The Disaster Risk Management Development Policy Loan for El Salvador received a satisfactory outcome rating with low or negligible risk to development outcome.
... See More + The Bank received a moderately satisfactory performance rating while the Borrower received a satisfactory performance rating. There were no restructurings or any significant changes to PDO, indicators, or components during the life of this project. Key lessons learned from this project include five overarching ideas. (1) The effectiveness of the CAT DDO as a source of liquidity after an emergency depends on the detailed identification of the procedures and responsibilities of the Borrower and the Bank to trigger and process the disbursement. (2) The policy dialogue on DRM could be made more efficient by improving the indicators of the policy matrix. (3) Reporting responsibilities and monitoring arrangements should be agreed with the Borrower in the early stages of the operation to improve the effectiveness and monitoring of the policy measures supported by the DPL. (4) Close Bank supervision is also important to support a successful policy dialogue and DRM outcomes. (5) Finally, the Bank should aim to ensure that the Borrower understands the financial aspects of the CAT DDO instrument, and the consequences of the different options available in relation to interest rates, repayment, and renewal.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR3308 FEB 18, 2015
The development objective of the Secondary Education Improvement Project for Ghana is to increase access to upper secondary education in underserved school districts and improve quality in low-performing senior high schools in Ghana.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) providing compensation to project-affected people (PAPs) according to World Bank environmental and social safeguard policies; (2) recruiting local labor as much as is available; (3) including sanitary facilities in the project design, and providing running water; and (4) improving transport infrastructure or facilities under the project.
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The objective of the Erosion and Watershed Management Project for Nigeria is to restore degraded lands and reduce longer-term erosion vulnerability in targeted areas.
... See More + Negative impact includes: landlessness; homelessness; joblessness; food insecurity; increased morbidity and mortality; educational loss; social displacement; marginalization; loss of access to common property. Compensation measures includes: 1) offer displaced persons choices among feasible resettlement options, including adequate replacement housing or cash compensation where appropriate; 2) provide relocation assistance suited to the needs of each group of displaced persons, with particular attention paid to the needs of the poor and the vulnerable; 3) make alternative housing and/or cash compensation available prior to relocation; 4) build new resettlement sites for displaced persons with improved living conditions; 5) in the case of physically displaced persons with recognized or recognizable rights, the project will offer the choice of replacement property of equal or higher value, equivalent or better characteristics and advantages of location or cash compensation at full replacement value; and 6) where these displaced persons own and occupy structures, compensate them for the loss of assets other than land, such as dwellings and other improvements to the land, at replacement cost but sufficient for them to reestablish themselves elsewhere.
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The objective of the Third Regional Development Project for Georgia is to improve infrastructure services and institutional capacity to support the development of a tourism-based economy of the Samtskhe - Javakheti and Mtskheta - Mtianeti regions.
... See More + Negative impacts include: (1) loss of agricultural land; (2) loss of residential and non-residential buildings; (3) loss of common property resources; (4) loss of income and livelihood. Mitigation measures include: adequate compensation for loss, self-relocation allowances, reconstruction of the lost common property structures in consultation with community and restoration of their functions.
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The objective of the Second Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project for India is to assist the Highways Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu, in improving the road services over its core road network (CRN) in terms of capacity enhancement, better maintenance and lower accident fatalities.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (i) resettlement should be avoided where feasible, or minimized, exploring all viable alternative project designs; (ii) where it is not feasible to avoid resettlement, resettlement activities should be conceived and executed as sustainable development programs, providing sufficient investment resources to enable the persons displaced by the project to share in project benefits and displaced persons should be meaningfully consulted and should have opportunities to participate in planning and implementing resettlement programs; and (iii) displaced persons should be assisted in their efforts to improve their livelihoods and standards of living or at least to restore them, in real terms, to pre-displacement levels or to levels prevailing prior to the beginning of project implementation, whichever is higher.
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This paper utilizes a countrywide, county-to-city upgrade in the 1990s to identify whether extending the powers of urban local governments leads to better firm outcomes.
... See More + The paper hypothesizes that since local leaders in newly-promoted cities have an incentive to utilize their new administrative remit to maximize gross domestic product and employment growth, there should be improvements in economic outcomes. The analysis finds that aggregate firm-level outcomes do not necessarily improve after county-to-city graduation. However, it does find that state-owned enterprises perform better post-graduation, with increased access to credit through state-owned banks as a possible explanation for the improvement in performance. The most important finding is that newly-promoted cities with high capacity generally produce better aggregate firm outcomes compared with newly-promoted cities with low capacity. The conclusions are twofold. First, in terms of access to credit, the paper provides evidence that relaxing credit constraints for firms could lead to large increases in firm operation and employment. Second, increasing local government's administrative remit is not enough to lead to better firm and economic outcomes; local capacity is of paramount importance.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7193 FEB 01, 2015
The Republic of Tajikistan (RT) with support from the International Development Agency (IDA)/World Bank have decided to set up the Communal Services Development Fund (CSDF) to address the growing urban infrastructure needs (water, sanitation and solid waste management) and logistical infrastructure-city roads and transportation facilities.
