PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) CONCEPT STAGE Public Disclosure Copy Report No.: PIDC1009 Project Name Institutional Development and Capacity Building Project (P143975) Region AFRICA Country South Sudan Sector(s) Central government administration (80%), Sub-national government administration (20%) Theme(s) Administrative and civil service reform (40%), Public expenditure, financial management and procurement (30%), Other accountability/ anti- corruption (15%), Other public sector governance (15%) Lending Instrument Technical Assistance Loan Project ID P143975 Borrower(s) Minstry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development Implementing Agency Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Environmental C-Not Required Category Date PID Prepared/ 29-Jul-2013 Updated Date PID Approved/ 31-Jul-2013 Disclosed Estimated Date of Public Disclosure Copy 30-Jan-2014 Appraisal Completion Estimated Date of 02-Jul-2014 Board Approval Concept Review Track II - The review did authorize the preparation to continue Decision I. Introduction and Context Country Context South Sudan emerged from decades of war and conflict to independence with socio-economic challenges, institutional and capacity deficits. South Sudan became independent on July 9, 2011 after six year’s transitional period (2005 -2011) that followed the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The CPA ended decades of war between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which formed the government. South Sudan joined the World Bank Group in April 2012. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the country has an estimated population of 10 million with about 72% under 30 years of age, 51% under 18 years. Thus the population is quite youthful. 83% of the population live in rural areas and majority lack education and skills with high levels of unemployment, especially among the youth. Despite relatively high GDP figures (boosted by petroleum revenues), Page 1 of 12 it is estimated that 51% of the population live below the poverty line. There has been some improvement in service delivery due to the combined efforts of development partners, non- governmental organizations, and the government; however, there are significant gaps in terms of Public Disclosure Copy access and quality. The country’s macroeconomic performance has been mixed and negatively affected by the shutdown in oil production and export in 2012. The FY2012 gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated to be over US$ 15 billion with a population of nearly 10 million while the per capita GDP was US$ 1,858 and the gross national income (GNI) was US$ 785 per capita (SSA average is US$ 1,176). Most of the growth is driven by petroleum revenues which account for 80% of the GDP and 98% of exports. South Sudan recorded average annual real GDP growth rate of about 4.2 % during 2009-2010. The dispute over oil transit fees with its northern neighbour led to disruptions of oil production and exports in 2012, with negative impact on the economy felt especially in high price inflation and currency depreciation . The National Bureau of Statistics estimates that the consumer prices index rose by 35 per cent in the last 12 months up to January 2013. Crude Oil flow resumed in April 2013 as a result of an agreement between Sudan and South Sudan (March 2013). For South Sudan, oil revenues are conservatively expected to amount to US$4.2 billion for FY2013/14. The management of the oil revenue and public expenditure are important for effective delivery of public services to the citizens; strengthening of the institutions and capacity for economic governance, including management of public finances and procurement efficiently and transparently will be critical. Outside the oil sector, livelihoods are concentrated on low productivity, subsistence based agriculture and pastoralism, which although accounts for less than 15 per cent of GDP, engages about 78 per cent of the population . As is the case with other post conflict and fragile states, South Sudan faces formidable development challenges, including security and low level institutional and human capacity that severely constrains the implementation of its development policies and programs. Public administration at all levels lacks the basic human, financial and logistical capacity and means to deliver services. Public Disclosure Copy Moreover, majority of civil servants have not had any formal training or re-training for several years due to the prolonged civil conflict. The conflict significantly depleted the capacity of the public service. Accordingly, the institutional and human capacity in South Sudan is characterized by low level capacity, low level of efficiency, low productivity and motivation with the result of poor service delivery. Consequently, the public service is heavily dependent on external consultants and advisors who virtually run the public service. While this is understandable and perhaps necessary in the immediate post conflict period, it is not sustainable in terms of building local human and institutional capacity in the medium to long term. The political economy and governance context is characterized by the dominance of the SPLM which transformed from a rebel movement to ruling party with a big-tent approach that seeks to incorporate various interests and potential opposition groups through patronage . While the ruling party enjoys significant good will for bringing independence, there are major governance challenges and risks of not meeting the huge expectations of citizens for the