The World Bank's Proposed Program for Results (P4R)

Implications for Environmental, Social, and Gender Safeguards and Corrupt Practices

By Nancy Alexander, Heinrich Böll Foundation North America

Introduction

This critique is based on the World Bank’s document entitled, “A New Instrument to Advance Development Effectiveness: Program-for-Results Lending” (Revised Concept Note), dated February 23, 2011.

The Bank’s new instrument – “Program for Results” or P4R – provides a platform for the institution to pool its resources with those of many other creditors and donors, including corporations, foundations, NGOs, sovereign wealth funds, in order to finance a government expenditure program in a sector or sub-sector of a country. The World Bank states that “platform” is a way of extending its reach.

New bilateral donors with significant resources, such as China, India and Brazil, are now active in their support of infrastructure development in Africa. Sovereign wealth funds and foundations are expanding their outreach and impact...The Bank's role as a partner for other multilateral and bilateral donors has grown to respond to requests for using the Bank’s work as a platform for pooled resources…. [Emphasis added.]

The P4R is being launched later this year. It would complement the Bank’s other two major lending instruments: the budget support loan/grant (“development policy loan” (DPL)) and the project investment loan. The P4R could replace a significant proportion of project investment loans.

This paper critiques the proposed P4R instrument by examining proposed environmental and social safeguards and fiduciary controls (Part I); effectiveness of proposed mechanisms of accountability (Part II); and the integrity of the consultation process on the proposed P4R instrument (Part III). Part IV presents conclusions.

Click here to read The World Bank's Proposed Program for Results (P4R): A Critique (16 pages, pdf, 971KB)