CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE brings to students, researchers and practitioners in all of the social and language-related sciences carefully selected book-length publications dealing with sociolinguistic theory, methods, findings and applications. It approaches the study of language in society in its broadest sense, as a truly international and interdisciplinary field in which various approaches, theoretical and empirical, supplement and complement each other. The series invites the attention of linguists, language teachers of all interests, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, historians etc. to the development of the sociology of language.

Contents: Population and Human Diversity, Trends in Urbanization, Migration Patterns, Environment, Rural Settlements, Composition of Population.

The Seventh PMR includes: (i) a discussion of progress made over the last year on the actions corresponding to four Management Implementation Plans (MIPs) that were classified as still “in progress” in the previous PMR; and (ii) an assessment of the progress made in achieving the high-level objectives in three areas directly related to those MIPs. In addition, an update on substantive issues related to five older MIPs agreed since 2007 is provided at the end of the report. Three new evaluations have been completed by the IEO since March 2014. In July and August 2015, Management issued the MIPs in response to these evaluations. Given that only a short time has passed since their completion, progress in addressing the actions contemplated in those MIPs will be discussed in the next PMR.

Monitoring Report (PMR) on the Status of Management Implementation Plans (MIPs) in Response to Board-Endorsed IEO Recommendations assesses the progress made over the last year on actions contained in the four MIPs arising from recent IEO evaluations, and another four for which individual management actions were classified as still “in progress” in the Seventh PMR. Overall, 34 of the 77 actions included in the eight MIPs covered in this PMR remain open. Progress on the actions envisaged in the management implementation plans has been somewhat uneven, with more progress being made on the most recent MIPs. Of the 19 actions that have been implemented over the past year, only three relate to the older management actions. Many of the older actions are more broadly worded, and in many instances have no clear timetable. The actions that are progressing more slowly also tend to involve fundamental changes to institutional culture and practices, and therefore require a continuous, long-term effort. In spite of the slower progress on the older actions, significant advances have been made in several key areas. These include: Fund-wide risk analysis and management; the mainstreaming of macro financial surveillance; training on financial sector topics and macro forecasting; acknowledgement, discussion, and dissemination of information on IMF forecasts; the shift towards increasing reliance on quota resources, relative to borrowing; and the approval of the new Statement of Principles and Best Practices in Self-Evaluation. In addition, the 2015 Staff Survey showed significant improvements in several indicators related to the Fund’s internal culture and institutional values. Overall, management and staff appear committed to ensuring that open actions remain on track. Progress on all open actions will be assessed in future PMRs.