UK Multilateral Aid Review update reveals limited progress at the World Bank

First undertaken in 2011, the Multilateral Aid Review (MAR) was established to assess the effectiveness of UK investment in multilateral organisations (see Update 75). The July 2013 MAR update revealed that there have been “concerns raised around the use of country systems and the flexibility of Bank procedure” in the way that IDA, the Bank’s low-income country arm, works in partnership with others. The update revealed additional concerns over the International Finance Corporation (the Bank’s private sector arm). Assessment found that “progress has been slower on the IFC’s reform priority to increase the geographic diversification of its portfolio across low income and middle income countries and on investing in fragile states.”