dividends of independence in the form of improved service delivery and development outcomes. The challenge is sustaining the good will of the people over a longer period by focusing on key developmental challenges, including the challenge of improving the performance of governance institutions or entrenching democracy and the rule of law. The occasional flair of internal and external security issues and tensions and conflicts create some uncertainty and distracts the leadership from focusing on development and long term vision; attention is given to political survival. This uncertainty and distraction of the Page 2 of 12 leadership need to be counterbalanced by developing a strong and professional civil service that will be able to provide technical leadership in the development process. Public Disclosure Copy Sectoral and Institutional Context As a new nation and post-conflict country, South Sudan is currently faced with multiple transition challenges, continued level of intermittent violence and conflict, coupled with inadequate legal, institutional and public administration structures and systems to effectively carry out the core functions of government and deliver services to citizens. As noted above, the overall human resource and skills base, including the management of public finances and human resources has been weak and never sufficiently developed during the association with the North, but rather depleted during the decades of conflict. Core administrative structures and mechanisms of political representation are only beginning to emerge, and the government still struggles to provide basic services to the population. There have been various efforts and initiatives to develop and/or strengthen institutional capacities but given the dearth of capacity and institutional deficits, much remains to be done. Institutions for economic governance, especially public financial management are fragile, despite progress made in institution and capacity building since the CPA. Throughout the Interim period and since the CPA there has been steady progress in building public financial management system in South Sudan (e.g. under the MTDF, LICUS and CBTF I interventions). Currently, at least all spending agencies carry out planning and budgeting and produce quarterly budget execution reports. A procurement unit exists in MOFEP to oversee government-wide procurement and a draft procurement bill is under consideration. For the first time, internal audit is complemented by an Auditor General reporting to parliament. However, PFM institutions are nascent and major challenges remain for the new state emerging out of conflict. A recently completed South Sudan Integrated Fiduciary Assessment (SSIFA) and Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment provides insights to the state of public financial management in South Sudan (see Table 1). Weaknesses identified included: Public Disclosure Copy a. Weak credibility of the budget, low predictability and controls in budget execution: The SSIFA report and PEFA suggest weak credibility of the budget, inadequate predictability and controls in budget execution, lack of cash flow forecasting, monitoring and commitment ceiling for ministries, departments and agencies. However, there is gradual improvement in budget classification and comprehensiveness of information included in the budget. b. There are on-going efforts to strengthen the public procurement system, but procurement largely does not function in a way that ensures value for money. As in other developing countries, but more particularly in a fragile environment such as South Sudan, procurement is one of the PFM areas most prone to corruption.The IPPDR regulations were supposed to be superseded by a procurement law consistent with international standards and providing for a legal authority to perform the procurement oversight function. A procurement bill has been submitted to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), but yet to be passed into law. The system is non-transparent; information on procurement operations is unavailable and an independent complaints mechanism is lacking (World Bank, SSIFA, 2012). Although procurement capacity is gradually improving with the assistance of donor-sponsored training programs, there is need to continue to develop and reform legal and administrative systems and processes to bring them to acceptable standards. c. Revenue Administration Systems: Deficiencies in revenue administration systems imply Page 3 of 12 fiduciary risk in terms of foregone revenues. These deficiencies comprise both leakages from the system—that is, collected revenue not ending up in government bank accounts and not being spent according to approved budgets—and failure to bring all potential taxpayers into the tax net (World Public Disclosure Copy Bank, SSIFA, 2012). The result is that spending programs are not adequately financed and heavily dependent on oil revenue. In South Sudan, a base has been established through the 2009 Taxation Act and the issuing of unique Taxpayer Identification Numbers. However, coverage of Taxpayer Identification Numbers still has a long way to go, including the development of linkages with other registration systems (e.g., business licenses), the establishment of tax audits, and resolution of the problem of multiple taxation systems at inter-jurisdicti onal boundaries. The major challenge for South Sudan is to develop non-oil revenue sources and improve revenue collection and administration. d. Audit and oversight institutions are making some progress but they are still nascent with need