The human and economic cost of the ethnic conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) between 1992 and 1995 was enormous. Conflict in BH emerged soon after the republic became independent during the dissolution of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).
... See More + It is estimated that more than 100,000 people were killed in BH and 2 million were displaced or became refugees—over half the pre-war population. The economy all but collapsed with a decline in output estimated at 80 percent (World Bank 1996). Employment plummeted and physical infrastructure was decimated, severely impacting social services provision. The Dayton Agreement (DA) set the framework for a peace agreement that was signed in Paris in December 1995. The immediate DA priority was to establish and maintain peace. However, the institutional structure created at that time resulted in significant fragmentation of public institutions and decision-making, which, when added to the political legacy of the war and the transition from the former socialist republic, has affected development progress in the following two decades.
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This report assesses Serbia’s alignment with the EU Directive on victims support services and proposes recommendations based on existing best practice and analysis of five Member States’ systems (Croatia, England, Finland, France, and The Netherlands).
... See More + Five aspects of the EU Directive (victim support, information, translation and interpretation, protection, and training) were considered in assessing Serbian law and practice and whether changes to the Serbian system are required to comply with the EU Directive.
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The Government of Jordan, the WBG, and the international community are working towards aparadigm shift in their collective response to the refugee crisis - a holistic approach which stresses the continuum between the humanitarian response and the country’s development agenda.
... See More + In parallel, Jordan’s implicit social contract by which the state provided citizens with jobs andheavily subsidized public services is evolving.In its strategic engagement, the WBG will adopt a two-pronged approach aimed at simultaneously addressing Jordan’s immediate needs in view of the fluid and worsening regional situation while keeping amedium and long-term development commitment built on reforming the economy to create the right environment for inclusive, job-creating growth. The first pillar of the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) aims to foster the conditions for stronger private-sector-led growthand better employment opportunities for all. The second pillar of the CPF aims to improve the quality and equity of service delivery, includingthrough private sector solutions.This CPF spans a period ocountry level. The CPF aligns with the Government’s vision Jordan 2025, the Executive Development Plan 2016-2018 (EDP), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Government’s overall vision forthe next 10 years is to place Jordan on a more sustainable growth path with stronger job creation, better service delivery, a more conducive investment climate, and a larger involvement of citizens in the decision making process. The CPF is aligned with this overall vision and the Government’s EDP. Thef six years. The CPF will implement the new Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Strategy at the recently adopted SDGs will also help guide the WBG’s engagement in Jordan, as the Government seeks to mainstream the SDGs into its existing plans towards an integrated planning framework for Jordan.
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Country Assistance Strategy Document 102746 JUL 13, 2016
Lebanon is an upper middle income country with average inequality for countries in the Middle East and North Africa. At the outset of the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) period, in 2011, a unity government fell apart, and this inauspicious political development was compounded by the onset of the crisis in Syria that brought numerous security issues and an influx of refugees.
... See More + Both the domestic political instability and the refugee influx constituted a challenging background for implementation of a Bank program that had difficulty finding a proper footing to foster reform. In response to the Syrian crisis, the Bank supported the government by preparing the Roadmap of Priority Interventions for Stabilization from the Syrian Conflict. This was presented to the Permanent Members of the United Nations (UN) Security Council in September 2013, and positioned the Bank as one of the leaders in the international response to the Syrian crisis. The CPS areas of focus reflected the directions and priorities of the government’s Progress and Development program: energy, water, transport, municipal and urban development, social protection, and fiscal management. The Completion learning review (CLR) was candid and well done. Its presentation was consistent with the CPS progress report objectives and results framework. It contained adequate evidence and analysis of implementation of the Bank Group program, including International Finance Corporation (IFC) interventions and presented a good discussion of how the World Bank Group (WBG) dealt with fiduciary and safeguard issues. Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) agrees with the lessons in the CLR, primarily about flexibility, adaptation and simplicity of design, improving project implementation, political economy, government ownership, and lessons from emergency projects. Overall, the Bank attempted to balance the need to address the issues arising from the Syrian refugee influx, with the requirement to continue supporting medium-term reforms that foster jobcreating growth.
