AWC’s Comments and Recommendations on the World Bank Group’s Proposed New Country Engagement Approach

As part of the World Bank’s Evolution Process, which began two years ago, the WBG is reviewing its country engagement approach to align with its new vision and mission. The goal is to make the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) more efficient, outcome-driven, and systematic in incorporating private sector solutions where applicable.

To gather feedback, the WBG has announced formal consultations on these proposed changes. Consultation meetings will be held across all seven WBG regions from February to Mid-March, 2025, in a hybrid format, allowing for both in-person and virtual participation.

In line with our mission to keep civil society groups in the MENA region informed about IFIs’ activities and operations, AWC is disseminating details about the new country engagement approach to our members and communities, including:

1. A brief explanation of what the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) is.
2. A summary of the proposed changes.
3. AWC’s input based on the region’s current challenges.

What is the WBG’s Country Partnership Framework (CPF)?

The CPF serves as a strategy for the WBG’s engagement with a member country, outlining key objectives and development outcomes to guide its support. It provides a framework for how the WBG will assist the country in achieving these goals throughout the implementation period. The CPF is shaped by the country’s development vision and priorities, as well as the Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD), an assessment conducted by the WBG in consultation with governments, civil society, and the private sector to identify key challenges and opportunities. Additionally, the CPF must align with the World Bank Group’s overarching mission and unique expertises.

The WBG Country Engagement Cycle consists of four key components:

1. Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD): Identifies key development challenges and opportunities and, since it informs the CPF, it precedes the development of a new CPF.
2. Country Partnership Framework (CPF): Defines how the WBG will support the country’s development priorities within an identified time period usually 4-5 years (the time period was implemented in the old CPFs).
3. Performance and Learning Review (PLR): review assessing CPF progress, relevance, and potential course adjustments.The PLR is performed in the middle of the CPF implementation cycle.
4. Completion and Learning Review (CLR): Evaluates CPF performance at the end of the cycle, informing the next CPF.

Consultations play a crucial role throughout these cycles where the bank should engage with governments, ministries, the private sector, civil society, and other stakeholders at each stage.

Proposed Changes to the CPF

The WBG argues that the current CPF model is too broad, attempting to cover too many priorities, which reduces impact and effectiveness. The new approach aims to narrow priorities, enhance implementation, and strengthen the use of global knowledge.

• Focused and Selective CPF Outcomes: CPFs will now focus on 3-4 key outcomes instead of broad priorities, ensuring greater selectivity and impact. These outcomes will align with the WBG’s new Scorecard¹ ², which now has 22 key indicators instead of 150+.

• Strengthening the Role of Knowledge and Expertise: The WBG emphasizes the “Knowledge Bank” concept, where its regional/ global expertise will systematically inform country programming. To support this, Knowledge Advisory Teams (KATs) will be created to mobilize insights throughout CPF design and implementation and benchmark peer countries to inform national strategies.

• Streamlining Processes and Extending CPF Duration: The new approach aims to make the CPF process simpler, more efficient, and more impactful. CPF documentation will be streamlined, and all new CPFs will have a minimum length of four years and maximum length of ten years. The Performance and Learning Review (PLR) will be optional and required only when significant changes in strategy and/or Results Framework and will be mandatory when CPF is longer than 6years.

• The Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) will be condensed from a standalone document into a 10-page annex to the CPF, eliminating corporate reviews.

• The Completion and Learning Review (CLR) will be streamlined to 10 pages, focusing on lessons learned, and will use a shared evaluation methodology to be developed with the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG).

¹ The World Bank Group (WBG) Scorecard is a tool designed to track and measure the impact of the WBG’s efforts with a stronger focus on outcomes rather than inputs. It replaces the previous system of over 150 indicators with a more streamlined set of 22 key indicators, making it easier to monitor development progress across all WBG institutions (IBRD, IDA, IFC, and MIGA). More details can be found at: WBG Corporate Scorecards.

²Under WBG mission, the priorities are filtered through the Scorecard outcome areas of the cross-cutting themes of Jobs, Gender, Fragility, and Private Investment and the five verticals of People, Prosperity, Planet, Infrastructure, and Digital.

Implementation Timeline

A revised Country Engagement Directive will be issued to formalize changes in the country engagement approach, along with updates to the Country Engagement Procedure to simplify CPF and PLR processes. A new Country Engagement Guidance document will provide instructions and templates, while the SCD Guidance will be retired and incorporated into the new framework. These revisions will be completed by the end of FY25 and take effect on July 1, 2025. Some pilot CPFs (e.g., Pakistan, Liberia, Philippines, Belize) will test the new approach in FY25.

Please refer to the approach draft, presentation and consultation for details and to participate.

Click here to read the AWC’s comments about the approach

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