Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No: ICR00005700 IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION AND RESULTS REPORT TF015834 ON A SMALL GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF US$4.5 MILLION TO THE NILE BASIN DISCOURSE FOR THE ENGAGING CIVIL SOCIETY FOR SOCIAL AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE IN THE NILE BASIN PROJECT June 6, 2022 Water Global Practice Eastern and Southern Africa Region Regional Vice President: Hafez Ghanem Regional Integration Director: Boutheina Guermazi Regional Director: Catherine Signe Tovey (Acting) Practice Manager: Fook Chuan Eng (Acting) Task Team Leader(s): Ai-Ju Huang, Christine Ochieng ICR Main Contributor: Wendy S. Ayres ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS CIWA Cooperation in International Waters in Africa CSO Civil Society Organizations DFID Department for International Development (United Kingdom) DRC Democratic Republic of Congo ENSAP Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program GIZ German Society for International Cooperation LADP Local Area Development Program LEAF Lake Edward and Albert Fisheries and Water Resources Management Project NBDF Nile Basin Development Forum NBD Nile Basin Discourse NBI Nile Basin Initiative NBTF Nile basin Trust Fund NCORE Nile Cooperation for Results NDF National Discourse Forum NELSAP Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program NGO Nongovernmental organization TABLE OF CONTENTS DATA SHEET ....................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. I. PROJECT CONTEXT AND DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES ....................................................... 4 II. OUTCOME ...................................................................................................................... 9 III. KEY FACTORS THAT AFFECTED IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTCOME ................................ 17 IV. BANK PERFORMANCE, COMPLIANCE ISSUES, AND RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME .. 19 V. LESSONS LEARNED AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................. 21 ANNEX 1. RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND KEY OUTPUTS ........................................................... 23 ANNEX 2. PROJECT COST BY COMPONENT ........................................................................... 31 ANNEX 3. RECIPIENT, CO-FINANCIER AND OTHER PARTNER/STAKEHOLDER COMMENTS ...... 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) DATA SHEET BASIC INFORMATION Product Information Project ID Project Name Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in P132448 the Nile.. Country Financing Instrument Eastern and Southern Africa Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Revised EA Category Not Required (C) Not Required (C) Organizations Borrower Implementing Agency Nile Basin Discourse Nile Basin Discourse Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The development objective for the proposed project is “to facilitate increased civil society engagement in Nile Basin cooperation programs, processes and dialogue.� This would be achieved through targeted technical assistance to strengthen the Nile Basin Discourse (NBD) as a sustainable network that stakeholders and member organizations recognize as providing value towards the goal of sustainable, equitable, climate resilient growth in the Nile Basin. Page 1 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) FINANCING FINANCE_TBL Original Amount (US$) Revised Amount (US$) Actual Disbursed (US$) Donor Financing TF-15834 4,500,000 4,500,000 4,480,479 Total 4,500,000 4,500,000 4,480,479 Total Project Cost 4,500,000 4,500,000 4,480,479 KEY DATES Approval Effectiveness Original Closing Actual Closing 10-Dec-2013 30-Nov-2013 15-Dec-2016 30-Dec-2021 RESTRUCTURING AND/OR ADDITIONAL FINANCING Date(s) Amount Disbursed (US$M) Key Revisions 20-Dec-2016 1.50 Additional Financing Change in Results Framework Change in Components and Cost Change in Loan Closing Date(s) 23-Dec-2019 2.50 Additional Financing Change in Results Framework Change in Components and Cost Change in Loan Closing Date(s) KEY RATINGS Outcome Bank Performance M&E Quality Satisfactory Satisfactory Modest RATINGS OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE IN ISRs Actual No. Date ISR Archived DO Rating IP Rating Disbursements (US$M) 01 14-Oct-2014 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 0.40 Page 2 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) 02 17-Dec-2015 Satisfactory Satisfactory 1.17 03 15-Jun-2017 Satisfactory Satisfactory 1.74 04 21-Oct-2019 Satisfactory Satisfactory 2.50 05 20-Oct-2020 Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 2.99 06 21-Oct-2021 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 3.89 ADM STAFF Role At Approval At ICR Regional Vice President: Makhtar Diop Hafez M. H. Ghanem Country Director: Colin Bruce Boutheina Guermazi Director: Jamal Saghir Catherine Signe Tovey Practice Manager: Jonathan S. Kamkwalala Fook Chuan Eng Task Team Leader(s): Margaret Arnold Ai-Ju Huang ICR Contributing Author: Wendy Schreiber Ayres Note: The original amount of project financing approved on December 10, 2013 was US$1.5 million. The first restructuring approved on December 20, 2016 provided Additional Financing of US$1.0 million. The second restructuring approved on December 23, 2019 provided Additional Financing of US$2.0 million, bringing the total financing for the project to US$4.5 million. Page 3 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) I. PROJECT CONTEXT AND DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES Context at Appraisal Regional Context 1. The Nile River basin is shared by eleven countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. As one of the world’s longest and iconic rivers—covering one-tenth of Africa’s total land mass—it has been the economic lifeline of the estimated 238 million people who have lived within the boundaries of the basin and the roughly 437 million that have depended on Nile waters. 2. At the time the Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile basin Project was appraised, the World Bank assessed the development potential in the basin as largely untapped. Four of the Nile riparian countries were among the world’s ten poorest, with per capita incomes in the range of US$100–200 per year. All of the economies were highly dependent on use of natural resources, including for agriculture and tourism. An estimated 75 percent of the Nile population lived in rural areas, where food security and livelihoods were at high risk of flooding and droughts. Moreover, climate change in Africa was expected to bring greater unpredictability to weather patterns. 3. While the Nile countries are extremely diverse, they are united by their dependence on the river . Each of the countries had ambitious national development plans to promote economic growth and alleviate poverty that depended on the sustainable use and management of shared Nile waters. These included investments in energy, food production, transportation, industrial development, and environmental conservation. While these investments were to be made primarily at the national level, taking a regional perspective would greatly enhance their benefits and sustainability. The interdependence of limited water resources across national boundaries made coordination among stakeholders critical. Civil society could play an important role in raising awareness on the benefits of Nile cooperation, and in mobilizing support for cooperative dialogue and action. 4. In addition to considering the transboundary impacts, Nile basin investments needed to respond to the priorities of local communities to ensure that their benefits were shared and helped to build community resilience to the effects of climate change. By consulting local communities, much could be learned about the ways in which they were already adapting and managing risk. Engaging with riparian citizens was also important to promote Nile cooperation, monitor the impacts of investment projects, and share knowledge on resilience building strategies. Sectoral and Institutional Context 5. The Nile riparian countries had long recognized that cooperative management and development hold the greatest prospects of bringing mutual benefits to the region. In 1999, the Council of the Ministers of Water Affairs from the Nile basin Countries jointly established the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) as a mechanism for cooperation. NBI’s long- term shared vision is “to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of, and benefit from, the common Nile basin water resources.� 6. The NBI had received extensive technical and financial support through donor partnerships, including a multi- donor financing mechanism, the Nile basin Trust Fund (NBTF), for which the NBI was the sole implementer. In addition, the Bank had a substantial portfolio of projects –in water resources, watershed management, irrigation, and power Page 4 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) interconnection and generation – under implementation in all but one of the eleven Nile basin countries. A number of these projects were prepared or facilitated by the NBI. To further support cooperative development in the Nile basin, the Bank approved a technical assistance project in December 2012, the Nile Cooperation for Results (NCORE) project to support technical assistance that would strengthen cooperative water resources management and cooperative water resources development.1 The governments of Nile riparian countries had also been negotiating an agreement on managing the Nile basin water resources, the Cooperative Framework Agreement. 7. The Nile Basin Discourse (NBD) was a civil society institution established with the support of donors in 2003 to strengthen civil society participation in NBI developmental processes and programs . First hosted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the NBD has evolved into an independent network claiming over 640 member organizations throughout the basin. Member organizations are local and national nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working on a range of issues to promote Nile cooperation, including environmental conservation, gender equity, livelihoods, poverty reduction, and others. The NGOs were members of national level Nile Discourse Forums (NDFs) established in each of the eleven riparian states, and the NDFs were in turn members of the NBD coordinated by a regional Secretariat based in Entebbe, Uganda.2 The stated mission of the NBD was “A Nile basin in which there is sustainable social and economic development for all peoples of the Nile basin, free of conflict, leading to achievement of justice, human rights, good governance, poverty eradication, and protection of the environment.