China has committed itself to be a partner in South-South Cooperation. Over the past forty years, China has pursued a successful path of deliberate and scientific economic development that has lifted hundreds of millions of its citizens out of poverty and into a modern economy.
... See More + The many lessons from China’s experience are relevant to other developing countries as they pursue their own goals of sustainable prosperity and poverty elimination. The World Bank’s partnership with China is uniquely positioned to support South-South Cooperation as a bridge linking China’s rich development experience with the specific needs and challenges of the Bank’s client countries in other parts of the world. Together, China and the World Bank are able to package and deliver rich and relevant expertise, knowledge, and advanced technologies to South-South partner countries through knowledge sharing platforms, hands-on training workshops, practical study tours, and strategic project investments. This report summarizes one such recent study tour. A high-level delegation from the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) visited China from 29 January to 05 February 2018 for a South-South cooperation and knowledge sharing study tour. The MENA region faces many challenges similar to those faced in China’s arid northwest; and China’s development experience in agriculture development, water management, and poverty reduction provide useful lessons for the MENA countries as they look to better manage scarce water resources and improve rural livelihoods back home. The study tour was jointly facilitated by the World Bank Agriculture GP and the Bank’s Beijing office, and was financed by the China-World Bank Partnership Facility Trust Fund (CWPF TF). The South-South Knowledge Exchange Study Tour detailed in this report was a six-day event that invited high-level decision-makers from the water and agriculture related ministries of the MENA countries to learn from China’s experiences. The primary objective of the study tour was to share with high-level leaders from the national line ministries of the MENA countries how to embed and integrate the RS-based agriculture water management tools into their decision-making processes. The study tour included three days of high-level ministerial meetings held in Beijing, with presentations on development policy and approaches as well as technical discussions for knowledge sharing between the MENA delegates and officials and experts from various Chinese ministries and research institutions, as well as experts from the World Bank. The study tour also included three days of field visits to sites in Hebei and Shandong provinces showcasing China’s use of science, technology, and institutional reforms for agricultural and water management and poverty reduction.
See Less -
Since 2011, Tunisia has witnessed a transitional period characterized by notable progress in accountability and good governance. Since 2014, the transition in Tunisia made steady progress with the adoption of the new Constitution and the successful completion of both parliamentary and presidential elections.
... See More + This achievement marked Tunisia’s first electoral transfer of power since the 2011 Jasmine Revolution and gave the country its first democratically elected parliament and president. Emblematic post-revolution reforms to strengthen governance and social accountability in the country were implemented including, among others, the revision of the law on Freedom of Association and the legal framework to allow public access to information, especially information on budgets and the government financial activities, and allowing the Court of Accounts audit reports to be published. An integral element of the new Constitution in Tunisia is also the central role of parliament in strengthening voice and participation. These national reform efforts for greater openness and public participation had been reinforced by global engagements such as the Open Government Partnership (OGP) that have contributed to help ensuring increased transparency and accountability to the Tunisian people.1 Furthermore, a new global trend calls for SAIs to increasingly look for innovative ways to engage citizens and leverage the capacity of civil society, thus building on the emerging global consensus that the impact of external audit on strengthening overall PFM system can be improved through the involvement of citizen and non-executive stakeholders, including the parliament. Nonetheless, strengthening the capacity of the Legislature and the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) to adhere to its role and responsibility efficiently and effectively remained a major concern in Tunisia, particularly considering the direct impact these institutions have on the success of the ongoing reform process in the country. This project was designed to respond to strong demands for support from the People’s Representative Assembly (l’Assemblée des Représentants du Peuple-ARP) and the Court of Accounts (Cour des Comptes) of Tunisia in the form of technical assistance and capacity building in the areas of financial oversight and public engagement.
See Less -
