Results in Education for All Children (REACH) Trust Fund Evidence Series
About the World Bank's REACH Program
REACH seeks to help countries strengthen their education services by focusing programs and initiatives on results, with the ultimate goal of boosting learning outcomes especially among the most vulnerable populations. Established in 2015, the World Bank program funds results-based financing projects and provides technical support and advice on results-based financing in education to other World Bank teams and development partners.
REACH is funded by the Government of Norway through NORAD, the Government of the United States of America through USAID, and the Government of Germany through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The Trust Fund Evidence Series
The World Bank estimates that 53 percent of 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries cannot read or understand a simple text. In poor countries, the rate is as high as 80 percent. Evidence from many contexts shows that effective access to and use of reading materials are one of the highest impact and most cost-effective ways of improving literacy. Yet many children do not have access to the reading materials because of challenges at various stages of the book supply chain which include book forecasting, book development and production, book procurement, supply chain management and distribution, and book utilization. To address these challenges REACH Trust Fund partners with the Global Book Alliance.
REACH grants have tested the use of results-based financing to help countries make book chains more efficient and, ultimately, ensure that children receive quality books in languages they understand. Results and implementation lessons from these grants are presented in REACH's Evidence series:
- Zambia: Can Financial Incentives Improve the Last-Mile Delivery of Textbooks?
- Cambodia: Can Transparency and Incentives for Community Participation Increase the Supply of Textbooks to Schools?
- Bangladesh: Can Incentives for Community Authors Reduce Shortages in Minority Language Reading Materials?
- South Africa: Motivating Writers and Publishers to Create Quality Storybooks