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p. 11 of 25 BACK | NEXT Introduction Background The need for change Practices of other multilateral development banks The World Bank The Inter-American Development Bank The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The African Development Bank Policy framework Organizational and resource issues Recommendation

Resident Mission Policy : Practices of other multilateral development banks

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The World Bank

As part of its Strategic Compact,¹⁴ the World Bank has undertaken a major expansion of its field-based activities. Twenty-three of 51 country directors are locally resident, with considerable decision-making authority for programming and project preparation. The country director supervises development of the country strategy and program, and manages the operational and administrative budgets. In most cases, project preparation and processing are contracted out to headquarters-based staff with financing provided through the RM’s operational budget. In-country staff numbers have been increased by shifting staff from headquarters and expanding local recruitment. RMs are also increasingly willing to be visibly engaged in policy dialogue. As of June 1999, the World Bank had approximately 700 staff working in ADB's DMCs, of which 90 were headquarters professional staff. The International Finance Corporation is also consolidating its work in the field with the World Bank to take advantage of the synergy between the two institutions.

The World Bank’s initial assessment of its expansion effort is that, on a qualitative basis, local understanding and responsiveness have improved, but the benefits of decentralization are difficult to quantify. A more detailed cost-benefit exercise is expected to be completed by mid-2000. In the meantime, some lessons can be drawn from the World Bank experience. First, there is not single blueprint for DMC field activities, and a flexible and experimental approach is needed. Second, the World Bank field-based expansion has been part of a wider effort at restructuring its organization and business processes. Third, human resources issues relating to staff assignments, and the appropriate mix of headquarters and national officers continue to pose challenges. Fourth, field-based expansion is not budget neutral: staff, travel, and information technology costs increase. Fifth, the adequacy of administrative and fiduciary conditions must be ensured.

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