; it now serves 70 institutions, including many in low-
income countries and fragile and conflict-affected situations.

For more information, visit treasury.worldbank.org.

60 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Putting Knowledge to Work in
Promoting Development

Knowledge is central to the World Bank’s ability to influence the global development
agenda. Combining global and country knowledge, our research programs gener-
ate wide-ranging insights for solving development challenges in client countries.
We share our research through reports and publications, in-depth analytic ser-
vices, and freely available development data. In fiscal 2019, the Bank published
reports on pressing topics, including:

• 
World Development Report 2019: The Changing
Nature of Work. This flagship report investigates how
the nature of work is changing due to advances in tech-
nology. The report points out that technological prog-
ress is constantly reshaping work and the demand for
skills. It suggests that governments need to prioritize
investments in human capital to ensure that workers can
build the right skills. In addition, governments need to
enhance social protection and extend it to all people in
society, regardless of the terms on which they work.

• 
Women, Business and the Law 2019: A Decade of
Reform. This report examines laws and regulations
affecting women’s prospects as entrepreneurs and
employees across 187 economies. It seeks to inform pol-
icy discussions on how to remove legal restrictions on
women and to promote research on ways of improving
women’s economic inclusion. The 2019 edition intro-
duces a new index measuring legal rights for women
at milestones throughout their working lives. The data
cover a 10-year period to shed light on the current situ-
ation, as well as how laws affecting women’s equality of
opportunity have evolved over time.

• 
Doing Business 2019: Training for Reform. Using
quantitative indicators, Doing Business compares busi-
ness regulation and the protection of property rights
across 190 economies and over time. Each year, the
report identifies 10 economies that made the most
notable improvements over the previous year in the
areas measured. The 2019 edition gives this distinction
to Afghanistan, Djibouti, China, Azerbaijan, India, Togo,
Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Turkey, and Rwanda. It also finds
that a third of all business regulation reforms recorded
for the year were in Sub-Saharan Africa.

PUT TING KNOWLEDGE TO WORK IN PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT 61

 • Global Economic Prospects. This semiannual flagship
report, published in January and June, examines global
economic developments, prospects, and policies, with a
focus on emerging market and developing economies.
The June 2019 edition, Heightened Tensions, Subdued
Investment, found that global growth has continued to
soften in 2019. A modest recovery in developing econ-
omies continued to be constrained by subdued invest-
ment, which was dampening prospects and impeding
progress toward achieving critical development goals.
Downside risks to the outlook remained elevated, as
policymakers continued to face major challenges to boosting resilience and fos-
tering long-term growth. This edition also included analysis on the benefits and
risks of government borrowing, recent investment weakness in developing econ-
omies, the pass-through of currency depreciations to inflation, and the evolution
of growth in low-income countries.

• Poverty and Shared Prosperity: Piecing Together the

Poverty Puzzle. This report finds that the percentage
of people living in extreme poverty fell to a record low
of 10 percent in 2015, reflecting  continued but slow-
ing progress. In 70 of the 91 countries for which shared
prosperity data were available, incomes of the bottom
40 percent improved between 2010 and 2015; in  54
percent of the 91 countries, their income grew faster
than the average. The report also  broadens the ways
we define poverty, introducing a new societal poverty
measure that reflects differences across countries, as
well as a multidimensional poverty measure that encompasses access to educa-
tion and basic infrastructure. The report also investigates differences in poverty
within households. 

• Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Prevent­

ing Violent Conflict. This study, conducted jointly
with the UN, highlights the urgency of preventing and
addressing the core drivers of fragility. It aims to improve
how development efforts interact with security, diplo-
macy, peacebuilding, and other areas to prevent con-
flicts from becoming violent. It stresses the importance
of proactively addressing grievances related to exclu-
sion—from access to power, natural resources, security,
and justice, for example—that are at the root of many
violent conflicts.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/publications.

Addressing development challenges through technical

advice and analysis
Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA) are a vital part of how the Bank contributes
to development. Member countries use our technical advice and analysis to sustain
development over the long term by designing or implementing better policies and
development strategies and by strengthening their institutions. At the country level,
these activities underpin partnership frameworks, government programs, and proj-
ects supported by Bank lending and guarantees. At the global and regional level,
they contribute to public goods and inform important policy debates.

62 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

 In fiscal 2019, we produced 1,625 ASA products in over 140 countries. The out-
puts ranged from reports on key economic and social issues to knowledge-sharing
workshops, training, policy notes, and implementation action plans. Reimbursable
Advisory Services (RAS) are customized ASA products requested and paid for by
country clients. In fiscal 2019, the Bank delivered 120 RAS products in 35 countries;
through RAS, we serve all our member states, including nonborrowing countries.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/asa.

Providing data and tools to strengthen development

knowledge
The Bank is a leader in generating and disseminating development data. By sharing
data and analytic tools, we provide a platform for high-quality, policy-oriented ana-
lytic work in developing countries, strengthening the foundation for development
knowledge and informed policymaking.
As a knowledge institution, the Bank is proud to share its knowledge freely and
openly. Statistics and data are a key part of this knowledge. The following sources
are easily accessible through the Bank’s Open Data website for all users:

International Comparison Program. This worldwide statistical initiative is led by

the Bank under the auspices of the UN Statistical Commission. Its main objective
is to provide comparable price and volume measures of GDP and its expenditure
aggregates among countries within and across regions. Through a partnership with
international, regional, subregional, and national agencies, the program collects and
compares price data and GDP expenditures to estimate and publish purchasing
power parities of the world’s economies.

World Development Indicators. This database is a compilation of internationally

comparable statistics on global development and the fight against poverty. It sup-
ports our mission of ensuring that all client countries have data as evidence for
their decision making. The database contains 1,600 time-series indicators for 217
economies and more than 40 country groups, with some indicators’ data going
back more than 50 years.

PovcalNet. An online analysis tool for global poverty monitoring, PovcalNet allows
users to replicate the Bank’s official poverty estimates through calculations from its
database. PovcalNet also allows users to calculate poverty measures under differ-
ent assumptions and to assemble the estimates for different groups of economies
or sets of individual economies. In March 2019, we released revised estimates of
global poverty from 1981 to 2015. The new estimates combine PPP exchange rates
for household consumption from the 2011 International Comparison Program, with
data from more than 1,500 household surveys across 164 economies.

For more information, visit data.worldbank.org.

PUT TING KNOWLEDGE TO WORK IN PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT 63

 Strengthening Our Impact through
Partnerships

The World Bank Group works with a vast array of partners, both traditional and
nontraditional, formal and informal, from around the world to help meet our goals
of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity.

Partnering on today’s most pressing challenges

Addressing global challenges requires collective action. Below are major examples
of our partnerships in fiscal 2019.
Fragility. Fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) threaten efforts to end extreme
poverty, with risks affecting both low- and middle-income countries. We are
emphasizing prevention and early action, remaining engaged during active con-
flict, and mitigating the spillover impacts of FCV on the most vulnerable groups.
We are scaling up collaboration with humanitarian, development, peacebuild-
ing, and security actors through country-level cooperation with the UN in over 40
crisis-affected situations. In addition, with G-5 countries and the Sahel Alliance, we
are working to deliver $6.7 billion in development support to insecure areas across
the Sahel region.
Human capital. We are working with a wide range of global leaders to build
support for the Human Capital Project. At the Annual and Spring Meetings, the Bank
hosted discussions with representatives across philanthropy, civil society, the private
sector, and bilateral and multilateral institutions, along with Bank Group experts, to
promote better investments in people.
Gender. We continue to deepen engagements to address gender inequal-
ity through various initiatives. For instance, with the governments of Canada and
Norway, client countries, and IFC, we forged the Mashreq Gender Facility, which
supports governments in addressing constraints to women’s labor force participa-
tion in the Mashreq region of the Middle East and North Africa.
In addition, the Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality, a multidonor trust fund
with 14 governments and international foundations, continued to catalyze knowl-
edge, innovative project design, and impact evaluation evidence on the most effec-
tive approaches to closing gender gaps.
Climate change. We work with a wide range of partners to tackle climate chal-
lenges. The Global Commission on Adaptation seeks to accelerate action on climate
change adaptation, elevate the political visibility of adaptation, and highlight tan-
gible solutions. It aims to demonstrate that adaptation is a cornerstone of better
development and helps improve lives, reduce poverty, protect the environment,
and enhance resilience around the world. Together with Kristalina Georgieva, the
Commission is jointly chaired by Ban Ki-moon, the eighth Secretary-General of the
UN, and Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It is convened
by 19 countries, guided by 33 commissioners, and supported by a global network
of research partners and advisors, including the World Bank, who provide scientific,
economic, and policy analysis.

