The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) REPORT NO.: RES34133 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF DRC-STATISTICS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT APPROVED ON AUGUST 28, 2015 TO MINISTRY OF FINANCES POVERTY AND EQUITY AFRICA Regional Vice President: Hafez M. H. Ghanem Country Director: Jean-Christophe Carret Senior Global Practice Director: Carolina Sanchez Practice Manager/Manager: Pierella Paci Task Team Leader: Yele Maweki Batana The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AfDB African Development Bank AFRISTAT Observatoire Economique et Statistique d’Afrique Subsharienne (Economic and Statistical Observatory of Sub-Saharan Africa) BCR Bureau Central du Recensement BTS Bulletin of Statistics CAPESA Centre d'Appui aux Ecoles de Statistique Africaines CAPI Computer-Assisted Personal Interview CD Country Director CEMAC Central African Economic and Monetary Community CPI Consumer Price Index CWIQ Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire Surveys DGDA Direction Générale des Douanes et Accise (General Directorat of Customs) DRC Democratic Republic of Congo EPI Export Price Index FAO Food and Agriculture Organization GDP Gross Domestic Product GIS Geographic Information System HICP Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices HR Human Resources IDA International Development Agency INS Institut National des Statistiques (National Statistics Institute) IP Implementation Progress IPI Import Price Index ISR Implementation Status and Results Report IT Information Technology LSMS-ISA Living Standards Measurement surveys – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MTR Mid-Term Review NAC National Agricultural Census NAIS National Agricultural Information System NHICP National Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices NSS National Statistical System OCPI Congolese Poverty and Inequalities Observatory PCU Project Coordination Unit PDO Project Development Objective PDS Projet de Développement de la Statistique PPF Project Preparation Funds PPI Producer Price Index PRINS The DRC Catalytic Project to Strengthen the INS QUIBB Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire Surveys SDG Sustainable Development Goal SISE Système Intégré des Statistiques d’Entreprise (Integrated Enterprise Statistics System) SNA System of National Accounting SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences STATA Statistics and Data The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) TA Technical Assistance UNDP United Nations Development Program UNFPA United Nations Population Fund US United States USD United States Dollar WPI Wholesale Price Index YP Young Professional The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) Note to Task Teams: The following sections are system generated and can only be edited online in the Portal. BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P150148 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Not Required (C) Not Required (C) Approval Date Current Closing Date 28-Aug-2015 31-Dec-2020 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency Ministry of Finances Institut National de la Statistique (INS) Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The development objective of this project is to strengthen the capacity of the National Statistical System to produce and disseminate core economic and social statistics.   OPS_TABLE_PDO_CURRENTPDO Summary Status of Financing Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IDA-D0880 28-Aug-2015 27-Oct-2015 20-Jun-2016 31-Dec-2020 45.00 14.59 30.04 The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No Note to Task Teams: End of system generated content, document is editable from here. I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING A. Overall Progress 1. Based on the latest Mid-Term Review (MTR) and the Implementation Status Report (ISR), the progress towards the achieving the Project Development Objectives (PDO) is maintained Moderately Unsatisfactory, and the Implementation Progress (IP) is also maintained as Moderately Unsatisfactory. The low performance of the project is mainly due to the lack of progress of activities under the Population and Housing Census which makes up to 40% of the project’s total budget and has delayed other key statistical operations. The stagnation of census activities also delayed the launching of household surveys which require updated mapping and sample frames. 2. Regarding the first Component “Data Production, Dissemination and Use to strengthen the statistical infrastructure for poverty and economic monitoring”, there has been little progress since the project started in August 2015. The Population Census Cartography represents 40 percent of the total budget of the project, but activities were limited to the equipment of the BCR to conduct the pilot mapping of the Population Census. This also delayed the implementation of the system of surveys on household living conditions by not providing an updated master sample. However, an urban poverty survey was completed as pilot in Kinshasa using a digital mapping to develop the sampling frame. Regarding the Enterprise Census, all the technical documents including the budget, methodological documents, procedural manuals and detailed activities plan have been prepared. Moreover, a massive quantity of hardware equipment was purchased by the project and delivered to the INS headquarters. 3. For activities under the component of Human Resources Development Management, some progress was made in the subcomponent on staffing and policies. The National Institute of Statistics (INS) has validated the critical action plan for revitalizing the HR function. Drafts of statutes, rules and procedural manuals are available and are awaiting final validation. Under the Support for the development of the National Statistics Schools, the institutional review of the three statistics schools (Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Goma) was completed which makes possible the implementation of activities. To train new statisticians and make them available, the INS in collaboration with a statistical center CAPESA prepared Congolese Students to undertake the regional statistics school tests, with currently 30 students in these schools financed by the project. Finally, the implementation of subcomponent “Young Professionals Program” has not started, due to unfulfilled disbursement condition that requires the nomination of the Director General of the Project Implementation Entity by presidential decree. 4. There is no overdue audit report. B. Rationale for Restructuring The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) 5. The proposed changes under this project restructuring will not affect the PDO. Rather, the new activities will help accelerating the execution of other project activities and the achievement of the objectives. 6. Restructuring the project by reallocating resources to viable activities will enable the project to improve implementation and achieve its development objectives. The project has been in problem status for over 10 months and the two and a half years after project effectiveness, project disbursement rate is only 32 percent. The main reason for the slow implementation of activities is related to lack of progress on the Population and Housing Census. The lack of progress in the cartography, resulting in an unavailability of an updated master sample, prevented the project from conducting other major data collection activities such as national household surveys. Through this restructuring, resources initially planned for the Population and Housing Census will be reallocated to finance activities that can be realistically carried out before the project’s closing date in end December 2020. Some new activities will be also considered based on the needs of the Client, and the concern to effectively implement some other critical activities. Consequently, funds will be reallocated within disbursement categories because of changes in activities within the project components. 