This report reviews progress in implementation of the World Bank's poverty reduction strategy during fiscal 1996-97. Chapter 1, "The World Bank's Poverty Reduction Strategy and Future Directions," outlines elements in the poverty reduction strategy: policies to promote broad-based labor-demanding growth and increase the productivity and economic opportunities of the poor; policies and institutions to improve access to social services, especially basic education, primary health care, and nutrition; and safety nets and poverty-targeted programs for those who are heavily risk-prone or who cannot take advantage of income opportunities. Chapter 2, "Progress in Fiscal 1996 and 1997," examines progress in the preparation and quality of poverty assessments and country assistance strategies; reviews the Bank's poverty-targeted lending; and discusses the Bank's recent work on project participation by stakeholders, gender issues, and poverty monitoring in various regions of the world. Chapter 3, "Safety Net Programs: Lessons from Country Experience," examines recent experiences in safety net programs, which complement the main strategy of broad-based growth and investment in human capital. Appendix A describes the Bank's analytical work on poverty and presents summaries of poverty assessments for 32 countries. Appendix D describes objectives of the Program of Targeted Interventions (PTI) and lists 156 PTI projects with details on their specific objectives and strategies; 75 of these addressed human capital development. Education projects focused on female literacy, skills for the informal sector, teacher education, provision of school materials, and educational facilities construction. Other appendices provide further details on poverty assessments, poverty-focused structural adjustment loans, poverty-focused emergency recovery loans, annual lending to selected sectors, regional plans for poverty monitoring, and projects and adjustment operations with safety net components. Contains 29 references and 19 data tables. (SV)