to strengthen accountability and human capacity: Progress has been made in establishing internal audit functions (in the modern sense of overseeing internal control systems) and an external audit function. However, these are yet to be fully embedded and exercise its functional authority over government institutions. Skilled human resources are in short supply. There is also need to strengthen the capacity of the external audit and the role of parliament in oversight (public accounts committee) to be able to clear the backlog of audit reports and play effective role in improving the accountability of the executive and ministries, departments and agencies in the use of public resources. The PEFA score for external scrutiny and oversight is C on average. In addition, to ensure a strong and robust internal audit systems, there is need to support government in adopting a Risk Based Internal Audit. It is apparent from the above that even though PFM reforms have been taking place in South Sudan since the CPA and the formation of the new Government of South Sudan in 2005, institution building is far from complete and significant challenges still remain. The approach of the government has been to “get the basics right” in terms of planning and budgeting, revenue Public Disclosure Copy administration, budget execution (including procurement), internal controls, and accounting and reporting systems, with initial focus at the central/federal level. With the significant inflow of oil revenue, weak economic governance, especially PFM systems and processes pose risks. The experience of the CPA period shows that South Sudan received extensive amount in oil revenue (50% of total oil revenue sales) as per the wealth sharing arrangement of the CPA sand this put tremendous pressure on its rather nascent public financial management system. The latest reports of Auditor-General sent to the National Assembly/Parliament, have documented cases of misuse of funds and possible corruption in a number of sectors, including customs, roads and other infrastructure, and procurement of vehicles. Underlying the weaknesses in the PFM systems are significant challenges in human capacity and systems for managing human resources in the public sector typical of a post conflict state, but being a newly state brings the additional complication of state building and institutional development. The Human Resource Management system is weak and lacking many of the necessary legal & regulatory frameworks to be effective. Limited qualified and skilled personnel , coupled with entrenched patronage, instead of merit based appointments which exacerbates the situation. At 140,000, the public service is over bloated and largely unproductive with weak incentives and motivation to perform. The country spends about 60% of its budget on the wage bill, compared to an average of 30-35% in sub-Saharan Africa. Expenditure of security and wage bill takes a large chunk of the budget. This relatively high and unsustainable wage bill crowds out development Page 4 of 12 expenditure and diverts funds from basic service delivery . There is an acute need for civil service reform including staff rationalization, training, provision of technical assistance and long‐term capacity building support at all levels of central and state governments. The MoLPSHRD has Public Disclosure Copy developed a Strategic Plan (2012-2016) as a starting point to reorganize the Ministry and ensure that it delivers as required. It is currently rallying donors to support the strategic plan . There is need to improve the management of personnel records at both national and sub-national levels of government and build on the introduction of electronic payments system and human resource management information system. A Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) has been rolled out to a few States, but it is yet to be rolled out to all the remaining states. The central Ministry of Labour and Public Service acknowledges that even though the number of “ghost” workers have fallen sharply over the last two years, there is need to address some inaccuracies and undertake regular staff audits and establishment controls and ensure that discrepancy between the payroll and the nominal rolls are eliminated or minimised. As in other post-conflict countries (e.g. Liberia, Sierra Leone), the long years of conflict had depleted the human capacity and the legacy has been the significant skill and low capacity and deficiencies in the public service. These undermine the ability of the public service to implement government policies and programmes. While there are a few training centres (e.g. the Government Accountancy Training Centre and the Public Service Training Centre), these are very embryonic and need significant support to bring them up to a standard to meet the capacity challenges and needs in terms of curriculum development, training of trainers, management development, learning resources and logistic support. The mode of delivery of training has largely been in the form of external programs with limited impact since only a few officials benefit at a time. While post conflict countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone provide examples of rebuilding public administration institutions, South Sudan is starting from the scratch and has both the opportunity to be innovative but also the challenge of low capacity base. Public Disclosure Copy The transition from leading a rebel movement to victory and independence, to political and administrative leadership of a new nation would need a new orientation towards strategic