This note aims to encourage operations managers and staff not only to give priority to project implementation performance but also to balance it with sustainable institutional capacity development beyond the project. To that end, existing country institutions should be the “default” mode, and PIUs—especially parallel “stand-alone” PIUs—should be phased out. This note reflects lessons learned and draws on existing good practices in the expectation that they can become the rule rather than the exception. I encourage all operations staff and managers to read this note as they plan for new operations and to reflect its.