64 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Deepening engagement with essential partners
The Bank Group emphasizes engagement with other multilateral institutions,
philanthropy and the private sector, civil society, parliamentarians, faith-based
organizations, and local communities.
Multilateral engagement. At the request of participating governments, we con-
tribute expertise and policy recommendations for inclusive and sustainable growth
and poverty reduction. At the end of Argentina’s G-20 Presidency in November
2018, we co-hosted an Investor Forum with the Argentine government to increase
long-term sustainable financing in client countries. The Bank also supported the
priorities of Japan’s G-20 Presidency, including quality infrastructure, resilience,
debt sustainability and transparency, stronger health financing, and development
of country platforms. Within the G-7, we are supporting France’s priorities on gen-
der equality, human capital, biodiversity, trade, domestic resource mobilization, and
digital transformation and inclusion. 
Civil society. The Bank Group interacts with civil society organizations (CSOs)
worldwide through partnerships and outreach, advocacy and campaigns, policy
dialogue and consultations, operational collaboration, and information sharing, as
well as grant mechanisms such as the Global Partnership for Social Accountability.
Our CSO partners help extend our reach and improve our development impact,
accountability, and transparency. The Civil Society Policy Forum, held during our
Spring and Annual Meetings, enables CSOs to exchange views with the Bank
Group, IMF staff, and other stakeholders on a range of topics. The 2019 Spring
Meetings in Washington had a record attendance of over 1,000 delegates from
109 countries, with 46 sessions mostly organized and led by CSOs.
Faith-based organizations (FBOs). Our Global Faith Initiative helps faith
actors to engage with the Bank Group on issues across regions and sectors, with a
focus on human capital outcomes, gender, fragility, and climate change. This year,

STRENGTHENING OUR IMPACT THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS 65

 engagement centered on strengthening dialogue and outreach to advance the
Bank Group’s goals, contributing to a more rigorous evidence base on the role and
impact of FBOs in development, and fostering operational collaboration between
the Bank and FBOs to invest more in people.
Philanthropy and the private sector. The 2030 SDGs have increased recog-
nition that nontraditional actors can play a bigger role in mobilizing financing and
harnessing innovation and expertise to achieve the goals. We have redoubled our
focus on partnering with the private sector, including foundations, new philanthro-
pists, impact investors, and social entrepreneurs.
For example, this year our strategic dialogue with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foun-
dation focused on taking innovations to scale and resulted in collaborations on
urban sanitation, agriculture and data, and use of technology to support small-
holder farmers.
Parliamentarians. Our primary channel for engagement with legislators is the
Parliamentary Network—an independent platform for more than 1,000 influential
parliamentarians to deliberate and advocate for accountability and political support
for development.
The 2019 Spring Meetings served as a platform for the fifth annual Global Par-
liamentary Conference, the network’s flagship event, gathering more than 100 MPs
from 48 countries to engage with Bank Group experts and senior management on
today’s most pressing issues. During the same period, the inaugural meeting of the
Global Young Member of Parliament Initiative brought together legislators aged
45 and younger from 26 countries to share best practices and policy solutions to
challenges that disproportionately affect younger generations.
Also this year, parliamentarians from 10 countries and CSO representatives
from 13 organizations visited IDA projects in Senegal and The Gambia to see their
impact on the ground.
Community Connections. The Bank Group’s Community Connections pro-
gram helps staff live our values in our communities through corporate philanthropy,
volunteerism, in-kind donations, and an internship program for local high school
students. These efforts leverage our motivated, caring workforce for betterment of
the Washington metropolitan area and other communities around the world where
we work. This year, we contributed over $9 million to nongovernmental organiza-
tions in our communities, with over $4 million of it donated by staff. The institu-
tional focus on human capital and gender was evident as our philanthropy helped
fund the building of a workforce development facility and early childhood educa-
tion centers in the Washington area.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/en/about/partners.

66 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Improving Our Operations for
Development Impact

To better serve our clients and partners, we continuously work to improve our oper-
ations, policies, and processes to become a more effective and efficient institution
and maximize our development impact.

The World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework

The World Bank’s new Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) became effec-
tive on October 1, 2018. It is replacing our Safeguard Policies for investment proj-
ect finance operations, with the two systems operating in parallel for five to seven
years as projects under the older policies come to closure. The new framework
offers broader, more systematic coverage of environmental and social risks, includ-
ing issues such as labor, climate change, and occupational health and safety. It also
makes important advances in stakeholder engagement, transparency, accountabil-
ity, non-discrimination, and public participation.
To prepare for the launch, the Bank staff held workshops in 105 countries for
government officials, project implementation staff, and other key stakeholders—
including civil society, the private sector, universities and training centers, in-country
bilateral agencies, and international financing institutions. Similar trainings have
been held with development partners in Europe and Asia, reaching over 40 sepa-
rate agencies. A strategy has been developed to strengthen borrowers’ frameworks
and capacity to manage environmental and social risks. More than 2,500 Bank staff
have also been trained, with our environmental and social specialists proceeding
through a professional accreditation program to ensure knowledge capture and
identify skills gaps. An Environmental and Social Management System launched in
October 2018 to track and manage environmental and social risks on Bank-financed
projects. Guidance notes for borrowers on each of the 10 Environmental and Social
Standards are available online in all UN languages. Good practice notes, templates,
and other resources have also been issued on topics such as third-party monitoring,
non-discrimination and disability, gender-based violence (GBV), and use of security
personnel. Stakeholder outreach has included events at the Spring Meetings and
Annual Meetings, presentations to professional associations, and leadership roles in
working groups of international financing institutions.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/esf.

Addressing gender-based violence

The Bank is committed to reducing GBV through investment, research and learning,
and collaboration with stakeholders around the world.  Addressing GBV in oper-
ations is a key priority, with notable commitments articulated under both IDA17
and IDA18, as well as within the Bank Group’s Gender Strategy. We currently sup-
port over $300 million in operations aimed at addressing GBV, both through stand-
alone projects and through the integration of GBV components in areas such as
transport, education, social protection, and forced displacement.  Through the
“Development Marketplace: Innovations to Address GBV,” now in its fourth year,

IMPROVING OUR OPERATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT IMPACT 67

 the Bank partnered with the Sexual Violence Research Initiative and awarded over
$4 million to more than 40 research projects in 28 low- and middle-income coun-
tries to advance understanding of effective strategies to prevent and respond to
GBV. In response to recommendations from the GBV Task Force, we developed a
risk assessment tool to ensure that Bank-financed operations avoid increasing the
risk of sexual exploitation and abuse. The tool is accompanied by a rigorous meth-
odology to assess contextual and project-related risks and is meant to be used as
projects containing civil works are developed. We also developed a good practice
note to assist staff in addressing identified risks of sexual exploitation, abuse, and
harassment that can emerge in investment projects with major civil works contracts.
The note was launched in the context of the ESF and is being adapted for key sec-
tors in human development.  

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/en/topic/socialdevelopment

/brief/violence-against-women-and-girls.

The World Bank Procurement Framework

The Bank’s Procurement Framework, in effect since 2016, plays a strategic role
in helping countries achieve better development outcomes in implementing our
investment project finance operations. It allows countries to develop procurement
strategies tailored to their specific needs, unique characteristics, diverse markets,
and project development objectives. The framework is used for all new projects,
with specific procurement strategies set for each project. These strategy documents
assess a project’s operating context, implementation capacity, the potential impact
on procurement, and market conditions to inform procurement arrangements. To
date, 437 projects valued at $43.0 billion are applying the framework.
Two features of the framework—Alternative Procurement Arrangements (APA)
and Hands-On Expanded Implementation Support (HEIS)—aim to make projects
easier and more efficient to implement, usually in low-capacity or fragile situations.
APA allow arrangements to be made with other organizations such as UN agencies
and the International Committee of the Red Cross to lead procurement activities
and implementation, improving efficiency on the ground. HEIS allows Bank staff to
support clients in applying the Bank’s procurement rules to expedite project imple-
mentation; it has been used in projects in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Myanmar, and
Papua New Guinea.
To ensure smooth implementation, the framework includes guidance notes for
operational teams, borrowers, and the private sector. For example, the Bank’s Stan-
dard Bidding Documents for Works were updated following implementation of the
ESF to reflect the new standards. We have also conducted global outreach to dis-
seminate the framework’s new features, and participating companies confirm that
it has helped to create a stronger enabling environment for businesses.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/procurement.

Improving the design and use of trust funds for

greater impact
Trust funds complement IDA and IBRD financing and provide vital support to the
Bank’s capacity to deliver on our top priorities. There are more than 500 trust funds,
accounting for about 10 percent of the Bank’s disbursements to clients. They are
critical to the knowledge agenda, financing about two-thirds of all our advisory
services and analytics activities.
One of the key challenges identified by the ongoing trust fund reform process is
the long tail of smaller, highly customized trust funds, which account for 70 percent
of trust funds but only 7 percent of the total value of this portfolio. Their varied

68 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

planning and allocation cycles make alignment with the Bank’s strategy and planning
cycle and broader priorities more difficult. These funds also have high transaction
costs for their establishment, fundraising, governance, and reporting requirements.
To build stronger links between funding and strategic priorities as well as reduce
fragmentation, the Bank is organizing the trust fund portfolio around fewer, larger
programs with a strong focus on results, known as Umbrella 2.0. This reform aims
to strengthen alignment and efficiency through greater scale, reduce transaction
costs through coordinated governance and reporting, and improve dialogue with
partners around shared priorities. The pilot phase was rolled out in fiscal 2019,
with lessons from it being used to prepare the final design and roll out the reform
Bank-wide in 2020. Measures to simplify trust funds that fall outside the scope of
Umbrella 2.0, such as co-financing or new innovations that require “proof of con-
cept” before being scaled up, are also being developed.
The Bank is also currently preparing a management framework that seeks to
strengthen selectivity and risk management for both new and established finan-
cial intermediary funds. These provide the global development community with
independently governed multilateral platforms that support multiple implementing
agencies, typically in the areas of global public goods. The Bank plays a limited
trustee role in these funds; we may host the secretariat and act as one of the imple-
menting entities.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/dfi.

