Charters

Focus of activities

Poverty dynamics and basic service delivery

Investment climate and trade and integration

Global Public Goods

Governance structure

Procedures and criteria

Funding

Eligible expenditures

Dissemination

KCP II Charter

KCP I Charter

Focus of activities

The KCP supports data collection, analysis and research programs sponsored by the Development Economics Vice-Presidency (DEC) of the Bank, or DEC in conjunction with other parts of the Bank. The focus will be on economic and social knowledge-generation activities, with a multidisciplinary approach towards the latter.

Geographically, KCP funds will be targeted towards activities concerning the IDA countries and/or the poorest groups in IBRD countries, with particular priority for Africa and South Asia, both of which have large and intractable poverty problems.

There will be three Trust Funds under the KCP for activities related to overarching themes of (i) poverty dynamics and delivery of basic services, (ii) investment climate and trade and integration, and (iii) global public goods. The first addresses issues at the heart of poverty reduction, empowerment and sustainable development; the second focuses on the major elements of a business program conducive to growth, with emphasis on the role of small and medium-scale industries; and the third focuses on global issues that require collective action and coordination across countries because lack of action or progress in some countries could undermine benefits for all. Indicative programs for support are as follows:

A. Poverty dynamics and basic service delivery

• Impact evaluations. A fundamental means to learnabout the effectiveness of development interventions in achieving results. The World Bank is uniquely placed to develop further evaluation methodologies, to support countries in implementing sound impact evaluations of their programs, and to facilitate global learning on effective development interventions based on such evaluations. A systematic effort at better evaluating programs and policies will complement ongoing efforts to promote results orientation in our operational work, providing stronger empirical foundations for both monitoring results and design of country programs. The World Bank is initiating a systematic effort at evaluating the development impact of some new interventions in key areas such as education (e.g. school-based management), infrastructure (slum upgrading), health (AIDS/HIV), and rural development (land reform).
• Poverty measurement. Improving the tools used in the Bank for monitoring, describing and forecasting income poverty and inequality, including aggregate poverty measures, sharper poverty profiles, and better household surveys.
• Pro-poor growth. To advance understanding of what makes pro-poor growth and the role  played by government, including the role of initial conditions; what drives distributional changes in survey data; and churning (the gainers and losers). 
• Social inclusion and empowerment. How best to mitigate different forms of inequality (for example, gender and ethnicity) and promote social inclusion and empowerment, and civic engagement and participation.
• Social impact analysis. The development of tools and procedures based on micro and macro linkage models for evaluating ex ante and monitoring ex post the impact of economic policies on poverty and income distribution. Conflict. An analysis of conflict issues, including war, terrorism, crime and violence.
• Sustainable development. How to frame poverty reduction strategies which take account of the problems and conflict caused by socioeconomic inequalities, demographic stresses, the struggle for control of resource rents, environmental damage and natural resource degradation.
• Basic service delivery for human development. An evaluation and analysis of delivery options, prioritizing initially education and health sectors, with a focus on provision at the local level, and examining the hypothesis that greater participation by households using the service acts to improve service performance.
• Social protection. How to help people manage risk, cope with adverse shocks, avoid variability in incomes, and smooth consumption.

B. Investment Climate and Trade and Integration

• International Migration and Development. This research program aims to advance the understanding of the development impact of migration on sending countries as well as identifying policies, regulations and institutional reforms for improved migration outcomes and a “winwin-win” situation for developing and developed countries and for migrants. Its working hypothesis is that migration is more likely to benefit developing countries if developed countries perceive its advantages and cooperate in designing and implementing sustainable reforms. Six topics have been selected for their importance to development. They are remittances; the brain drain; temporary movement of persons; the links between trade, FDI and migration; labor market and social protection issues; and governance.
• Stability and openness. The medium-term prospects for world economic growth and developing country growth; a shift in trade policy analysis from the traditional tariff agenda to services and investment liberalization, product standards and property rights, and competition policies; more effective deployment of international resource flows (both public and private); how to make globalization more pro-poor.
• Governance and institutions. The role of institutions and governance in creating an attractive climate for private sector development, including anti-corruption programs; the institutional reforms needed to generate private investment and job creation; the interactions of behavior and social and economic outcomes; the institutional features needed for the sound functioning of the financialsystem and for protection against external shocks.
• Regulation and infrastructure. A review of the elements of a regulatory framework and of the provision of infrastructure conducive to a healthy climate for investment.
• Urban development. How to enhance the contribution of urban development to poverty reduction and economic growth.
• Rural development. Definition and access regulation of rights to key productive resources (e.g. land and water), the functioning of rural markets, the impact of key public goods services on rural livelihoods, rural non-farm employment, the development impact of communitybased rural organizations, insurance and risk mitigation in agriculture.

