Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are important to the Bank because of the skills and resources they bring to emergency relief and development activities. In addition, they foster participation in the development process. The strength of the World Bank's collaboration with NGOs has grown since the late 1980s. In recognition of the added value that NGOs bring to Bank-supported projects, there have been intense efforts to include them. However, this report identifies a gap between promise and performance. The report concludes that the Bank's guidelines on working with NGOs are sound but that existing guidelines need to be used more effectively. The report makes recommendations to improve these partnerships and increase their benefit to development projects. It is written in English, French, and Spanish.