Independent Evaluation Group Completion and Learning Review - The Oriental Republic of Uruguay FY16-FY20 Country Partnership Framework

Jul 19, 2026

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Completion and Learning Review examines the World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Framework for Uruguay for FY16–FY20, updated by the Performance and Learning Review in February 2018. The CPF focused on resilience to external shocks, rebalancing the social compact for children and the elderly, and integrating Uruguay into global markets through reforms in infrastructure, innovation and education. IEG rates CPF development outcome moderately satisfactory and WBG performance good. Results achieved were uneven across pillars, with limited progress on productivity, efficiency, trade sophistication and global value chain integration.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages34

Reading Time1 h 26 min

Executive Summary

Country Partnership Framework coverage and update

Objectives and pillar-based focus

IEG ratings: development outcome and WBG performance

Pillar 1 results: resilience to shocks

Pillar 2 results: rebalancing the social compact

Pillar 3 results: global market integration

Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized CLR Review Independent Evaluation Group Completion and Learning Review Review The Oriental Republic of Uruguay FY16-FY20 Country Partnership Framework September 6, 2022 Ratings | | CLR Rating | CLRR (IEG) Rating | | --- | --- | --- | | Development Outcome: | Moderately Satisfactory | Moderately Satisfactory | | WBG Performance: | Good | Good | I. Executive Summary i. This review of the World Bank Group’s (WBG) Completion and Learning Review (CLR) covers the period of the Country Partnership Framework (CPF), FY201616-FY20, and updated in the Performance and Learning Review (PLR) dated February 18, 2018. The CPF period was extended to FY21 under the blanket extension provided by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, this extension did not affect the results framework. ii. The objectives of the CPF focused on some of Uruguay's major development challenges, namely building resilience to external shocks (pillar 1); rebalancing the social compact through investment in the needs of children and the elderly (pillar 2); and integrating the Uruguayan economy into global markets through reforms in infrastructure, innovation and education (pillar 3). The program implemented during the CPF period was broadly aligned with the poverty reduction and shared prosperity goals of the World Bank Group. Specifically, WBG interventions under pillar 2, rebalancing the social compact, addressed issues of poverty reduction through its focus on early childhood education. In addition, addressing the need for youth to acquire marketable skills contributed to the shared prosperity agenda, though a lack of a clearly articulated results chain to some extent clouded the relationship between projects, pillars, objectives and corporate goals. However, the lending program approved during the CPF period only partly addressed priorities identified in the SCD and was not sufficient to address the main challenges embodied in the pillars and objectives of the CPF. Investment lending was directed at infrastructure, education, natural resources and climate change, while there was no lending to support critical priorities such as improving competitiveness and SOE reform, where ASA was more prominent. iii. IEG rates the CPF development outcome as Moderately Satisfactory. Of the six objectives, two were achieved, three were mostly achieved, and one was partially achieved. a. The outcome under Pillar 1, building resilience to shocks was moderately satisfactory. Within Objective 1, the financial performance of SOEs improved but there was no evidence that productivity improved, nor that the overall efficiency of public investment increased. Under Objective 2, land use management practices demonstrated some improvement and the objective was mostly achieved, although there was no evidence that water management had improved. b. The outcome under Pillar 2, rebalancing the social compact, was moderately satisfactory. The objective of promoting early childhood development was partially achieved, while that of strengthening the quality of, and access to, education to prepare those in the bottom 40 percent to acquire marketable labor skills was achieved. c. The outcome under Pillar 3, which aimed to integrate the Uruguay economy into global value chains, was moderately satisfactory. On the objective to make logistics and transport networks safer and more efficient, output indicators were achieved, and there was evidence that safety improved, although there was only limited evidence that efficiency improved. The objective to improve trade facilitation and product sophistication to increase integration into global value chains, was mostly achieved. While there was some limited improvement in trade facilitation procedures, trade sophistication declined and there was no evidence that integration into global value chains increased. Furthermore, the related

FAQs

What is the coverage period of the Uruguay CLR review?

The review covers the World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Framework for Uruguay during FY16–FY20, updated under the Performance and Learning Review dated February 18, 2018.

What ratings does IEG give for the CPF development outcome and WBG performance?

IEG rates the CPF development outcome as Moderately Satisfactory and the World Bank Group performance as Good.

Which CPF pillars guided the Uruguay program objectives?

The program targeted three pillars: resilience to external shocks (pillar 1), rebalancing the social compact for children and the elderly (pillar 2), and integrating Uruguay into global markets through reforms (pillar 3).

Where did the review find limited or uneven results?

Pillar 1 showed improvements in some areas but no evidence of productivity gains or overall efficiency improvements; Pillar 3 had limited evidence of efficiency improvements and no evidence of increased integration into global value chains.

Jul 19, 2026

Upload by Levi