leadership and management for development outcomes: Having emerged from the long years of conflict, there is need for management and leadership development for both the political and administrative leadership in government and the public service in general. The experience of post conflict countries where rebel movements transformed to ruling parties that have been able to transform their economies and achieve promising development outcomes (e.g. Rwanda, Ethiopia, Vietnam etc ), show the transition is not an easy one and needs significant re-orientation. The transformation to strong visionary leadership with development focus has been one of the key characteristics of countries that have been relatively successful in improving development outcomes for citizens. South Sudan is in a relatively strong position to do better, given its oil resources if the leadership can make this transition in orientation and focus on long term development. As a young nation, there is need for groom upcoming leaders with various skills and competencies in leadership and administration. There have been discussions within different parts of Government on setting up a Management Development Institute (MOLPSHRD) or School of Government (Office of the President) to provide and institutional base to address the current and future needs of public administration and leadership in South Sudan on a more sustainable basis. The proposed project will seek to reconcile these two options with the relevant key stakeholders and will support such an initiative and development of leadership programs for both the administrative and political Page 5 of 12 leadership. It will do this in collaboration with the regional management development institutes (e.g. Kenya School of Government, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration), the World Bank Institute and the UK School of Government. Public Disclosure Copy Relationship to CAS In 2011, the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) adopted the South Sudan Development Plan (SSDP) 2011-2013) , which states the country's strategies for sustainable growth and development. A Medium Term Capacity Development Strategy (MTCDS) was developed to help prioritize capacity development objectives and needs. Sector capacity development objectives set out the details of planned capacity development needs in key sectors broadly classified under the Governance, Conflict Prevention and Security, Social and Humanitarian and Economic Pillars of the SSDP. The Bank’s strategy and this proposed project support the SSDP. The Bank’s Interim Strategy Note (2013-2014) for South Sudan, has the overarching focus in the coming years to help the country move from fragility to stability by beginning to lay the foundations for effective and accountable institutions. It recognizes the need to address sustainable institutional development and strengthening, and the capacity deficits in South Sudan's public service. The Bank’s capacity building support would focus on the longer-term endeavour of building legitimate institutions that can mitigate the drivers of instability. The ISN directly links to the SSDP, which targets state & nation building, including peace-building and rapid economic development as mutually reinforcing objectives. The Governance Pillar of the SSDP identifies the strengthening of institutional and human resource capacity as one of the five top priorities. The Government has also developed a Medium Term Capacity Development Strategy (MTCDS) that defines the road map for formulation of long term public service capacity development strategy. The Bank will complement and add value to the Government's and other development partners’ efforts to addressing the institutional development and capacity building deficits in South Sudan based on its comparative advantage. Public Disclosure Copy The World Bank involvement in South Sudan is also not new and the project builds on work on the PFM and human resources management under the LICUS, Core Fiduciary and CABHIRD projects that were implemented under the umbrella of the MDTF-SS. The World Bank also brings world- wide lessons and experience to the benefit of South Sudan. II. Proposed Development Objective(s) Proposed Development Objective(s) (From PCN) The proposed project development objective is to support the development and strengthening of the capacities of core institutions for effective and transparent performance of core public finance management and human resources management functions in government. Key Results (From PCN) The main outcomes include (i) enhanced performance in core PFM functions across relevant institutions, (ii) enhanced performance of key human resource functions (iii ) fully operational human resource development/ training center and (iv) improved monitoring and evaluation in selected government institutions and programs. The PFM and HRM functions to be strengthened will be detailed in the subsequent sections. The achievement of the outcomes shall be measured by the following indicators: (i) timely publication of annual financial statements and annual audited reports as required by relevant laws; Page 6 of 12 (ii) improved fiscal policy formulation and budget execution (iii) Publication of all contracts above agreed threshold (iv) the Human Resource Training Center is functional and achieve cost recovery targets; (v) improved establishment controls and records management in pilot ministries Public Disclosure Copy III. Preliminary Description Concept Description The project will have three technical components and a project management unit as