7. Moreover, as agreed by the Government Counterpart and the World Bank, many indicators and intermediate results will be reformulated. The restructuring of the project offers the opportunity to revise the intermediate outcome indicators, the current descriptions of which do not make it possible to track progress on the objectives in the initial project paper. New indicators will be also introduced to monitor new activities. 8. Finally, there is not disbursement under the Young Professional Program because of the condition that links the disbursement to the reception by IDA of evidence that a Director General of the Project Implementing Entity has been confirmed in form and substance satisfactory to the Association, a condition that has never been fulfilled. The consequence is that this situation has contributed directly and indirectly to the low disbursement of the whole project. Directly, there is zero disbursement since the implementation of the study. The indirect consequence is the impossibility to hire Congolese students who have received scholarships from the project and have completed their studies, to work with INS to carry out and speed up the execution of the project activities. Given the little time remaining, this activity would not be implemented reasonably through this subcomponent following the process designed in the initial project. The solution is then to cancel this activity and to propose proper alternative in the staffing subcomponent without compromising the achievement of the PDO. II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES 9. The proposed restructuring includes the following four areas: (a) New activities and intra-component reallocation, (b) changes in key result indicators, and (c) Reallocation between disbursement categories. A. New activities and intra-component reallocation 10. Although the total budget allocation of the two components does not change, there are significant changes within the components with the reallocation of resources previously allocated to the Population and Habitat Census to the activities of the other subcomponents and to new activities. Most changes will happen in the Component 1: Data production, Dissemination and Use (USD 35.1 million). i. Sub-component 1.1: Technical Assistance to the population and housing census (US$ 2.10 million): The amount under this sub-component will reduce from US$ 14 million to US$ 2.1 million. The project had already financed (i) the procurement of motorcycles for field activities; (ii) equip the GIS laboratory of the census office, (iii) the quality The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) assurance of the census by the PDS-UNFPA convention and (iv) technical assistance of GIS and CAPI experts. Although the project will stop funding the Census activities, a small technical assistance will remain to support the census office (Bureau Central du Recensement, BCR) for completing the cartography and analysis of results. ii. Sub-component 1.2: Household surveys (US$ 10.0 million): The budget of this sub-component will increase from 8.25 to US$ 10 million, with the addition of a new activity whose purpose is to design a georeferenced area sample frame for household surveys. The 123 survey and system of light household surveys will remain the other part of the activities of this sub-component. iii. Sub-component 1.3: Agriculture census and surveys (US$ 10.0 million): This sub-component will remain unchanged except a small increase of its budget from 9.8 to US$ 10 million. iv. Sub-component 1.4: Economic Statistics (US$ 2.65): This new sub-component will include the current Sub- component 1.4 “National Accounts Statistics”, and two other activities: the price statistics and the external trade statistics. In fact, the project will consolidate previous achievements in price statistics by financing the implementation of the action plan. It will also support the validation and publication of 2005-2018 foreign exchange data series, the procurement of Eurotrace software, and the design and implementation of cross-border exchanges surveys. v. Sub-component 1.5: Improving IT, Equipment and Dissemination (US$ 2.35 million): It will be reformulated from the current sub-component 1.5 “Improving IT and Equipment for Data Production and Diffusion”, with an increased budget from 1.25 to US$ 2.35 million. However, the project will finance this activity under the condition that the World Bank receives evidence of the reimbursement of the missing equipment purchased by the project under the Enterprise Census. A new activity is added with the objective to improve INS work environment by furnishing the new building completed under the PRINS project. The other new activity is the production of Statistical Yearbooks and Quarterly Bulletins of Statistics. vi. Sub-component 1.6: Enterprise Census (US$6 million): The activity previously included in the current sub- component 1.4 “National Accounts Statistics” will now be considered as a separate component with an allocation of US$ 6 million. Especially, the project will build on previous achievements including PRINS-project support to support the data collection phase of the Enterprise Census. vii. Sub-component 1.7: Improving Public Finance Statistics (US$ 2 million): This sub-component is about new activities that aim to support the strengthening of the production and dissemination systems of public finance statistics, especially Government revenue in the DRC with a view to improve the design and ensure a better monitoring of the outcomes of fiscal policy. Priority areas include the production of statistics in line with international standards, the capacity building for data-generating public administration, the functionality of existing formal consultations, and the development and deployment of solution. 11. The Component 2: Human resources development and management (USD 9.9 million) will experience less change than the first one. i. Sub-components 2.1 “Staffing and Policies (US$ 1.5 million)”: Under this subcomponent, and as new activity, a pool of young contract workers will be selected based on job profiles for which staffing is needed through a transparent competitive process, and on the needs of the implementation of project’s activities. The budget of the sub-component will be increase to US$ 1.5 million. The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) ii. Sub-components 2.2 “Support for the Development of the National Statistics Schools (US$ 3.0 million)”: It will remain unchanged. iii. Sub-component 2.3 “Scholarship program for the training of Congolese in the regional and national statistics and demography schools and short-term training related to statistics (US$ 2.1 million)”: The budget of this sub- component will increase by a million at the expense of the subcomponent 2.4. Given that the project just has 2 years left, it will not be possible under this activity to finance over 2-year training program. To continue strengthen staff capacity of the INS, the project will focus short time training in GIS and other training in areas related to statistics like M&E, project management, data analysis, survey data processing etc. iv. Sub-component 2.4 “Young Professionals Program (US$ 2 million)”: This sub-component will be removed. v. Sub-component 2.5 “Project management (US$ 3.30 million)”: This component will remain unchanged. B. Key result indicators 12. Given the change within components and the introduction of new activities, the current intermediate indicators have been reformulated to better capture progress in activities new indicators have been introduced, while some existing indicators will be revised or dropped. 13. The first two PDO indicators will be revised to account for the delay caused by the population census, while the third will be removed because it appears more like an intermediate results indicator. 