� Its mission was “to ensure that a fully informed and basin-wide civil society developed and played a key role in achieving the vision, through pro-active and critical influencing of projects, programs, and policies of the Nile Basin Initiative and other development processes.� 8. NBD’s extensive ground presence in riparian communities makes it uniquely placed to link regional and local perspectives. Assessments of the NBD had identified three critical roles for the network: (a) a bottom-up communications pipeline for raising the voices of citizens and civil society up to the governmental and regional levels; (b) a top-down pipeline for educating and informing citizens and civil society on Nile issues and development projects; and (c) a horizontal pipeline between citizens and civil society organizations both within and across national borders for knowledge and capacity sharing. 9. A Theory of Change was not required at the time of the appraisal of the project. It was developed for this ICR. The outcomes in the Theory of Change diagram are implied outcomes, rather than those specified as PDO outcomes in the results framework, as all but one were output-oriented and did not capture the intended outcomes to which the project contributed. 1 The NCORE Project (P130694) was originally for US$15.3 million. The project received two rounds of Additional Financing. The first approved on June 30, 2014 was for US$ 18 million. The second approved on April 26, 2017 was for US$ 8.5 million. Upon the closure of the Nile Basin Trust Fund in 2015, US$ 2.3 million were cancelled. 2 The NDF office in Eritrea was closed in 2005, along with those of most other NGOs in the country. Page 5 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) Theory of Change (Results Chain) Activities Outputs Outcomes Long-term Outcomes • Prepare strategies for • Strategies for • Member satisfaction with • Poverty decreases in communications and communications and NDB rises. communities benefiting outreach, M&E, and outreach, M&E, and • Design of Nile from the Nile financial sustainability. financial sustainability in transboundary projects transboundary projects. • Undertake stakeholder place. changes to respond to • Communities become more mapping. • Stakeholder mapping community concerns and resilient to climate shocks. • Seek funding partners. complete. priorities. • Communities take action to • Hire staff, including • Funding partners increases. • Communities in the vicinity reduce climate change. website manager. • Secretariat fully staffed. of Nile transboundary • Water resources • Seek and review user- • Website periodically projects accept the project management improves. generated content to post revamped and number of and facilitate its • Health of community on the website. hits increases. implementation. members improves. • Invite media to cover • User-generated content on • Partnerships between events. website increases. NBD, NBI, and other • Invite people to participate • NBD cited in increasing regional organizations Critical Assumptions in training. number of media sources. strengthened to • Funding for the Secretariat • Organize NBD • Number of people mainstream inclusion of is available on time. engagements with Nile participating in training. civil society voices in work • Key stakeholders participate investment projects. • Member satisfaction with at the regional level. in transboundary dialogues. training rises. • Training events are • NBD engagements with Nile implemented effectively. investment projects take • Staff of the Secretariat have place. the appropriate skill mix. Project Development Objectives (PDOs) 10. The project development objective (PDO), as stated in the Grant Agreement and the Project Paper, was to strengthen the capacity of the Nile Basin Discourse (NBD) to engage civil society members and relevant stakeholders in Nile basin cooperation programs, processes and dialogue. However, the Project Paper for the 2019 Additional Financing stated erroneously that the original PDO was to facilitate increased civil society engagement in Nile basin cooperation programs, processes and dialogue, and this became the PDO on the World Bank’s Operations Portal. Key Expected Outcomes and Outcome Indicators 11. The key result of the project would be a strengthened, more sustainable NBD network that relies on an effective, efficient Secretariat; stronger ownership and involvement of its members; and increased constructive engagement with stakeholders to contribute to Nile cooperation. The PDO outcome indicators were: • Delivery of key strategies and measures for the efficiency and sustainability of the NBD Secretariat. • Increased level of member satisfaction. • Number of NBD interactions/engagements with Nile investment projects. Components 12. Component 1: Strengthening NBD Secretariat. This component aimed at enhancing the capacity of the NBD Secretariat to deliver its core activities in a more cost effective and impactful manner. It supported mapping of Page 6 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) stakeholders in the Nile basin to provide the foundation for the Secretariat to develop the strategies and measures to strengthen their network. It also supported activities to (a) build capacity for communications, (b) monitoring and evaluation of both Secretariat activities and key activities undertaken by NBD members, (c) engagement with Nile development projects, and (d) awareness campaigns and trainings. Finally, it supported the development and implementation of an action plan to place the NBD on a more sustainable financial footing. 13. Component 2: Improving Communication and Outreach. This component aimed at enhancing the NBD’s communications to connect to stakeholders. It supported a review of and improvements to the existing NBD website (www.nilebasindiscourse.org), an expansion of the scope of NBD’s internet-based activities, and an expansion into use of mobile-based tools. It supported development of capacity for communications and outreach of both the Secretariat and its members to engage directly in dialogue on relevant issues through, for example, member organization webpages hosted on the NBD website, member generated content, and the use of web and mobile technologies for citizen feedback on Nile investment projects. In addition, this component supported investigation of other means to improve bottom up and horizontal communication among civil society organizations within the network, such as through social media and closer partnerships with media, including the Nile Media Network. 14. Component 3: Capacity Building for NBD Members. This component aimed at strengthening capacity of its members to engage on topics that they identified as priorities, such as adaptation to climate change, gender equity, empowerment of women and youth as resilience champions, and general civil society organizational skills.3 It financed NBD’s face-to-face events such as Nile Day, visits to communities adjacent to project sites, internships, and staff exchanges with networks stakeholders, including the NBI. B. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES DURING IMPLEMENTATION (IF APPLICABLE) Additional Financing and Extensions of the Closing Date 15. The project underwent two formal restructurings during its eight years of implementation, both of which involved Additional Financing. The first restructuring was approved on December 20, 2016. This provided Additional Financing of US$1.0 million and extended the closing date by three years from December 15, 2016, to December 30, 2019. The second restructuring was approved on December 23, 2019. This provided Additional Financing of US$2.0 million and extended the closing date by two years from December 30, 2019, to December 30, 2021. The PDO remained the same throughout the project implementation period. Revised Components 16. The costs and activities of the components were modified with each restructuring to reflect the additional resources available. The changes following each restructuring are presented below. 17. Component 1. The first Additional Financing supported the implementation of three strategies delivered under the parent project. It assisted with implementation of the Communications and Outreach Strategy by strengthening regional-national linkages and by providing platforms for advocacy, outreach, knowledge, and information management. It supported implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy by enhancing the capacity of the Secretariat through training and provision of equipment and by financing visits to communities. It helped implementation of the 3 These included budgeting, proposal preparation, monitoring and evaluation, and fundraising. Page 7 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) Financial Sustainability Strategy by scaling up resource mobilization efforts. It also supported development of NBD’s next five-year strategy for 2018–2022. The second Additional Financing expanded the scope of work on financial sustainability, which included scaling up resource mobilization efforts and building capacity of staff of the Secretariat to identify potential funders and to prepare proposals for financing. In addition, it supported the strengthening of the Secretariat’s capacity for financial management, procurement, communications, and monitoring and evaluation through training. It also supported documentation of its achievements, required to raise its profile and support fundraising initiatives. Finally, it supported development of the five-year strategy for 2023–2027. 