The development objective of the Transport Sector Modernization Program (TSMP) is to improve transport connectivity of the country along priority transport links and to support improvements in transport operations and asset management practices.
... See More + The Program is multi-phased with a First Phase including road sections in FBH, and the Second Phase including railways in the Republika Srpska (RS). Some of the negative impacts are includes : (i) effects related to losing a work position; (ii) finding a new job; (iii) tensions between workers and employer; (iv) workers re-deployment to other units in the company; (v) to change place of residence for another workplace; (vi) employees’ perceptions towards the procedure; (vii) vulnerable groups affected by labor restructuring; Some of the mitigation measures are includes: (i) monetary compensation to employees affected by the retrenchment, which consists of (i) severance pay; (ii) payment of outstanding arrears and debt to employees; (ii) employment support from one or both of the following: (i) local employment centers/NGOs, business and innovation centers and institutions; (ii) employment program activities within the Employment Strategy of Republika Srpska; (iii) non-monetary compensation upon leaving the company through (i) training and courses; (ii) job searching opportunities; (iii) outplacement; (iv) assistance and advice on unemployment or social security benefits; (iv) support from Human Resources and Legal Services departments as well as special coordinators to provide assistance and clarifications on the procedure and Grievance and Appeals; (v) assistance on the re-deployments procedure and other arrangements; (vi) programs and institutions which provide assistance in searching for new work based on regional and local opportunities; (vii) information and communications on employees’ rights, employment-related affairs and employment support (unemployment benefits, social assistance, Employment Service, etc.), focusing on the sense of fairness and non-discrimination of the procedure, timely notification of the retrenchment process; (viii) protections more vulnerable categories (e.g. war veterans) during retrenchment.
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Technology is one of the main drivers of productivity and economic growth. Developing countries have traditionally had difficulties in both developing technology and absorbing foreign technology.
... See More + However, the recent emergence of tech startups present an opportunity. Tech start-ups are an effective a mechanism to both create local technology and absorb foreign technology. The objective of this report is to provide a better understanding of the status of Beirut’s start-up ecosystem and provide policy recommendations for policy makers and other stakeholders who are interested in supporting the growth and sustainability of the ecosystem. The report is based on an in-depth survey of startups and supportive stakeholders of the ecosystem. The findings point out to an early-to middle stage start-up ecosystem that has passed its nascent growth phase but is still far from maturity. Skills, supportive infrastructure, finance pipeline, and community and networks are examined and gaps are identified. Policy recommendations to tackle these gaps are presented based on international practices.
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The development objective of the Integrated Feeder Road Development Project (IFRDP) for Mozambique is to enhance mobility in selected rural areas in support of inclusive agriculture and other livelihoods of local communities, whilst ensure efficient mobility of people and freights along the connected main national corridors.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts are includes : (i) loss of vegetation at camp sites, borrow pits, access roads and deviations; (ii) encroachment to forest area for hunting and timber exploitation; (iii) modifications in water table as a result of Road Construction (soil compaction); (iv) lowering of quality of life of the people in the road alignment route and those located near ancillary sites; (v) increase in job opportunities in the region and improvements in rural income; increase potential for prostitution due to risk behavior of women and young girls; (vi) probable loss of income due to dislocation of informal businesses; (vii) improvements in access to alternative markets for agricultural produce; (viii) increased risk of health problems: waste products and sewerage;Some of the mitigation measures are includes : (i) minimizing the area of ground clearance as to avoid the production of excess spoil material and reduce the need for borrow pits; (ii) replanting disturbed areas immediately after disturbance has stopped, not after construction has been completed, and their maintenance; (iii) protecting trees and vegetation in the road alignment vicinity and re vegetation of cut slopes as soon as possible; (iv) drainage improvement to control location, volume and speed of water flows in water courses in the vicinity of exposed soils and slopes; (v) never dispose spoil on fragile slopes, flood ways, wetland, farmland, forest areas, natural drainage path, religious and culturally sensitive sites, wetlands, canals and other infrastructures; (vi) extraction of sand and stone from seasonal rivers should be avoided due to the impact on complex flood hydrology, which can result in much more serious storm floods; (vii) use only “clean” fill materials around watercourses, such as quarried rock containing no fine soil; (viii) take account of prevailing wind direction when siting roads and road features, including re-fuelling stations, near population centres; (ix) all heavy equipment and machinery shall be fitted with noise pollution control devices that are operating correctly; (x) clear trees only when absolutely necessary. trees falling in right-of-way but not on formation width need not be cleared, rather consider new plantation of selected (non-exotic) species; (xi) establish footpaths and vehicle pull-off bays along the road, through villages and near markets, schools and other community facilities; (xii) awareness creation on basic health care, environmental sanitation; (xiii) route selection for access to material sites, and detour road route should try to avoid dense vegetation covered areas and protected area.
