Country Engagement

As part of our efforts to create a Better Bank, we are focusing on our engagement with countries to support them address development challenges with greater impact. We plan to better align it with our new vision and mission while being more efficient, outcome-focused, and more systematic in tapping into private sector solutions wherever possible. The approach we propose aims to live up to our country-based development model. It will prioritize a country’s development goals and the WBG’s new mission, while drawing on our strengthened comparative advantage and global expertise. 

The World Bank Group consulted on its proposed Country Engagement Approach with various stakeholders globally from January 16, 2025, to March 21, 2025. Rethinking the Approach to WBG Country Engagement provided the basis for consultations.

Our proposal for the new approach includes: 

• Dynamic engagements to help the public and private sector meet emerging needs. Together with our clients, we will align medium- and long-term strategies with an annual implementation plan to create a stronger and more agile management tool for World Bank Group support. By taking stock of development progress and emerging opportunities once a year, we are transforming the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) from a static strategy document into an action-oriented implementation plan. 
  
  
• Impact will be measured by key outcomes. Where we sometimes used to have numerous output indicators, we will now have well-defined and focused outcomes. 
  
  
• The timeline will be more contextual. The lifecycle of a CPF will be tailored to the country’s needs, up to ten years depending on country circumstances, and will be adaptable to changing contexts. 
  
  
• Public and private solutions will help achieve impact at scale. Based on the CPF outcomes the country wants to achieve, and on our diagnostics and knowledge, we will consider the best mix of complementary public and private sector financing and solutions for a country’s priority needs like transportation networks, renewable energy plans, and large-scale digital infrastructure schemes. 
  
  
• Increased efficiency and simplicity. Our country engagement products, including the CPF and the Systemic Country Diagnostic, will become shorter, and more streamlined with the latter becoming integrated with the CPF.  
   

View the World Bank Group Directive and Guidance on Country Engagement.

Full list of Country Partnership Frameworks