18. Component 2. The first Additional Financing supported the development of virtual webinars to be hosted on its web portal, creation of user-generated content and expanded use of social media platforms for outreach and advocacy. It also supported development of radio programs—with NBI providing technical backstopping, and NDFs contextualizing local needs and concerns—to improve understanding and capacity, and to foster citizen dialogue. Finally, it supported activities to expand NBD’s facilitation role in regional and transboundary investments in the basin, including for the identified Nile Wetlands Program. The second Additional Financing supported consultants for the first time to lead the transboundary dialogues. It supported engagement with communities situated near NBI-supported projects, focusing on the Nyimur Multipurpose Water Resources Project for the Aswa Basin, the Second Lakes Edward and Albert Integrated Fisheries and Water Resources Management Project, the Baro Akobo Sobat Water Resources Development Study Project, the Sio-Malaba-Malakisi River Basin Management Project, the Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project, and the Mara River Basin Management Project. It also supported transboundary dialogue for the communities in the basin, including women and young people in: (a) watershed management and integrated water resources management in key Nile programs such as the upstream protection to improving underground water aquifers; (b) their role in dam safety and flood control and improved water, sanitation, and hygiene activities, especially for communities around Lake Victoria and Mara wetlands. Finally, the Additional Financing supported the NBD’s participation in the Hydropower Congress Council, the Global Exchange of Data and Information and the Working Group on Monitoring and Assessment of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and the Horn of Africa Climate Security Working Group. 19. Component 3. The first Additional Financing supported the expansion of activities identified under the parent project. It also financed events such as the NBD’s Nile Basin Discourse Summit, NBD’s Cluster Civil Society Days, NBI’s Nile Day, NBI’S Nile Basin Development Forum (NBDF), the NBI Nile Media Awards, and the Water Dialogue Forum of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. The second Additional Financing supported programs with potential for resource mobilization, including training programs on climate change, migration and conflict, gender, youth, and women. It also supported provision of a specific leadership development program for women leaders in the basin, informed by the lessons of the Women in Water Leadership Circle. It also financed the salaries of the Secretariat from January 2019 to December 2019, as staff had not been paid for 12 months. Changes to the Results Framework 20. Relevant PDO and intermediate outcome targets were adjusted upwards to reflect the expected increased impact of the project due to additional activities and the further strengthening of the Secretariat and its members. The second restructuring of December 2019 increased the target for the PDO indicator “number of NBD interactions with Nile investment projects� from two to 12; and increased the targets of three intermediate outcomes (number of funding partners, percentage of user-generated content on the NBD website, and number of trainings conducted within the network on priority topics). This also added an intermediate outcome indicator: NBD has strategy for financial stability in place and an increase in number of funding partners. Page 8 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) Rationale for Changes 21. The first Additional Financing ensured that the strategies that the original project supported would be implemented and the engagement of civil society in dialogues and training would be strengthened. The Additional Financing would allow the NBD and its members to continue to provide a structure for dialogue and citizen engagement in Nile development processes. By the time of the restructuring, project funds had been fully allocated and would be completely disbursed by the project’s original closing date of December 15, 2016. 22. The second Additional Financing ensured that the work of the NBD and its members would continue and be further scaled up. The NBI was continuing to develop projects in water security, food security, energy security, environmental sustainability around the Nile basin, and the NBD and its members would facilitate engagement with communities to ensure that the priorities of communities were taken into account in the planning and implementation of the transboundary projects. All project funds had been fully allocated and would be completely disbursed by the project’s closing date of December 30, 2019. The changes did not affect the theory of change. They allowed achievements of higher outcomes than originally expected. II. OUTCOME Assessment of Achievement of Each Objective/Outcome 23. The project achieved its PDO and the Outcome is rated Satisfactory. All three of its PDO indicator targets were met or exceeded (see Table 1). In addition, it met or exceeded all of the intermediate outcome targets. The project also delivered a wide range of outcomes not captured in the results framework, as presented below. Table 1: Achievement of PDO outcome targets Indicators Baseline Original Final End Final Value Level of End Target Target achievement Delivery of key strategies and No Yes Yes Yes 100% of target. measures for the efficiency and sustainability of the NBD Secretariat (Yes/No). Increased level of member 0% 85% 85% 98% 115% of target. satisfaction (percent). Number of NBD 0 2 12 10 Five times the interactions/engagements with Nile original target; investment projects. 80% of revised target. The capacity of the NBD Secretariat was strengthened and membership satisfaction increased 24. The PDO to strengthen the capacity of the Nile Basin Discourse (NBD) to engage civil society members and relevant stakeholders in Nile basin cooperation programs, processes and dialogue was fully achieved. The project Page 9 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) financed the preparation of strategies for communications and outreach (2016), monitoring and evaluation (2016), and financial sustainability (2016). To further guide its efforts towards financial sustainability, it financed the NBD Fundraising Plan 2022–2025, which provides specific proposals for mobilizing funding from development partners and NGOs, and for raising income through selling consulting services and data collected through citizens science.4 In addition, it financed the NBD Strategy 2018–2022, which laid out the strategic directions of the organization for the period. The NBD Secretariat implemented many recommendations of the strategies, including measures to strengthen communication and outreach and monitoring and evaluation. The specific achievements are below. 25. An NBD stakeholder mapping was undertaken. The project financed a stakeholder mapping in 2015 covering the eleven Nile countries to understand the organizations, networks, and relationships between stakeholders involved in the Nile cooperation and development initiatives (“NBD Stakeholder Mapping Report, Nile basin Countries, 2015�). This resulted in the identification of the geographical, thematic orientation, and capacities of CSO members of the NDFs. It also provided insight into the institutional structures of civil society coalitions at national and subnational levels and highlighted challenges individual member organizations and NDFs face, such as capacity building, resource mobilization, official recognition, and impartiality. In addition to existing members, the mapping identified areas of expertise of potential CSO members. The NBD used the information to invite potential members with expertise in women and youth empowerment, agriculture, nutrition, and sustainable energy (including hydropower development) to join the network. This comprehensive stakeholder map enables project designers to communicate with and understand the interests of the different types of resource users, and to manage or resolve conflict. 26. The NBD had dedicated staff with capacity for M&E. The NBD recruited an M&E specialist shortly after the project became effective, who started in 2015. It has maintained an M&E specialist throughout project implementation. This person has been responsible for tracking project implementation and outcomes and preparing the project annual reports. Although the project closed, the M&E specialist remains as staff at the Secretariat and is monitoring implementation and outcomes of NBD’s ongoing activities. Improved communications and outreach 27. NBD’s website was periodically revamped and recorded an increasing number of hits per month. The NBD, under project finance, thoroughly revamped its website in 2016 and updated it continuously thereafter to achieve its goal of serving as a platform for communication and information dissemination among member organizations and to steadily expand outreach and connections among civil society members. The website experienced an increasing number of hits during the project implementation period (Table 1, below).5 The number of monthly hits reached 69,350 in 2021, exceeding the target set in the 2019 restructuring by 7 percent.6 However, the number of hits fell short of the original target of 75,000 by 7.5 percent. 4 Citizen science refers to the collection and analysis of data by members of the general public, typically as part of a collaborative project with professional scientists. 5 Hits on the website are automatically collected by a software (AW Stats - https://awstats.sourceforge.io) that is installed on the hosting server. 6 The target presented in the 2019 Project Paper was 650,000 was an error. The target was meant to be 65,000. Page 10 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) Table 1: Number of hits on the NBD website 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 January 30,688 54,555 30,980 61,436 47,207 February 34,660 40,380 36,507 79,666 60,822 March 48,955 37,689 38,515 80,927 58,035 April 45,551 40,282 36,355 53,630 56,894 May 35,075 40,550 83,258 45,457 62,174 June 45,455 23,026 36,044 47,053 65,521 July 44,344 32,685 45,922 38,231 62,282 August 46,219 30,576 44,425 53,284 65,523 September 54,665 37,658 44,787 50,829 94,036 October 58,605 44,839 50,098 65,795 76,218 November 67,439 47,725 69,443 55,942 114,121 December 57,586 41,482 57,608 43,102 69,366 Yearly Totals 569,242 471,447 573,942 675,352 832,199 Average monthly hits 47,436 39,287 47,828 56,279 69,350 28. Percentage of user-generated content on NBD website increased. User-generated content refers to short articles (3–4 pages), short success stories (3–4 pages), report summaries, or short videos on any issues related to NBD’s operational areas and mandate. Each NDF submits the articles or videos to the Secretariat each month to be uploaded to the NBD website.7 The content must meet specific standards for relevance and quality to be accepted for inclusion. By the end of the project 83 percent of the content on the website was generated by the NDFs. This exceeded the target set in the 2019 restructuring by 11 percent, and exceeded the original target by more than three times. The strengthened horizontal communication channels helped to build capacity of civil society organizations and citizens and enabled coordination among organizations that are working on similar and related themes across the basin, both of which contribute to increased civil society voice in informing development. 