14. The summary of proposed changes is presented in the table below: Indicators Change Rationale PDO indicators  Number of statistical products completed Revised as follows: “Number of statistical products and published by the INS following completed and published by the INS following international standards including the (i) international standards including the (i) master sample, About the change in census cartography and associated data (ii) agricultural census, (iii) household survey poverty the first indicator, the (inventory of public infrastructure; indices), (iv) National Accounts, (v) GDP and Input- census cartography population size), (ii) master sample, (iii) output tables, (vi) Yearly statistical book and (vii) and associated data agricultural census, (iv) household survey Consumer Price Index”. The end target also is decreased will be removed from poverty indices), (v) National Accounts, from 5 to 4 statistical products. (vi) GDP and Input-output tables, (vii) The second indicator Yearly statistical book and (viii) Consumer is made clearer. The Price Index. third indicator is removed because it  Number of statistical outputs with data Number of statistical outputs with data readily represents better an readily available to users through the data available to users through INS data portal. intermediate results portal. indicator.  Number of qualified staffs working for the NSS This PDO indicator is removed Component 1: Intermediate results indicators The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148)  Overall DRC Statistical Capacity Score This indicator is removed The first indicator is removed because its  Base Year of Consumer Price Index is This sub-indicator is removed significant part is updated determined by some aspects non-covered  A Master sample Frame is developed from This sub-indicator is removed by the project. In the Census Cartography addition, the possible effects from the  Agricultural survey is implemented This sub-indicator is removed project activities may take place well after  Base Year of National Account is updated This sub-indicator is removed the end of the project. As a result, the sub-  Agricultural Census is implemented This sub-indicator is removed indicators will be removed and most of  Living Standards Measurement Study – them refined and Integrated Surveys on Agriculture is This sub-indicator is removed reintroduced as new implemented indicators.  Datasets Available on INS website This indicator is removed  Annual Reports available on INS website Revised as follow: “Number of routine statistical This revision is guided publications on the INS website”. The end target by the desire to include increases from 5 to 15. all statistical publications.  LSMS-ISA surveys completed for: (i) Kinshasa, and (ii) DRC This indicator is new  A master sample frame is developed This indicator is new  Price indexes are calculated with 2012 as the base year This indicator is new  Quality of the 2015 E-QUIBB database certified This indicator is new New indicators are  National accounts prepared in accordance introduced to track the with SNA 2008 This indicator is new new activities, but also to provide more  Availability of an up-to-date database on information for household living conditions at national This indicator is new monitoring the level progress of current activities.  A master sample for enterprise statistics is This indicator is new developed  The new building of the INS is equipped This indicator is new  INS has an action plan to implement the national data dissemination policy This indicator is new The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148)  Regular Production of Central Government Revenue Statistics compliant with 2014 This indicator is new GFS Manual Component 2: Intermediate indicators  Number of technical training courses Revised as follows: “Curricula of subjects taught in the developed and validated by National schools of statistics updated in accordance with the Schools of statistics standards of the African Schools of Statistics” New indicators are introduced while  Number of statisticians or equivalent Revised as follows: “Number of scholarships funded by current indicators are graduated from National and Regional the project (including women)” refined to better Statistics or Demography Schools with the capture the progress. project’s support The end target of the total number of YPs is  Total number of Young Contract Workers Given the delay in the implementation, he end target is reduced because of recruited and financed by the project reduced to 30 the delay induced by the unmet  Number of statistics technicians trained in disbursement national statistics schools (including condition women) This indicator is new C. Reallocation between disbursement categories Given changes within components there will be a necessary reallocation between disbursement categories. The Category 2 (Goods, non-consulting services, consultants’ services, Operating Costs, Training and Workshops for Components 1.1 of the Project) will be reduce to the expenditure already disbursed in the favor of an increase in the Category 1 (Goods, non-consulting services, consultants’ services, Operating Costs, Training and Workshops for Components 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3(a), 2.3(b)(ii) and 2.5 of the Project), while a new Category (Category 6, Goods, non-consulting services, consultants’ services, Operating Costs, Training and Workshops for Components 1.6 and 1.7 of the Project) will be defined. The Category 4 (Young Professionals Program under Component 2.4 of the Project) will be removed in favor of the Category 2 and the Category 3 (Scholarship under Component 2.3(b)(i) of the Project). In all, the amounts of all categories have changed, except for the Category 5 (Refund of Preparation Advance). Note to Task Teams: The following sections are system generated and can only be edited online in the Portal. I. SUMMARY OF CHANGES Changed Not Changed Results Framework ✔ Components and Cost ✔ Reallocation between Disbursement Categories ✔ Implementing Agency ✔ The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) DDO Status ✔ Project's Development Objectives ✔ Loan Closing Date(s) ✔ Cancellations Proposed ✔ Disbursements Arrangements ✔ Disbursement Estimates ✔ Overall Risk Rating ✔ Safeguard Policies Triggered ✔ EA category ✔ Legal Covenants ✔ Institutional Arrangements ✔ Financial Management ✔ Procurement ✔ Implementation Schedule ✔ Other Change(s) ✔ Economic and Financial Analysis ✔ Technical Analysis ✔ Social Analysis ✔ Environmental Analysis ✔ IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_COMPONENTS_TABLE COMPONENTS Current Current Proposed Proposed Cost Action Component Name Component Name Cost (US$M) (US$M) Component 1: Data Component 1: Data Production, 35.10 No Change Production, Dissemination and 35.10 Dissemination and Use Use Component 2: Human Component 2: Human Resources 9.90 No Change Resources Development and 9.90 Development and Management Management TOTAL 45.00 45.00 The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_REALLOCATION _TABLE REALLOCATION BETWEEN DISBURSEMENT CATEGORIES Financing % Current Allocation Actuals + Committed Proposed Allocation (Type Total) Current Proposed IDA-D0880-001 | Currency: XDR Current Expenditure Category: G/NCS/C/OC/T/WP 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, iLap Category Sequence No: 1 2.3(a), 2.3(b)(ii), 2.5 15,600,000.00 5,557,692.14 25,199,470.00 100.00 100.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 2 Current Expenditure Category: G/NCS/CS/OC/TR/WKSHP COMP. 1.1, 9,900,000.00 1,764,625.59 1,800,000.00 100.00 100.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 3 Current Expenditure Category: SCHOLARSHIP COMP. 2.3(b)(i) 800,000.00 586,473.54 1,500,000.00 100.00 100.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 4 Current Expenditure Category: YOUNG PROF. PROGRAM COMP. 2.4 1,400,000.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 100.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 5 Current Expenditure Category: PPF REFINANCING 4,300,000.00 529.18 530.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 6 Current Expenditure Category: G/NCS/C/OC/T/WP 1.6, 1.7 0.00 0.00 3,500,000.00 100 Total 32,000,000.00 7,909,320.45 32,000,000.00 . The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) . Results framework COUNTRY: Congo, Democratic Republic of DRC-Statistics Development Project Project Development Objectives(s) The development objective of this project is to strengthen the capacity of the National Statistical System to produce and disseminate core economic and social statistics.   