C. Global Public Goods

• Climate Change – Mitigation and Adaptation. Identifying policy and regulatory reforms to mitigate GHG emissions based on improved understanding of the climate threat, its differentiated economic impact across the globe, the effectiveness and cost-benefit of different interventions and responses, the need to address adaptation problems for vulnerable countries and areas (the longer mitigation actions are delayed), and the need to build local capacity to complement international commitments.
• Deforestation and Biodiversity. The need to better understand how local ecosystem destruction can be slowed down in cost-effective ways before global impacts grow as carbon and hydrological cycles, or species mutation rates are affected through the scale and speed of human interventions in natural processes. The need to identify and evaluate new institutions and mechanisms that align global and local incentives.
• Communicable Diseases. In order to better assess and manage this global risk in a period of rapid and growing trade and travel, policymakers need analysis of the costs and benefits of reducing the risk of disease emergence; early-warning disease monitoring programs; avoidance of emergence of resistant strains; vaccine development; alternate programs for vaccine deployment; alternative quarantine systems (and determinants of compliance); etc.
• Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). This is the next generation of assets that can increase or decrease global inclusiveness with consequences for the evolution of fair and effective global institutions. IPRs represent a compromise between the interests of users, owners, and creators. While the outlines of the global intellectual property rights regime are clear, many crucial details are yet to be established to ensure that they are not detrimental to the long run interests of developing countries. There is a need to better understand policies and programs to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to develop their own patents, to participate in international discussions, and to analyze the merits inter alia of collaborative efforts at patent examination, standards for the breadth and novelty of patent claims, protection of rights to genetic resources and traditional knowledge, global competition policy, and the rationale for public funding and dissemination of basic research and associated data.
• Governance and institutions to provide Global Public Goods (GPGs). In a world of sovereign entities there is no global authority to coordinate and enforce the provision of global public goods. There is a need to identify and evaluate innovative institutions and mechanisms (incentives and burden sharing/compensation arrangements) to encourage fuller participation in addressing Global Public Goods problems and complying with agreements—including (as outlined in WDR 2003) institutions and mechanisms capable of picking up signals early, reconciling conflicting national and international interests, and creating commitment
  devices that ensure delivery of GPGs over the long term.

Governance structure
The Bank will be responsible for administering the KCP. However, other development partners will have an important role in its management. The governance structure of the KCP will include a Consultative Group, an Internal Management Committee, and a Program Administration Unit.

The Consultative Group will consist of representatives of the official donors, developing country policy makers, the World Bank and other interested parties, and will be chaired by the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, DEC (or his nominee). Initially, once the KCP is established by the donors, the Consultative Group will be responsible for approving the criteria for selection of projects. Subsequently, it will meet once a year to consider long-term strategies and provide general guidance on the operation of the trust fund in the context of DEC’s program as a whole. The Consultative Group will also be responsible for approving the annual work program and financial plan, and will review the KCP’s performance on the basis of a progress and accomplishment report on the activities financed by the KCP during the previous twelve months. Decisions will be made by consensus. In conjunction with the annual meeting, the Bank may organize a seminar to discuss a specific topic concerning knowledge creation of relevance to the group.  The Internal Management Committee will be chaired by the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, DEC (or his nominee). The Committee will include representatives of DEC’s main departments and be broadly representative of the regions. The Committee will invite proposals from DEC (or from DEC in conjunction with other parts of the Bank) several times a year, and review them against the agreed criteria, selecting proposals for financing in the light of the funds available at a particular time, and taking into account the geographical and thematic balance of the portfolio.

The Program Administration Unit will handle the day-to- day business of the KCP and be a point of contact for routine issues. The unit will report to the head of the Internal Management Committee.

Procedures and citeria
Proposals should demonstrate relevance to the objectives of the program and details of key aspects such as innovation, partners, country participation, deliverables, and development impact. A log frame-type matrix summarizing project objectives, inputs, outputs, outcome/ impact, performance indicators, risks and critical assumptions, will be required as part of each application for funding under the KCP, to facilitate evaluation. The criteria for assessing proposals will be approved by the Consultative Group. They could include the degree to which proposals

• are innovative, provide new knowledge and/or pilot/demonstration impact, 
• address the objective of the Trust Fund (poverty dynamics and basic service delivery, investment climate and trade and integration, and global public goods), 
• demonstrate country participation and ownership,
• incorporate developing country capacity building, 
• can apply to a different country or region,
• achieve results while remaining cost effective, and
• demonstrate cooperation between different parts of the Bank and/or between the Bank and other donors/agencies.

Funding
The funding of activities performed or promoted by the KCP requires a well coordinated partnership involving the World Bank Group, other multilateral institutions and donor organizations, as well as the agreement and active cooperation of governments in which KCP-financed activities take place.

Donors should specify the allocation of their contribution among the three Trust Funds under the Knowledge for Change Program. Some donors may also wish to express a preference for a certain program activity or activities, and their views will be taken into consideration when activities are selected for funding from the KCP.

Eligible expenditures
Eligible expenditures under the KCP may include the following:

• compensation, travel expenses and other reimbursable expenditures of consultants and experts engaged by the Bank or entities to whom the Bank provides grants of KCP funds for activities to be supported by the KCP. This may include Extended Term Consultants’ (ETCs) salaries and benefits;
• half (50%) of the aggregate expenses incurred by developing country participants in attending the annual Consultative Group meeting, up to a ceiling of $20,000 per year;
• publication and printing costs associated with the preparation of reports or other materials relating to KCP supported activities;
• costs associated with organizing workshops, seminars or conferences, including costs associated with participation by relevant international experts and developing country participants; and 
• other expenditures directly related to the fulfillment of KCP’s mandate.

Dissemination
Information gained from activities financed through the KCP will be widely disseminated both to donors and client countries either in report form, or through the web, complemented where appropriate with workshops and conferences. Such dissemination will be subject to and made in accordance with the Bank’s policies on disclosure of information.