The report included a number of recommendations designed to enable the Bank to benefit fully from the contribution of women at all levels. Each department prepared an action plan for implementing the report's recommendations. A plan was also prepared to implement the Bank-wide recommendations, and a number of these have already been initiated. The report found that while women constitute 50 percent of Bank staff, they are largely concentrated in the administrative and lower-level professional grades.
Progress is also evident in recruitment.
In 1996 nearly 40 percent of professional recruits were women which compares favorably with the 30 percent proportion of professional women on staff at year-end 1995. In recognition of the importance of investing in continuous learning to develop the Bank's human capital, the President established a task force on training. The task force developed a strategic framework for the Bank's learning environment, including a review of the types of programs and the resources dedicated to learning programs in other institutions similar to the Bank. At present, training resources represent 1.7 percent of the Bank's personnel budget. Most comparable organizations spend between 3 and 5 percent of their personnel budget on learning programs.