Ratings for the Establishing Capacity for Core Public Management Project for Democratic Republic of Congo were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, risk to development outcome was substantial, Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and Borrower performance was moderately satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: ownership of the Borrower is higher when the project is implemented by a permanent structure established by the government. Accountability for performance is higher when one single agency is in charge of implementation. Complexity of implementation arrangements needs to match implementation capacity. While a low level of cohesion of project components may under-utilize potential synergies, it may also offer advantages in fluid environments where flexibility is needed. A simple results framework which is clearly aligned with the project development objective (PDO) helps galvanize implementation efforts around specific targets, especially when the implementation capacity is fragmented across different ministries. Achieving gender targets requires realistic objectives, awareness, disaggregated data, and deliberate actions. For training centers to be effective and accepted, establishing a close relationship with their beneficiary institutions to focus on their needs is key. Enabling training centers to operate as a network exponentially increases development impact. Discontinuity of task team leader (TTL) responsibility is likely to undermine quality of supervision.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4032 JUL 15, 2017
Ratings for the Public Financial Management Capacity Building Project for Chad were as follows: outcomes were moderately unsatisfactory, risk to development outcome was low, Bank performance was moderately unsatisfactory, and Borrower performance was moderately unsatisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: in a context of ever-changing government officials and priorities, a project needs to remain flexible and adaptable to remain relevant, include a communication strategy, and establish measures to ensure capacity-building elements of the project can remain sustainable. In a fragile, conflict, and violence (FCV), fragile state context, with limited capacity and a strong vulnerability and sensitivity to shocks and externalities, it is of the highest importance that the World Bank remains realistic and result-oriented in its project design. The design focus needs to be a basic at first approach. Given the difficulties and delays encountered with procurement processes, especially since 2016 with the lowering of thresholds for approval, utilization of alternative procurement arrangements can facilitate implementation. Utilizing the right mean of financing is key to success and small manageable projects in a fragile environment as part as a longer term program can help achieve results. Given a country with a low level of ownership of public financial management (PFM) and governance reforms at the highest political level, a more integrative approach can be beneficial. Considering the behavioral element of reforms and implementing a national communication campaign to build awareness when new or transformational strategies are implemented is crucial to facilitate implementation and build better ownership.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4186 JUN 30, 2017
The objective of the Additional Financing of the Lifeline Road Network Improvement Project for Armenia is to improve access of rural communities to markets and services through upgrading of selected lifeline roads, and to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Transport and Communication to manage the lifeline road network.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: the local construction and environment inspectorates and communities have been notified of upcoming activities; the public has been notified of the works through appropriate notification in the media and/or at publicly accessible sites (including the site of the works); all legally required permits have been acquired for construction and/or rehabilitation; the contractor formally agrees that all work will be carried out in a safe and disciplined manner designed to minimize impacts on neighboring residents and environment; during excavation works dust control measures shall be employed, e.g. by spraying and moistening the ground; demolition debris, excavated soil and aggregates shall be kept in controlled area and sprayed with water mist to reduce debris dust; construction noise will be limited to restricted times agreed to in the permit; during operations the engine covers of generators, air compressors and other powered mechanical equipment shall be closed, and equipment placed as far away from residential areas as possible; waste collection and disposal pathways and sites will be identified for all major waste types expected from excavation, demolition and construction activities; and mineral construction and demolition wastes will be separated from general refuse, organic, liquid and chemical wastes by on-site sorting and stored in appropriate containers.
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A large literature focuses on the biases of individuals and consumers, as well as "nudges" and other policies that can address those biases. Although policy decisions are often more consequential than those of individual consumers, there is a dearth of studies on the biases of policy professionals: those who prepare and implement policy on behalf of elected politicians.