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This paper assesses the impact of the demobilization, reinsertion and reintegration program in post-war Burundi. Two major rebel groups benefited from cash and in-kind transfers, the CNDD-FDD from 2004, and the FNL from 2010.
... See More + A panel data of households collected in 2006 and 2010 is combined with official records from the National Commission for Demobilization, Reinsertion and Reintegration. Regression analysis shows that the cash payments received by FNL demobilized households had a positive impact on consumption, nonfood spending and investments. The program also generated positive spillovers in the villages where FNL combatants returned. Ex-combatants indeed spent a large part of their allowance on consumption goods and clothing, thereby generating a short-run economic boom in villages. However, the long-run evolution of consumption indicators is negative for CNDD-FDD households, as well as for villages where CNDD-FDD combatants returned, suggesting that the direct impact and the spillovers of the program vanished in the long run.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7732 JUN 28, 2016
D'Aoust,Olivia Severine; Sterck,Olivier Christian Brigitte; Verwimp,PhilipDisclosed
Over the past decade, donors of foreign aid quadrupled their annual contributions to trust funds at the World Bank. This earmarking of contributions to donors' preferred recipient countries and issues has raised concerns about the alignment of trust funds with the performance-based allocations of aid by the International Development Association, the World Bank's concessional lending arm, and raises the question of the role of this new "multi-bi" aid channel.
... See More + This study finds that the cross-country allocations of aggregate trust fund aid are poverty- and policy-selective. In this respect, they are much more similar to allocations from the International Development Association than from bilateral donors. The allocations of trust fund types that are more closely controlled by donor countries—recipient-executed and single-donor trust funds—are more strongly related to the strategic interests of donor countries than trust fund aid in general. Trust funds for health and education aid are poverty selective and positively correlated with the World Bank's assessment of the quality of countries' sector policies, while environmental trust funds are neither poverty selective nor correlated with the assessed quality of countries' environmental policies. Overall, the evidence indicates that multi-bi funds administered by the World Bank do not undermine the International Development Association’s allocation criteria.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7731 JUN 28, 2016
On June 24, 2016, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) Board of Governors adopted resolution number six hundred and forty-eight.
... See More + It was resolved that the Bank transfers immediately from surplus, by way of grant, 55,000,000 US dollars to the Trust Fund for Gaza and West Bank, such transfer to be drawn down by the International Development Association as needed; provided, however, that the amount of such grant may at any time be changed by the International Development Association into an equivalent amount in other currencies.
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This Country Partnership Framework (CPF) presents the World Bank Group (WBG) program and the associated results framework for Lebanon for the period FY17-FY22.
... See More + In a fragile and conflict-prone environment, this CPF aims at mitigating the immediate, and potentially long-lasting impact of the Syria crisis on Lebanon, while strengthening state institutions, addressing existing vulnerabilities, and bolstering efforts on longer term development challenges, all through interventions that foster inclusion and shared prosperity. The CPF will work through two focus areas as a way to renew the social contract between the state and the citizens: (i) expand access to and quality of service delivery; and (ii) expand economic opportunities and increase human capital. Through these two focus areas, the WBG will help Lebanon mitigate the economic and social impact of the Syria crisis, safeguard the country’s development gains, and enhance the prospects for stability and development in the coming years. The CPF will contribute to strengthening the relationship between the state and its citizens, a critical ingredient for peace and stability. The CPF will contribute to strengthening the relationship between the state and its citizens, a critical ingredient for peace and stability. The CPF benefited from a series of stakeholder consultations, including those held in connection with the Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) and the WBG Gender Strategy.
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Country Assistance Strategy Document 94768 JUN 15, 2016
This note provides information to Executive Directors on the establishment of a Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) trust fund at the Bank, to support a Concessional Financing Facility (CFF) for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
... See More + The Bank will serve as trustee for the FIF, establish a Coordination Unit, and use funds from the FIF as one of the designated Implementation Support Agencies (ISAs) to provide concessionality to lending to eligible middle income countries. Section II of this note provides background on the CFF; Section III presents a description of the CFF governance and operations and rationale for establishment of a FIF at the Bank; Section IV outlines cost recovery arrangements; and risks and mitigation actions are discussed in Section V.
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