Grievance Redress Service

The Grievance Redress Service (GRS) is an avenue for people and communities
to submit complaints directly to the World Bank if they believe a Bank-funded
project has or is likely to adversely affect them.
The GRS ensures that complaints received at the corporate level are promptly
and proactively addressed by fostering dialogue and problem solving as well as
applying relevant dispute resolution tools. Building on its growing experience, the
GRS is being strengthened to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness by distin-
guishing the types of redress services it provides and updating its systems and
operating procedures.
For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/grs.

IMPROVING OUR OPERATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT IMPACT 69

 Our Values and Our People

The World Bank’s core tenets of our approach to our work are respect for our peo-
ple, our clients, our partners, and our planet. In fiscal 2019, the Bank remained
committed to environmental sustainability in its internal operations and worked
to safeguard staff voices. Our Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Index, updated
every fiscal year, presents further details on the sustainability considerations of our
operations and corporate practices. The Index can be accessed online as part of the
World Bank Annual Report appendixes: www.worldbank.org/annualreport.

Our Values
Respect, impact, integrity, teamwork, and innovation were defined as our Core
Values in fiscal 2018. A new Code of Ethics and Conduct is being prepared to
integrate these values into the Bank Group’s culture and work. The new code will
help staff better understand the attitudes and behaviors expected of them, while
the Staff Rules will define the situations that could lead to misconduct.

Our People
The Bank’s nearly 12,300 full-time staff work for solutions to the world’s most press-
ing development challenges. Our People Strategy aims to build a workforce with
the right skills, in the right place, and at the right time. It seeks to offer the best
value to clients and strengthen the employment value proposition to make our
organization the best place to work in development.
Working in challenging environments. The Bank is committed to working
where its services are most needed. We have been increasing our footprint in
fragile, conflict, and violence–affected (FCV) countries to be closer to our clients.
Guided by IDA18 and decentralization efforts, the Bank is well on track with our
commitment to increase our presence in FCV countries by 150 staff by the end of
fiscal 2020. The Bank offers enhanced incentives, as well as targeted programs for
onboarding, leadership development, learning, and career development.
Ensuring staff health and safety. The Bank provides an array of programs and
services to promote and protect the health and security of staff. The Bank Group’s
Occupational Health and Safety Management System identifies and systematically
controls health and safety hazards in our workplaces, with an approach guided
by international health and safety standards. Corporate Security has continued to
expand the Bank Group’s security capabilities in areas such as staff training, travel
security, armored vehicles and equipment, facilities, and staff tools, such as the new
Travel Advisory mobile application. As part of our commitment to expanding opera-
tions in FCV countries, Corporate Security is focusing on higher-threat locations and
working closely with operational colleagues to support staff in these environments.
Increasing diversity and inclusion. In fiscal 2019, we continued to focus on
inclusion, with the introduction of a new gender indicator that tracks progress
toward parity at all grade levels. We also launched a new learning program that
leverages virtual reality to address unconscious bias and raise awareness on sexual
orientation and gender identity. As part of the Bank Group’s commitment to

70 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

increase the number and enhance the experience of staff with disabilities, the
Office of Diversity and Inclusion partnered with the Disabilities Advocacy and
Resource Employee Group to launch the first-ever survey that will inform institu-
tional efforts to create a more disability-conscious workplace.
Implementing the Knowledge Management Action Plan. This year, we initi-
ated several projects to enhance operational efficiencies and effectiveness in our
knowledge management. These efforts (i) enable teams to better address their
knowledge gaps by identifying in-house expertise, accessing the most relevant
project work, and better managing internal content at unit levels; (ii) ensure pro-
gressive professionalization and learning among knowledge management staff
across the Bank by introducing new technical competencies, developing a training
curriculum, and providing them with tools for their onward use; and (iii) address
wider knowledge culture initiatives by developing Bank-wide knowledge-sharing
efforts and reinvigorating the broader knowledge management agenda through
outreach and engagement.
Engaging in continuous learning. A new staff learning menu, which aligns
with the Bank’s corporate priorities, was launched to help staff find trainings easily
and engage in continuous learning. New learning paths linked to defined job com-
petencies for global practices and vice-presidential units were launched to sup-
port more targeted career development. Additionally, a results-based evaluation
and learning analytics system is in place to assess staff learning and provide data,
benchmarks, and evidence for timely decision making and course correction.
Safe place for staff to voice their concerns and conflicts. As of June 30, 2019,
EBC’s advisory services received 1,053 advisory requests from staff—two-thirds of
which were answered the same day and 90 percent within 48 hours. Staff have
multiple channels through Internal Justice Services to seek advice, guidance, and
resources to resolve conflicts, including ombuds, Respectful Workplace Advisors,
mediation, peer review services, and performance management review. These ser-
vices form a key element in facilitating a respectful, values-driven workplace culture.
Through March 31, 2019, 1,142 staff had approached these services for advice.
Action plan for preventing and addressing sexual harassment. The Bank
Group is proactively creating a culture that systematically addresses sexual harass-
ment and misconduct. In fiscal 2019, we launched an action plan to shift the focus
from processes to people. It includes more than 50 specific initiatives in line with
best practices and incorporates recommendations from three independent external

TABLE 14  WORLD BANK (IBRD/IDA) STAFF DATA, FISCAL 2017–19

INDICATOR FY17 FY18 FY19 Related Indicators
Total full-time staff 11,897 12,216 12,283 GRI 401; SDG 8
Non-US based (%) 42.0 42.6 43.2
Short-term consultants/temporaries (FTEs) 4,948 4,810 5,097
Employee engagement (%) 80 — 79
Diversity index 0.91 0.92 0.93 GRI 405; SDG 8
Female managers (%) 39.0 41.5 44.1%
Managers from developing countries (%) 43.3 43.1 42.3%
Female technical staff (grade GF+, %) 44.2 44.5 45.3%
Sub-Saharan/Caribbean technical staff 12.9 13.3 13.6%
  (grade GF+, %)
Average days of training per staff, 4.7 5.1 5.1 GRI 404; SDG 8
  at headquarters
Average days of training per staff, 4.6 4.4 4.7
  in country offices
Note: – = not available; FTE = full-time equivalent (staff); GF+ = salary grade GF or higher, that is, professional;
GRI = Global Reporting Initiative. There was no Engagement Survey in fiscal 2018.

OUR VALUES AND OUR PEOPLE 71

 experts. Key features include creating a new anti-harassment coordinator position,
empowering managers to address inappropriate behaviors, providing new confi-
dential and people-centered avenues for reporting, streamlining investigations, and
increasing transparency by publishing the anonymized outcomes of cases substan-
tiated by EBC.
Representing staff voice. Staff rights and interests are represented by the
Staff Association, which has about 11,800 staff and consultants as members across
the Bank Group. In fiscal 2019, the association continued dialogue with human
resources and senior management, expressing staff concerns about organizational
changes, challenges posed by the amended compensation methodology, health
coverage policies, and occupational health matters, as well as assisting staff. Through
increased participation in our working groups, as well as the introduction of a new
onboarding session for all staff on their general rights, the association continued to
advocate for Bank Group employees.
Strengthening environmental commitment. The Bank seeks to systematically
address the environmental impacts from our operations, using a set of Sustain-
ability Principles as our guide. An executive-level committee overseeing the Bank
Group’s corporate responsibility efforts has renewed efforts on key impact areas
of the institution’s environmental footprint, including energy, water, greenhouse
gas emissions, solid waste, and supply chain. For more information, see the 2019
Sustainability Review.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/corporateresponsibility.

72 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

 Guiding the Institution

All the powers of the World Bank are vested in the Board of Governors, the Bank’s
senior decision-making body, according to the Articles of Agreement for IBRD and
IDA. Each member of the Bank is represented by one governor and one alternate.
The Board of Governors delegates most powers to 25 resident executive direc-
tors who comprise the Board of Directors for IBRD and IDA. The Executive Directors
represent the World Bank’s 189 member countries and are responsible for the con-
duct of the general operations of the Bank. The Executive Directors select a Presi-
dent, who serves as Chair of the Board. The current Board term is from November
2018 to October 2020.
The Executive Directors guide the general operations and strategic direction
of the Bank and represent member countries’ viewpoints on the Bank’s role. They
consider and decide on proposals made by the President for IBRD and IDA loans,
credits, grants, and guarantees; new policies; the administrative budget; and other
operational and financial matters. They also discuss Country Partnership Frame-
works—the central tool by which management and the Board review and guide
the Bank Group’s engagement with client countries and support for development
programs. The Executive Directors are also responsible for presenting to the Board
of Governors an audit of accounts, an administrative budget, and the Bank’s Annual
Report on fiscal year results. The Dean, the longest serving full-time Executive Direc-
tor, plays a role within the Board related to the contract of the President, selection of
members to the Board Ethics Committee, and coordination of the Board’s external
engagements, among others.
The Board has five standing committees and one ad hoc committee. Execu-
tive Directors serve on one or more of these committees, which help the Board to
discharge its oversight responsibilities through in-depth examinations of policies
and practices. The Executive Directors’ Steering Committee, on which all Executive
Directors serve, meets bimonthly to discuss the Board’s strategic work program.
The Board, through its committees, regularly engages on the effectiveness of
the activities of the Bank Group with management and with the independent
Inspection Panel and the Independent Evaluation Group, both of which report
directly to the Board.

FIGURE 7  COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

Steering Committee for the World Bank’s Board

Audit Committee Budget Committee Committee on Development

Oversees the Bank’s Assists the Board in Effectiveness
finances, accounting, risk approving the Bank’s Assesses the Bank’s development
management, internal budgets. effectiveness, guides its strategic
controls, and institutional direction, and monitors the
integrity. quality and results of
its operations.

