Country Opinion Survey

If you know what stakeholders really think, can you engage more effectively?

The World Bank Group surveys its stakeholders from country governments, development organizations, civil society, private sector, academia, and media in all client countries across the globe. Building a dialogue with national governments and non-state partners based of the data received directly from them is an effective way to engage stakeholders in discussions in any development area at any possible level.

Let's take the education sector as an example to see how Country Survey data might influence the engagement that the Bank Group has on this highly prioritized area of work.

When Country Surveys ask what respondents identify as the greatest development priority in their country, overall, education is perceived as a top priority (31%, N=263) in India.¹ However, in a large country, stakeholder opinions across geographic locations may differ, and the Country Survey data can be 'sliced and diced' to provide insight into stakeholders' opinions based on their geography, gender, level of collaboration with the Bank Group, etc. In India the data analyzed at the state level shows significant differences in stakeholder perceptions of the importance of education. The survey results can be used as a basis for further in-depth analyses of client's needs in education in different states and, therefore, lead to more targeted engagement on the ground. In the case of the India Country Survey, the Ns at the geographical level may be too small to reach specific conclusions, but this example illustrates the possibility for targeted analysis.

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“Education” is at the top of the world’s development agenda, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the focus of the upcoming 2018 World Development Report of the World Bank. The World Bank monitors views of development experts around the globe and finds consistently that “education” is perceived as key to development at different levels.

In the past five years, the World Bank’s Country Opinion Survey Program surveyed more than 25 thousand opinion leaders in the field of development in nearly all client countries across the globe. In some countries the surveys were conducted two or even three times during 2012-2016.

"What is the most important development priority for your country?"^[1] was one of the questions to representatives of national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and civil society in developing countries.

At the global level, -- where 57 million children in the world still remain out of school^[2], -- “education” has emerged amongst survey respondents as one of the top two development priorities across the regions.

Percentage and number of opinion leaders seeing “education” as a top development priority by region (123 developing countries, 2012-2016).