World Bank Group: Encyclopedia II - World Bank Group - Extractive Industries Review

World Bank Group - Extractive Industries Review

After longstanding criticisms from civil society of the Bank's involvement in the oil, gas, and mining sectors, the World Bank in July 2001 launched an independent review called the Extractive Industries Review (not to be confused with Environmental Impact Report). The review was to take into account the World Bank Group's overall mission of poverty reduction and the promotion of sustainable development. The EIR recommendations were published in January 2004 in a final report entitled "Striking a Better Balance",[2] and, concluding that fossil fuel and mining projects simply do not alleviate poverty, recommended that World Bank involvement with these sectors be phased out altogether by 2008, and replaced by investment in renewable energy and clean energy. The final response of the World Bank was to brush aside most of the EIR conclusions, and to weaken a key recommendation that indigenous peoples and affected communities should have to provide 'consent' for projects to proceed - instead, there would be 'consultation'.[3]

World Bank Group - Impact Evaluations

In recent years there has been a increased focus on measuring results of World Bank development assistance through impact evaluations. An impact evaluation assesses the changes in the well-being of individuals that can be attributed to a particular project, program or policy. Impact evaluations demand a substantial amount of information, time and resources. Therefore, it is important to select carefully the public actions that will be evaluated. One of the important considerations that could govern the selection of interventions (whether they be projects, programs or policies) for impact evaluation is the potential of evaluation results for learning. In general, it is best to evaluate interventions that maximize the learning from current poverty reduction efforts and provide insights for midcourse correction, as necessary.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Extractive Industries Review", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki