World Bank Reorganization: To What End?

The World Bank is reorganizing. Bloomberg reports that president Jim Yong Kim has written staff about a shake-up at the bank’s highest levels in preparation for implementing an as-yet-to-be-announced new institutional strategy. Such can be unsettling for bank employees, some of whom will find their jobs on the line and others who may get new bosses. Is there any reason for the rest of the world to care?

Maybe. If you believe that the world’s flagship multilateral financial institution can contribute to the future prosperity of the world and especially of the world’s poor, then you will want to know whether the impending reorganization will enhance or diminish its contribution. We and others have suggested that the World Bank’s biggest failing has been to judge its performance by how much it lends rather than how much its clients achieve.  We have also argued that the Bank should do much more to finance and catalyze regional and global public goods to address issues such as climate change, agricultural productivity, and disease surveillance. Will the reorganization facilitate such changes?

Several of us at CGD are watching the process with interest and hope, and not just because we spent significant chunks of our careers working within the institution. We care deeply about the bank and believe it can make an even greater contribution to development and global poverty reduction. We know that reorganizations come and go, and that the devil will be in the details of implementation rather than in how the boxes are arranged on an org chart. And as outsiders, there is much that we do not know about what is currently happening and planned. These caveats notwithstanding, we offer these questions based on what we have been hearing about the reorganization plans in hopes that they can help to contribute to a more impactful World Bank.

There are some hopeful signs. We hear that the reorganization aims to strengthen the importance of substantive sector-specific knowledge under new “Global Practices,” to shift the focus of country partnerships from lending instruments to impact, and to strengthen technical career streams so that talented individuals need not become managers to be promoted. As one of us suggested previously in a blog co-authored with Martin Ravallion, aligning individual incentives with development impact rather than with lending would also help to achieve these goals. 

But will the reorganization really strengthen incentives for Bank staff to pursue quality, development impact and public goods? A key aspect of the Bank’s existing structure has been its “matrix organization.” Each Bank employee has typically had two lines of accountability, one to a country director who reports to a regional VP and is judged primarily on the quantity of Bank lending and another to a sectoral director who reports to a sectoral VP and is judged on the quality of Bank operations. This dual accountability is intended to balance the pressure for greater lending from the regional VPs and directors with countervailing pressure to promote the quality of Bank investments from the sectoral VP and directors. 

Not surprisingly, sectoral VPs and directors have a much stronger interest—and track record—in the kinds of institutional reforms we favor, such as promoting the quality of Bank investments, establishing mechanisms for measuring lending against development goals instead of disbursement targets, and coordinating regional and global public goods initiatives. While these units have not always exploited these opportunities, they have tried and sometimes succeeded:

• New efforts to shift to output-based aid via the “Payments for Results” or P4R pilots
• Impact evaluation of results-based financing initiatives in health (financed by Norway and the UK);
• An education sector strategy focusing on learning and tools for countries to achieve it
• Increased impact evaluation and learning (Spanish trust fund)
• Technical lead on implementation of an Advance Market Commitment (AMC) pilot for vaccines
• Efforts to strengthen and standardize tools that use technology to implement social protection programs

Will the new structure encourage such innovative efforts and enable pilots that succeed to be widely adopted? It is not clear – at least to an outsider – how the rumored structure of the reorganization will support the quality objectives.  We hear that sector directors, who previously reported to sector-specific VPs, will now also report to regional VPs. Will this divided reporting mean that the sector directors will be less able to defend global priorities, the quality of bank lending and the career tracks of technical experts? Will the tug-of-war between the impact and volume of Bank operations be tilted towards volume?

When push comes to shove, will a director for education based in the bank’s Latin America regional vice presidency spend more effort increasing disbursements in the region or promoting educational quality across all regions? While a reduction in the number of director’s offices might be desirable, it does raise questions about incentives.  We fear that a sectoral director accountable to a regional VP who has quantitative lending targets and control of administrative budget, on one hand, and a different VP with more abstract and challenging goals regarding impact and global public goods, on the other, is likely to respond more energetically to the concerns of the first.

As outsiders we can only see through a glass darkly.  Perhaps the reorganization does embody a plan to greatly strengthen incentives for staff and management in the direction of higher professional standards, greater development impact, and more diligent and ambitious pursuit of regional and global public goods.  If these are the goals, it is important that the new management structure strengthens them.  

RELATED POSTS: 

AIIB, Tajikistan, and the Risks of Non-Concessional Lending

Please, Can You Help Me Understand IDA's New Private Sector Window?

Ivanka Trump Spearheads New Fund for Women Entrepreneurs: Four Questions to Answer Before the Cheers

Why and How Change is Coming to the World Bank – Podcast with New CEO Kristalina Georgieva

What’s Happening at CGD during Spring Meetings Week?

DIVERS SHOCKED TO FIND LARGE SEA ANIMALS CHAINED UNDERWATER INSIDE CAGES

*Why am I thinking the death penalty?

Fair warning: The following images are incredibly disheartening. Divers recently exploring the waters near the remote island of Kokoya, Indonesia, were shocked to find large sea creatures chained underwater, trapped inside small cages. The animals, dugongs, are known as “underwater cows” because of their size.


 advertisement - learn more
Can you imagine being trapped in a tiny cage your entire life, perhaps not even being able to turn around? The sad reality is that many animals live like this because of the way humans treat them.

They were even held in separate cages rather than allowed to keep each other company.

Apparently the animals were captured by a local fisherman who hoped to turn the caged animals into a tourist attraction. The individual said, “He asked for some money if we want to see the dugong or take a picture.” He added that the divers could take photos and videos in the cage with the mother if they wanted to.

One of the divers, Delon Lim, explained, “The ropes are worn and torn. The scars and the wound on her tail are so deep. It was very heartbreaking.”


They then tried to convince him to release the animals. “When we left the island, the fisherman agreed to release them,” Lim said. However, he and the other divers weren’t confident he would actually free them, so they took to social media in hopes of creating enough backlash to compel him to do so.

You can watch the video they took of the underwater trapped creatures here.

Only a few hours after the video was posted online, the wildlife authorities contacted them asking for the precise location of the animals. The next day, the authorities set the animals free.

Final Thoughts

This is an incredible example of how one person can make a huge difference. This diver saw what was happening to these poor creatures and decided to stand up for them and ensure that they get the freedom they deserve.

This is also a wonderful example of how powerful social media and the internet can be. What we post online has the power to reach so many people all over the world, and it’s proof that simply educating one another and informing people can make tangible, positive changes in the world.

That being said, it’s time that we put an end to all animal cruelty. Though this is a horrible example, other terrible acts of violence are being committed against animals all over the world every single second of the day. Factory farming, zoos, the fashion industry, restaurants, other animal attractions, and many other industries all contribute to animal cruelty.

I encourage you to ask yourselves: Do we not, as compassionate beings, have a duty to protect other species?

How to Assign a Static IP Address in Windows 7, 8, 10, XP, or Vista

*I often go back and look at my posts and wonder how I even remember all this shit but can't remember birthdays, holidays or peoples names.

When organizing your home network it’s easier to assign each computer it’s own IP address than using DHCP. Here we will take a look at doing it in XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.x, and Windows 10.

RELATED ARTICLE

How and Why All Devices in Your Home Share One IP Address

If you have a home network with several computes and devices, it’s a good idea to assign each of them a specific address. If you use DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), each computer will request and be assigned an address every time it’s booted up. When you have to do troubleshooting on your network, it’s annoying going to each machine to figure out what IP they have.

Using Static IPs prevents address conflicts between devices and allows you to manage them more easily. Assigning IPs to Windows is essentially the same process, but getting to where you need to be varies between each version.

Windows 7 or Windows 8.x or Windows 10

To change the computer’s IP address in Windows, type network and sharing into the Search box in the Start Menu and select Network and Sharing Center when it comes up. If you are in Windows 8.x it will be on the Start Screen itself, like the screenshot at the top of this article. If you’re in Windows 7 or 10 it’ll be in the start menu.

Then when the Network and Sharing Center opens, click on Change adapter settings. This will be the same on Windows 7 or 8.x or 10.

Right-click on your local adapter and select Properties.

In the Local Area Connection Properties window highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) then click the Properties button.

Now select the radio button Use the following IP address and enter in the correct IP, Subnet mask, and Default gateway that corresponds with your network setup. Then enter your Preferred and Alternate DNS server addresses. Here we’re on a home network and using a simple Class C network configuration and Google DNS.

Check Validate settings upon exit so Windows can find any problems with the addresses you entered. When you’re finished click OK.

Now close out of the Local Area Connections Properties window.

Windows will run network diagnostics and verify the connection is good. Here we had no problems with it, but if you did, you could run the network troubleshooting wizard.

Now you can open the command prompt and do an ipconfig  to see the network adapter settings have been successfully changed.

RELATED ARTICLES

How to Find Your Private and Public IP Addresses

How To Get a Better Wireless Signal and Reduce Wireless Network Interference

Windows Vista

Changing your IP from DHCP to a Static address in Vista is similar to Windows 7, but getting to the correct location is a bit different. Open the Start Menu, right-click on Network, and select Properties.

The Network and Sharing Center opens…click on Manage network connections.

Right-click on the network adapter you want to assign an IP address and click Properties.

Highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) then click the Properties button.

Now change the IP, Subnet mask, Default Gateway, and DNS Server Addresses. When you’re finished click OK.

You’ll need to close out of Local Area Connection Properties for the settings to go into effect.

Open the Command Prompt and do an ipconfig to verify the changes were successful.

Windows XP

In this example we’re using XP SP3 Media Center Edition and changing the IP address of the Wireless adapter.

To set a Static IP in XP right-click on My Network Places and select Properties.

Right-click on the adapter you want to set the IP for and select Properties.

Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click the Properties button.

Now change the IP, Subnet mask, Default Gateway, and DNS Server Addresses. When you’re finished click OK.

You will need to close out of the Network Connection Properties screen before the changes go into effect.

Again you can verify the settings by doing an ipconfig in the command prompt. In case you’re not sure how to do this, click on Start then Run.

In the Run box type in cmd and click OK.

Then at the prompt type in ipconfig and hit Enter. This will show the IP address for the network adapter you changed.

If you have a small office or home network, assigning each computer a specific IP address makes it a lot easier to manage and troubleshoot network connection problems.

Shocking Facts: 23 Statistics on Illiteracy in America

FREE @ http://manybooks.net/

Reading is an invaluable skill that's important to just about every aspect of our daily lives, from communications to the way we work to the food we eat. The ability to read and understand text is something that children typically begin to pick up on beginning around age five or six, but for some, reading doesn't click right away. If kids struggle with reading in their younger years, it increases the odds that they'll do so as adults.

Despite being a global economic and political leader, illiteracy continues to be a pervasive problem in the U.S. For adults who struggle with reading, the impact is felt in a number of ways, but the most obvious one is in the workplace. While researchers have pinpointed some of the causes behind the illiteracy crisis, including poverty, learning disabilities and a lack of parental participation, finding a solution has proven difficult. To put the severity of the issue into perspective, CreditDonkey has assembled a list of 23 startling statistics on illiteracy in America.

ADULT ILLITERACY RATES

We consulted a number of sources to generate the most accurate picture possible of just how widespread illiteracy is here at home. We used the data to break the numbers down into relevant categories, beginning with how widespread illiteracy is among adults.

1. How many people in the U.S. are illiterate? 
Approximately 32 million adults in America are considered to be illiterate; about 14% of the entire adult population cannot read.

2. How does that compare to the rest of the world? 
On a global scale, illiteracy affects 774 million adults aged 15 or older. Among developed nations, the U.S. ranks 16th for adult reading skills.

3. How many adults only read at the lowest proficiency level? 
Between 40 and 44 million adults, or roughly 20 to 23% of adults in the U.S., are limited to reading at the basic or below basic proficiency levels.

4. Are men or women more likely to be illiterate? 
Women are more likely to develop solid reading skills. Around 38% of men report reading at the lowest proficiency levels, compared to 33% for women.

5. How many adults read at or below a fifth grade level? 
Reading material becomes more complex for students around the fifth grade, and some 30 million adults aren't able to comprehend texts that are appropriate for 10-year-olds.

6. How many adults aren't able to read above an eighth grade level? 
An estimated 63 million adults read between a sixth and eighth grade level. Just 11% of men and 12% of women make the grade as proficient readers.

7. What age group has lowest literacy rate? 
Surprisingly, it's actually older Americans who most frequently lack adequate reading skills. Approximately one-third of adults who struggle with illiteracy are aged 65 or older.

8. What city has the worst illiteracy problem? 
The Golden State has a lot to offer if you like surfing the waves or spotting celebrities, but it falls short when it comes to reading. Bakersfield earned the title of the least literate city in the U.S. in 2013, with only about 20% of residents calling themselves college graduates.

9. What city boasts the strongest readers? 
While adults struggle with literacy in California, it's a different story on the other side of the country. Washington, D.C., ranks as the most literacy-minded city in America, with 53% of adults holding a college degree.