Project Development Objective Indicators by Objectives/ Outcomes RESULT_FRAME_TBL_PDO Indicator Name DLI Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 To strengthen the capacity of the NSS to produce and disseminate core economic and social statistics Number of statistical products completed and published by 0.00 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 the INS following international standards (Number) Rationale: Action: This indicator has been The census cartography and associated data will be removed from the statistical products to be completed and published by the INS. The end target will be Revised then revised downwards from 5 to 4. Number of statistical outputs with data readily available to 1.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 5.00 6.00 users through INS data portal (Number) Action: This indicator has been Revised The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_PDO Indicator Name DLI Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 Number of qualified staff 151.00 155.00 180.00 200.00 220.00 240.00 working for the NSS (Number) Rationale: Action: This indicator has been This indicator is removed because it is more an intermediate results indicator. Marked for Deletion PDO Table SPACE Intermediate Results Indicators by Components RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name DLI Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 Component 1: Data Production, Dissemination and Use Overall DRC Statistical Capacity 56.70 50.00 51.00 52.00 53.00 61.00 score (Number) Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion Base Year of Consumer Price Index is updated No No Yes Yes Yes Yes (Yes/No) Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion A Master sample Frame is developed from the Census No No No Yes Yes Yes Cartography (Yes/No) The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name DLI Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion Agricultural survey is No No No Yes Yes Yes implemented (Yes/No) Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion Base Year of National Account is updated No No No No No Yes (Yes/No) Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion Agricultural Census is No No No Yes Yes Yes implemented (Yes/No) Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on No No No No No Yes Agriculture is implemented (Yes/No) Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion Datasets available on INS 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 website (Number) Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name DLI Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 Number of routine statistical publications on the INS website 0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 10.00 15.00 (Number) Action: This indicator has been Revised LSMS-ISA surveys completed for: (i) Kinshasa, and (ii) DRC 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00 1.00 2.00 (Number) Action: This indicator is New A Master sample Frame is No No No No Yes Yes developed (Yes/No) Action: This indicator is New Price Indexes are calculated with 2012 as the base year No No No No Yes Yes (Yes/No) Action: This indicator is New A sampling frame of agricultural households is No No No No Yes Yes developped (Yes/No) Action: This indicator is New Quality of the 2015 E-QUIBB No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes database certified (Yes/No) Action: This indicator is New National Accounts prepared in accordance with SNA2008 No No No No Yes Yes (Yes/No) The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name DLI Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 Action: This indicator is New Availability of an up-to-date database on household living No No No No No Yes conditions at national level (Yes/No) Action: This indicator is New A master sample for enterprise No No No No Yes Yes statistics is developed (Yes/No) Action: This indicator is New The new building of the INS is No No No No Yes Yes equipped (Yes/No) Action: This indicator is New INS has an action plan to implement the national data No No No No Yes Yes dissemination policy (Yes/No) Action: This indicator is New Regular Production of Central Government Revenue Statistics 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 2.00 4.00 compliant with 2014 GFS Manual (Number) Action: This indicator is New Component 2: Human Resources Development and Management Curricula of subjects taught in the schools of statistics No No No No Yes Yes updated in accordance with The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name DLI Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 the standards of the African Schools of Statistics (Yes/No) Action: This indicator has been Revised Number of scholarships funded by the project (including 0.00 10.00 25.00 40.00 45.00 45.00 women) (Number) Action: This indicator has been Revised Total number of Young Contract Workers recruited 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 15.00 30.00 and financed by the project (Number) Action: This indicator has been Revised Number of statistics technicians trained in national 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 180.00 statistics schools (including women) (Number) Action: This indicator is New IO Table SPACE The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) Annex 1: Detailed Description of Modified or New Project Activities The project activities will focus on areas that strengthen: (i) the statistical infrastructure that is needed for better monitoring poverty reduction and economic progress more broadly, and (ii) the human resources development and management, to create a favorable environment at the INS to attract and retain qualified and relevant staff. Component 1: Data Production, Dissemination and Use to strengthen the statistical infrastructure for poverty and economic monitoring (US$35.10 million) 20. This component will finance the implementation of a program of activities designed to improve the statistical infrastructure, and the quality and timeliness of national accounts statistics, agriculture statistics, and poverty and inequality statistics produced by the NSS. The component will also support the dissemination and use of statistical information. More specifically, this component of the project will support: (i) the population and housing census activities through a Technical Assistance; (ii) the implementation of a system of household surveys to monitor poverty and standard socioeconomic indicators; (iii) an agricultural census and annual agricultural production survey; (iv) an enterprise census; (v) methodological improvements in key data sources of National Accounts and Price statistics; (vi) the improvement of public finance statistics production; and (vii) improving IT, Equipment data and dissemination. Sub-component 1.1: Technical Assistance to the population and housing census (US$2.10 million) A population and housing census provides necessary information for standard poverty monitoring indicators, provides the master sampling frame for household surveys, and poverty maps and supports sector planning and monitoring. The population census consists of several phases including cartography, pilot census, enumeration and data processing, as shown in. The total cost of the census is estimated at around US$140 million. The cartography will be based on contemporary practices in census cartography using geographic information systems to collect geographical coordinates of all dwellings as well as all social infrastructure such as schools, health facilities, markets, community clean water deliverance points, etc. The DRC Catalytic Project to Strengthen the INS (PRINS)-Project (P125509) has emphasized two key phases of the census that will deliver concrete and sustainable results for the country statistical infrastructure: the cartography phase and the pilot census. The project had financed (i) the procurement of motorcycles for field activities; (ii) equip the GIS laboratory of the census office, (iii) the quality assurance of the census by the PDS-UNFPA convention and (iv) technical assistance of GIS and CAPI experts. Build on that, the project will finance technical assistance to support the census office (Bureau Central du Recensement, BCR) in the completion of the