... See More + Establishment of CSDF will be carried out under the proposed Communal Services Development Fund Project (CSDFP). Hence, the CSDFP will consist of pre-CSDF set-up and post-CSDF set-up periods. CSDFP will start with implementation of subprojects, under the current PMU management, and upon finalization of CSDF establishment, all financing will be transferred under direct management of the Fund. CSDF will function under the office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and the investments of the CSDF will be approved by a Steering Committee (SC) constituted for this purpose. A secretariat functioning under the Deputy Prime Ministers Office (DPMO) would be responsible for project appraisals, investment recommendations, disbursements, monitoring and performance audit of the fund.
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The development objective of the Second Phase of the Eastern Africa Regional Transport, Trade, and Development Facilitation Program Project for Kenya is to enhance connectivity and economic integration of Kenya with South Sudan, whilst improving safety on the corridor and South Sudan's access to sea ports.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) all affected persons or community affected by the project shall be involved and consulted before the commencement of road construction. Compensation will cover all affected property and shall be paid prior to road construction and project affected persons (PAPs) given sufficient time to relocate; (2) the community leaders should liaise with the county government and other relevant authorities to plan and construct a bypass as the current road design does not include a bypass; (3) the design for the rehabilitation of the road have provided for bridges at all the river crossings hence modern bridges will be constructed at all the necessary areas as per the design; (4) speed limit shall be set for vehicles entering and leaving the towns. Speed bumps will also be established to slow down over-speeding vehicles in the towns; (5) the whole grave will be excavated and there will be an agreement with the community and concern family on where the body will be re-buried to avoid the road having too many turns in an attempt to avoid every grave on its corridor; (6) all affected persons or community have been sensitized and consulted on what the road project entails and this process shall continue throughout the implementation of the resettlement activities and the project; and (7) property valuation will be done by the consultant valuer and thereafter compensation packages will be paid to individual PAPs directly into their bank accounts or issued with crossed cheques payable to the individual PAPs and not to their leaders nor their proxies.
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The 2014 Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in West Africa is the largest to date by far. Ebola Virus Disease causes disproportionate mortality among the working-age population, resulting in far more mortality for parents of young children than other health crises.
... See More + This paper combines data on the age distribution of current and projected mortality from Ebola with the fertility distribution of adults in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, to estimate the likely impact of the epidemic on the number of orphans in these three countries. Using the latest mortality estimates (from February 11, 2015), it is estimated that more than 9,600 children have lost one or both parents to Ebola Virus Disease. The absolute numbers of orphans created by the Ebola epidemic are significant, but represent a small fraction (1.4 percent) of the existing orphan burden in the affected countries. Ebola is unlikely to increase the numbers of orphans beyond extended family networks' capacities to absorb them. Nonetheless, the pressures of caring for increased numbers of orphans may result in lower quality of care. These estimates should be used to guide policy to support family networks to improve the capacity to provide high quality care to orphans.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7196 FEB 01, 2015
The Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Urban Development Project for Jordan received a moderately satisfactory outcome rating with substantial risk to development outcome.
... See More + Both the Bank and the Borrower received moderately satisfactory ratings for their performances. There were two restructurings of this project and they are as follows: (1) The Jordanian Government decided to finance the Petra Gateway (Component 2) from its resources, thus the component was dropped. The facility was built with UNESCOs oversight on technical, social and environmental safeguard compliance. The project was extended by 6 months, and there were a few other, minor changes. (2) Cancellation of Component 3 (Local Economic Development) for two reasons: the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities was uncomfortable with this component, as they recognized their limited capacity to implement it. The World Bank-supported Local Economic Development component was undersized, and dwarfed by other partner contributions. Extension of the closing date from by one year to complete the works in Ajloun. The restructuring also included other minor changes. The scopes of the results framework and components 1, 3, and 4 were adjusted to align with the aforementioned restructurings. Four lessons were learned from this project: a) The integration of tourism, cultural heritage, business development, urban upgrading, poverty reduction and city management results in a total that is more than the sum of the parts. b) Right-sizing investments in integrated cultural heritage projects balances the need for critical mass in a number of cities while avoiding spreading efforts too thin in too many locations; c) Applying good design and implementation practices helps projects to achieve their objectives, and more importantly, ensure that beneficiaries actually benefit; and d) A solid understanding of the incentives, skill gaps and political economy among all key stakeholders is essential to design institutional arrangements in a complex environment with multiple stakeholders and to inform unavoidable adjustments during implementation.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR3209 JAN 30, 2015
Cities in developing countries are experiencing unprecedented growth. But this is often accompanied by the negative impacts of car-dependent urbanization such as congestion, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, inefficient use of energy and time, and social inequality of accessibility.
