World Bank Management last briefed Executive Directors on harmonization on March 12, 2003 a few weeks after the High-Level Forum on Harmonization in Rome, February 24-25, 2003. During that briefing, which focused on the decisions reached at the Forum, Executive Directors requested periodic updates on the institutional arrangements for follow-up, and on the roles and activities of the World Bank. This paper responds to that request. Following this introduction, Section II provides a brief overview of several positive developments since February. Section III reports on key World Bank activities and the opportunities and challenges at the country level that come with them. Section IV presents the conclusion.