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This report studies coding bootcamps. A new kind of rapid skills training program for the digital age. Coding bootcamps are typically short-term (three to six months), intensive and applied training courses provided by a third party that crowdsources the demand for low-skills tech talent.
... See More + Coding bootcamps aim at low-entry level tech employability (for example, junior developer), providing a new tool for entry into the new world of digital jobs. This report studies the characteristics, methodologies, business models and impact of five coding bootcamps operating directly or through partners in developing countries. High employability and employment rates in low-entry tech positions (for example, junior developer, freelancer, and so on) reported by coding bootcamps suggest an untapped potential of this form of rapid tech skills training. From the case studies, there are two factors that seem to exert a major influence over employment outcomes: 1. selection criteria, and 2. extent of links with the local tech ecosystem. However, there is also criticism around bootcamp programs, which have been grounded in three key arguments: quality of programming skills, employability, and "short termism." Early evidence, which is based on a limited number of sources and mostly based on the data from bootcamp providers themselves, calls for additional, more representative, and holistic research.
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The development objective of the Aviation Investment Project (TvAIP) for Tuvalu is to improve operational safety and oversight of international air transport infrastructure.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures are includes : (i) include transport of materials and equipment to construction lay down area (likely to be located at the airport) in the TMP e.g. covering of loads, maximum speed, designated travel times and notification of police andother required departments (e.g. hospital and schools); (ii) minimize erosion and design erosion protection measures according to international good practice standards, including incorporation of effective drainage systems (soakage pits) and consideration of surface flow paths; (iii) ensure all equipment is serviced and issued with warrant of fitness (as required). Any machinery deemed to be polluting the air must be replaced (or fixed) on instruction by the Client’s Consulting Engineer and/or MCT; (iv) ensure wash down areas with respective collection and treatment systems are designated within the construction camp (e.g. settling pond or tank and concrete slurry treatment) prior to works commencing; (v) contractors should include maximum rainwater reclamation and water conservation or efficiency in all components; (vi) identify approved service providers for collection and disposal of waste and stipulate conditions of carriage; (vii) contractor to identify shipping route and licensed disposal facilities for all exported waste; (viii) ensure containment facilities are set up for the transport of hazardous waste substances that are to be disposed of at licensed waste facility (trans-boundary); (ix) minimize time and size of ground disturbing activities to workable size at any one time. Vegetation to be removed manually, strictly no use of herbicides or pesticides; (x) ensure all construction waste material is recycled or packed up for transport off island. The municipal landfill on Funafuti is not suitable for disposal of construction waste generated from the TvAIP; (xi) lubricants shall be collected and recycled if suitable. All waste lubricants shall be removed from island as hazardous waste; (xii) dust masks and personnel protective equipment must be available for workers during dust generating activities (e.g. pavement milling); (xiii) regularly check and maintain machinery, equipment and vehicle conditions to ensure appropriate use of mufflers, etc.; (xiv) use plant species characteristic for the landscape in the course of restoration of the vegetation cover; (xv) used oil to be collected and taken off island (for disposal or cleaning at approved facility) at completion of works if no on island disposal or recycling facility available;
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Occupational segregation is a central contributor to the gap between male and female earnings worldwide. As new sectors of employment emerge, a key question is whether this pattern is replicated.