cartography and analysis of the results. Sub-component 1.2: Household surveys (US$10.0 million) (i) Design of a georeferenced area sample frame for household surveys (US$2.5 million) The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) The capacity of the statistical system of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is very weak and the gaps in terms of statistical data are enormous. Establishing an efficient and sustainable statistical system is necessary to better monitor of poverty reduction and economic progress more generally. In the DRC, the last population and housing census dates from 1984 and the next census in progress - the cartography has not started - does not allow to have a sample frame of enumeration areas for household surveys. Comprehensive information on land use is a source of data that can be used to quickly collect population data by random sampling. This sampling method is based on the use of spatial remote sensing (high-resolution satellite imagery) to build a sampling frame. to exploit the morphological information of the environment provided by satellite images to stratify an applicable area survey plan. socio-demographic surveys. Based on the experience of Kinshasa’s poverty survey, high-resolution satellite images will be used to overcome for the lack of population census. To this end, the project will recruit a firm to create of a georeferenced sampling frame for the entire DRC. High resolution satellite images procured by the project as part of the cartography of the population census and all the cartographic work carried out under project financing will serve as background information. During their assignment, the firm will train INS staff of the cartography department to ensure a transfer of knowledge to strengthen the capacity of the institute in the use of spatial remote sensing, the establishment, management and update of the geographic information system. (ii) 123 survey and system of light household survey (US$7.5 million) 23. The aim of this sub-component is to support the DRC to design and implement a coherent and financially sustainable system of household surveys to monitor household living conditions with a multi-topic questionnaire. The coherence of the system is required to ensure comparability of estimates over time and with other countries. The system will lay the foundation of a multi-year survey program consisting of The Living Standards Measurement Study - Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) type surveys representative at the sub- national level and collecting among other detailed information, data on household backgrounds, income sources, and consumption every four years. In addition, to allow for a regular monitoring of poverty levels and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the continuous survey program would include the realization of lighter Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire Survey (CWIQ-type) representative at the national level and urban areas to collect essential information for households’ welfare monitoring. 25. This sub-component will finance a complete, integrated LSMS-ISA survey. Preparatory work for Light Household surveys will be developed for implementation after 2020 for standard socioeconomic indicators monitoring. This will include the design of (i) methodological documents, (ii) survey’s questionnaires, (iii) sampling plans, (iv) budget estimates, (v) manuals for enumerator’s training, (ii) data entry programs, (ii) protocol and STATA/SPSS programs for data cleaning and analysis. The project will also finance the service of two long-term consultants (seasoned survey specialist and data analyst) who will be based in the INS in Kinshasa for four years to provide technical assistance to the institute in survey design and analysis. During their assignment, the consultants will train INS staff to ensure a transfer of knowledge to strengthen the capacity of the institute in survey design and micro-data analysis. Finally, the project will promote analysis of micro-data through trainings and knowledge products. In particular, the project will support The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) the Congolese Poverty and Inequalities Observatory (OCPI) in the production and dissemination of analysis of selected knowledge products, with a view to inform and stimulate public debate on evidence-based policy making. Sub-component 1.3: Agriculture census and surveys (US$10.0 million) This sub-component will finance the implementation of a system for the collection, processing and updating of agricultural statistics. Activities that will be supported are twofold: The National Agricultural Census (NAC), to be conducted by INS and the Ministry of Agriculture, and one annual agricultural production survey. The survey will be representative at the national level by province and agroecological zones to account for differences in seasons, crops, livestock, practices etc. More specifically, this component seeks to: (i) develop a master frame for a sample-based agricultural census; (ii) collect information on the sampled farmers through a basic questionnaire, which will be based on international standards set by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) but adjusted to the national reality of the DRC; (iii) develop the baseline for defining the sample frame from which national agriculture surveys will be conducted annually; (iv) disseminate the agricultural census results; (v) make unit record data publicly available; (vi) organize one annual agricultural production survey the year following the agriculture census and; (vii) lay the groundwork for the implementation of a National Agricultural Information System (NAIS). The reference master frame of the agriculture census will be enumeration areas from the results of the cartography of the population census that will be organized in 2016. Information to be collected during the census will be based on the modular approach recommended by FAO and presented in the diagram below. This modular approach encompasses a core census module based on complete enumeration or a large sample to provide key data, and one or more supplementary census modules to cover selected topics more in-depth. Typical structural data collected through the core module are characteristics of households, size of holdings, land tenure, land use, crop area harvested, irrigation, livestock numbers, labor and other agricultural inputs. The data will be collected from agricultural holdings, meaning all land or plots of land devoted wholly or partly to agricultural and/or livestock production, under the direction of a producer, regardless of size, status or land tenure. The census will cover both crops and animal species. Data will be mainly collected directly from households. However, other information will also be collected from communities such as on geography, roads, The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) electricity, health facilities and schools, presence of agricultural produce market and agricultural input suppliers, economic activities in the community, existence of farmers’ organizations, as well as measures of agricultural potential, and constraints. Furthermore, to ensure free access of data to users, the project will support the development in DRC of the Country STAT, a web-based information technology system for food and agriculture statistics at the national and subnational levels supported by the FAO. The database acts as a one stop center which centralizes and integrates the data coming from various sources and allows its harmonization with international standards while ensuring data quality and reliability. Sub-component 1.4: Economic Statistics (US$2.650 million) (i) National Accounts Statistics (US$1.5 million) This sub-component of the project will provide: (i) technical assistance and (ii) support to production and analysis of complementary data on businesses to update key macroeconomic aggregates. The technical assistance on national accounts is intended to improve the production and timeliness of national accounts with the new data sources coming from the household’s surveys, the agriculture census and the business census financed by the