... See More + Experiments conducted on a novel subject pool of development policy professionals (public servants of the World Bank and the Department for International Development in the United Kingdom) show that policy professionals are indeed subject to decision making traps, including sunk cost bias, the framing of losses and gains, frame-dependent risk-aversion, and, most strikingly, confirmation bias correlated with ideological priors, despite having an explicit mission to promote evidence-informed and impartial decision making. These findings should worry policy professionals and their principals in governments and large organizations, as well as citizens themselves. A further experiment, in which policy professionals engage in discussion, shows that deliberation may be able to mitigate the effects of some of these biases.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8113 JUN 26, 2017
Ratings for the Public Sector Modernization Project for Kosovo were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, risk to development outcome was substantial, Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and Borrower performance was moderately satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: the design of projects implemented in complex institutional environments with low client capacity should be simpler and less ambitious. A project series approach can be effective in such environments as the standard timeframe of a stand-alone Bank financed project is often too short to assure the achievement of sustainable results. In case there are multiple implementing institutions, it is important to have focal points in each one of them at the appropriate level to drive implementation and ensure coordination between the different institutions and strengthen ownership. Project design should be informed by thorough stakeholder assessment and political economy analysis. Such an analysis can help project teams be more realistic about the complexity of the envisaged reforms and the likelihood of achieving planned project objectives. Disaster recovery arrangements should be an integral part of investments in data infrastructure. The project delivered most of its technical assistance (TA) activities through international experts which was highly appreciated by the beneficiary institutions. Collaboration with other development partners, notably the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU) was crucial for the success of some of the reforms supported by the project. Results frameworks should include only those indicators for which a plausible connection between project activities and results can be made. There is a need for continuous training of key project staff and staff from beneficiary institutions on World Bank procedures and handling of complex procurements, especially in low capacity environments like Kosovo.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4101 JUN 21, 2017
Ethiopia is a low income country—one of the eleven poorest in the world—with a GNI per capita of USD 590 (current USD) in 2015. Its economy grew by 9.6 percent annually in real terms during the review period, faster than the Sub-Saharan Africa average (4.0 percent) and the rest of the world (2.6 percent), albeit the growth rate slowed to 6-7 percent in 2015-16 owing to a severe drought.
... See More + The poverty headcount indicates that 33 percent of the population lived below the international poverty line of US$1.90 PPP per day in 2011. Ethiopia is among the most equal countries in the world. Inequality—with a Gini coefficient of 0.33—is low by international and Sub-Saharan Africa standards, and comparable with some OECD countries. Ethiopia made good progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) particularly in gender parity in primary education, child mortality, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. The government set out its objectives in the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP I and II) whose main goal is for Ethiopia to become a lower middle-income country by 2025 through average the GTP, especially GTP II, places emphasis on private sector development and Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), particularly in building an export-oriented manufacturing sector.The Bank program had two focus areas: (a) fostering competitiveness and employment, and (ii) enhancing resilience and reducing vulnerabilities. It also contained a foundational objective of fostering good governance and state building.The CPS identified five main risks (external economic shocks, trade-off between growth and debt sustainability, corruption and governance, natural disasters, natural disasters). Of those five, fiduciary and safeguard risks—related to governance and corruption—remained significant features of the WBG program in Ethiopia.
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The development objective of the Public Expenditure and Investment Management Reform Project for Central African Republic is to improve management and transparency of public expenditures and public investments.
... See More + The project comprises of three components. The first component, management and transparency of public expenditures aims to consolidate core functions across the expenditure chain, from budgeting to oversight. It consists of following sub-components: (i) strengthened budget preparation, management, and execution; (ii) strengthened procurement management; (iii) financial management information system; and (iv) strengthened treasury management, accounting, and external oversight. The second component, management and transparency of public investments will complement on-going activities funded by the World Bank and on-going and new activities from other development partners. It consists of following sub-components: (i) establishing and operationalizing a National Recovery and Peace Building Plan (RCPCA) Secretariat; and (ii) strengthened management of public investments. The third component, project management aims to support the project management functions of the government, particularly the Ministry of Finance and Budget (MFB), in implementing the project. It consists of following sub-components: (i) management support for the project management unit (PMU); and (ii) contingency fund.
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The development objective of the Public Expenditure and Investment Management Reform Project for Central African Republic is to improve management and transparency of public expenditures and public investments.