29. The NBD was mentioned/cited in an increasing number of media sources. By the close of the project, the NBD had been mentioned in the media 36 times. This exceeded the target set in the 2019 restructuring by more than two times and the original target by over four times. This indicator reflects the success of the NBD’s communications and outreach activities. NBD collects information on media coverage from all sources, including print, radio, television, and online outlets. For example, a radio station may mention NBD in its news coverage of the Nile Day Celebration. This counts as one mention, even if the station mentions NBD several times regarding the same activity in the successive broadcasts. See table 2 below for examples from 2020 and 2021. 7 Many of the articles from the NDFs are available on NBD’s website: www.nilebasindiscourse.org. Page 11 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) Table 2: Examples of media mentioning or citing NBD, 2020 and 2021 Media Date Topic 1 Radio Okapi / Butembo February 2, Role of DRC NDF as civil society 2020 in the promotion and advocacy for Nile basin emerging issues. 2 TV Rwanda February 13, Role of NBD as civil society in 2020 the promotion and advocacy for Nile basin emerging issues. Preparation for Nile Day 2020. 3 Mala online newspaper Tanzania March 9, 2020 Capacitation of women on water Resources Management in Mara More sub basin 4 Sudan News Agency https://suna- February 22, Negotiated investment in Nile sd.net/en/single?id=550967 2020 5 Sudan State TV February 22, NBD team and stand display 2020 6 https://www.scidev.net/global/environment/supported- January 3, 2020 Established photo of the Grand content/q-a-the-elephant-in-the-room-in-nile-basin- Ethiopian Renaissance Dam reporting.html taken by NBD 7 https://pressbox.rw/nbdf-key-water-resources- April 22, 2021 National Nile Day Rwanda stakeholders-plant-trees-around-gaharwa-lake/ 8 http://rwandainspirer.com/2021/04/22/nbdf-water- April 22,2021 National Nile Day Rwanda resources-stakeholders-to-further-advocacy-on-nile- basin-preservation/ 9 Baba TV April 14, 2021 National Nile day Uganda 10 Star TV Habari (Youtube) and Instagram April 2021 Nile Day Tanzania 11 https://www.bmgblog.co.tz/2021/04/serikali- April 2021 Nile media awards yatambua-jitihada-za-shirika.html 12 Digital Congo FM April 2021 Nile Day DRC 13 https://www.pmldaily.com/news/2021/05/nile-basin- May 2021 Nile Day DRC initiative-awards-25-journalists-for-outstanding- reporting-on-the-nile-basin.html Financial sustainability 30. The NBD has a strategy for financial stability in place. A key concern for the development partners supporting the NBD is its ability to finance its activities with alternative sources of finance. To identify potential sources of finance, the NBD Secretariat prepared a financial sustainability strategy in 2016 and followed this with a detailed implementation plan, the NBD Fundraising Plan 2022–2025. The Secretariat has submitted multiple proposals to potential funders and has had some success in mobilizing resources from non-traditional donors as noted below. 31. The number of funding partners increased. The NBD has mobilized funding from three partners, in addition to the Cooperation in International Waters Africa (CIWA), during its eight-year implementation period. This is one fewer than the target of five. The Coca Cola Foundation/IHE Delft provided funding during 2017–2019 to NBD to implement the Women and Water for Change in Communities Project. CIWA provided funds for 2021–2025 for the Nile Cooperation for Page 12 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) Climate Resilience Project.8 Finally, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) offered funding in 2022 for the Woman and Water initiative. However, the funding from partners is sufficient to finance the activities of the Secretariat for no more than two years. Therefore, the NBD is also exploring opportunities to provide fee-based services, including consulting services, training, and provision of data on flood risk collected by citizens through NBD-managed citizen science platforms. It recruited a lawyer in 2021 to review various national laws and guidelines for establishing company/consultancy firm to provide consultancy services. Increased member satisfaction 32. Member satisfaction increased from 75 percent in June 2017 to 98 percent in 2019 and remained at that level until the project closed. The NBD has about 640 members comprising national and local civil society organizations (CSOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working on a range of issues relevant to Nile cooperation and development, including environmental conservation, agriculture, integrated water resources management, energy, gender equity, livelihoods, poverty reduction, and others. The CSOs/NGOs are members of chapters at the national level, the National Discourse Forums (NDFs), which are established in each of ten active Nile riparian states: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. The NBD Secretariat administers questionnaires following each transboundary dialogue, training, and workshop to gauge members view of the contents, time given for discussion, logistics, communications, and convenience of venue. Some 420 people attending the National General Assembly in 2021 responded to the survey. The Secretariat analyzes the responses and compiles a report with the overall satisfaction rating by year. Increased levels of satisfaction is a proxy indicator demonstrating NBD’s improved capacity to engage members and stakeholders on its programs, processes, and dialogue. Transboundary dialogues led to improvements in the design of investment projects 33. The number of NBD interactions/engagements with Nile investment projects financed by the project reached ten by the end of the project. This is five times the original target of two. However, it is two fewer than envisaged during the 2019 restructuring. The Secretariat organizes the dialogues, which bring local communities together with relevant government ministries (such as agriculture and fisheries), the NBI (whose role is to identify and facilitate funding for promising development projects in the Nile basin), project financiers, local authorities, and technical experts affiliated with the NDFs. The in-country dialogues typically last one day, with the follow-up regional dialogues bringing together representatives of all countries involved lasting two days. The NBD’s role is to learn the concerns and priorities of community members regarding proposed projects and to raise those concerns with policy makers and project designers and implementers. The overall objective is to maximize the benefits of the proposed projects for the affected communities. The NBD is the only organization in the region with the network, technical expertise, and resources capable of carrying out dialogues directly with community members. According to an interview with a representative of the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP)—one of two investment programs under the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI)9—the NBI has resources only to consult with community leaders, not with community members. The project financed ten dialogues, as follows: • Three on the Nyimur-Aswa Multipurpose Water Resources Project between Uganda and South Sudan. • Three on the Lakes Edward and Albert Fisheries (LEAF) I and II Project between Uganda and DRC. 8 The Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience Project (P172848) for US$30 million, of which US$750,000 was for the NBD, was approved on February 7, 2021. 9 The other is the Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program (ENSAP) within Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office. Page 13 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) • One on Baro-Akobo-Sobat Multi-purpose Water resources Project between Ethiopia and South Sudan. • One on the Rusumo Falls Hydropower Project between Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania. • One on the Mara River Water Resources Project between Kenya and Tanzania. • One on the Sio-Malaba-Malakisi River basin Project between Kenya and Uganda. 34. The dialogues led to changes in the designs of several projects, aimed at maximizing benefits for communities residing in areas close to the project sites. Specifics are below. 