... See More + This paper examines this question by focusing on the emerging information and communications technology sector in Nigeria. Using a randomized control trial, the paper examines the impacts of an information and communications technology training intervention that targeted university graduates in five major cities. The analysis finds that after two years the treatment group was 26 percent more likely to work in the information and communications technology sector. The program appears to have succeeded only in shifting employment to the new sector, as it had no average impact on the overall likelihood of being employed. However, viewed through the lens of occupational segregation, the program had a surprising effect. For women who at baseline were implicitly biased against associating women with professional attributes, the likelihood that the program induced switching into the information and communications technology sector was more than three times as large than that of unbiased women. These results suggest that training programs can help individuals overcome self-defeating biases that could hamper mobility and reduce efficiency in the labor market.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8141 JUL 10, 2017
The development objective of the Transport Corridors Project for Iraq is to improve road transport connectivity and safety on selected road sections along Expressway 1 and the North-South transport corridor in Iraq.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures are includes : (i) ground water pollution related to disposal of domestic solid wastes generated by the personnel and domestic wastewater generated by the personnel; (ii) noise pollution resulting from the operation of turbines and other equipment; (iii) air pollution resulting from the emissions and dust blows; (iv) used oil filters and empt oil/fuel barrels are considered hazardous and need to be handled in a careful manner otherwise they may pollute the soils. (v) water sprinklers will be used to spray raw materials and site grounds to reduce the effects of dust emissions;(vi) waste generated during the construction phase will be temporarily stored in barrels and containers; (vii) periodic maintenance and replacement of filters of the asphalt plant and generator wherever this possible; (viii) for staff and persons whom will be working within noisy zone they will be supplied with personal protective equipment (PPE) in order not to impair on their health as a result of over exposed to noise; (ix) good maintenance for trucks and lorries used to reduce gas emissions; (x) for the sludge waste, it's dealt with the asphalt plant manager to use it to pave some surfaces to reduce the dust emission, or it can be reused and utilized through recycling it back into the asphalt; (xi) all transportation, handling and storage of bitumen will be handled by experienced personals; (xii) regular health checks will be conducted for employees and staff working at the asphalt plant; (xiii) persons undertaking construction and installation works should have access to amenities for their welfare and personal hygiene needs such as sanitary toilets, potable drinking water, washing facilities, shelter sheds etc.; (xiv) must ensure sufficient lighting in the area where a person performs construction work or may be required to pass through, including access ways and emergency exit or passage without risk to health and safety.
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Some of the headings included in this newsletter of the World Bank in India are: making India’s cities livable; pathways to prosperity – World Bank series; skilling India; development dialogue: is a college degree worth it?
... See More + ; ICR update : Maharashtra water sector improvement project; recent project approvals and signings; new additions to the public information center
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A major concern with the rapid spread of technology is that it replaces some jobs, displacing workers. However, technology may raise firm productivity, generating more jobs.
... See More + The paper contributes to this debate by exploiting a novel panel data set for Chilean firms in all sectors between 2007 and 2013. While previous studies examine the impacts of automation on the use of routine tasks by middle-educated workers. this study focuses on a measure of complex software that is typically used by more educated workers in cognitive and nonroutine tasks for client, production, and business management. The instrumental variables estimates show that in the medium run, firms' adoption of complex software affects firms' employment decisions and the skill content of occupations. The adoption of complex software reallocates employment from skilled workers to administrative and unskilled production workers. This reallocation leads to an increase in the use of routine and manual tasks and a reduction in the use of abstract tasks within firms. Interestingly, the impacts tend to be concentrated in sectors with a less educated workforce, suggesting that technology can constrain job creation for the more skilled workers there. The paper concludes that the type of technology matters for understanding the impacts of technology adoption on the labor market.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8110 JUN 23, 2017
The South-West Roads Project (SWRP) is currently being implemented and is being restructured to include the financing of two new road sections: Kurty-Togyz road section (km 2295-2380) and the Otar-Uzynagash road section (km 63-162).