... See More + The project comprises of three components. The first component, management and transparency of public expenditures aims to consolidate core functions across the expenditure chain, from budgeting to oversight. It consists of following sub-components: (i) strengthened budget preparation, management, and execution; (ii) strengthened procurement management; (iii) financial management information system; and (iv) strengthened treasury management, accounting, and external oversight. The second component, management and transparency of public investments will complement on-going activities funded by the World Bank and on-going and new activities from other development partners. It consists of following sub-components: (i) establishing and operationalizing a National Recovery and Peace Building Plan (RCPCA) Secretariat; and (ii) strengthened management of public investments. The third component, project management aims to support the project management functions of the government, particularly the Ministry of Finance and Budget (MFB), in implementing the project. It consists of following sub-components: (i) management support for the project management unit (PMU); and (ii) contingency fund.
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The objective of the Second Strengthening Agriculture Public Services Project for Haiti are to: (a) reinforce the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development to provide or facilitate access to services in the agricultural sector; (b) increase market access to small producers and food security in Selected Areas; and (c) provide financial assistance in the case of an Agriculture Sector Emergency.
... See More + This Project Paper also seeks the approval of the Executive Directors to undertake a Level 1 restructuring that would include: (i) revision of the Project Development Objective (PDO) wording to reflect activities in the affected areas and an increase in scope of the Emergency Response Contingency (ERC); (ii) activation of the Involuntary Resettlement Policy (OP/BP 4.12) to anticipate the possibility of an involuntary resettlement in the affected areas; (iii) upgrading of the Results Framework to reflect adjusted outcomes and targets, and emerging good practices in climate resilience; (iv) extension of the original grant closing date to align it with the closing date of the Additional Financing; and (v) reallocation of proceeds between disbursement categories.The Additional Financing will scale up the farmer subsidy scheme and support new activities inthe area affected by Hurricane Matthew. The new activities will focus on rehabilitating irrigationand drainage, recapitalizing livestock and agricultural assets, and building resilience to extremeweather. The restructuring will involve the rewording of the PDO and its indicators to reflect thenew potential outcomes, the triggering of OP/BP4.12 (Involuntary Resettlement), a reallocationbetween disbursement categories, and the extension of the closing date.
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Data deficiencies contribute to state fragility and exacerbate fragile states’ already limited capacity to provide basic services, public security and rule of law.
... See More + The lack of robust, good quality data can also have a disabling effect on government efforts to manage political conflict, and indeed can worsen conflict, since violent settings pose substantial challenges to knowledge generation, capture and application. In short, in fragile contexts the need for reliable evidence at all levels is perhaps greater than anywhere else. The development of sustainable and professional ‘data-literate’ stakeholders who are able to produce and increase the quality and accessibility of official statistics can contribute to improved development outcomes. Good quality and reliable statistics are also required to track the progress of development policies through the monitoring of performance indicators and targets and to ensure that public resources are achieving results. While data alone cannot have a transformative effect without the right contextual incentives it is an essential and necessary prerequisite for greater accountability and more efficient decision-making. This volume explores methods and insights for data collection and use in fragile contexts, with a focus on Sudan. It begins by posing several questions on the political economy of data, and then sets out a framework for assessing the validity, reliability, and potential impact of data on decision-making in a fragile country. It also sets out insights on challenges associated with fragile states, derived from recent data collected in Sudan: the 2014/2015 DFID Sudan household survey. This includes data-driven analysis of topics including female genital mutilation, public service delivery, and the interplay of governance, service quality, and state legitimacy.
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The development objective of the Assam State Public Finance Institutional Reforms Project for India is to contribute to improvement in predictability and transparency in budget execution and efficiency in tax administration in Assam.