ILLITERACY AND YOUTH

While the difficulties that go along with being unable to read typically manifest themselves in adulthood, their roots can be traced back to the elementary and secondary school years. The next component we were interested in was how reading skills (or a lack thereof) during a child's early life translate to illiteracy rates later on.

10. What percentage of high school graduates can't read? 
Making it to graduation day is a major milestone for teens, but many of them struggle to decipher the words on their diploma. Just under 20% of high school grads haven't developed basic reading proficiency by the time they don their cap and gown.

11. Does living in a two-parent home improve literacy rates?
Single parent families are increasingly common these days, but children's literacy skills may be suffering. Research shows that kids who grow up with both parents at home score roughly 45 points higher on literacy reading assessments.

12. Can reading to children make a difference? 
Reading to kids early on can help to boost literacy rates over the long term. An estimated 77% of children who are read to are more likely to read or attempt to read on their own, versus 57% of kids who don't have regular story time at home.

13. How often do young people read? 
A combined 56% of middle and high school students say they read 10 or more books per year. At the middle school level, 70% of kids do so, while just 49% of high school students make the same claim.

14. Are challenged readers more likely to drop out of school? 
If solid reading skills aren't formed during a child's early years, the odds of dropping out down the road increase significantly. Kids who aren't successfully reading at grade level by the third grade are four times less likely to finish high school.

15. How does illiteracy correlate to teen pregnancy rates? 
Poor reading skills may also increase the chances of becoming a teen mom. In one study, 21% of girls with below average reading skills had a child in their early teens, compared to 5% of girls who rated above average.

ILLITERACY AND CRIME

Illiteracy can be a major barrier to young adults who might be interested in going to college or finding a stable job. Without a goal to work towards or a means of earning money, engaging in criminal behavior may become a real possibility. We've included some statistics on illiteracy rates among juvenile and adult offenders to demonstrate how important a solid education is.

16. Are reading skills an indicator of criminal tendencies? 
The issue of whether illiteracy can predict future behavior has been hotly debated. Studies suggest that two-thirds of students who struggle with reading by fourth grade will run into trouble with the law at some point.

17. What percentage of juvenile offenders are illiterate? 
Illiteracy is widespread among juveniles who find themselves in trouble with the law. Approximately 85% of youth who come into contact with the juvenile court are considered to be functionally illiterate, meaning they read at a basic or below basic level.

18. What percentage of adult inmates struggle with reading?
Literacy rates aren't much improved among the adult prison population. About 70% of male and female inmates score at the lowest proficiency level for reading.

19. Does illiteracy influence recidivism rates? 
Inmates who take advantage of education programs in prison may be less likely to commit a subsequent crime once they're released. In one study, the recidivism rate for offenders who participated in literacy programs was 27%, but it jumped to 60% among those who received no additional education while incarcerated.

FINANCIAL IMPACT OF ILLITERACY

Finally, we looked at statistics linking illiteracy to lower levels of financial achievement. While the impact is most immediately felt at the individual level, there is a trickle-down affect that touches the economy as a whole.

20. How many welfare recipients aren't proficient readers? 
Research has also linked illiteracy to poverty as an adult. As many as 75% of welfare recipients struggle to read even the simplest texts.

21. How does illiteracy impact the economy? 
In terms of lost productivity, it's estimated that the portion of the population that can't read costs the nation a staggering $225 billion each year.

22. How does it affect health care costs? 
Being able to read is important to maintaining good health, particularly if you have a serious illness or condition that requires medication or ongoing treatment. When patients lack basic reading skills, it can impact the health care system to the tune of $100 billion annually.

23. What does illiteracy cost workers? 
Poor reading proficiency often translates to a smaller paycheck, especially for women. Men with lower literacy skills are twice as likely to earn $650 or more per week than women at the same reading level. On the other hand, women with low literacy skills are twice as likely to earn only $300 or less per week than their comparable male counterparts.

FINAL WORD

Illiteracy often takes a backseat to more pressing issues but based on the statistics we've uncovered, it's clear that it's no less important. Closing the education gap is easier said than done but if reading rates could be improved, the research suggests that the end result would be a win-win for the country as a whole.

Sources and References

• National Center for Education Statistics
• UNESCO
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
• Literacy Partners
• Central Connecticut State University
• World Family Map
• National Education Association
• American Educational Research Association
• Contraception Journal
• Begin To Read
• Federal Bureau of Prisons
• George Washington University
• Institute for Women's Policy Research