Committee on Governance Human Resources Ethics Committee

and Executive Directors’ Committee Established in 2003 to consider,
Administrative Matters Oversees responsibility on an ad hoc basis, matters
Guides the governance of the Bank, on the Bank’s human relating to the interpretation
the Board’s own effectiveness, and resources strategy, policies, or application of the Code
the administrative policy applicable and practices, and their of Conduct for Board Officials
to Executive Directors’ offices. alignment with its
business needs.

GUIDING THE INSTITUTION 73

 Ensuring Accountability and
Transparency in Our Operations

We hold ourselves accountable to our clients, shareholders, and the broader public
through institutional mechanisms that monitor operational performance, manage
institutional risks, address concerns and grievances, and ensure transparency in our
work. These include units both within and independent of the Bank that provide
guidance and recommendations to ensure maximum development effectiveness
and adherence to the highest standards of accountability.

Independent Evaluation Group

The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) aims to strengthen the Bank Group’s
development effectiveness through evaluations that assess results and performance
and provide recommendations for improvements. IEG’s evaluations contribute to
accountability and learning, helping inform the Bank Group’s directions, policies
and procedures, and country partnership frameworks.
According to IEG’s 2018 Results and Performance of the World Bank Group,
outcome ratings for Bank lending continue to improve. The share of closed projects
rated moderately satisfactory or above rose from 69 percent during fiscal 2012–14 to
76 percent during fiscal 2015–17. Outcome ratings now exceed the levels for projects
closed in fiscal 2006–08, before the financial crisis, by both number and volume.
In fiscal 2019, IEG completed major evaluations on creating markets, fostering
regional integration, and facilitating knowledge flow and collaboration, among
other topics. Each evaluation assessed the Bank Group’s performance and identified
lessons for improving operations regarding a theme, sector, or corporate process.

For more information and IEG’s annual report, visit ieg.worldbankgroup.org.

Inspection Panel
The Inspection Panel was established by the Bank’s Board of Directors as the first
independent accountability mechanism at an international financial institution. The
panel provides people and communities who believe that they have been or are
likely to be harmed by a project funded by IBRD or IDA access to an independent
body, where they can express their concerns and seek recourse. It is composed of
three international development experts, chosen from different countries, as well as
a small secretariat. Panel members serve one five-year, non-renewable term and are
prohibited from ever working for the Bank after their terms end. In fiscal 2019, the
panel marked its 25th anniversary.
During fiscal 2019, the panel received eight new complaints. It delivered to the
Board one investigation report related to two projects in Uganda concerning a
biodiversity offset. The panel also initiated a rural water supply project investiga-
tion in India. A Board review during the year led to the panel’s advisory function
being formalized and the panel being authorized to provide complainants with an
opportunity to read its investigation reports on a confidential basis prior to Board
meetings.

For more information and the Inspection Panel’s annual report, visit
www.inspectionpanel.org.

74 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

 The World Bank Policy on Access to Information
Introduced in 2010, the World Bank’s Policy on Access to Information (AI Policy)
remains the standard for international development institutions and has made the
Bank a more effective development partner. The Policy is based on the concept
that any information in the Bank’s possession should be accessible to the public,
except for what falls under a defined list of exceptions. It has provided the basis
for the accompanying open initiatives—including Open Data, Open Finances,
the Open Knowledge Repository, and the Open Archives—all of which make the
Bank’s work more transparent, accessible, and accountable. It has also led to a
massive increase in the proactive disclosure of documents.
For information that is proactively disclosed, the Bank received more than 3 mil-
lion visits to and 30 million downloads from the Documents and Reports database.
Overall in fiscal 2019, the Bank handled 696 public access requests for information.
For requests that are denied, the public can appeal by alleging a violation of
policy and/or public interest. The internal Access to Information Committee serves
as the first level of appeals, and its decisions are final for appeals alleging a public
interest ground. A second and final recourse for appeals alleging a violation of
policy is available through the external and independent Appeals Board, consist-
ing of three international experts. In fiscal 2019, the Committee considered four
cases and no new appeals were filed before the Board.
For more information and to submit public access requests for information to
the World Bank, visit www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information.

Integrity Vice Presidency and Sanctions System

Reflecting the Bank Group’s commitment to fight and prevent corruption, the
Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) investigates allegations of fraud, corruption, collu-
sion, coercion, and obstruction in Bank Group–financed projects, including those
involving Bank Group staff and corporate vendors. INT plays a fundamental role in
the Bank Group’s robust two-tiered adjudicative system, bringing cases for review
by the system’s adjudicators—the Bank’s Office of Suspension and Debarment and
IFC’s and MIGA’s counterparts at the first tier, and the Sanctions Board at the sec-
ond tier. These adjudicators provide due process to parties suspected of wrongdo-
ing and suspend and sanction those found to have engaged in misconduct. INT’s
Integrity Compliance Office engages with sanctioned companies that are working
toward release from sanction. INT also identifies integrity risks and draws lessons for
future operations, working closely with Bank Group task team leaders to mitigate
fraud and corruption risks in projects.
In fiscal 2019, the Bank Group sanctioned 53 firms and individuals, including
Odebrecht’s construction and engineering subsidiary, which was debarred for three
years. INT released 23 firms from sanction after they met agreed-upon conditions.
The Bank Group recognized 33 cross-debarments from other multilateral develop-
ment banks (MDBs). Thirty-nine Bank Group debarments were eligible for recogni-
tion by other MDBs.

For more information and the World Bank Group Sanctions System’s annual
report, visit www.worldbank.org/integrity.

ENSURING ACCOUNTABILIT Y AND TRANSPARENCY IN OUR OPERATIONS 75

 Group Internal Audit Vice Presidency
The Group Internal Audit Vice Presidency (GIA) provides independent, objective,
and insightful risk-based assurance and advice to protect and enhance the value
of the World Bank Group. GIA provides  senior management and the Board with
an independent view and reasonable assurance that processes for managing and
controlling risks—as well as their overall governance—are adequately designed
and functioning effectively. GIA delivers audits, as well as assurance and advisory
reviews, which cover operational and corporate functions and information technol-
ogy systems and processes. GIA’s work is carried out in accordance with the Institute
of Internal Auditors’ International Professional Practices Framework.  
GIA focuses on institutional and stakeholder priorities and significant risks and
delivers around 25 engagements a year covering both advisory and assurance
work. Key topics covered in fiscal 2019 included environment and social risk man-
agement of projects, efficiency measures adopted by the Bank Group, the IDA18
IFC-MIGA Private Sector Window, IDA’s financial risk management, asset liability
management, operational risk management, coverage of disaster risk in operations,
information technology, and cybersecurity.

For more information and GIA’s annual and quarterly reports, visit
www.worldbank.org/internalaudit.

76 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Deploying Resources Strategically

Prioritizing strategic interventions across the

World Bank Group
The World Bank—IBRD and IDA—works in close coordination with IFC and MIGA
to leverage the collective strength of the Bank Group. Our comparative advantage
comes from the powerful combination of country depth and global breadth, public
and private sector instruments and relationships, multisectoral knowledge, and the
ability to mobilize and leverage financing to support countries’ development prior-
ities. Collaboration across the Bank Group has grown over time and spans activities
at the country, regional, sector, thematic, and global levels.
Through our financing, we help countries build stronger systems and institutions
and extend the impact of policy and institutional reforms beyond the boundary of
a single project. Our convening power and partnerships help shape and amplify
global development priorities. The Bank leads in operational innovation, learns from
experience, and uses evidence and high standards to deliver country results. Long-
term relationships, deep country understanding, and a growing presence on the
ground make us a trusted advisor and honest broker. We are increasingly working in
the world’s most difficult settings—in fragile and conflict-affected states and where
poverty is most entrenched—while maintaining the quality of our portfolio. We
continue to innovate in financing, standards, and approaches, most recently with
the introduction of the Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), which
came into effect in October 2018.
Sustaining and accelerating progress toward global goals requires a strong Bank
Group, so that we can provide innovative solutions and advice along with financial
firepower commensurate to the size of the challenge. Our Board of Directors and
management have supported creating a better Bank Group with their approval in
October 2018 of a capital package consisting of a $13.0 billion capital increase—our
largest ever—and a series of financial and policy reforms. This will enable the Bank to
support borrowers with an average annual financing capacity of about $100 billion
during fiscal 2019–30, up from $65 billion during fiscal 2014–16. The capital package
will allow the Bank Group to serve all clients, enhance our leadership on global issues,
mobilize finance for development, and continue to improve our business model.

Defining our engagement with countries

The Bank Group has a country-based model for providing financial, analytics, and
advisory services to our borrowers. These services—both the existing portfolio and
planned new activities—are outlined in the Country Partnership Framework (CPF),
prepared jointly by the Bank, IFC, and MIGA. The CPF frames our engagement with
the country for a period of four to six years and is informed by analysis, in particular
the Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD); the country’s own development goals;
and our comparative advantage relative to other sources of financing and devel-
opment services.
The CPF sets out objectives for the Bank Group’s program and provides an indic-
ative mix of financing and analytical and advisory instruments to support it effec-
tively. It includes a results framework of agreed outputs and outcomes for activities
under implementation and indicative ones for planned activities. These are used to
establish the program’s strategic direction and enable assessment of its effective-
ness at the CPF’s conclusion.