35. Nyimur-Aswa Multipurpose Water Resources Project. The NBD identified and mobilized relevant organizations active in the area of the Nyimur-Aswa project between Uganda and South Sudan and supported meaningful stakeholder consultations that have responded to concerns of the community. Concerns raised were elevated to decision-makers who have taken into accounts community concerns of disruption to activities and the need for a permanent road to facilitate cross border trade between Uganda and South Sudan. Based on the series of consultations, the Government of Uganda formulated a national task force that included relevant sector ministries, the NBD Secretariat, and a similar task force at local level that included NBD members, local governments, and community representatives. The consultations influenced the location of the irrigation facilities. It also led to the decision to construct a permanent access road between Uganda and South Sudan to facilitate trade in agricultural products and fish, thereby expanding project benefits for the community. Given these tangible benefits, the community agreed to allow the construction of a road to the dam site, and made available community land for it. 36. Rusumo Falls Hydropower Project. NBD’s transboundary dialogue on the Rusumo Falls Hydropower Project between Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania—a US$470 million project mainly financed by the World Bank and the African Development Bank,10 that is expected to generate 80 megawatts of hydroelectric power and other livelihood enhancing outputs—asked communities their priorities for projects to be financed under the Local Area Development Program (LADP) of the project. The priorities—piped drinking water, schools, health facilities, trading centers, pumps for irrigation, and activities to protect the watershed—were financed under the LADP. The project representatives also explained how the Livelihood Restoration Program would work. The NBD-led consultations also reduced the required resettlement from an estimated 6,700 households (40,000 people) to just 664 households (4,000 people), as community members voiced strong support for a run-of-river design option instead of an intermediary development scheme that would have generated more energy and involved a water storage reservoir. This resulted in huge savings in compensation costs for the governments and much reduced disruption for the affected communities. 37. Second Lake Edward and Albert Integrated Fisheries and Water Resources Management Project (LEAF II) Project. NBD’s transboundary dialogue on the LEAF II Project between Uganda and the DRC resulted in communities’ understanding of their expected roles in and contributions to the success of the project.11 The engagement also allowed community representatives to voice their priorities to the implementing agency, specifically for infrastructure that could contribute to peace and security in the region. Subsequently, decision-makers from the two countries authorized construction of a 223-kilometer road along three axes connecting the two countries (Mpondwe–Kasindi-Beni: 80 kilometers, Beni–Butembo: 54 kilometers, and Bunagana–Rutshuru–Goma: 89 kilometers). In addition, recognizing the role of women in the fisheries value chain, NBD-led consultations improved gender outcomes at two levels: (a) at the 10 The World Bank is providing US$340 million for the Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project (P075941), approved on August 6, 2013. A number of other multilateral financiers and the governments benefiting from the project are also financing the project. 11 The LEAF II Project, approved on May 20, 2015, is financed by the African Development Bank and the Global Environmental Facility. Page 14 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) policy level, it led to gender issues being included in the harmonization of fisheries regulations, to ensure a legislative framework that supports gender equity; and (b) at the operational level, it involved women in decision-making related to lake and fisheries management. 38. Baro-Akobo-Sobat Multi-purpose Water Resources Project. NBD’s dialogue on the Baro-Akobo-Sobat Project in 2018 between Ethiopia and South Sudan helped communities to understand the hydropower potential of the Baro- Akobo-Sobat basin and the benefits that communities could receive. The dialogue also provided the opportunity for communities to present their priorities for funding under the project, including activities to protect the ecosystem and to cut poverty through post-conflict livelihood rehabilitation.12 Community proposals will be considered when the project design is completed. 39. Mara River Water Resources Project (P114469). NBD’s dialogue on the World Bank-financed Mara River Water Resources Project in December 2021 between Kenya and Tanzania helped communities to learn the project’s implementation status, potential benefits to communities and their involvement when (a) improving water resources development through development of multipurpose storage reservoirs for irrigation, water supplies and small hydroelectric power plants, (b) implementing integrated watershed management approaches to protect the environment and promote alternative livelihoods for people living in the area affected by the project. The dialogues also helped the program implementers and policy makers understand the community members priorities and concerns, to ensure the project design maximized benefits for communities. 40. The NBD was not able to undertake two transboundary dialogues that had been included in the project’s workplan. It could not undertake the dialogue on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam among Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt because of political sensitivities over the filling of the reservoir and operations of the facility. The second was due to unforeseen fragility and insecurity in South Sudan in 2021 that prevented a second dialogue on the proposed Baro- Akobo-Sobat Multi-purpose Water Resources Project. Partnerships have been strengthened leading to greater cooperation on issues related to the management of the Nile resources 41. The NBD has partnered with the NBI to provide platforms for dialogue and information exchange. The platforms are intended to foster awareness on the need and opportunities for cooperative development in the Nile among governments, regional, and national organizations, and civil society; to strengthen the NBI-NBD working partnership; and to ensure that investments prepared and advanced by NBI are sustainable, regionally beneficial, and relevant to stakeholder needs. The platforms include the annual Nile Day which brings together Nile water ministers, development partners, basin officials, and a large number of civil society stakeholders. It highlights the needs and opportunities for cooperation around Nile water. They also include the NBDF, held every two years to share the latest information, knowledge, and best practices in trans-boundary water resources management and development. The NBDF also fosters dialogue among civil society leaders pertaining to issues of trust, reciprocity, common rules, norms and sanctions, connectedness, and technical innovations. The Nile Media Awards are presented following the NBDF, which include the Radio Media Award—a media mode that is close to grassroots communities—that is supported by the NBD. 42. The NBD strengthened its regional ties to mainstream inclusion of civil society voices in work at the regional level. NBD entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). 12 A second dialogue planned for 2021 was cancelled due to insecurity in South Sudan as noted in paragraph 26. Page 15 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) The NBD also entered a memorandum of understanding with the Global Water Partnership for Eastern Africa, and with the Women for Water Partnership. Capacity of NBD members has grown 43. The number of people participating in capacity building events/trainings increased. The number of people participating in capacity building events and training reached 2,812 by the end of the project implementation period, exceeeding the target set in the 2019 restructuring by 13 percent. The topics covered included women and youth on water resources and environmental sustainability and climate resilience in the Nile basin; citizen science; resource mobilization for NDFs; alternative agricultural products; climate risk management; water, sanitation, and hygiene (including eco-toilets, energy saving cookers, homemade hand washing points); green jobs; and general organizational management skills such as budgeting, proposal preparation, and M&E. The events took place in most of the countries that are members of the NBD network and averaged a total of four days each. National Technical Support Experts, hired under the project led the training sessions with the support of CSOs with expertise in particular topics. With improved understanding of changing temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, floods and droughts, and their potential impacts on lives and livelihoods, communities are better equipped to initiate adaptive actions and inform larger scale development projects about their climate-related needs and concerns. 44. The number of trainings conducted within the network on priority topics, including climate risk management. The NBD had carried out 39 training workshops by the end of the project. This was nearly double the target set in the 2019 restructuring paper and more than four times the original target. Details of the trainings are provided under the indicator above on the number of people participating in capacity building events and trainings. 45. The people who benefited from the training used their new knowledge in multiple ways, according to anecdotal evidence. For example, women and youth have started businesses producing energy-saving cook stoves based on the design provided during the training. Others planted fruit trees, and started converting waste materials into productive assets (such as table mats, baskets, handbags, and office pen holders). Women and youth in Uganda and Tanzania have constructed pit latrines for proper management of human waste. They have also planted fruit trees within their homesteads for food and to combat climate change. Women in Uganda started saving and credit associations with the encouragement of NBD training to improve their incomes and increase their resilience to adverse shocks. Women groups in Uganda started a community initiative against environmental degradation, which involved digging boreholes, using simple water harvesting technologies, and improving latrines. In Kenya, a CSO trained by the NBD started collecting waste from households in Kisumu, which it separates into categories such as metal, plastics, paper, and glass which it then sells to manufacturers. Finally, in Uganda following a training on water for environmental sustainability and climate resilience, women and youth climate resilience champions asked the government for a plot of land to establish a center of excellence on climate change resilience and water resource management. The champions planted over 1,000 trees on the land. They also established a partnership with artists who are using their art to bring messages on climate issues across the country. 