PRINS-project. In particular, the assistance will help to update the supply and use tables1 and to rebase GDP to take into account the new data sources. Finally, training will be provided to INS staff to ensure sustainability of national accounts production. The realization of the business census with the support of the PRINS-Project will pave the way for the production of more comprehensive business statistics to support the compilation of quality national accounts. Therefore, the current project will finance annual enterprise surveys to collect data from sampled enterprises in different sectors of the economy. The surveys will collect financial and non-financial information such as outputs, inputs, employment, production capacity utilization, finished product inventories, etc. to feed the production of national accounts. The implementation of the activities related to national accounts statistics will require the project to fund the services of long and short term consultants to provide technical assistance and to train INS staff in four specific areas: (i) validation of manuals, classifications of activities, products, institutional sectors and operations; (ii) baseline and additional statistical data collection; (iii) elaboration of national accounts in line with the 2008 SNA (base year and current year); (iv) retropolation of national accounts series for the period 2000 – 2018; (iv) analysis, publication and dissemination of results; (v) industrial production indices (volumes and prices) and (vi) the development of input-output tables and satellite accounts and their use for policy analysis. (ii) Price statistics (US$ 0.8 million) The Consumer Price Index is considered as one of the most important economic and social indicators established by National Statistical Offices around the world. This index is widely used as a macroeconomic indicator of 1The supply and use framework provides the most important macroeconomic aggregates such as GDP, value added, consumption, investment, imports and exports. The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) inflation, an instrument for targeting inflation and monitoring price stability by governments and central banks, and as a deflator in the National Accounts. National governments, central banks and international organizations attach great importance to the quality, accuracy and comparability of national CPIs because of trade and production globalization and market liberalization. The main price statistics are the CPI, Producer Price Index (PPI), Import Price Index (IPI), Export Price Index (EPI) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI). Among these, the INS produce weekly and monthly CPIs, and it is a national index. The weekly costumer price index is produced by the INS for the central bank to monitor inflation. In 2005, with the technical assistance of AFRISTAT, the INS has begun producing the index based on 2005 for Kinshasa as a reference. Since 2012, the INS produce weekly and monthly a harmonized CPI at a national level is published using the food basket and weights from the 2005 household survey (123 survey). With the support of the AfDB and European Union, all the 11-provincial departments of statistics have been equipped with data centers and Phoenix software have been installed with the concurrence of the multilateral surveillance framework for the convergence of the economies of Central African Economic and Monetary Community project. The project will help lay the foundation for producing price statistics that meet international quality standards. The INS benefited from technical assistance that developed an action plan to rebase the national CPI using data from the 2012 household survey (123 survey). Since June 2018, the INS received funds from the project to collect market prices in Kinshasa till the end of the year. The project will consolidate previous achievements and will finance the implementation of the action plan. This activity is part of (i) strengthening the NSS in the production and dissemination of timely, reliable and useful statistics for policy and decision-making; (ii) the multilateral surveillance framework for the convergence of the economies of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (Communauté Economique et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale, CEMAC) countries; (iii) the monitoring of inflation at the national level, the production of regional HICPs allowing the integration of national markets and (iv) the monitoring of the purchasing power of the population and the use of the NHICP as a GDP deflator. (iii) External Trade Statistics (US$ 0.350 million) International trade contributes to development through its impact on the structuring of the productive apparatus and the determination of national production structures. External trade indices are essential for assessing the quality of a country's trade. They are used as deflators of the trade balance and allow to estimate the evolution of the prices of imported or exported goods, analyze the evolution of the terms of trade, analyze the competitiveness and productivity of the economy, measure inflation and prevent price trends. In the DRC, international trade statistics are not reliable. The INS only produce Merchandise Trade Statistics. The indices of international trade of services and informal foreign trade are not captured. When producing indices of external trade of goods, the INS relies exclusively on non-exhaustive data collected in 45 computerized customs houses over 115 across the country and poor-quality data collected by the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (Direction Générale des Douanes et Accises, DGDA). These data diverge considerably from the export data collected from other sources. Thus, it is essential to collect and harmonize data from different sources. The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) The project will support (i) the validation and publication of 2005-2014 foreign exchange data series; (ii) the procurement of Eurotrace software; (iii) design and implementation of cross-border exchanges survey based on the cross-border traffic monograph of the country; and, (iii) validation and publication of 20015-2018 foreign exchange data series. Sub-component 1.5: Improving IT, Equipment and Dissemination, (US$2.35 million) (i) Improving of INS’s work environment (US$1.0 million) The INS recently completed its office building under the World Bank's Catalytic Project to Strengthen the National Statistical Institute (PRINS). This building is planned to improve the institutes statistical production capacity by providing well maintained and state of the art working facilities. INS staff will have improved working spaces and will be able to conduct workshops and trainings to branch office staff and other NSS members inside this new building. and other workshops inside this new building. The PDS project will furnish the building and introduce modern IT tools and systems. It will also finance the purchase of a heavy-duty generator which will be used as backup in case of power breaks. The project will finance the above items for the office facilities, under the condition that the World Bank receives proof of the reimbursement of the missing equipment purchased by the project for the enterprise census. (ii) IT and Equipment for Data Production and Diffusion (US$1.0 million) 33. This sub-component will support the upgrading of the NSS statistical, updating of the INS web site and IT infrastructure and data management systems for the data production activities being supported under this project. This will include: acquisition and maintenance of computer hardware, data management systems, and other equipment needed to collect, analyze, and disseminate data. Consultancy services will also be supported for: (a) development of the action plan to implement the data dissemination policy (b) increasing the bandwidth of INS network (c) development of a web-based data portal for access to NSS data for policy 4 The supply and use framework provides the most important macroeconomic aggregates such as GDP, value added, consumption, investment, imports and exports. 