... See More + Both of these road segments were previously appraised by the World Bank under different projects. This document reflects an updated summary of the environmental and social assessment process for the proposed restructuring of the SWRP (funded by the World Bank) to support GoK policy toward upgrading the main existing road corridors – the Western Europe – Western China (We-WCh) Corridor and the Center-South (CS) - as prioritized in the current national strategic documents and to operationalize the sector reform activities to make KAZ a commercially-oriented road operator.The ESMPs for the considered road sections developed on ESIA reports previously approved by the Bank and disclosed accordingly) also reflect aspects that came up during additional analysis, in particular, the proximity of the road to sensitive natural habitats and cultural resources, as well as the need to include requirements of the World Bank Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) guidelines. The ESMP mainly describes the baseline environmental and social conditions, potential negative impacts from the proposed activities and the agreed environmental and social mitigation and monitoring measures. In addition, it outlines the structure of environmental responsibilities and reporting and the requirements for public consultations and disclosure. The minutes of the public consultations with stakeholders that were conducted in several locations along the project alignment in April 2017 are included as attachments of the current reports. As the ongoing SWRP, the current restructuring has been process in line with category a risk investment.
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Reforms of national customs agencies are supported by increasingamounts of development aid. However, there have been very fewformal evaluations of their effectiveness.
... See More + This note summarizesresearch about the impact of the In-House Clearance Program onparticipating firms in Serbia. The IHC program allows qualifyingfirms to clear customs from within their own warehouses rather thanat the customs offices. Firms adopting the program experiencedimproved predictability of clearance times; however, the reform didnot have an impact on median clearance times, inspection rates, orimport values.
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The development objectives of Metro Colombo Urban Development Project for Sri Lanka are to : (a) reduce flooding in the catchment of the Colombo Water Basin; and (b) support local authorities in the Colombo Metropolitan Area to rehabilitate, improve and manage local infrastructures and services.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (i) worker and public health and safety risks especially during sourcing, transport and storage of material for the covering process; localized and temporary impacts relating to access and mobility; (ii) requiring temporary relocation of households in the surrounding areas of the dumpsite for safety reasons, the evacuees will be provided with transitional housing allowance as well as rental support; (iii) landholdings; non-retrievable loss of buildings and structures to determine fair andreasonable levels of compensation and mitigation; (iv) plan and implement land acquisitionand resettlement activities as an integral part of the Project; (v) assist the affectedpersons to restore, and ultimately to improve, their livelihoods to conditions equal or better than their earlier status; (vi) special support to enhance project benefits for the vulnerable groups (especially, scavengers, ragpickers and informal recyclers); (vii) independent safeguards monitoring agency (consultants) will be instituted to carry out periodic review of the safeguard due diligence with regard to land acquisition, resettlement and livelihood restoration; (viii) monitoring will involve ongoing internal and quarterly external monitoring exercises and annualquality review exercises using quantitative and qualitative methods.