46. Member satisfaction with capacity building events/trainings increased. Member satisfaction with the capacity building events and trainings reached 98 percent during the 2017, 2018, and 2021 (no events were held in 2019 and 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic travel restrictions). This matched the target set in the 2019 restructuring and exceeded the original target by 70 percent. Page 16 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) The number of direct project beneficiaries was higher than expected 47. Direct project beneficiaries (percent female). For this indicator, the NBD has been counting only beneficiaries of the transboundary dialogues. By the end of the project some 881 people had participated in the transboundary dialogues, exceeding the target set in the 2019 restructuring by 17 percent. The project achieved the target of having 50 percent female participants set in the restructuring paper, but fell short of the original target of 65 percent. Considering all activities undertaken by the NBD, direct project beneficiaries reached 4,001 (1,853 female, 2,148 male). This includes people participating in training events, workshops, NBD/NDFs governance meetings, transboundary dialogues, and the like). Overall Outcome Rating 48. Satisfactory. The project achieved its development objective of strengthening the capacity of the NBD to engage civil society members and relevant stakeholders in Nile basin cooperation programs, processes and dialogue. The project fully achieved two of the three PDO outcomes and almost achieved the third (10 of 12 dialogues). It also met all of its intermediate outcomes. Other Outcomes and Impacts Gender 49. The NBD Secretariat emphasized the importance of including women in leadership positions on the Boards of NDB and the NDFs, and in management positions in the NDFs. As a result, NBD’s Board now has eight women members of a total of 13, including the Chairman of the Board. It also worked to ensure that many of the national technical support experts, hired under the project were women. To ensure that the project-financed training workshops reached more women, it held women-only training sessions. It also made efforts to ensure that women were well-represented during the transboundary dialogues so that their priorities would be addressed as part of the larger project. As a result, their priorities were financed as part of the Rusumo Falls Hydropower Project (paragraph 36) and the LEAF II Project (paragraph 37). III. KEY FACTORS THAT AFFECTED IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTCOME Key factors during preparation 50. Several factors in project design positively affected implementation. The project built on the design of the initial NBD project that started in 2003 and was funded first by the Canadian International Development Agency and then by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID). Bank support further strengthened the already effective Secretariat and the instruments for communications and outreach, such as the website. It also deepened and expanded the project’s existing training programs. The design was also informed by two independent evaluations of the NBD commissioned by DFID in 2009 and 2011, stakeholder interviews conducted by the World Bank team in January, May and August 2012, and a membership and stakeholder survey conducted by the NBD in April 2012, as noted in paragraph 8. Page 17 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) 51. The project was thoroughly prepared. The Project Paper specified the risks the project would face and identified adequate mitigation measures. All risks were appropriately identified as low or moderate, except for sustainability, which was considered substantial. To mitigate this risk, the project financed the financial sustainability and fundraising strategies. Procurement and financial management capacity of the Secretariat were thoroughly assessed, and measures to mitigate the risks identified. The project appropriately triggered none of the World Bank’s Safeguard Policies as no works or activities entailed adverse social and environmental effects. The project’s key performance indicators, baselines, and targets were agreed, and arrangements for M&E were in place. Although the Secretariat had only three staff—four of its staff had been laid off when the previous DFID-funded project closed—these were the key staff of manager, finance and administrative officer, and program administrative officer who was also in charge of procurement. Two other staff were supporting the NBD without pay—the communications and media officer, and the resource mobilization expert—in expectation that the Bank-funded project would be approved. An 18-month procurement plan had been agreed, containing activities that could start soon after the project became effective. Key factors during implementation 52. Implementation at the start of the project was delayed because the Secretariat lacked key staff. Implementation started slowly because the Secretariat had to recruit new staff to replace those who had been laid off. A focus in the first few months following effectiveness was to recruit a new regional manager to head the Secretariat and an M&E specialist to establish the M&E system. This was completed in August 2014. An information technology specialist joined in February 2015 and a communications specialist joined in March 2015. 53. A major factor that affected implementation of the project was the unwillingness of the NBD’s Board to approve the NBD workplan and budget for financial year 2019/2020. The delay in approving the workplan and budget, led to a budget shortfall which left staff working without pay and a delay in implementation of some activities. Eventually, the Bank team intervened and informed the Board that it would not continue to finance the project without an approved workplan and budget. The Board then approved the workplan and budget, which included retroactive financing of the salaries of the Secretariat staff. 54. Another factor affecting implementation was the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, all in-person events and transboundary dialogues were postponed due to government-mandated travel restrictions that stayed in place from March 2020 to late 2021. The Bank and Secretariat worked together to develop a hybrid consultation model to mitigate the impact of Covid-19, which allowed in-person and in-country dialogue and virtual transboundary meetings. The Secretariat successfully executed most of the delayed events and dialogues during the final three months of 2021. 55. The commitment of the Secretariat staff positively affected implementation. Through the eight years of implementation, the staff of the Secretariat continued working even during a year without being paid. Their commitment to NBD’s vision sustained the network and made it possible to deliver nearly all planned activities by the time the project closed. 56. Another factor positively affecting implementation is NBD’s extensive network of NDFs across ten countries. The NDFs in turn have as members CSOs and NGOs with experts on climate change; women and youth empowerment; water resources management; water, sanitation, and hygiene; and irrigated agriculture, among others. These can be mobilized quickly to lead workshops and engage communities in transboundary dialogues. In addition, all NDFs have entered into memorandums of understanding with relevant government entities, such as ministries of water, energy, Page 18 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) and agriculture, who participate in the workshops and dialogues to both learn new information and to provide information on the services the government offers. In summary, the NBD network of expertise has become a vector for knowledge and expertise exchange across its member countries. The NBD has the capacity to tap into a rich set of skills and experts contained in the CSOs and NGOs it supports. IV. BANK PERFORMANCE, COMPLIANCE ISSUES, AND RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME QUALITY OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION (M&E) M&E Design 57. The Project Paper included a results framework, which established clear links between the PDO and the project interventions with clearly identified baseline and target values and were in line with the capacity, data availability, and costs of M&E. However, it contained several shortcomings. First, its indicators measure primarily outputs and processes, not outcomes. The project achieved significant outcomes as noted in Section III. Relying on the values of the indicators in the results framework would provide an incomplete picture of the project’s true value and achievements. Second, the unit of measure for one indicator in the Project Paper, “number of people participating in capacity building events/trainings increases� was the average number of participants per event, with a baseline of 20 and a target of 80. No rationale for tracking the average number of participants is provided. The Bank team preparing the 2019 restructuring overlooked this unit of measure, and put targets for the number of participants instead, but retained the baseline of 20 in the results framework, instead of changing it to zero. Third, during the 2019 restructuring the target value for number of hits on the website was entered as 650,000, instead of 65,000. This was never corrected. Fourth, none of the project documents provided detailed information on the definition of the indicator, or how the values of the indicators would be determined. For example, none of the Project Papers for the project specify that the number of direct project beneficiaries refers to those benefiting from the transboundary dialogues alone. Fortunately, the M&E specialist for the project remains with the Secretariat and was able to provide the missing information. M&E Implementation 58. Implementation of M&E proceeded smoothly. The project’s M&E specialist was onboard by August 2014, shortly after the project became effective. M&E staff were maintained throughout project implementation. They monitored project implementation progress and progress towards expected outcomes. The project financed preparation and implementation of an M&E strategy, which further strengthened M&E. It adapted an open-source M&E system to track activities of the Secretariat and the NDFs and to generate information on outcomes. The NBD reported on the results during