DEPLOYING RESOURCES STRATEGICALLY 77

 Each CPF is discussed with the Board of Directors and benefits from their guid-
ance and inputs before it is made publicly available.
The SCD is the analytic underpinning of our engagement in a country. It is pre-
pared in consultation with national authorities, the private sector, and other stake-
holders, but reflects the views of the Bank Group. It also serves as the reference
point for consultations with the country and collective efforts on goals and mea-
sures that will have the most development impact.
The SCD and CPF are key elements of our country-based model and can provide
an analytical foundation for country platforms. As of the end of fiscal 2019, the Bank
Group has prepared SCDs in 104 countries and new CPFs in 79 countries.
The Multiphase Programmatic Approach, introduced in fiscal 2018, allows coun-
tries to structure a long, large, or complex engagement as a set of smaller, linked
phases under one program. The approach centers on adaptable design and learn-
ing from implementation to ensure that operations are more responsive to evolv-
ing country and project circumstances. It supports faster integration of experience
within and between phases to maximize results. Madagascar’s Improving Nutrition
Outcomes Program is the first to use this approach.
The Bank Group supports small states in addressing their unique development
challenges through the Small States Forum, which comprises 50 members, includ-
ing 42 countries classified as small states according to the Bank definition and
eight countries with larger populations that face similar challenges. The forum
meets semi-annually at the Spring and Annual Meetings. The Spring 2019 Ministe-
rial Roundtable focused on the blue economy and marine pollution, adaptation and
resilience, and economic and financial sustainability.

Setting global standards

The Bank plays an important role in setting and promoting global standards in
the areas of sustainability, transparency, accountability, inclusiveness, integrity, and
value for money. We pursue this role by: (i) continually evolving and updating our
policy framework to reflect and promote international standards and best prac-
tices, (ii) collaborating and harmonizing efforts with other multilateral development
banks and bilateral development agencies, (iii) participating in global forums to
help shape their agenda, and (iv) providing hands-on support and technical assis-
tance to help client countries adopt and implement the evolving standards.
The 2016 reform of our Procurement Framework embeds and promotes key
principles in all Bank-financed procurement: integrity, value for money, economy,
fitness for purpose, efficiency, transparency, and fairness. We have also brought
our environmental and social requirements into closer harmony with emerging
inter­national standards through the new ESF, with an emphasis on transparency,
anti-discrimination, public participation, and accountability.
The Bank is also a standard-setter in bringing value not only to what we finance,
but how we finance by ensuring transparency in our funding.
As Independent Evaluation Group reports indicate, outcome ratings for Bank
lending have continued to improve. Its most recent Results and Performance of
the World Bank Group report found that the share of projects rated moderately
satisfactory or above rose from 69 percent of projects closed in fiscal 2012–14
to 76 percent in fiscal 2015–17. Bank performance ratings rose in tandem, from
70 percent for projects closed in fiscal 2012–14 to 76 percent in fiscal 2015–17.

Maintaining budget discipline to maximize the use of

financial resources
The Bank Group aligns its resources through an annual strategic planning, budget-
ing, and performance review exercise, called the “W” process for its three top-down
decision points and two bottom-up input phases:

78 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

W1: Senior management sets strategic planning priorities in response to external
factors and clients’ demands.
W2: Vice-presidential units (VPUs) review and respond to corporate priorities.
W3: Senior management refines the guidance on priorities for each Bank Group
institution.
W4: VPUs develop work programs in response to determined priorities and planned
budget envelopes.
W5: Senior management for each institution review VPU-level allocations and agree
on aggregate budget proposals. The Board reviews and approves budgets for
the next fiscal year.

Over the past five years, the Bank Group has implemented measures to increase
efficiencies that have contributed to its financial sustainability. As part of the capital
package, the Bank and IFC have committed to additional efficiencies and econ-
omies of scale to help maintain budget sustainability and strengthen the Bank
Group’s financial position.
During the fiscal 2020–22 planning period, the Bank Group will focus on deliver-
ing on the priorities arising from the organization’s goals of ending extreme poverty
and boosting shared prosperity, as set out in its Forward Look. Specific priorities
include: (i) support for client-facing work, particularly for the scale-up agreed to
as part of the 18th replenishment of IDA (IDA18) and for areas affected by fragil-
ity, conflict, and violence; (ii) the IBRD scale-up and implementation of the capi-
tal package commitments; (iii) harnessing private sector solutions and markets to
mobilize financing for development; (iv) a renewed focus on human capital and on
enhancing the Bank Group’s leadership on global issues; and (v) improvement of the
business model for greater effectiveness and efficiency.

IBRD financial commitments and services

IBRD is a global development cooperative owned by its 189 member countries. As the
largest multilateral development bank in the world, it provides loans, guarantees, risk
management products, and advisory services to middle-income and creditworthy
low-income countries, and coordinates responses to regional and global challenges.
In fiscal 2019, new IBRD lending commitments amounted to $23.2 billion for 100
operations, of which three were IBRD and IDA blended operations.
For monitoring, reporting, and better decision making about its commitments,
the Bank applies a taxonomy of codes to all lending operations to reflect the sectors
and themes into which it directs its resources. Sector codes reflect high-level group-
ings of economic activities based on the types of goods and services produced, and
are used to indicate which part of the economy is supported by the Bank’s interven-
tion. Theme codes reflect the goals and objectives of Bank-supported activities and
are used to capture the Bank’s support to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

TABLE 15  IBRD COMMITMENTS, BY REGION, FISCAL 2015–19

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

REGION FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19

Africa 1,209 669 1,163 1,120 820

East Asia and Pacific 4,539 5,176 4,404 3,981 4,030
Europe and Central Asia 6,679 7,039 4,569 3,550 3,749
Latin America and the Caribbean 5,709 8,035 5,373 3,898 5,709
Middle East and North Africa 3,294 5,170 4,869 5,945 4,872
South Asia 2,098 3,640 2,233 4,508 4,011
Total 23,528 29,729 22,611 23,002 23,191

DEPLOYING RESOURCES STRATEGICALLY 79

TABLE 16  IBRD DISBURSEMENTS, BY REGION, FISCAL 2015–19
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

REGION FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19

Africa 816 874 427 734 690

East Asia and Pacific 3,596 5,205 3,961 3,476 5,048
Europe and Central Asia 5,829 5,167 2,799 4,134 2,209
Latin America and the Caribbean 5,726 5,236 3,885 4,066 4,847
Middle East and North Africa 1,779 4,427 5,335 3,281 4,790
South Asia 1,266 1,623 1,454 1,698 2,598
Total 19,012 22,532 17,861 17,389 20,182

TABLE 17  IBRD COMMITMENTS BY SECTOR, FISCAL 2015–19

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

SECTOR FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19

Agriculture, Fishing, and Forestry 843 561 754 2,561 1,025
Education 1,496 1,788 1,074 1,685 1,875
Energy and Extractives 3,361 4,599 4,434 3,084 2,847
Financial Sector 3,433 2,657 1,879 764 2,299
Health 893 1,181 1,189 2,204 1,674
Industry, Trade, and Services 1,684 3,348 2,694 3,416 2,361
Information and Communications 90 194 503 324 611
 Technologies
Public Administration 3,175 5,111 4,754 2,189 5,327
Social Protection 2,687 1,393 778 2,091 2,115
Transportation 3,202 4,569 2,551 2,074 1,485
Water, Sanitation, and Waste 2,664 4,192 2,000 2,610 1,571
 Management
Total 23,528 29,729 22,611 23,002 23,191
Note: Numbers may not add to totals because of rounding. As of fiscal 2017, new sector categories have
replaced the previous taxonomy as part of an internal data modernization effort. Past fiscal year data reported
here have been revised to reflect the new categories and therefore may not match figures published in previ-
ous annual reports. Please visit projects.worldbank.org/sector for more information on changes.

TABLE 18  IBRD COMMITMENTS BY THEME, FISCAL 2018–19

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

THEME FY18 FY19

Economic Policy 1,124 1,363

Environment and Natural Resources Management 10,409 8,514
Finance 2,501 3,546
Human Development and Gender 6,641 7,227
Private Sector Development 4,945 4,438
Public Sector Management 1,353 2,912
Social Development and Protection 2,844 2,453
Urban and Rural Development 8,593 6,511
Note: As of fiscal 2017, new theme categories have replaced the previous taxonomy as part of an internal
data modernization effort. Because lending commitments for individual operations can be applied to multiple
theme categories, figures organized by theme do not add up to fiscal year commitment totals, and therefore
should not be summed. Past fiscal year theme data have been remapped but not revised according to the
new methodology. As they are no longer directly comparable, historical data are not included here. Please visit
projects.worldbank.org/theme for more information on changes.