10 making, commercial, or research purposes; (d) establishment of an electronic archive to allow users to access micro-data while protecting the privacy of survey respondents and (e) development of connectivity and data transfer technology between INS headquarters and its decentralized offices. (iii) Production of Yearbooks and Bulletins of Statistics (US$0.350 million)  Statistical yearbooks (US$0.250 million) After a break of 27 years (from 1987 to 2014) the INS have produced in 2014 with the support of UNDP and AfDB the 2014 statistical yearbooks. The INS have elaborated and disseminated through the national statistical system, the 2015 statistical yearbook funded by the government with the support AfDB and the World Bank. The project will support the production of the 2016-2017 yearbook and the 2018 yearbook in collaboration with UNDP and the UNS. Activities to be financed by the project are: the sectoral validation workshops, the finalization and national validation workshops of the statistical yearbook and the reprographic activities. The The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) project will also provide a (i) TA to develop a simplified system for data collection and computation of a Statistical Yearbook and (ii) implement the system to produce the 2018 statistical yearbook.  Quarterly bulletin of statistics, INS annual activity report (US$0.10 million) Like the DRC statistical yearbook, the NIS produces quarterly a statistics bulletin and annually reports on its activities. The Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics (BTS) provides quarterly key statistical information of the DRC through the following data: climatology, health, mining production, manufacturing industry, consumer price of households, prices of building materials, rates of exchange, transport and telecommunication, etc. The collected data serve as a short-term analysis device to guide the decision-making process. The project will support validation and dissemination of (i) Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics for 2019 and (ii) 2018 and 2019 INS’ annually reports. Sub-component 1.6: Enterprise census (US$6.0 million) Production and management of Enterprise Statistics has long been a weak link in the statistical output of the Congolese NSS. The DRC has a database of newly registered enterprises from the Business Formality Center but does not have an Integrated Enterprise Statistics System (Système Intégré des Statistiques d’Entreprise, SISE). National and international needs in enterprises statistics are many, including (i) the need for structural and cyclical indicators (index of industrial production, service and trade turnover index, price index for business services, index of production of the buildings and public works sector, etc.); (ii) the use of the data by tax administrators and social organizations that determine the levels of taxes and social contributions to which economic units are subject; and, (iii) the use of data by National Accounts that determine macroeconomic magnitudes: Gross Domestic Product (GDP), national income, gross savings, gross fixed capital formation, capacity or need for financing. The quality of National Accounts information depends on the quality of the information provided by the enterprises accounting system. The project has funded the procurement of hardware equipment for data collection activities. To build on previous achievements and on PRINS-project support, the project will support the data collection phase of the Enterprise Census. The project will support the (i) cartography, (ii) identification of the enterprises in the field and (iii) enterprises enumeration. The NSS will have a SISE for sample surveys of enterprises. Sub-component 1.7: Improving Public Finance Statistics (US$2.0 million) This sub-component aims to support the strengthening of the production and dissemination systems of public finance statistics in the DRC with a view to improve the design and ensure a better monitoring of the outcomes of fiscal policy. This support would be mainly focused on government revenue statistics in light of the more pronounced weaknesses that impinge the process of their production and dissemination, compared to those of public expenditures, which are better controlled. This support would also contribute to the effective construction of a public revenue chain, helping to better track all revenue streams, from the entitlement phase to the collection phase. The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) The purpose of this support is to contribute to the availability of information on government revenue statistics that is accurate, up-to-date, regular and in line with international standards. To this end, the Bank's intervention will specifically aim to modernize the current system through the improvement of: • The efficiency of the chain of collection, validation, processing, storage and dissemination of data and metadata; • Quality by eliminating errors and inconsistencies and shortening the publication cycles of statistics; • Accessibility and visibility of the statistical products of tax administrations. Scoping consultations with all national public entities involved in the production and dissemination chain of public revenue statistics helped identify the following priority areas for support: • Production of statistics in line with international standards, particularly those issued by the 2014 edition of the Government Finance Statistics Manual; • Capacity building for data-generating public administrations, including the Direction Générale des Impôts and Direction Générale des Recettes Administratives, Judiciaires et Domaniales; • The functionality of existing formal consultation and validation frameworks of statistical data; • The development and deployment of solutions based on information technologies and international best practices. Component 2: Human Resources Development and Management (US$9.9 million) This component aims at identifying and providing support to create an enabling environment for the DRC’s National Statistical System to produce and disseminate reliable statistics. The INS, as most public service agencies The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) in DRC, suffers from major human resources challenges. This component will support the INS in attracting and retaining qualified statisticians through an effective system of Human Resources development and management. The activities to be financed under this component include: (i) Technical assistance to develop a set of guidelines for staffing and HR policies, (ii) Support for the development of the National Statistics Schools, (iii) Development of a scholarship program to support the training of Congolese students in African regional statistical schools and other training related to statistics and finally (iv) Development of a Young professional program to rejuvenate the NSS staff conditional on the successful implementation of specific institutional reforms. Sub-component 2.1: Staffing and policies (US$1.5 million) This activity will build on the organizational/functional review of the INS undertaken by the Rejuvenation project (P122229), expected to be completed by August 2015, and will establish a strategic staffing plan to enable INS to attract and retain qualified statisticians and provide the necessary support to statistics departments in line ministries. There will be a twofold approach: (a) a complete review and redrafting of existing Human Resources policies in order to align those to the specific legal framework of the INS; and (b) a strategic staffing plan that will be established for 2 or 3 years and be supported by a set of adapted guidelines elaborated to support recruitment, career management, job mobility in a decentralized environment. The staffing strategy will particularly focus on building an inter-generational transfer of know-how by supporting existing experienced staff in planning their end of career while identifying roles and responsibilities in training Young Professionals. While these activities will follow the processes defined and supported through the Rejuvenation project for retirement of civil servants in the NSS who are beyond the retirement age, it will seek ways to accelerate and ease the