Pakistan

The World Bank Works in Pakistan

The World Bank does not work alone, but in cooperation with various groups including, communities, and civil society, government, and donor agencies. The joint effort of these groups is required to significantly reduce poverty. The World Bank provides technical expertise and funding in areas such as health, education, public administration, environmental protection, agriculture, and basic infrastructure.

HOW ARE PRIORITIES SELECTED?

Working with the government and civil society, the World Bank has developed an action plan known as the Pakistan Country Assistance Strategy which describes what kind of support and how much could be provided to the country beginning June, 2002 and covering a period two years . The strategy was designed to directly support the government's Poverty Reduction Strategy and focuses on three key areas:

1) Strengthening economic stability and government effectiveness;

2) Strengthening the investment climate;

3) Supporting pro-poor and pro-gender equity policies.

STUDIES AND REPORTS

The World Bank also produces studies and reports based upon its own analysis of a given issue. Topics of research come from the Bank's Country Assistance Strategy. This research is intended to provide an unbiased perspective on a range of specific development challenges.

Additional studies include reviews of economic policies (Country Economic Memoranda), fiscal spending (Public Expenditure Review), environmental reviews (Environmental Action Plan), and other specific topics.

Further discussion of development issues is promoted though workshops and other events. These events bring together groups such as government, media, and civil society organizations to discuss how best to move forward on a given issue.

PROJECTS

As outlined in the support strategy, Pakistan develops its own projects with World Bank financing and technical support. The project cycle outlines the process of identifying, financing, implementing, and evaluating projects. Various financing option are available based upon the type of assistance needed.

Loans or credits (interest-free loans) for these projects are then submitted for approval to the Executive Directors, the World Bank's decision-making body which represents all member countries.

It is important to note that the implementation of projects is managed by the government itself. The government designates an office, referred to as the Implementing Agency, which is responsible for aspects such as procurement and selection of consultants and day to day work, monitoring and evaluation.

Operational Policies set guidelines to ensure that projects meet the World Bank's own criteria such as social and environmental standards. Project evaluations are conducted to capture and share lessons for future reference.

No, Pakistan is a large country and has many different postal codes, not just one!

+92 is the telephone country code for Pakistan. This would be dialed as 0092 or 01192 from many countries.

(The plus sign means "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but North America (USA, Canada, etc.) uses 011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)