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The development objective of the Transport Infrastructure and Connectivity Project for Lesotho is to improve access to agricultural markets and tourist sites and promote job creation in targeted areas of Lesotho, whilst supporting improvements in road safety and providing immediate and effective response in the event of an eligible crisis or emergency.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures are includes : (i) spent or waste oil from vehicles and equipment should be collected and temporarily stored in drums or containers at site; (ii) construction workers to follow prescribed precautions when working in dusty conditions; (iii) construction vehicles to be regularly maintained and fitted with suitable exhaust systems to reduce emissions; (iv) The contractor must supply the workers with firewood or preferably gas cooking appliances, to ensure that wood is not harvested from the surrounding vegetation; (v) fines to be imposed for infractions relating to habitat conservation and disturbance of natural vegetation; (vi) stockpile areas must be clearly demarcated and stabilised to ensure minimum erosion during rainstorms; (vii) all plant to be well maintained and fitted with effective mufflers; (viii) fences or safety barriers to be erected between construction activities and graves or graveyards; (ix) suitable erosion control mechanisms to be instituted in the design and layout of the bridges and road to reduce silt loads in surface water runoff; (x) provide drums or containers for temporary storage on site of waste oil from equipment and vehicles; (xi) maintenance and cleaning of vehicles, trucks and equipment should take place offsite; (xii) identify cultural heritage resources and existing ecologically sensitive areas; (xiii) ensure that the local communities are given priority in relation to employment and provided with training (skilled) to provide future labour in the project e.g. operation and maintenance.
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The development objective of the Transport Sector Reform Project for Cabo Verde to support the recipient’s efforts to improve the efficiency and management of its national road assets and lay the groundwork for transport sector state-owned enterprise reform.
... See More + The AF will seek to enhance the achievements of the parent Project by (a) undertaking additional road rehabilitation and Performance-Based Maintenance Contracts (PBMCs); (b) scaling up the provision for emergency road repairs; and (c) continuing the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the transport sector. The implementation of the proposed AF is expected to be completed within three years, which means that the closing date for the proposed AF will be December 31, 2020. The closing date of the parent Project will be extended from June 30, 2019 to December 31, 2020 to align with the AF, to permit flexibility in the use of project funds, and to allow the full implementation of the remaining activities.
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The development objective of the Medium Cities Development Project for Vietnam is to increase access to improved urban infrastructure services in Lao Cai City, Phu Ly City, and Vinh City in a sustainable and efficient manner.
... See More + This Project Paper seeks the approval of the Executive Directors to provide an additional IDA Scale-Up Facility (SUF) credit in an amount of USD 40 million and an additional credit of USD 13 million to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for the Medium Cities Development Project (MCDP). The proposed Additional Financing (AF) will: (i) close a financing gap caused by the appreciation of the US Dollar (USD) against the Special Drawing Rights (SDR); and (ii) enable scaling-up of activities in two of the three project cities (Lao Cai City in Lao Cai Province, and Phu Ly City in Ha Nam Province). Concurrently, it is proposed a first level restructuring, which includes modifications of the Project Development Objectives (PDO) and Results Framework (RF) of MCDP as set forth in Section III below and to extend the closing date of the original IDA credit to June 30, 2018 and the closing date of MCDP to December 31, 2020.
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This paper is a study of the effect of Brazil's staggered Internet rollout between 2000 and 2014 on municipality employment and wages. The study uses a new, annual data set on Internet availability from the Brazil school census, with the assumption that the share of schools that have Internet access in each municipality reflects the general accessibility of Internet connections.
... See More + These data are combined with Brazil's rich, matched employer-employee survey, which contains annual occupation and wage earnings information for all formally-employed workers in Brazil across all sectors, including primary, secondary, and tertiary industry groups. Contemporaneous and lagged effects are considered. The analysis finds that increased Internet access has no statistically significant net effect on aggregate employment, and has a negative effect on average wages, with a reduction in measures of wage dispersion. Brazil’s Internet rollout results in employment shifts from sectors with more limited expansion opportunities (wholesale and retail trade, public administration, and largely publicly-owned utilities, which jointly comprise almost half of the formal workforce in 2010) to sectors with more output expansion opportunities. The employment effects are positive and most pronounced in the manufacturing, transport and storage, finance and insurance, and hospitality industry groups. In the manufacturing sector, Internet access induces positive employment and wage effects in medium- and high-skill occupations.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8042 APR 26, 2017
