83188
                  Global Program Review – The World Bank Group’s Partnership with the
                      Global Environmental Facility and Draft Management Response

                                Report to the Board of Executive Directors from the
                                     Committee on development effectiveness
                                              Sub-Committee Report ∗


                                             (Meeting of November 1, 2013)

       The Sub-Committee (SC) of the Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE) considered
an Independent Evaluation Group’s (IEG) Global Program Review – The World Bank Group’s
Partnership with the Global Environmental Facility (CODE2013-0039) and the Draft Management
Response (CODE2013-0042).
       The Committee welcomed IEG’s timely review in the context of the new World Bank Group
(WBG) Strategy and the forthcoming GEF 6 Replenishment. Members broadly supported the lessons
learned and findings generated by the IEG review and agreed that they could help the WBG enhance the
impact and effectiveness of its partnership agenda. The Committee observed that the scope of the
review is in line with the Approach Paper approved in August 2012 (CODE2012-0012/2) and they
appreciated IEG’s clarification that the report did not present any recommendations related to internal
GEF policies. Some Members encouraged IEG to share the lessons learned with the GEF and other
Implementing Agencies.
       Members recognized the uniqueness of the functional independence of the GEF Secretariat
within the Bank, which to a certain extent sets the GEF apart from other global partnerships that the
Bank engages in.
        Members appreciated the most recent effort to harmonize project cycles between the GEF and
the Bank, and commended Management’s efforts to rely on the Bank’s quality assurance mechanisms
in GEF programs going forward, as well as more effective mitigation of difficulties in resource
allocation systems and management of fragmentation in financing for the global environment. Some
Members encouraged Management to explore ways to further involve the IFC in GEF programs,
particularly in the area of climate change and sustainability issues in the private sector.
        Most Members acknowledged the importance of cost recovery from a policy standpoint of the
Bank as an Implementing Agency, and encouraged the Bank and the GEF, to further their collaboration
in finding a balanced approach that is mutually acceptable.




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    This report is not an approved record.