80 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

TABLE 19  IBRD TOP COUNTRY BORROWERS, FISCAL 2019
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
COUNTRY COMMITMENTS COUNTRY COMMITMENTS

India 3,024 China 1,330

Indonesia 1,950 Morocco 1,255
Jordan 1,591 Turkey 1,113
Egypt, Arab Republic of 1,500 Ukraine 950
Argentina 1,391 Colombia 930

IBRD financial resources and financial model

To fund development projects in member countries, IBRD finances its loans from its
own equity and from money borrowed in the capital markets through the issuance
of World Bank bonds. IBRD is rated Aaa by Moody’s and AAA by Standard & Poor’s,
and investors view its bonds as high-quality securities. Its funding strategy is aimed
at achieving the best long-term value on a sustainable basis for borrowing mem-
bers. IBRD’s ability to intermediate the funds it raises in international capital mar-
kets to developing member countries is important in helping to achieve its goals.
All IBRD bonds support sustainable development. IBRD issues its securities
through both global offerings and bond issues tailored to the needs of specific
markets or investor types. Its bonds connect the private and public sectors to the
Bank’s development goals through investors such as asset managers, insurance
companies, pension funds, central banks, corporations, and bank treasuries from
around the world. IBRD issues bonds to investors in various currencies, maturities,
and markets, and at fixed and variable terms. It often opens new markets for inter-
national investors by issuing new products or bonds in emerging market curren-
cies. IBRD’s annual funding volumes vary from year to year.
IBRD’s strategy has enabled it to borrow at favorable market terms and pass
the savings on to its borrowing members. Funds not immediately deployed for
lending are held in IBRD’s investment portfolio to provide liquidity for its oper-
ations. In fiscal 2019, IBRD raised U.S. dollar equivalent $54.0 billion by issuing
bonds in 27 currencies.
As a cooperative institution, IBRD seeks not to maximize profit but to earn
enough income to ensure its financial strength and sustain its development activ-
ities. Of fiscal 2019 allocable net income, the Executive Directors recommended
to the Board of Governors the transfer of $259 million to IDA, the transfer of
$100 million to the Surplus, and the allocation of $831 million to the General
Reserve. As part of its lending, borrowing, and investment activities, IBRD is
exposed to market, counterparty, country credit, and operational risks.

FIGURE 8  IBRD BUSINESS MODEL

Equity
IDA and trust funds

Loans
Borrowings

Income

Investments

Other development activities

DEPLOYING RESOURCES STRATEGICALLY 81

TABLE 20  IBRD KEY FINANCIAL INDICATORS, FISCAL 2015–19
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, EXCEPT RATIOS, WHICH ARE IN PERCENTAGES
INDICATOR FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19

Lending highlights
Commitmentsa 23,528 29,729 22,611 23,002 23,191
Gross disbursementsb 19,012 22,532 17,861 17,389 20,182
Net disbursementsb 9,999 13,197 8,731 5,638 10,091

Reported basis
Income statements
Board of Governors-approved
  and other transfers (715) (705) (497) (178) (338)
Net income/(loss) (786) 495 (237) 698 505

Balance sheet
Total assetsc 212,931 231,408 258,648 263,800 283,031
Net investment portfolio 45,105 51,760 71,667 73,492 81,127
Net loans outstanding 155,040 167,643 177,422 183,588 192,752
Borrowing portfolio 158,853 178,231 207,144 213,652 228,763

Allocable income
Allocable income 686 593 795 1,161 1,190
Allocated as follows:
  General Reserved 36 96 672 913 831
  International Development
  Association 650 497 123 248 259
 Surplus 0 0 0 0 100

Usable equitye,f 40,195 39,424 41,720 43,518 45,360

Capital adequacy
Equity-to-loans ratio (%) 25.1 22.7 22.8 22.9 22.8
Note: For a complete presentation of fiscal year data, see the full financial statements: www.worldbank.org
/financialresults.
a. Commitments include guarantee commitments and guarantee facilities that have been approved by the
Executive Directors of the World Bank.
b. Amounts include transactions with IFC and loan origination fees.
c. Effective June 30, 2019, derivatives are presented net by counterparty, after cash collateral received and the
presentation of the prior periods has been aligned for comparability.
d. The June 30, 2019, amount represents the proposed transfer to the General Reserve from fiscal 2019 net
income, which was approved on August 8, 2019, by the Board.
e. Excluding amounts associated with unrealized mark-to-market gains/losses on non-trading portfolios, net
and related cumulative translation adjustments.
f. Usable equity includes the proposed transfer to the General Reserve.

The Bank Group’s Chief Risk Officer leads the risk oversight function and sup-
ports the institutional decision-making process via dedicated risk committees. In
addition, IBRD has put in place a strong risk management framework, which sup-
ports management in its oversight functions. The framework is designed to enable
and support IBRD in achieving its goals in a financially sustainable manner. One
summary measure of IBRD’s risk profile is the ratio of equity to loans, which is
closely managed in line with its financial and risk outlook. As of June 30, 2019, this
ratio stood at 22.8 percent, and the cumulative subscribed capital of IBRD totaled
$279.9 billion, including $17.1 billion paid-in capital.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/ibrd.

82 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

IDA financial commitments and services
IDA is the world’s largest multilateral source of concessional financing for the poor-
est countries. It provides financing in the form of development loans, grants, and
guarantees to support these countries’ efforts to increase economic growth, reduce
poverty, and improve the living conditions of the poor.
In fiscal 2019, 75 countries were eligible for IDA assistance. In addition, three
countries—Bolivia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, which graduated at the end of the IDA17
cycle—are receiving exceptional transitional support from IDA. New IDA lending
commitments amounted to $21.9 billion for 254 operations, of which three were
IBRD and IDA blended operations. These commitments included $13.8 billion in
credits, $7.8 billion in grants, and $358 million of IDA resources to back guarantees.
In addition, in fiscal 2019, 14 projects for a total of $393 million were approved for
support from the IDA18 IFC-MIGA Private Sector Window (PSW).
For monitoring, reporting, and better decision making about its commitments,
the Bank applies a taxonomy of codes to all lending operations to reflect the sectors
and themes into which we direct resources. Sector codes reflect high-level group-
ings of economic activities based on the types of goods and services produced;
these are used to indicate which part of the economy is supported by the Bank’s
intervention. Theme codes reflect the goals and objectives of Bank-supported
activities and are used to capture our support to the SDGs.

TABLE 21  IDA COMMITMENTS, BY REGION, FISCAL 2015–19 

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
REGION FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19

Africa 10,360 8,677 10,679 15,411 14,187

East Asia and Pacific 1,803 2,324 2,703 631 1,272
Europe and Central Asia 527 233 739 957 583
Latin America and the Caribbean 315 183 503 428 430
Middle East and North Africa 198 31 1,011 430 611
South Asia 5,762 4,723 3,828 6,153 4,849
Total 18,966 16,171 19,463a 24,010b 21,932c
a. Figure does not include the commitment of a $50 million grant for the Pandemic Emergency Financing
Facility.
b. Figure does not include $185 million in approved IDA18 IFC-MIGA PSW instruments, of which IDA has
exposure of $36 million in guarantees and $9 million in derivatives.
c. Figure does not include $393 million in approved IDA18 IFC-MIGA PSW instruments, of which IDA has
exposure of $106 million in guarantees, $25 million in derivatives, and $1 million through funding of
IFC-PSW related equity investment.

TABLE 22  IDA DISBURSEMENTS, BY REGION, FISCAL 2015–19 

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
REGION FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19

Africa 6,595 6,813 6,623 8,206 10,190

East Asia and Pacific 1,499 1,204 1,145 1,252 1,282
Europe and Central Asia 314 365 310 298 931
Latin America and the Caribbean 383 303 229 223 340
Middle East and North Africa 194 44 391 569 647
South Asia 3,919 4,462 3,970 3,835 4,159
Total 12,905 13,191 12,668a 14,383 17,549
a. Figure does not include the disbursement of a $50 million grant for the Pandemic Emergency Financing
Facility.

DEPLOYING RESOURCES STRATEGICALLY 83

TABLE 23  IDA COMMITMENTS BY SECTOR, FISCAL 2015–19 
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
SECTOR FY15 FY16 FY17a FY18 FY19

Agriculture, Fishing, and Forestry 2,525 1,849 2,025 1,442 2,796

Education 2,124 1,431 1,773 2,836 1,767
Energy and Extractives 1,461 2,814 1,891 4,028 3,468
Financial Sector 661 443 1,227 546 870
Health 2,197 1,191 1,246 2,062 1,736
Industry, Trade, and Services 687 841 1,541 1,991 1,963
Information and Communications
 Technologies 265 78 519 419 779
Public Administration 2,744 1,500 1,954 5,013 3,109
Social Protection 1,928 2,475 1,913 2,112 2,163
Transportation 2,191 2,277 3,271 1,455 1,709
Water, Sanitation, and Waste
 Management 2,183 1,271 2,102 2,105 1,572
Total 18,966 16,171 19,463 24,010b 21,932c
Note: Numbers may not add to totals because of rounding. As of fiscal 2017, new sector categories have
replaced the previous taxonomy as part of an internal data modernization effort. Past fiscal year data reported
here have been revised to reflect the new categories and therefore may not match figures published in previ-
ous annual reports. Please visit projects.worldbank.org/sector for more information on changes.
a. Fiscal 2017 IDA sector breakdown excludes a $50 million grant for the Pandemic Emergency Financing
Facility.
b. Figure does not include $185 million in approved IDA18 IFC-MIGA PSW instruments, of which IDA currently
has exposure of $36 million in guarantees and $9 million in derivatives.
c. Figure does not include $393 million in approved IDA18 IFC-MIGA PSW instruments, of which IDA has
exposure of $106 million in guarantees, $25 million in derivatives, and $1 million through funding of
IFC-PSW related equity investment.

