External Review of the World Bank Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative

In broad terms, the Academy has been asked to: Ascertain the results of the StAR initiative to date; Assess the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the StAR initiative and its work program in aggregate and by program component; Highlight both positive and negative lessons learned, and identify those factors that have impacted positively and negatively on the performance of the StAR initiative; and Provide findings, conclusions and recommendations that can be used to inform decision making and strengthen the design of any follow-up phase.

The Panel recommends that the Management Committee, working with the StAR Secretariat, institute a new five-year StAR work plan that establishes clear annual benchmarks within a results matrix that is formally approved and adopted by the Committee, as well as specific annual budget commitments that align resources with expectations.

• The Panel recommends that the World Bank President and Managing Directors make it clear that StAR is a priority, and work with the three WBG Management Committee members to establish a five-year commitment to a specific annual allocation for StAR from their WBG budget funds.
• After conducting initial due diligence to determine country needs and political will, StAR should develop a country-specific action plan for each country with whom it engages.
• The Panel recommends that the high quality knowledge products that have been developed under StAR’s auspices be better leveraged by creating dissemination and utilization plans.
• The Panel recommends that StAR focus its advocacy efforts on specific policy, regulatory, and legal reforms that are needed to facilitate stolen asset recovery.