This is a statement by Mr. Anthony Lake, Executive Director at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014. Five years after the global financial crisis, the economic outlook is brightening: growth is picking up in both developing countries and high-income economies.
... See More + But inequalities and poverty persist in all countries. Over a billion people continue to live on less than $1.25 a day. Inequalities within and between countries are growing, thereby threatening economic development and poverty reduction efforts. Children are among the most vulnerable to the effects of poverty and inequalities. Investing in them in particular in the most vulnerable is a strategic way to build a brighter future for all, and for generations to come.
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The technology and innovation landscape has changed considerably since 2006 when Finland as a Knowledge Economy: Elements of Success and Lessons Learned [see also report 39378] was first published by the World Bank Institute (WBI).
... See More + Finland is known for its consistent progress in the economy and competitiveness, as well as the egalitarian society underneath it. Yet, the challenges experienced by Finland in the beginning of the 20th century were similar to those experienced by many countries today. Finland emerged as an independent nation in the midst of international economic and political turbulence. In spite of its remoteness, relative scarcity of natural resources, smallness of the home market and recent history characterized by wars and social cleavages, Finland transformed itself from an agriculture-based economy in the 1950's into one of the leading innovation-driven, knowledge-based economies and high-tech producers in the twenty-first century. The development was rapid, and involved determined action and sometimes drastic decisions by the government and other key actors. Today, at the end of 2013, Finland is facing new types of challenges both domestically and internationally in efforts to maintain its societal sustainability and economic competitiveness. Finland Knowledge Economy 2.0 presents some of the key policies, elements, initiatives and decisions behind Finland's path into the Knowledge Economy of today. The authors hope to provide the readers inspiration, new ideas, and novel insights. Hopefully some of the lessons learned may prove valuable in another context. Based on this account of the development of Finnish Knowledge Economy, the authors have identified six areas of lessons, each described in detail in respective chapters. The book should not be seen as a scientific all encompassing study, but rather as a "Knowledge Economy cook-book", with practical cases, links and insights provided for further exploration.
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Publication 86943 APR 08, 2014
Halme, Kimmo [Editor]; Lindy, Ilari [Editor]; Piirainen, Kalle A. [Editor]; Salminen, Vesa [Editor]; White, Justine [Editor]
The development objectives of the Skills Development Support Project for Mauritania are to improve the quality and efficiency of training institutions and create an enabling environment for a more market-driven technical and vocational education training (TVET) system.
... See More + The additional financing (AF) will help finance the costs associated with: (i) rehabilitation, moderate expansion, and equipment of four TVET centers (22 percent of public TVET centers under the Ministry of Employment, Vocational Training, and Technologies of Information and Communication (Ministere de l'Emploi, de la Formation Professionnelle et des Technologies d'Information et de la Communication - MEFPTIC)); (ii) scaling up of performance-based contracts (PBCs) with public TVET centers from 8 to 14 centers; (iii) scaling up of apprenticeship programs from 4,780 to 6,500 beneficiaries; (iv) scaling up of the number of students graduating from TVET institutions supported by the project from 5,161 to 9,411; and (v) implementation of a broad plan for human resources (HR) development in the TVET sector.
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This paper presents findings from the impact evaluation of the Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women (EPAG) project in Liberia.