every mission, and during the annual NBD Advisory Committee meetings. M&E Utilization 59. The monitoring information was discussed during each supervision mission. Specifically, it was used to identify areas of particular challenge and to identify measures to address them. For example, the data generated from the M&E system showed that planned activities were not being undertaken during a period when the NDB Board refused to approve NBD’s workplan because it contained retroactive funding for salaries of Secretariat staff, who had not been paid for a year. Once the Bank’s team became aware of the issue, it explained to the Board that it would stop financing the project if the secretariat could not carry out the agreed activities. In addition, the M&E system alerted the Bank team that planned in-person events were not being undertaken due to restrictions related to the onset of the Covid-19 Page 19 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) pandemic. In response, the Bank team provided guidance on how to conduct community dialogues and training sessions using a hybrid approach, with both in-person and digital engagements. The data are also used for the preparation of the CIWA Annual Report. FIDUCIARY COMPLIANCE 60. Compliance with financial management arrangements was satisfactory . The project was generally compliant with the Bank’s financial reporting requirements with quarterly interim unaudited financial reports and annual audit reports submitted on time, except for the audit of the 2020 financial year, which was delayed by ten months due to Covid-19 restrictions, which made it difficult to obtain the information needed. The accounting system under the project worked satisfactorily in recording and processing financial transactions and in preparing regular and acceptable financial reports. The project maintained financial management staff throughout implementation. However, the Secretariat did not have an internal audit function and relied instead on its other established internal controls, such as segregation of duties, timely and regular bank reconciliations, and updated fixed assets registers. Audit reports had unqualified opinions, particularly on compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines regulating public spending and on realizing value for money. The rate of budget execution was noted to be high. 61. Compliance with the project’s procurement procedures was satisfactory. Following a slow start because the Secretariat had no prior experience with the Bank’s procurement guidelines, procurement generally proceeded as presented in the procurement plan. BANK PERFORMANCE Quality at entry 62. The Bank’s performance in ensuring quality at entry was satisfactory. The project built on the successful CIDA and DFID-funded NBD project. The design reflected independent assessments and stakeholder feedback of the earlier project. At the time of the project’s approval, procedures for financial management and procurement were in place. A comprehensive results framework had been prepared, with indicators covering all results areas and with baseline and target values for all indicators. Arrangements for monitoring and reporting had been agreed. Appraisal of implementation arrangements was satisfactory with agreements reached on the roles and responsibilities of the Secretariat, the NDFs, and other stakeholders. The Project Paper specified the risks the project would face and identified adequate mitigation measures, although it underestimated stakeholder risk that rifts develop or worsen between NBI member countries that would lead to the cancellation of two transboundary dialogues. An 18-month procurement plan had been prepared. 63. The two Additional Financings for the project were well-designed. Activities to be scaled up and new activities were identified to deepen the project’s overall impact. Measures to strengthen the Secretariat and improve its financial sustainability were specified. Additional activities to broaden communication and awareness of the NBD’s role in promoting cooperation among stakeholders in using the waters of the Nile were added. In addition, the results framework was revised to reflect the investments to be financed under the AF. Page 20 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) Quality of Supervision 64. The Bank’s performance in supervision was satisfactory. Although the project had three Task Team Leaders (TTLs) from identification to closure, the transition was smooth because of effective hand-over. In addition, one TTL was based in Addis Ababa and one was based in Nairobi, which enabled the Bank team to conduct regular discussions and provide day-to-day support to the Secretariat. As this was a small recipient-executed grant, the Bank fielded only one mission per year, for a total of eight over the project’s eight-year implementation period. Some of the missions were carried out as part of supervision of the NCORE project, and separate aide memoires and implementation status reports were not prepared. Missions generally lasted up to a week and typically comprised financial management and procurement specialists, with experts in specific areas, such as information and communication technology, participating as needed. To ensure regular contact, the Bank team held video and audio meetings with the Secretariat between missions to learn about challenges and to propose solutions to them. Aide memoires were of adequate quality covering key issues and providing practical recommendations on how to address them. They reported on implementation progress, M&E, and performance of financial management and procurement. However, the final three aide memoires (of a total of five) did not provide the names of Bank participants. Draft aide memoires were discussed with the Secretariat to ensure that they reflected a common understanding of both the Bank and the Secretariat. The Bank team in the implementation status reports also consistently rated project performance indicators realistically. It carefully reviewed both progress towards development and implementation performance during each mission, and generally provided a justification for the ratings in the implementation status reports. Although the PDO presented in the 2019 restructuring paper was slightly different from the formally agreed PDO, this did not affect supervision, as the PDO outcomes remained the same. 65. The World Bank team recognized the success of the project, as shown by approving two Additional Financings to broaden and deepen the project scope and to enhance development effectiveness. The project ultimately facilitated the preparation and approval in February 2021 of the much larger World Bank-funded Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience Project for US$30 million, of which US$750,000 was for the NBD. RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME 66. The greatest risk to development outcome is a failure to mobilize resources to sustain the NBD and the NDFs in the future. The NBD relies on grant funding from donors to deliver its services. Although it has prepared both a financial sustainability strategy, a fundraising strategy, and has presented many proposals for funding, it still does not have the resources it requires to operate for more than two more years. It has received a grant for the next two years as part of the Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience Project supported under the CIWA trust fund. However, only US$750,000 has been allocated to the NBD to focus on very limited activities on two themes: flood/drought and platform for cooperation. Half of the funds are for the salaries of the five staff in the Secretariat. Currently, there are no funds for NBD to sustain itself beyond 2023. Still, the NBD will continue to explore measures for financial sustainability. V. LESSONS LEARNED AND RECOMMENDATIONS • A dedicated team is required to ensure that the priorities of the community affected by transboundary projects are reflected in the project design and implementation. Organizations such as the NBI do not have the resources to carryout in depth community consultations. The NBD alone has the mandate and the resources to do so. Elevating community voices results in important benefits to communities. But, it also provides invaluable benefits to project implementers, for example, through community support for a road to a dam site Page 21 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile (P132448) and through minimization of resettlement, both of which resulted in major cost savings. • Creating and maintaining a network of CSOs, NGOs, government entities, and other stakeholders is invaluable to strengthen cooperation among communities sharing a common resource. The NDB could call upon its members on short notice to provide training in specific topics, to facilitate and inform transboundary dialogues, and to share knowledge on technical issues. Having such an extensive network at regional, national, community levels also facilitates communications and outreach, which could help to elevate the profile of NBD regionally and internationally. The establishment and maintenance of such a network of knowledge and expertise across countries was one of the unintended positive outcomes of the project. Moreover, such a network CSOs and NGOs can help strengthen political commitment of Nile Basin riparian countries to promote regional collaborative management and development of shard water resources. • Partnering with other organizations can strengthen the contributions of all . NBD’s partnership with NBI ensures that both organizations can more effectively contribute to cooperation in the use of the shared Nile waters. For example, NBI can help to identify and prepare transboundary projects that government leaders prioritize. NBD can work with the communities to assess their needs and gain their support of the project. Both organization are more effective working together than alone. • Financial sustainability is a critical challenge that requires focused attention. The NBD has struggled to achieve financial sustainability despite the many measures taken. Going forward, recognizing the synergies between the NBD and the NBI opportunities for joint financing of both organizations should be explored. However, such a joint financing arrangement must take care to maintain the independence of the NBD as an NGO to ensure