TABLE 24  IDA COMMITMENTS BY THEME: FISCAL 2017–19

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
THEME FY17a FY18 FY19

Economic Policy 1,791 468 1,073

Environment and Natural Resources Management 5,766 9,491 9,680
Finance 1,507 1,642 2,418
Human Development and Gender 6,471 7,509 7,860
Private Sector Development 4,837 4,240b 5,145c
Public Sector Management 1,936 3,827 2,513
Social Development and Protection 2,544 2,980 2,722
Urban and Rural Development 8,352 8,654 7,866
Note: As of fiscal 2017, new theme categories have replaced the previous taxonomy as part of an internal
data modernization effort. Because lending commitments for individual operations can be applied to multiple
theme categories, figures organized by theme do not add up to fiscal year commitment totals, and therefore
should not be summed. Past fiscal year theme data have been remapped but not revised according to the
new methodology. As they are no longer directly comparable, historical data are not included here. Please visit
projects.worldbank.org/theme for more information on changes.
a. Fiscal 2017 IDA theme breakdown excludes a $50 million grant for the Pandemic Emergency Financing
Facility.
b. Figure does not include $185 million in approved IDA18 IFC-MIGA PSW instruments, of which IDA currently
has exposure of $36 million in guarantees and $9 million in derivatives.
c. Figure does not include $393 million in approved IDA18 IFC-MIGA PSW instruments, of which IDA has
exposure of $106 million in guarantees, $25 million in derivatives, and $1 million through funding of IFC-PSW
related equity investment.

TABLE 25  IDA TOP COUNTRY BORROWERS, FISCAL 2019

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
COUNTRY COMMITMENTS COUNTRY COMMITMENTS
Ethiopia 2,610 Mozambique 980
Bangladesh 2,237 Congo, Democratic Republic of 812
Pakistan 1,224 Burkina Faso 797
Kenya 1,060 Niger 733
Côte d’Ivoire 1,050 Mali 599

84 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

IDA financial resources and financial model
Traditionally, IDA has been funded largely by contributions from high- and middle-
income partner countries. Additional financing comes from Bank Group transfers
and borrowers’ repayments of earlier IDA credits. As part of the groundbreaking
IDA18 package, which covers fiscal 2018–20, IDA shareholders agreed to transform
IDA’s financing model, leveraging its strong capital base to pioneer a new model
for development finance that combines donor funding with funding raised in the
capital markets to support an ambitious policy package with focus on five special
themes: jobs and economic transformation; climate change; gender and develop-
ment; fragility, conflict and violence; and governance and institutions. IDA received
its first-ever public credit rating—triple-A—in 2016. IDA’s financial strength is based
on its robust capital position and shareholder support, as well as on its prudent
financial policies and practices, which help to maintain its triple-A credit rating.
To support IDA18 financing, a total of 55 partners—five of which are new or
re-engaged contributing partners—agreed to provide SDR 16.1 billion (equivalent
to $22.6 billion) in grants, of which SDR 0.9 billion ($1.2 billion) is the grant element
from concessional partner loan contributions.* Partners are also providing SDR 3.6
billion ($5.1 billion) in concessional partner loans, or SDR 2.7 billion ($3.8 billion)
excluding the grant element of the loans, and SDR 2.9 billion ($4.1 billion) in com-
pensation for debt relief under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative.
IDA18’s effectiveness was achieved in November 2017, when 60 percent of the
partner Instruments of Commitment (IoCs) and concessional partner loan agree-
ments were received. As of June 30, 2019, 49 partners had submitted IDA18 IoCs
and concessional partner loan agreements totaling SDR 19.1 billion ($26.8 billion).
On April 17, 2018, for the first time, IDA issued $1.5 billion of debt in the interna-
tional capital markets. This inaugural IDA bond received strong reception in the mar-
ket, with total orders reaching $4.6 billion from around the world. Since then, IDA
has also launched an IDA Bills Program (beginning March 2019) that has raised over
$1.5 billion thus far, via 16 transactions and across one- to eight-month maturities.
The program has been successful in raising liquidity in both euros and U.S. dollars,
and IDA will continue to seek opportunities to diversify the currency composition.
The program has also attracted new investors to IDA in both Asia and Europe,
further benefiting the continued development of IDA’s capital markets presence.
IDA’s borrowing program enables it to significantly scale up support for achiev-
ing the SDGs, while offering investors an efficient way to contribute to global devel-
opment. This optimization of IDA’s capital enables IDA to mobilize about three

* The Financing Framework for the IDA18 Replenishment is managed predominantly in Special
Drawing Rights (SDRs). U.S. dollar equivalent figures given here are calculated using IDA18 reference
exchange rates.

FIGURE 9  IDA BUSINESS MODEL

Reflows and operating results

Borrowings Non-concessional lending

Investments

Equity
Concessional lending and grants

DEPLOYING RESOURCES STRATEGICALLY 85

TABLE 26  IDA KEY FINANCIAL INDICATORS, FISCAL 2015–19
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, EXCEPT RATIOS, WHICH ARE IN PERCENTAGES

INDICATOR FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19

Loans, grants, and guarantees

Commitments 18,966 16,171 19,513a 24,010b 21,932c
Gross disbursements 12,905 13,191 12,718 a
14,383 17,549
Net disbursements 8,820 8,806 8,154 9,290 12,221

Balance sheet
Total assetsd 163,234 167,985 173,357 184,666 188,553
Net investment portfolio 28,418 29,908 29,673 33,735 32,443
Net loans outstanding 126,760 132,825 138,351 145,656 151,921
Borrowing portfolioe 2,150 2,906 3,660 7,318 10,149
Total equity 147,149 154,700 158,476 163,945 162,982

Income statement
Interest revenue, net of
  borrowing expenses 1,435 1,453 1,521 1,647 1,702
Transfers from affiliated
  organizations and others 993 990 599 203 258
Development grants (2,319) (1,232) (2,577) (4,969) (7,694)
Net income/(loss) (731) 371 (2,296) (5,231) (6,650)

Adjusted net income f

(94) 423 (158) (391) 225

Capital adequacy
Deployable strategic capital
 ratio n.a. n.a. 37.2% 37.4% 35.3%
Note: n.a. = not applicable. For a complete presentations of fiscal year data, see the full financial statements:
www.worldbank.org/financialresults.
a. Figures include the commitment and disbursement of a $50 million grant for the Pandemic Emergency
Financing Facility.
b. Figure does not include $185 million in approved IDA18 IFC-MIGA PSW instruments, of which IDA has
exposure of $36 million in guarantees and $9 million in derivatives.
c. Figure does not include $393 million in approved IDA18 IFC-MIGA PSW instruments, of which IDA has
exposure of $106 million in guarantees, $25 million in derivatives, and $1 million through funding of
IFC-PSW related equity investment.
d. Effective June 30, 2019, derivatives are presented net by counterparty, after cash collateral received, on the
Balance Sheet.
e. Includes related derivative balances.
f. Effective June 30, 2019, IDA introduced this new income measure to reflect the economic results of its
operations. Prior period numbers have been calculated and presented for comparability.

dollars in IDA commitment authority for every dollar of IDA18 development partner
contributions.
Development partners agreed to a financing envelope of $75.0 billion (equiv-
alent to SDR 53.0 billion) to provide credits, grants, and guarantees to IDA’s client
countries. Of this amount, $63.9 billion is expected to be used on concessional
terms, $8.6 billion on IBRD terms for the Scale-Up Facility and transitional support,
and $2.5 billion for the PSW. IDA administrative expenses are recovered primarily
through the net charges and interest paid by recipient countries.
Every three years, development partners meet to review IDA’s policies, assess
its financial capacity, agree on the amount of financing for the next replenishment
period, and commit to additional contributions of equity that are required to meet
IDA’s objectives and development goals. The replenishment process for IDA19,
which covers fiscal 2021–23, is underway. It culminates in December 2019, when
contributing partners pledge their contributions to IDA19.

For more information, visit ida.worldbank.org.

86 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Mitigating risks stemming from global political and
economic uncertainties
The Bank Group’s Chief Risk Officer monitors the global political and economic
influences that could affect the institution’s financial sustainability. After two years
of firm growth, global economic growth slowed during fiscal 2019 and is expected
to remain subdued going forward. While growth in the United States accelerated,
activity in Europe and Japan remained slow. Commodity exporters generally recov-
ered slowly from earlier price weakness, while net commodity importers grew
robustly. Some large emerging market and developing countries experienced strong
exchange rate pressures during the year, catalyzing higher inflation and slower
growth. The global growth slowdown prompted central banks in advanced econ-
omies to maintain a more accommodative monetary stance than was expected,
which should support growth going forward. Easier monetary policies have also led
to a pick-up in capital flows to emerging market and developing economies after a
period of weakness, as bond spreads for emerging market borrowers moderated in
the favorable environment.
Significant vulnerabilities remain, however. An unusually high degree of policy
uncertainty and geopolitical tensions remain overarching sources of risk, which
could trigger shifts in investor sentiment that adversely impact the external envi-
ronment for the Bank’s borrowers. Elevated levels of corporate and sovereign debt
also present heightened risks, with many governments facing growing contin-
gent liabilities relating to infrastructure projects and to their financial sectors. The
strength of macroeconomic policy frameworks of several large borrowers could also
be impacted by recent and prospective political changes. Increased protection-
ist measures weighed on global trade growth this year, and an escalation in such
measures could particularly affect the most open economies. Increased protection-
ism could also affect direct investment flows to developing countries. Commodity
prices remain volatile, and their movements impact many borrowers. In particular,
actual and potential disruptions to oil supplies from a number of countries present
an upward risk for prices.

DEPLOYING RESOURCES STRATEGICALLY 87

Committed to Results

The World Bank helps to promote sustainable development in partner countries by provid-
ing financing, sharing knowledge, and working with the public and private sectors. Deliver-
ing integrated solutions to help countries address their development challenges requires a
focus on results. In recent years, the Bank has made important contributions across many
areas to support development results achieved by its partner countries.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/results.