below:- Component A: Strengthening Core Economic and Financial Functions of Government: This component will provide two flexible options and approaches depending on the financial envelope and the willingness of other partners to and jointly fund the project with the Bank. Preliminary sub- component activities have been selected following a stakeholder assessment and focuses where the Bank will have more comparative advantage in terms of avoiding duplication and realization of value addition within the available resource envelope of money. Many development partners/donors have support for local government level PFM, with little support targeted to critical PFM activities. For effective functioning in financial management in procurement, Medium Term Financial Frameworks and related accountability and transparency activities, these have been suggested to be the areas of intervention for the IDCBP. Further discussions shall be undertaken with the MOFEP, line agencies and development partners to refine activities during project preparation. Sub-Component A.1: Budget planning, execution, accounting and reporting. This sub-component support will include development and implementation of medium term and policy based budgeting as an important aspect of enhancing the budget planning, execution and monitoring processes as well as the discipline in allocating, implementing and accounting for resources according to identified national plans and priorities. Specific activities will include support to strengthen accounting and reporting, including building staff capacity. The issues facing South Sudan create a greater degree of complexity for a Medium Term Financial Framework (MTFF) than one would normally find. First, the austerity pressures will remain through the Public Disclosure Copy remainder of 2013 and possibly longer. Second, the renewed flow of oil will create budget pressures as more revenue becomes available, but oil revenue will decline over time. Finally there are the additional expenditure pressures such as repayment of domestic and possibly international loans and pensions. Medium term and even longer term analysis is critical to addressing the multiple goals of the country's needs, fiscal stabilization, and saving or investing for future generations. The MTFF should use the oil revenue analysis discussed above as a starting point, but take the analysis further over the medium term. The benchmark oil price and forecast of oil prices and production, along with non-oil revenue will be the main determinants of the potential. Medium-term budget envelope. Medium term and policy based budgeting is the least supported by development partners and still very nascent. Currently, the support, though minimal has been through the Budget Support Initiative (BSI) funded by DFID. Initial pilot for this would target five line Ministries as a starting point and would be rolled over to other Ministries in future. The BSI support has mainly been centralised in MOFEP. Expected outcomes will include: (i) Timely preparation and submission of budget to the parliament, (ii) Timely publication of annual financial statements (iii) Produce quarterly budget execution reports that include revenue and expenditure outturns. Sub-Component A.2: Strengthening the Analytical Capacity of PAC and Parliamentary Budget Page 7 of 12 Office in the NLA and the Front Office of the Minister of Finance. This component will include setting up of a Parliamentary Budget Office. The budget office is Public Disclosure Copy supposed to produce objective budgetary analysis and fiscal and programmatic information for legislators. The case for a non-partisan budget office rests on the assumption that legislatures need a source of information and analysis independent from the executive to effectively execute its legislative and oversight functions. This role can include participation in the drafting, approval, implementation and auditing of the national budget. Enhancing the legislature’s power of the purse is embedded in the broader goal of improving good governance. The support here will follow the LICUS and SPF. The Bank has a comparative advantage here since this area has little support from other donors. The Front Office of the Minister requires dedicated support in policy analysis and advice, as well as effective feedback mechanism in response to and management of policy issues as they arise. Currently, though this is happening, it is not systematic and effective. It therefore becomes imperative to provide the relevant Technical Assistance, in terms of the relevant structure, support staff and funding where necessary. The SPF under preparation will provide initial support for selected activities which the project will continue after effectiveness. The SPF will also provide a stop gap support to the front office of Minister of Finance in reorganization and review of structures and support to relevant financial and budget committees in the Parliament. The outcome indicators include: (i) National budget is aligned with the stated government priorities in the national development plan; (ii) Parliamentary Budget Office fully set up and functional; and (iii) Effective policy management in the Front Office of the MoFEP. Sub-Component A.3: Selected public procurement reforms and capacity building which includes, inter alia: rolling out of implementation of procurement law to sub-national level; development of procurement regulations and related procurement tools; support to establish a procurement cadre in Public Disclosure Copy the civil service ; procurement capacity building including development