92.21 linear feet of textual records, 3 photographs (b&w)

Records were maintained in the Central Files recordkeeping system where they were arranged into the Bank-wide classification schemes. To create space for the increasing volume of records in the Central Files, the Records Management Section sent the pre-1966 files to a records center close to the Bank premises in 1969. With the formal opening of the Archives repository in 1980, the Records Management Section began to transfer identified archival records to the Archives. Central Files had since been renamed the Bank Administration and Policy (BAP) Records Station followed by the Non-Regional Information Center (NRIC) which permanently closed in 1987. NRIC files were sent to the records center prior to their transfer to the custody of the Archives in the early 1990s.

Series consists of records concerning the formulation of policies, guidelines and standards, and advisory support for lending as well as economic sector work of the International Bank for Reconstruction of Development (IBRD). These records were maintained in the centralized files from 1946 to 1987. The 1987 records in this series are very few. The remainder of 1987 files were likely handed over to the functional departments following the closure of the NRIC in July 1987. The offices and non-regional departments whose records were centralized over time and are represented most prominently in this series include (but are not limited to): Office of the President and Vice President (beginning 1946); Research, later Economic Department (1946 - 1952); Technical Operations and sector divisions (1952 - 1965) and its successors Projects Department (1965 -1972), Central Projects Staff (1972 - 1982), and Operations Policy Vice Presidency (1982 - 1986).

Records in the series predominantly cover the period 1946 to 1986, apart from a file on pulp and paper that contains a copy of an external report dated 1944. The 1987 records are limited to a single file concerning urban development. Records are mostly in the form of internal memoranda or incoming and outgoing letters that are sometimes filed with cables, project data reports, evaluation reports, commodities notes, study reports or concept papers written by staff or consultants, private sector proposals, external publications and reports from governments and agencies, press clippings, external articles, conference and meeting invitations, list of participants, and booklets. Draft and final case studies, back-to-office reports, terms of reference, and progress reports are often in the form of internal memoranda.

The series contains a substantial quantity of records concerning the Bank lending policy and guidelines as well as economic sector work in the form of projects and studies for operational sectors including (but not limited to): agriculture; education; industry; rural and urban development; housing; energy; ecology; environment; population and family planning; health and nutrition; trade; transportation; water supply and waste; public utilities; and public finance. Specific industries covered in the files are mining, forestry, construction, ports and shipping, tourism, and science and technology, among others.

Sector lending policy and guidelines files consists mostly of internal memoranda originating in the Economic Department (1946 - 1952) and its successors later under the vice president then senior vice president of operations including Central Projects, its sector departments, and Operations Policy Vice Presidency. Correspondents outside of the Bank include consulting firms, assorted United Nations agency officers, country and university officials, and private industry representatives. The records contain general policy formulation and discussion on the following subjects: project evaluation; studies to support consideration of Bank loans and terms of reference for the studies; comments on concept papers and on industry guidelines; Bank staff visits to the field and missions; project performance audit reports; unit activities and work program; participation in seminars, conferences or other events; and requests for technical information from international industry experts regarding pulp and paper management, seed processing machinery, animal breeding, and other specialized topics.

Also included in the series are several files, many originating from the Projects Advisory Staff and units, concerning procurement (1978 - 1986), consultants and consulting services (1980 - 1986), cofinancing (1983 -1986), and feasibility program files which concern project and sector studies of the Development Service Department (1960 - 1965). There is also a single file dated 1978 regarding the Consultative Group on Food Production and Investment in Development Countries (CGFPI), and three photographs depicting a World Bank display of publications and posters for an environment sector event in the 1970s.

Project and study files also include the Bank's research and policy analyses on numerous commodities as well as commodity prices stabilization, development aid, economic data and reporting, capital markets and capital mobilization, imports and exports, Bank financing, and other subjects. The commodities files include several on coffee which provide information about statistics on prices, production, distribution and export, project participation with the International Coffee Organization and ICO meetings in which the Bank participated as observers, and the International Coffee Agreement (1969 - 1971). Other commodities included among the files are oil, gold, metals, sugar, jute, livestock, and several others.

Records are subject to the World Bank Access to Information Policy.

Records are subject to the Copyright Policy of the World Bank Group.

• English

• French

• Spanish

• Portuguese

• See Central Files - Operational policy and procedures (WB IBRD IDA ADMCF-04) for records related to World Bank Group lending policy and guidelines not specific to the sectors and that cover topics including cofinancing, consultants, and procurement.

• See the "Sector Departments" section of the List of Fonds for additional records relating to sector policy and guidelines development and operational support. During the years 1972 to 1986 when the official files of the sector departments were maintained in Central Files (later the records stations and Non-Regional Information Centers [NRIC]), many offices kept separate working files as reflected in the various sector department fonds. These fonds also contain records created after 1987 when the NRIC closed following the July 1987 Bank-wide reorganization and recordkeeping responsibilities were turned over to the records-creating offices.

• Records of the Sector Policy Research Vice Presidency (PREVP) and the Sector and Operations Policy Vice Presidency (OSPVP) Sector Policy Records (WB IBRD/IDA WB_IBRD/IDA_93-01), 1987 - 1992.

• See Records of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (WB IBRD/IDA CGIAR) for records related to funding and evaluation of agricultural international institutes.

Internal World Bank Group Archives rules

16 March 2021