Youth Employment Programs - Independent Evaluation Group

could have focused more on the lack of a World Bank Group strategy for addressingyouth employment issues.A few members and non-members remarked that the causes, risks and consequences(such as increased violence and adverse effects on long-term economiccompetitiveness) of the lack of youth employment opportunities, couldhave been better addressed. A few members felt that the evaluation was toonarrowly focused on the economic side of youth unemployment; one memberadded that this may be relevant in developed countries and some middle- incomecountries, but is not appropriate for many lower-income countries ormiddle-income countries (MICs) with violence problems. To these comments,IEG noted that the evaluation concentrated on what the Bank and IFC havebeen doing, which has been focused on the economic side. A non-memberwondered whether high youth unemployment is more of a symptom of theextensive development challenges faced by certain countries; in this respect,what are the risks if the institutions focus on what may be a symptom, ratherthan concentrating on the broader causes?Implementation of Recommendations. In response to a member’s queryabout how the Board will be updated on the implementation of agreed recommendations,Legal (LEG) informed that the status implementation of the recommendationsby management is tracked as part of the MAR annual update.Hassan Ahmed Taha, Acting ChairCommittee on Development Effectivenessxxxiii