... See More + The EPAG project was launched by the Liberian Ministry of Gender and Development in 2009 with the goal of increasing the employment and income of 2,500 young Liberian women by providing livelihood and life skills training and facilitating their transition to productive work. The analysis in this paper is based on data collected during two rounds of quantitative surveys in 2010 and 2011, the second of which was conducted six months after the classroom-based phase of the training program ended. Strong impacts are found on the employment and earnings outcomes of program participants, relative to a control group of non-participants. The EPAG program increased employment by 47 percent and earnings by 80 percent. In addition, the impact evaluation documents positive effects on a variety of empowerment measures, including access to money, self-confidence, and anxiety about circumstances and the future. The evaluation finds no net impact on fertility or sexual behavior. At the household level, there is evidence of improved food security and shifting attitudes toward gender norms. These results reinforce the highly positive feedback received from focus group discussions with program participants. Finally, preliminary cost-benefit analysis indicates that the budgetary cost of the EPAG business development training for young women is equivalent to the value of three years of the increase in income among program beneficiaries. These preliminary results provide strong evidence for further investment and research into young women's livelihood programs in Liberia.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS6832 APR 01, 2014
The overall outcome of the Support to Basic Education Project (PRAEBASE) for the Republic of Congo was moderately satisfactory. The risk to development outcome was substantial; the Bank's performance was moderately satisfactory; and the borrower's performance was moderately satisfactory.
... See More + The reason for the restructuring allows for the extension of the closing date for one year to allow for completion of activities under Component 2, concerning rehabilitation of the school infrastructure, of the project development objective and revision of the results framework. Lessons learned from this project include, 1) capacity development and institutional strengthening take time to materialize especially in a post-conflict context and need to factor greatly into all aspects of project design; 2) working effectively with other organizations in project implementation necessitates a thorough understanding of each organization's procedures, guidelines and field-level practice in the design phase; 3) persistency in investments in equity pays off; and 4) project documentation and reporting should be consistent and organized especially in terms of the M&E framework established to monitor progress under the Project.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR2938 MAR 31, 2014
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 Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project is to increase the 11th grade survival rate and the number of students that complete secondary education in Guyana's regions 3 and 4 (including Georgetown), by constructing and equipping schools, training teachers, and distributing learning materials.
... See More + Negative impacts include: not every child may be computer literate to handle this new teaching; there is a possibility that other subjects could be neglected and cause a decline in performance in these subject areas; administrative staff may not be able to supervise teachers during and after training in this area; dates and time may be inconvenient to teachers due to school activities; consideration is given to Amerindian people but in mixed race communities, this may bring conflict; why is the focus only on secondary schools? Why not start from nursery to primary, then secondary. A foundation for mathematics is needed; and lack of access to electronic facilities such as the other regions when there is no electricity in some of the secondary and primary schools in region nine. Mitigation measures include: training of the teachers must be done in the sub region. (On weekends or holidays); incentive package (monetary or scholarships to do MEd.) for Mathematics teachers who have performed well. The upgrading of teachers should be continuous and closely monitored; this project will focus on schools on the coastal areas but future projects should consider expansion and improvement of secondary school facilities in the hinterland; and secondary education should be more practical, to prepare students to survive in their communities, e.g., in manufacturing, (feed production, food preservation, carpentry, joinery etc).
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The objective of the Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project is to increase the 11th grade survival rate and the number of students that complete secondary education in Guyana's regions 3 and 4 (including Georgetown), by constructing and equipping schools, training teachers, and distributing learning materials.
... See More + Negative impacts include: not every child may be computer literate to handle this new teaching; there is a possibility that other subjects could be neglected and cause a decline in performance in these subject areas; administrative staff may not be able to supervise teachers during and after training in this area; dates and time may be inconvenient to teachers due to school activities; consideration is given to Amerindian people but in mixed race communities, this may bring conflict; why is the focus only on secondary schools? Why not start from nursery to primary, then secondary. A foundation for mathematics is needed; and lack of access to electronic facilities such as the other regions when there is no electricity in some of the secondary and primary schools in region nine. Mitigation measures include: training of the teachers must be done in the sub region. (On weekends or holidays); incentive package (monetary or scholarships to do MEd.) for Mathematics teachers who have performed well. The upgrading of teachers should be continuous and closely monitored; this project will focus on schools on the coastal areas but future projects should consider expansion and improvement of secondary school facilities in the hinterland; and secondary education should be more practical, to prepare students to survive in their communities, e.g., in manufacturing, (feed production, food preservation, carpentry, joinery etc).