1 Afghanistan: Since 2016, over 8 China: Between 2010 and 2017, nearly
9,000 community profiles have been 38,000 households in Jilin adopted
created, nearly 8,800 new community standardized farming practices,
development councils elected, and helping each household increase their
almost 7,500 community development annual income by an average of $430.
plans completed to improve delivery
9 Côte d’Ivoire: Between 2015 to 2019,
of infrastructure and social services in
300,000 poor individuals—more than
rural and urban areas.
half of them women—benefited from
2 Angola: Between 2015 to 2017, six mobile money accounts with cash
provincial water and sanitation utilities transfers and access to digital financial
were created. By April 2019, five of services.
these utilities had recovered costs, and
10 Djibouti: Since 2012, almost 7,000
107,000 households were connected
households have benefited from
to water supply systems.
increased access to water, and nearly
3 Bangladesh: By October 2018, 17,500 61,000 heads of livestock have gained
hectares of block plantations and access to more secure water supply.
2,000 km of strip plantations were
11 Arab Republic of Egypt: Between
completed in climate-vulnerable areas,
2011 and 2016, over 4,400 people
and nearly 40,000 people residing
were trained on pilot schemes to
in areas prone to saline, floods, and
improve surface and groundwater
droughts received basic needs and
management.
livelihood support.
12 El Salvador: By 2017, the maternal
4 Benin: In 2018, a $30 million policy-
mortality rate in the public system
based guarantee helped secure a $300
had fallen to 31 deaths per 100,000
million commercial loan, replacing
live births, from 65.4 in 2006, and
short-term commercial debt and
infant mortality had dropped to
saving Benin $44 million over the life
12.5 deaths per 100,000 live births,
of the loan.
compared to 26.9 in 2000.
5 Bhutan: From 2014 to 2017, the
13 Indonesia: Between 2007 to 2015,
percentage of people with bank
block grants to improve health and
accounts increased from 34 percent
education services reached almost
to 65 percent after the government
5 million people in roughly 5,500
improved access to financial services.
villages across 11 provinces. Nearly 3.5
6 Brazil: By 2018, peak-hour travel time million women and children received
on São Paulo’s Metro Line 4, which nutrition counseling and support, and
transports close to 750,000 passengers 915,000 children were immunized.
daily, was reduced to 32 minutes,
14 Iraq: Since 2015, 320 km of roads
compared to over an hour in 2002.
have been rehabilitated in liberated
7 Cambodia: By December 2018, about zones and 19 bridges reconstructed,
30,500 households in targeted districts benefiting over 2 million people.
gained access to improved sanitation.

88 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2019

 Countries with active
IBRD or IDA operations
No active IBRD or IDA project,
Russian Federation ineligible, or no data
Note: Data represents the IBRD/IDA active portfolio as of June 30, 2019.
Russian Fed. 28
Poland Belarus
Ukraine
ine 20 Kazakhstan Mongolia
Moldovaa
Romania
29 21
Georgia Uzbekistan
ekistan
an
Bulgaria Kyr
Ky
Kyrg
Kyrgyz Rep.
Armenia Azerbaijan
j
Turkey Tajikistan China
Tunisia 27 14 Afg
AAfghanistan
fgh n
22 8
Lebanon
Le
Morocco Iraq
aqq 1 Bh
Bhutan
Arab Jordan
Jo PPakistan
Paki
kiistan
an Nepa
epal
pal
Nepal
19 16 5
Rep. of
11 24 18
Egypt Bangladeshh
Mexico Haiti Myanmar
yan r
Myanmar
aica
Jamaica Cabo
Mauritania 30 India aoo
Lao
Belize Verde
Mali
10 3 P.D.R.
Gu
Guatemala Honduras 15 Senegal
Niger Rep.
e off
RRe Thailand Vietnam
12 El Salvador Nicaraguaa The Gambia Burkina
Chad Yemen
Ye Cambodia Federated States Marshall Islands
Guinea-Bissau Faso Nigeria Djibouti Philippines
Guinea of Micronesia
Costa Rica Côte
Guyana Sierra Leone d’Ivoire
23 Central South Ethiopia
Sri
Lanka
Panama
Liberia Cameroon
Cam
Ca
ameroo
am
African
can
Rep.
ep
ep.
Sudan 7 Palau
Colombia Gh
Ghanaa
9 BBenin TTogoo 26 Uganda
UUga
g Maldives
Kiribati
Ecuador n 4 Gabon
Gab
Rwandaa
Kenya Nauru
Equatorial Guinea
nea RRep. of Seychelles
CCongo m Rep
Dem. Rep. Burundi
São TToméé andd PPríncipe
Sã cipe of Congo Comoros
13 Indonesia Papua Solomon
Islands
Kiribati
Tanzania New
Peru Guinea Tuvalu
Brazil Angola Timor-Leste
25 2 ZZambia Malawi Samoa
6 Fiji
Bolivia Madagascar Vanuatu
Tonga
Botswana Mozambique
Paraguay
Dominican Eswatini Poland
Republic Lesotho

Ukraine
Antigua South
and Africa
Chile Uruguay St. Kitts Barbuda
and Nevis
17

Romania
Argentina
Dominica
tia
Croatia
St. Lucia Bosnia andd SSerbia
bi
Herzegovina

Bulgaria
St. Vincent and
the Grenadines Kosovo
Grenada Montenegro
Albania
North
Macedonia
IBRD 43838 | MAY 2020

15 Jamaica: Between 2010 to 2017, renewa- 20 Moldova: Between 2012 and 2018, over 24 Pakistan: Between 2015 and 2018, more 28 Ukraine: The Pension Reform Law,
ble energy generation nearly doubled 180 farmers received matching investment than 900 schools across Balochistan approved in October 2017, helped
from 9 percent to 17 percent and grants and just-in-time business advice on province became operational. Over bolster the average pension benefit
dependency on oil imports decreased post-harvesting operations, and 65,000 53,000 children—of which 72 percent to more than 27 percent of the average
from 95 percent to 71 percent. hectares of land were covered under were girls—enrolled in these schools, wage.
sustainable land management practices. with 89 percent retention.
16 Jordan: Since 2013, over 2,000 private 29 Uzbekistan: Between 2016 and 2018,
sector jobs have been created for the 21 Mongolia: Between 2007 and 2013, 560 25 Peru: From 2013 to 2018, 5.7 million over 55,000 children aged 3–6 years
most disadvantaged, with women-owned classroom libraries were established in students benefited from quality public were enrolled in half-day preschools,
enterprises representing 85 percent of all 383 rural primary schools, benefiting education and more transparent over 4,000 preschool teachers were
beneficiaries. 130,000 students, and over 4,500 rural processes for the selection of principals trained, and materials and equipment
primary teachers and school directors in 40,000 schools. were provided to more than 2,400
17 Kosovo: Over 900 households across
were trained. rural preschools.
17 villages were connected to high-speed 26 Rwanda: Between 2009 and 2017,
internet in 2018. 22 Nepal: Since 2016, after the the productivity of hillside agriculture 30 Republic of Yemen: Since 2017,
government adopted guidelines to increased tenfold in targeted irrigated cash transfers have been provided to
18 Lao People’s Democratic Republic:
generate employment for marginalized areas and fivefold in targeted non- nearly 1.5 million poor and vulnerable
The average time to clear imports,
communities, over 70 percent of workers irrigated areas, benefiting 292,000 households, reaching 9 million
exports, and transits by customs fell by
recruited for road maintenance have people and reducing erosion and individuals. Forty-five percent of
47 percent, from 17.9 hours in 2009 to
been women, 34 percent from socially sediment load by 76 percent. the direct recipients were women.
9.4 hours in 2017.
underprivileged communities, and 35
27 Turkey: By the end of 2018, energy
19 Mexico: Since 2009, a rural development percent from minority ethnic groups.
generation capacity was expanded to
project has helped over 1,800 agricultural 23 Nigeria: Between 2012 and March 2019, 88.5 gigawatts, representing a roughly
businesses adopt better renewable
nearly 1,560 hectares of degraded land 47 gigawatt increase in less than 10
energy practices and efficient technolo-
was reclaimed, and more than 9,300 years, with 59 percent of this coming
gies, cutting carbon emissions by over
households benefited from livelihood from renewable sources.
6 million tons.
enhancement activities.
World Bank Annual Report 2019

Financial Statements incorporated by reference. The Management’s Discussion and

Analysis and Audited Financial Statements of IBRD and IDA (“Financial Statements”)
shall be deemed to be incorporated in and to form part of this Annual Report. The
Financial Statements may be accessed at www.worldbank.org/financialresults.

Additional IBRD and IDA financial, lending, and organizational information is

available on the World Bank Annual Report 2019 website: www.worldbank.org
/annualreport.
For more information on the World Bank or its publicly-available data and
knowledge resources, visit online:
•  Finances One: financesapp.worldbank.org
•  Corporate Scorecard: scorecard.worldbank.org
•  World Bank Open Data: data.worldbank.org
•  Open Knowledge Repository: openknowledge.worldbank.org
•  World Bank Corporate Responsibility: www.worldbank.org/corporateresponsibility
•  World Bank Access to Information: www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information

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The World Bank comprises the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association
(IDA). The organization’s mission is to end extreme poverty and promote
shared prosperity in a sustainable way.
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