Country Diagnostics from Development Finance Institutions Now on Joint Website | WPN World People News

Leading development finance institutions launched a new joint website on Apr. 10 that provides in-depth economic analysis of the countries they support and helps them address key challenges.

The Country Diagnostic Platform will publish diagnostic papers that identify obstacles to progress as well as opportunities for development.

They can serve as the basis for country strategies guiding the investment and policy work of the six institutions taking part in the initiative: the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), the International Financial Corporation (IFC), the World Bank (WB), together with development agencies of the United Kingdom (DfID) and Sweden (SIDA).

For some institutions which are involved in or have a specific focus on private sector development, such as the EIB, EBRD and IFC, the diagnostics focus on constraints to private sector growth and how they can be overcome.

The website was launched during the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group in Washington, D.C. and provides access to more than 170 links to diagnostics from the six institutions.

“The launch of this platform is a critical milestone to formalize our partnership and signal how our institutions use diagnostics to support evidence-based policy making,” said Carolina Sánchez-Páramo, senior director of the World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Global Practice.

International financial institutions have been developing their own country diagnostic tools for a number of years now to help shape their individual priorities and inform their engagement with authorities in countries of operations.

In order to share this information effectively across the institutions, the six groups formed a Country Diagnostic Working Group that allowed for cross-referencing and cross-institutional collaboration. The website brings all this work together in one platform.

Following the launch of the new website at the Spring Meetings, the Working Group will come together again in Washington, D.C. in May. The May session will focus on methodologies, technical issues and use of country diagnostics in shaping the programmes of the six institutions and helping to make sure they maximize the impact of their activities in accordance with their mandates.

Source: The World Bank