of modules on various aspects of procurement, procurement planning and audit, records management, contract management and oversight; logistics and equipment support. The key indicators to measure achievement will include (i) increased local procurement capacity, (ii) percentage of public contracts above agreed threshold that are competitively awarded and (iii) percentage of public contracts above an agreed threshold that are published. Sub-Component A.4: Audit and oversight. Activities under this sub-component will provide flexible support to enhancing a Risk Based Internal Audit function and strengthening external audit functions and capacity building to carry out regular and specialized audit functions, establishment of audit committees in pilot five MDAs to follow up audit recommendations. Support will also be provided to the Public Accounts Committee of the NLA. The key measurable indicators here will include (i) Reduction in audit backlog –external, (ii) External audit reports prepared and published in a timely manner in accordance with the current regulations (iii) Internal audit units and committees established and functional in 5 ministries. With the IDA financing only, support will concentrate on the Federal level rather than the States to make any meaningful difference. However, States may be included in selected capacity building activities such as procurement training. From the stakeholders’ assessment, there is a substantial concentration of development partners at the sub-national levels (especially the counties) rather than Page 8 of 12 at the States level. The Bank, through the Local Government Service Delivery Project, will be providing basic PFM trainings to counties and below. The Project will concentrate on the Federal level and reach out to select States rather than the Counties. This is because it is best to realise Public Disclosure Copy effectiveness at the centre which can easily be rolled to the sub-national levels. Component B: Results-based M&E in Core Government Institutions M&E in government functions and programs is weak and tend to emphasise project monitoring, with little or no evaluation. This component is partly in response to specific request for the Office of President and as a follow up to an M&E workshop for senior government officials in June 2013. It is also to develop a results orientation and culture in the public service. One of the key challenges is how to monitor and measure the outcome of public expenditures on government programs and projects, especially in big spending ministries. This component will help to address these challenges by strengthening the capacity of government to effectively allocate resources, development of M&E strategies to track outcomes of government programs and improve the quality of service delivery, using evidence generated from regular evaluation of programs. The focus will be on improving the legal and institutional framework for results-based M&E and building the institutional capacity for effective monitoring and management of development outcomes. It will support activities related to (a) diagnosis of existing M&E systems; (b) design and implementation of a new M&E system; (c) formulation of policies and drafting of enabling regulations; (d) training and skills development for staff of core economic and social sectors; and (e) pilot evaluations and service delivery satisfaction surveys for key public services. Component C: Strengthening Institutions for Human Resource Management and Development The Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development has developed a five year plan and the proposed project would support implementation of key aspects of the plan. Based on discussions with the Ministry, this would include Sub-component C.1: Support to the establishment of the South Sudan Institute of Public Public Disclosure Copy Administration. This is part of the South Sudan Development Plan but has no funds allocated to establish it due to the current financial situation. GRSS and DPs currently spend significant resources to train people outside South Sudan. The development of the Institute will be taken in phases. The first phase which this project will support will involve making the current Human Resource Training Centre (built with funding from AfDB) operational/functional as part of a future public service training/ management development institute. This will include support in the development of policy framework, setting up a management team and hiring staff, development of training modules, training of trainers, provision of teaching and learning resources, setting up twining arrangements etc. Expansion of current site or construction of a new site would be considered as part of a future phase once decisions are made on location and there is clear commitment of GRSS financial contribution. Here, focus on skills and knowledge transfer would be leadership and management training for managers, including learning how to manage staff, mentor, coach, and build individual motivation and team spirit, reinforce on the job what staff have learned in training, model and reinforce integrity and ethical behaviour, take decisions and be accountable, how and when to delegate, and implement and manage new or changed systems, will be key. Communications skills, including, for example, through regular unit/team meetings, will be emphasized. Agency-specific specialized training will be provided for middle to higher-level specialized staff. International advisers will be expected to combine on-the-job training of national counterparts with local classroom