... See More + The project comprises of three components. The first component, strengthening public finance institutional capacity seeks to strengthen the public financial management (PFM) institutional framework and systems, improve institutional and human resource capacity in the areas of cash and debt management, procurement, and public-private partnership (PPP), and build the capacity of the Government of Assam (GoA’s) officials in finance and line departments in various aspects of PFM. It consists of following sub-components: (i) strengthening cash and debt management; (ii) strengthening public procurement framework and scaling up e-procurement; (iii) strengthening public-private partnership framework and institutional capacity; (iv) institutional strengthening of finance department; and (v) training and capacity building to implementing departments. The second component, strengthening expenditure and revenue information systems have two complementary parts - technical assistance (TA) and results-based financing. It consists of following sub-components: (i) design, development, and implementation of financial management information systems (FMIS); (ii) enhancing e-collection and e-payment systems; (iii) designing and upgrading information systems and institutional strengthening in office of the commissioner of taxes; and (iv) design, development, and implementation of workflow-based information system in excise department. The third component, project management, monitoring and evaluation (M and E), and coordination will support effective project management and facilitate implementation, coordination, learning, and quality enhancement activities under the project, including consultancies relating to disbursement-linked indicator (DLI) verification and M and E.
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Ratings for the Municipal Services Project (MSP) for Turkey were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, risk to development outcome was low, Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and Borrower performance was moderately satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: long project implementation timeframes risk being impacted by factors outside the control of the project. It is critical to ensure development of a realistic results framework during project preparation in close collaboration with the beneficiaries of the investment. Ensure financial intermediaries have the technical capacity to implement municipal finance projects. The MSP demonstrated what a difference a project management unit (PMU) with the appropriate institutional authority and technical capacity makes for the smooth implementation of the sub-projects by the municipalities.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR3998 MAY 23, 2017
Who are the civil servants that serve poor people in the developing world? This paper uses direct surveys of civil servants -- the professional body of administrators who manage government policy -- and their organizations from Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines, to highlight key aspects of their characteristics and experience of civil service life.
... See More + Civil servants in the developing world face myriad challenges to serving the world's poor, from limited facilities to significant political interference in their work. There are a number of commonalities across service environments, and the paper summarizes these in a series of 'stylized facts' of the civil service in the developing world. At the same time, the particular challenges faced by a public official vary substantially across and within countries and regions. For example, measured management practices differ widely across local governments of a single state in Nigeria. Surveys of civil servants allow us to document these differences, build better models of the public sector, and make more informed policy choices.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8051 MAY 04, 2017
The development objective of the Integrated Public Sector Reform Project for Congo, Republic of is to improve public resources management and accountability in the Republic of Congo.
... See More + The project comprises of four components. The first component, strengthening revenue mobilization and public expenditure management objective is twofold: (a) to improve non-oil revenue collection, and (b) to rationalize the expenditure chain. It consists of following sub-components: (i) strengthening revenue mobilization; and (ii) strengthening public expenditure management. The second component, modernization of the public administration objective is to develop a public sector modernization strategy and implement it in pilot departments and agencies. It consists of following sub-components: (i) improving civil service management capacity; (ii) modernization of the departments implementing reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+); and (iii) modernization of the public procurement system. The third component, improving transparency and accountability objectives are to strengthen the capacity of the oversight institutions, increase transparency in the forestry and extractive sectors, and promote citizen engagement. It consists of following sub-components: (i) supporting the Cour de Comptes et Discipline Budgétaire (CCDB), general inspection of finance (IGF), and economy and finance committees of the parliament; (ii) supporting social accountability and citizen engagement; (iii) improving transparency of the revenue collection system in the forestry sector; and (iv) improving transparency in the extractives sector. The fourth component, project implementation support objectives are to enhance the project implementation capacity and to support the development and application of a monitoring and evaluation (M and E) system for tracking progress in governance reforms. It consists of following sub-components: (i) building project implementation capacity; and (ii) and M and E.
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The development objective of the SWAp for Parana Multi-sector Development Project for Brazil is to make access to economic and human development opportunities more equitable and environmentally sustainable in the Borrower s territory through the modernization of the Borrower s public sector and revenue management.