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Ratings for the Third Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund Grant Project for Tajikistan were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was moderate, the Bank performance was satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: project's results framework was feasible, centered on basic output indicators that could have been measured realistically, and that the project could impact, with some stretch, during its short implementation period. For an investment operation, the design of a project's results framework should be based on readily available and easy to measure data; the ability of the implementing agency to monitor; and on indicators that measure impacts that can be (directly) attributed to the project. While for a project of medium- to longer-term implementation it is desirable to measure intermediate or final outcomes, a project of shorter duration cannot be expected to influence these. Similarly, while it may be desirable to have more complex indicators, improperly established monitoring systems could result in challenges when measuring progress. Therefore, it will be preferable to create indicators that are simple, and easy to quantify and measure. Similarly, programmatic-type operations provide an appropriate instrument for implementing, learning, adjusting, and improving. But, for these benefits, follow-on operations need to evaluate, learn, and revise adjusting activities to account for capacities and realities. Significant attention is directed toward incorporating 'lessons learned,' but projects often summarize lessons of similar or other operations without sufficiently adjusting them to incorporate past lessons. This project's design and implementation are examples of best practices in terms of reflecting learning, and adjusting adequately to improve results.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR3009 MAR 26, 2014
The development objective of the Decentralizing Funding to Schools Project for Myanmar is to improve and expand Myanmar's existing school grants and student stipends programs.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) beneficiary assessment, financed and facilitated by the Bank and its contacting agency, will be conducted on an annual basis which aims to assess, and report to Ministry of Education (MoE) and beneficiary people, the past year's progress with regard to the school stipend and school grants programs including on implementation of community participation planning framework (CPPF); (2) Department of Education Planning and Training (DEPT), Department of Basic Educations (DBEs), and Township Education Offices (TEOs) will organize meetings with beneficiary communities and share assessment results; (3) monitoring steps in the local areas will be complemented by the Bank-executed technical assistant (TA) program which will provide information to help the MoE continuously improve the management and operations of the stipend and school grants programs; and (4) the endorsed school improvement plan will be announced at the school assembly and will be displayed at the school notice board for the public.
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The development objective of the Decentralizing Funding to Schools Project for Myanmar is to improve and expand Myanmar's existing school grants and student stipends programs.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: improving the stipends program means introducing innovations from global experience, as well as improving the financial management of program funding. Assessments of the program have suggested a number of ways in which the program design and implementation can be improved; introduction of well-defined program objectives and performance indicators; evidence-based selection of initial townships; evidence-based targeting of schools and students within townships; better definition and communication of conditionality and of the program in general; community participation and oversight; introduction of provisions for audits; and linking program progress reporting to Ministry of Education, or MoE's own information systems.
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The objective of the Youth Corps Project for Kazakhstan is to promote young people's community engagement and life skills through a community-based service learning program, especially for vulnerable youth.
... See More + There are three components to the project, the first component being support community-based service learning and life skills. This component will incorporate the five elements discussed above (community engagement, initiative, support system, safe place, and recognition for positive behavior) and implementation will follow the protocol and monitoring framework outlined in the Project Operations Manual (POM). A coordinating agency will be responsible for overseeing the daily administration of component one activities, which are organized along four sub-components: (i) subproject grants and subsistence stipends for community-based service learning, (ii) life skills development and project management training, and (iii) outreach to vulnerable young people, and (iv) coordination, communication, and accountability. The second component is the support institutional development of the committee on youth affairs for youth policy implementation. Finally, the third component is the project management, monitoring, and evaluation activities.
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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) using site selection criteria for land acquisition; (2) dousing areas to be excavated with water to minimize dust emissions; (3) using traffic wardens to coordinate traffic flow; (4) providing waste skips for waste collection; (5) providing and maintaining suitable toilet facilities on school compound; and (6) installing rain gutters to harvest rain into designated receptacles for use in toilets, laboratories.
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