... See More + The World Bank's transforming cities with transit: transit and land-use integration for sustainable urban development (Suzuki, Cervero, and Iuchi 2013) concluded that compact, mixed-use; pedestrian-friendly development organized around a transit station is one of the most effective strategic initiatives to address the negative effects of motorization. Despite increasing recognition of transit-oriented development as an effective strategic approach for sustainable urban development, most cities, particularly those in developing countries, do not have the practical know-how and expertise to make transit-oriented development happen. Because these cities are almost always under a severe fiscal constraint, they face great challenges in financing capital-intensive mass transit systems to reverse car-dependent urbanization. Development-based land value capture (LVC) in Hong Kong SAR, China; Tokyo; New York; Washington, DC; and London allows these cities not only to generate funds for transit investment and operation and maintenance but also to promote sustainable urban development. If adapted well to local contexts, such schemes have great potential to become an effective finance and planning apparatus for cities in developing countries.
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Working Paper 92250 JAN 13, 2015
Hiroaki Suzuki; Jin Murakami; Yuhung Hong; Tamayose, Beth
The development objectives of the Phase two of the Syr Darya Control and Northern Aral Sea Project for Kazakhstan are to improve flood management capacity and improve water provision for developing aquaculture and other socioeconomic activities in the project areas along the lower Syr Darya.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: the lost irrigated lands are compensated by the identical agricultural lands, i.e identical soil fertility level and productivity. Compensation is meant to give the owners an opportunity to restore the pre-project level of livelihood. These procedures are related both to the legislation of RK and procedures of World bank; affected persons are entitled to be compensated at full replacement cost for their lost assets, incomes and businesses, including temporary losses or impacts, without adjustments for depreciation; compensation should enable affected persons to restore at least their pre-project incomes and standard of living by the end of the project; special attention should be given to households headed by women and other vulnerable persons and appropriate assistance provided to assure that their living standards are maintained or improved; land acquisition and resettlement are executed as part of the project and fully funded; and compensation will be fully provided before land can be entered for civil works or demolition.
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Solomon Islands is at high risk to natural hazards. Located in the Pacific Ring of Fire and within the cyclone belt, it is one of the 20 countries in the world most vulnerable to economic risk exposure caused by geological, hydrological and climatic hazards.
... See More + This includes tropical cyclones, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, floods and droughts. There have been seven major disasters triggered by natural hazards in the past 30 years, causing loss of life and having a severe and adverse impact on the economy each time. Modelling predicts natural hazards and climate change will lead to an average direct loss of US$20.5 million - or 3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) - annually for the next 50 years. In April 2014, 23 people, predominantly women and children, lost their lives after a low depression caused flooding that swept through Honiara and the Guadalcanal Plains. Total damage and losses from the floods is estimated at US$108 million or 9.2 percent of GDP.
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Although there is fast-growing policy interest in offering financial products to help rural households manage risk, the literature is still scant as to which products are the most effective.
... See More + This paper uses a randomized field experiment in Senegal and Burkina Faso to compare male and female farmers who are offered index-based agricultural insurance with those who are offered a variety of savings instruments. The paper finds that female farm managers were less likely to purchase agricultural insurance and more likely to invest in savings for emergencies, even controlling for access to informal insurance and differences in crop choice. It is hypothesized that this finding results from the fact that, although men and women are equally exposed to yield risk, women face additional sources of lifecycle risk -- particularly health risks associated with fertility and childcare -- that men do not. In essence, the basis risk associated with agricultural insurance products is higher for women. Purchasing insurance increased input spending and use more than savings. Those who purchased more insurance realized higher average yields and were better able to manage food insecurity and shocks. This finding suggests that gender differences in demand for financial products can have an impact on productivity, resilience, and welfare.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7176 JAN 01, 2015
Delavallade, Clara; Dizon, Felipe; Hill, Ruth Vargas; Petraud, Jean Paul
This working paper summarizes the key findings of the African Transport Policy Performance Review, carried out by SSATP in selected Anglophone and Francophone countries in 2013.
... See More + It highlights the performance of transport policies focusing on the main transportation modes, excluding maritime and aviation, and is augmented by outcomes of related work carried out mainly by SSATP and the World Bank. The key objective is to convey the salient messages, and to point out the need for more transformational and pragmatic transport policy objectives and strategies, in an effort to enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of the sector. The paper addresses some fundamental policy issues, that affect transport performance in Sub-Saharan African countries and is intended for transport sector policy level decision-makers.
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) 93852 JAN 01, 2015
Policymakers and development groups are interested in innovative ways to deliver cash transfer programs and make an impact where its needed most.
... See More + In Bangladesh, World Bank researchers worked with the government to evaluate a pilot social protection program that conditioned transfers on primary school attendance, monthly growth monitoring for young children and monthly nutrition sessions for mothers. Payments were made to mothers via electronic cash cards. While the program had no effect on school attendance, it significantly boosted consumption of protein and other nutrition- rich foods, and reduced wasting. Based on the results, the nutrition-related part of the program is being scaled up with World Bank assistance to reach 600,000 of the poorest households across Bangladesh, potentially benefitting 2.7 million people. Bangladesh reduced the percentage of families living in poverty by almost a third over the past decade to 30 percent, but the country hasnt been as successful at cutting the rate of wasting and stunting among children. Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of malnutrition in the world and 41 percent of children below the age of 5 are stunted. About five million children are also out of school.
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