... See More + The restructuring will include: (i) a reformulation of the project development objective (PDO) and PDO indicators to better capture the expected development outcomes of the project and facilitate their measurement; (ii) an extension of the closing date by 24 months to allow for implementation of component 2 (technical assistance for more efficient and effective public management) and expand the disbursement withdrawal schedule for component 1 (fostering equitable and environmental sustainable economic and human development) that disburses against disbursement linked indicators (DLIs); (iii) revision of the results framework to reflect adjustments in project activities and implementation schedule including moving some DLI targets to future dates to reflect a more realistic achievement schedule as well as adjustments to the relevant eligible expenditure programs; (iv) modifications to activities under sub-components 2.2. (institutional modernization), 2.3. (more strategic and efficient human resources management), and 2.4. (mitigating the environmental impact of the agricultural sector) to reflect changes in government priorities; and (v) change the due date for the audited financial statements from six months (June 30) to eight months (August 31) after the fiscal year under review.
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Latin America and the Caribbean does not have the infrastructure it needs, or deserves, given its income. Many argue that the solution is to spend more; by contrast, this report has one main message: Latin America can dramatically narrow its infrastructure service gap by spending efficiently on the right things.
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This report presents the findings of an internal World Bank rapid assessment of donor assistance and coordination mechanisms in Mozambique. Along with a parallel review of Mozambique’s aid data information system, ODAmoz, this report aims to inform development partner (DP) dialogue on aid coordination and information systems.
... See More + The report presents data collected from existing donor coordination mechanism in key aid sectors, along with findings from interviews with sector specialists at the World Bank and other DPs about sector coordination and policy dialogue. The report documents the type of information gathered by each sector coordination group and identifies data gaps and coordination challenges created by the current system. The main findings from this assessment are as follows: (a) Mozambique has no central data collection tool that is adequately collecting aid data. (b) The quality and quantity of data collected by sector coordination groups on projects and financing are highly variable.(c) Sectorwide approaches (SWAps), which provide a formal framework for DP coordination and DP-GoM policy dialogue, have been very successful in collecting aid data, particularly for the education and health sectors. Based on these findings, this report suggests the following three broad recommendations: (a)Improved guidance for sector working groups on best practices for data collection and use in sector coordination groups should be provided. (b)Expectations of donor coordination working groups should be clarified as part of the Program Aid Partner (PAP) process, by ODAmoz or by the Ministry of Economy and Finances (Ministério da Economia e Finanças, MEF). (c) Standard templates for further data collection should be developed to include a core set of basic fields and standard guidelines that sector coordination groups could then customize based on the additional, sector-specific information they needed. This report also documented a number of sector-specific recommendations based on consultations with sector stakeholders. In general, recommendations focused on the need for stronger ministerial ownership of sector strategies, a broadening of working group mandates to leverage existing institutions for heightened impact, and systematization and standardization of data collection mechanisms.
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Working Paper 115409 APR 01, 2017
Nombora,Dionisio Augusto; Nogueira-Budny,Daniel; Torbert,Sally M.; Guambe,Gisella Jonaze; Saleem,Furqan AhmadDisclosed
The objective of the Public Works and Urban Management Project for Burundi will be to enhance the climate resilience of key transport and drainage infrastructure in Greater Bujumbura while strengthening the country's capacity to manage and prevent natural disasters.
... See More + Negative impacts include: noise and vibrations, air quality degradation, groundwater, and land expropriation and compensation of other goods. The project is expected to reinforce physical infrastructure, reduce transportation costs, and improve transport system reliability to help increase traffic capacity. The increase in traffic capacity is expected to facilitate development, trade, and economic growth thus contributing to poverty reduction. The study has established a number of negative environmental consequences that the project activities are likely to induce. The main negative impacts are social impacts related to the land expropriation for the project and therefore compensation. It is believed that land expropriation will be carried out in accordance with Burundi’s and World Bank compensation laws. The compensation will be guided by the principal objectives that the Project Affected Persons (PAPs) will have their compensation on time before the project commences. In conclusion, therefore, provided the recommended mitigation and environmental and social management measures including the Resettlement Action Plan are effectively implemented during the construction and operation phases of the project, the anticipated environmental and social impacts will be mitigated. Therefore, this project is environmentally sound and socially viable.
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