transition. Specific activities to be financed are: - Technical Assistance (TA) for the organizational/functional review of the INS to establish skills needs; - Technical Assistance in drafting an operational policy manual for the development and management of Human Resources, aligned with the INS’ legal framework and staffing strategy; - Technical Assistance in developing a 3-year staffing plan adapted to the specific needs of the INS and focusing on attracting and developing a pool of qualified statisticians; - Technical Assistance in developing an accelerated “end of career framework”, and inter-generational transition plan ;11 - Technical assistance in developing internal procedures and collective labor agreements, as well as a new salary scale for INS staff; - Workshop activities to support the strengthening of capacity to plan, coordinate and negotiate with unions and staff representation for the implementation of new staff policies and protocols. This includes, facilitation, training, and pedagogical support (publications, books, etc.). Staff who are eligible for retirement will be supported by the rejuvenation project. For those who are not eligible for retirement but do not have the required skills to work at the INS and those who will retire in the following years, alternative solutions will be explored and developed – e.g., involving reassignments. This will (i) allow the INS to control the stock and flow of its personnel and (ii) provide fiscal space for the INS to apply an adequate salary scale for its staff. Ultimately the implementation of these activities will change the profile of the staff, by removing old and unproductive staff from the roster and replacing them by younger, better trained staff with better salaries. The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) The project will also fund, under this subcomponent, a pool of young contract workers selected based on job profiles for which staffing is needed through a transparent competitive process, and on the needs of the implementation of project’s activities. The project will rely on the mechanism designed by the Rejuvenation project for the purpose of remuneration of the Young Contractors. The selection criteria of candidates and the competition will be defined in close collaboration with the INS and an independent institution whose selection is satisfactory to the World Bank. Sub-component 2.2: Support for the development of the National Statistics Schools (US$3.0 million) As part of the reform of its statistical system, the government intends to harmonize the training curricula of the statistics schools that will offer formal degree (equivalent to bachelor and masters) in Statistics, Demography, Applied Economics and related Information Technology. In addition to reviewing the training capacity of the local statistics schools in general and particularly the one of Kinshasa, the project will look into partnerships with countries in Africa that have already invested in building statistical capacity. These partnerships based on South- South Knowledge Exchange will also leverage basic technical curricula, particularly in French-speaking countries. The project financed an institutional organizational and functional assessment of the three statistics institutes (ISS of Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Goma). From the assessment, the mission developed an medium-term action plan to support local statistics schools. Based on the action plan and on the mid-term review of the project, the activities to be supported are: - Review of the statistical training curricula and drafting of syllabi and training materials for teaching applied statistics and demography. - Strengthen human resources capacity: (i) Training of trainers provided by an international or national teaching expert and (ii) evaluation of the project to create a post-graduate statistics school in the DRC by a team of consultants.; - Support acquisition of material as needed to support students in statistical training programs, to deliver courses and resources for a computing center and Internet. - Training of the 180 students in an 18 months program in statistics in the 3 ISS of the DRC: (i) elaboration and implementation of the requirements specifications for the 18-months training in statistics; (ii) Hiring and remuneration of professors (local and international) to deliver specific courses and train local trainers and (iii) scholarship. Sub-component 2.3: Scholarship program for the training of Congolese in the regional and national statistics and demography schools and short time training related to statistics (US$2.1 million) Build on the experience of PRINS-project, the project has supported formal pre-service training that prepared Congolese for competitive examinations for admission to regional statistical and demographic schools. Specifically, since 2016 the project supported all activities related to the preparation of the training and the organization of the exams. Competitive exams were organized every year by the Centre d’Appui aux Ecoles de Statistique Africaines (CAPESA- ENSAE Paris) to select candidates for five training programs in statistics. The project offered scholarships (including stipends) to successful DRC candidates to the regional competitive exams who do not receive financial aid from the international institutions. The World Bank DRC-Statistics Development Project (P150148) Given that the project just has 2 years left, the project will not be able to finance over 2-year training program. To continue strengthen staff capacity of the INS, the project will focus short time training in GIS and other training in areas related to statistics like M&E, project management, data analysis, survey data processing etc. Sub-component 2.4: Young Professionals Program (US$0 million) Sub-component to be canceled. Sub-component 2.5: Project Management (US$3.30 million) This sub-component will support activities (i) to foster the coordination of statistical operations and (ii) to strengthen the capacity of the Project Coordination Unit (PCU), to be located in the National Institute of Statistics, to implement the project effectively. Through this subcomponent, the project will finance technical advisory services, non-consulting services, training, goods, and operating costs. In particular, the PCU will ensure day to day coordination, implementation and management (including, fiduciary aspects, monitoring and evaluation, carrying out of audits and reporting) of Project activities. In particular, the PCU will (a) prepare annual work plans and budgets; (b) carry out all disbursements and any financial management and procurement-related activities in accordance with World Bank–approved procedures; (c) prepare and consolidate periodic progress reports; (d) monitor and evaluate project activities; (e) coordinate with other stakeholders on issues related to the project; and (f) provide administrative2 support to beneficiary institutions, in accordance with the Project Implementation Manual. It will consist of a PCU coordinator, a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist, a Procurement Specialist, and a Financial Management Specialist. The core PCU team will be supported by a set of consultants: an Information Technology (IT) Specialist, and Human Resources (HR) Specialist, technical staff (including, survey specialist, national accounts specialist) and sectoral focal points. It will ensure that progress is reported quarterly to the Project Steering Committee, the High Commission of Statistics, the World Bank, and other authorities. Finally, in order to ensure that statistical operations are well coordinated within the NSS, the project will support (i) the production and the use of operational manuals for the production of core statistics and (ii) the update and dissemination of the organizational charts of the NSS to ease the methodological oversight role of the INS in the production of core statistics. This sub-component will also support the purchase of office supplies, furniture and material as needed to implement day to day activities of the project. 2 The NSDS stated that at least 350 qualified statisticians are needed to meet the immediate needs of the NSS.