training, mentoring and coaching, self-learning techniques, and overseas study tours and Page 9 of 12 training, as appropriate, with the aim of gradually transferring in-line duties completely to national staff and eventually phasing out the need for advisory assistance. No any other donor is the running of the Centre and hence the Bank’s involvement. This is the envisaged long term in-house solution Public Disclosure Copy to capacity building in the country. Component C.2: Strengthening the Policy Unit for the MoLPSHRD and Continuity of Core Skills Training. The Ministry has a policy unit but it currently headed and run by one person and is not fully structured. Technical support in structuring and training in requisite technical skills shall be facilitated. The CBTF III will not continue with the Core Skills training for lower cadre civil servants- these include training in, program management, report writing and presentational skills, basic office administration, accounting and book-keeping, computer applications (e.g., spread sheets, word processing) and English. This was being funded by the CBTF II but the funding comes to an end in January 2014.The Ministry has requested the Bank to support the completion of rolling of the tra ining to civil servants in the States that did not receive this training – about 5 States. Sub-Component C.3: Records Management. The earlier support to the Ministry was from the Government of Kenya. However, it has not been comprehensive enough to cover the Ministry including the rest of the Federal Ministries. There is an urgent need to scale up this support and in particular, introduce electronic records management system. The Bank will hold further discussions with the Government of Kenya to agree on areas of support and partnership. Sub-Component C.4: Support to Diaspora return Program As a short term measure to revamping the needed capacities in the public sector. This will target the return of South Sudanese professionals from the diaspora to fill important professional gaps as a Public Disclosure Copy medium term strategy while other capacity building efforts are on-going. Focus on addressing the short term capacity needs through the quick infusions of skilled expertise, both national (including South Sudanese in the diaspora) and international, with incentives and systems to support them, and support to the formulation of long‐term capacity development strategy that integrates technical expertise with capacities to plan, manage and deliver, as well as the ‘soft’ skills that promote dialogue, trust and long term consensus‐building, as well as behavioural change shall be considered in the design. Ramping up capacity in the short term is crucial; however, while undertaking investments in human development within South Sudan, it is important to secure the supply of qualified, young professionals over the medium term. The MoLPHRD initiated the diaspora desk idea through UNDP, but this did not kick –start as required due to funding shortfall as well as lack of an appropriate strategy. UNDP currently supports the IGAD Regional Initiative of twinning national staff with civil servants from IGAD countries in order to pass knowledge and skills. However, emerging lessons indicate that the program is not working well because identified national twins have inadequate or lack the appropriate educational training to be able to easy benefit from the twinning. This project intends to be highly selective in this process, focusing on critical functional needs of government first. Component D: Project Management, Coordination and Impact Evaluation This component will support project management and coordination at the national level, including Page 10 of 12 providing technical and capacity building support for project financial management and procurement; M&E impact evaluation, project communication and oversight. It will also support project external audit and operating and logistic support to the project management unit to be Public Disclosure Copy located in MoLPSHRD. IV. Safeguard Policies that might apply Safeguard Policies Triggered by the Project Yes No TBD Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01 ✖ Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 ✖ Forests OP/BP 4.36 ✖ Pest Management OP 4.09 ✖ Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 ✖ Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 ✖ Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 ✖ Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 ✖ Projects on International Waterways OP/BP 7.50 ✖ Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 ✖ V. Financing (in USD Million) Total Project Cost: 15.00 Total Bank Financing: 15.00 Total Cofinancing: Financing Gap: 0.00 Financing Source Amount BORROWER/RECIPIENT 0.00 International Development Association (IDA) 15.00 Public Disclosure Copy Total 15.00 VI. Contact point World Bank Contact: George Addo Larbi Title: Lead Public Sector Management Specialist Tel: 5368+6506 / Email: glarbi@worldbank.org Borrower/Client/Recipient Name: Minstry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development Contact: Mr. Moses Mabior Title: Director, Aid Coordination Tel: 211912306022 Email: Implementing Agencies Page 11 of 12 Name: Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Contact: Ms. Angeth Acol De Dut Title: Undersecretary Public Disclosure Copy Tel: 211956324250 Email: angethdedut@yahoo.co.uk VII. For more information contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-4500 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/infoshop Public Disclosure Copy Page 12 of 12