it remains a trusted interlocutor between communities and other stakeholders. • Including outcome indicators in the results framework and providing qualitative evidence can help to highlight the higher level benefits of the project. The real results of the project were evident by the time of the first restructuring in 2016, but the results framework was not revised to capture the achievements. Moreover, qualitative evidence on NBD’s influence was not collected and reported on. Had they been publicized, the value of the NBD’s work would have been more visible. The lack of evidence of key achievements means that the value of NBD’s influence has been underrated. • Trust fund resources are critical to finance small but high-impact technical assistance projects. Projects such as the “Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile Basin Project,� may be small but they can have significant impacts. Given the Bank’s growing focus on supporting large multisectoral projects, trust funds are critical to finance smaller but potentially transformative projects. • Providing training to the Board members can smooth project implementation. The 2019 restructuring included finance to train the Board members on their corporate governance roles and responsibilities with respect to NBD’s operation. A new Board is elected every two years, and many people serving for the first time do not understand what the Board’s roles and responsibilities are meant to be. The training that was provided to the Board that was elected in 2020 contributed to the effective execution of project activities in the final two years of project implementation. . Page 22 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile.. (P132448) ANNEX 1. RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND KEY OUTPUTS A. RESULTS INDICATORS A.1 PDO Indicators Objective/Outcome: To strengthen the capacity of the Nile Basin Discourse (NBD) to engage civil society members and relevant stakeholders in Nile basin cooperation programs, processes and dialogue Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion Delivery of key strategies and Yes/No N Y Y measures for the efficiency and sustainability of the NBD 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2021 Secretariat. Comments (achievements against targets): The target was fully achieved. Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion Increased level of member Percentage 0.00 85.00 98.00 satisfaction 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2021 Page 23 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile.. (P132448) Comments (achievements against targets): The target was exceeded by 13 percentage points. Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion Number of NBD interactions/ Number 0.00 2.00 12.00 10.00 engagements with Nile investment projects 30-Nov-2013 30-Dec-2016 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2021 Comments (achievements against targets): The project achieved 83% of the revised target set in 2019, but exceeded the original target by five times. A.2 Intermediate Results Indicators Component: Component 1: Strengthening the NBD Secretariat Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion NBD has strategy for financial Yes/No N Y Y stability in place and an increase in number of funding 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2021 partners NBD has an increased number Number 1.00 0.00 5.00 4.00 of funding partners 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2021 Page 24 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile.. (P132448) Comments (achievements against targets): Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion NBD stakeholder mapping Yes/No N Y Y research is undertaken 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2021 Comments (achievements against targets): The target was fully achieved. Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion NBD has dedicated staff with Yes/No N Y Y capacity for M&E 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2021 Comments (achievements against targets): The target was fully achieved. Component: Component 2: Improve Communications and Outreach Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion NBD’s website is periodically Number 40000.00 75000.00 65000.00 69350.00 Page 25 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile.. (P132448) revamped and has an 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2021 increasing number of hits per month Comments (achievements against targets): The target for hits per month exceeds the target set in the 2019 restructuring by 7%, but falls short of the original target by 7.5%. The 2019 restructuring paper has a target of 650,000, which is an error, as the actual figure presented was 65,000. Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion Percentage of user-generated Percentage 0.00 25.00 75.00 83.00 content on NBD website increases. 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2021 Comments (achievements against targets): The project exceed the target set during the 2019 restructuring by 11%. It exceeded the original target by more than three times. Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion NBD is mentioned/cited in an Number 0.00 8.00 15.00 36.00 increasing number of media sources. 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2021 Comments (achievements against targets): The project exceeded the target set in the 2019 restructuring by 140%. Page 26 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile.. (P132448) Component: Component 3: Capacity Building for NBD Members Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion Number of people participating Number 0.00 640.00 2500.00 2812.00 in capacity building events/trainings increases 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2021 Comments (achievements against targets): The project exceeded the target set in the 2019 restructuring by 13%. It exceeded the original target (calculated as the number of trainings x average number of participants per training) by more than five times. Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion NBD is actively engaged in NBI Yes/No N Y Y investment projects. 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2021 Comments (achievements against targets): The target was fully achieved. Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion Number of trainings conducted Number 2.00 8.00 20.00 39.00 within the network on priority topics, including climate risk 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2021 management Page 27 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile.. (P132448) Comments (achievements against targets): The project achieved twice the target set in the 2019 restructuring, and greatly exceeded the original target. Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion Direct project beneficiaries Number 200.00 600.00 750.00 881.00 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2021 Female beneficiaries Percentage 38.00 65.00 50.00 49.00 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2021 Comments (achievements against targets): The project exceeded the target by 17 percent for number of beneficiaries set in the 2019 restructuring, and exceeded the original target by 47 percent. The project achieved the target for female beneficiaries set in the 2019 restructuring, but fell short of the original target by 16 percentage points. Unit of Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Baseline Original Target Measure Target Completion Member satisfaction with Percentage 0.00 70.00 100.00 98.00 capacity building events/trainings increases. 30-Nov-2013 30-Nov-2013 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2021 Comments (achievements against targets): Page 28 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile.. (P132448) B. ORGANIZATION OF THE ASSESSMENT OF THE PDO Objective/Outcome 1 1. Delivery of key strategies and measures for the efficiency and sustainability of the NBD Secretariat. Outcome Indicators 2. Increased level of member satisfaction 3. Number of NBD interactions/ engagements with Nile investment projects 1. NBD has strategy for financial stability in place. 2. Number of funding partners increases. 3. NBD’s website is periodically revamped and has an increasing number of hits per month 4. NBD stakeholder mapping research is undertaken 5. Number of people participating in capacity building events/trainings increases Intermediate Results Indicators 6. NBD has dedicated staff with capacity for M&E 7. Percentage of user-generated content increases 8. NBD is actively engaged in NBI investment projects 9. NBD is mentioned/cited in an increasing number of media sources 10. Number of trainings conducted within the network on priority topics, including climate risk management 11. Direct project beneficiaries (percent female). Component 1: Strengthening NBD Secretariat 1. Five strategies prepared (financial sustainability, M&E, Key Outputs by Component communications and outreach, corporate, fundraising). (linked to the achievement of the Objective/Outcome 1) 2. Number of funding partners reached four (CIWA NCCR, Coca Cola IHE/Delft, GIZ). Page 29 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile.. (P132448) 3. Stakeholder mapping completed. 4. Dedicated staff for M&E recruited. Component 2: Improved communications and outreach 1. NBD’s website was revamped and experienced an increasing number of hits. 2. Percentage of user-generated content increased. 3. NBD was mentioned/cited in an increasing number of media sources. Component 3: Capacity building for NBD members 1. Number of people participating in capacity building events/trainings. 2. Number of trainings conducted. 3. Member satisfaction with capacity building events/trainings 4. Direct project beneficiaries. Page 30 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile.. (P132448) . ANNEX 2. PROJECT COST BY COMPONENT Amount at Approval Actual at Project Percentage of Approval Components (US$M) Closing (US$M) (%) Strengthening the NBD 1.885 1.87 99.2 Secretariat Improved Communications 1.575 1.57 99.7 and Outreach Capacity Building for NBD 1.04 1.04 100.0 Members Total 4.50 4.48 99.6 Page 31 of 32 The World Bank Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile.. (P132448) . ANNEX 3. RECIPIENT, CO-FINANCIER AND OTHER PARTNER/STAKEHOLDER COMMENTS Page 32 of 32