The objective of the additional financing for Higher Education Quality Improvement Project (HEQIP) for Yemen is to create the enabling conditions for the enhancement of the quality of university programs and graduate employability.
... See More + The project has four components. (1) Quality improvement for university programs component will be facilitating the establishment of a fully sustainable mechanism that will channel financial resources to higher education institutions in Yemen in order to support program development initiatives leading to significant qualitative improvement in teaching and learning, consonant with the social, economic, and employment priorities of the country. The proposed additional financing will fill the financing gap associated with the procurement of laboratory equipment and tools under this component. (2) Quality Assurance (QA) component supports activities that will institutionalize QA mechanisms and structures in higher education institutions and will foster enabling conditions conducive to the enhancement of the quality of university programs and graduate competencies. (3) Institutional capacity development component will support the planning and monitoring capacity of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and nurture the capacity of Taiz University in terms of its fiduciary management and to enhance accountability. (4) Monitoring and evaluation and project management component will support the project coordination, implementation, management, and monitoring and evaluation.
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This report is a comprehensive review of country experience with Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks (MTEFs) worldwide. It looks at countries both with and without MTEFs over the period 1990 to 2008 to obtain results about their impact on fiscal performance.
... See More + The report is structured as follows. Chapter two provides background on what constitutes a MTEF and what it aims to achieve. It also describes the Bank's engagement with MTEFs, presents main points of debate over the experience with MTEFs, and provides a rationale for this study. Chapter three describes the key characteristics of MTEFs, explains the approach used to identify and classify them according to their stage of development, and reviews trends in their adoption. Chapter four outlines the methodological approaches used to examine the impact of MTEFs on fiscal performance, formulates the research hypotheses that are tested in the study, and presents empirical findings from the event studies and econometric analysis. It also presents qualitative insights, informed by case studies, on how MTEFs have affected the quality of budgeting. Chapter five draws some lessons about the key institutional determinants of MTEF performance. Chapter six discusses lessons learned from Bank support for MTEF implementation. Finally, chapter seven presents the conclusions of the study and discusses their implications for the Bank. Several appendixes provide supporting material, including a country-by-country tabulation of MTEF status, a full discussion of econometric results, and country case studies.
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In recent years, due to the rapid development of mining industry and intensive minerals exploration, exploitation and processing activities in the country, close to 300 million square meters of earth have been damaged including 1721.9 hectares as result of minerals extractions, 14565.0 hectares because of roads and communications infrastructure, and 1206.4 hectares due to construction works respectively, disfiguring massively the pristine natural landscape, reducing the river water levels due to many dried up rivers and streams, and ultimately causing overwhelming damage to the nature and environment.
... See More + The development and enforcement of the 'methodology to carry out technical and biological rehabilitations in areas damaged by mining operations' is a first integrated methodology in our country to carry out the technical and biological rehabilitation of areas damaged during minerals exploitation and processing activities in conjunction with extraction technology and natural regions. Doing so will create opportunities to calculate realistically the technical and biological rehabilitation work cost and scope of areas damaged due to minerals exploitation and processing activities, carry out quality rehabilitation works in accordance with proper methodology and guideline, increase the size of pastureland and hay preparation areas, revive the vegetation cover, and reduce the desertification process. In addition, estimating the rehabilitation work scope, rehabilitation method and technology, required capital will have great importance to prevent the project implementer from possible loss and harm, and provide support to decision-makers of rehabilitation issues.
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The objective of the First Programmatic Fiscal Sustainability Development Policy Loan (DPL) Program for Iraq is to mitigate the impact of the current fiscal crisis on Iraq's economy and to support its medium-term economic reform program, thereby helping the country improve fiscal sustainability and reducing its fiscal and socio-economic vulnerability to sudden drops in oil revenues.
... See More + This DPL will add value to the portfolio of existing Bank operations in Iraq and help achieve the objectives laid out in the Bank's strategy to support Iraq. In particular, it brings together for the first time different elements of Bank assistance under a consolidated, coherent reform package; lays out prior actions and future reforms in areas not directly addressed in previous operations, such as the links between the Iraq's poverty reduction strategy and the State Budget as well as the rationalization of the public distribution system; and helps accelerate policy decisions in a number of reform areas, thereby energizing the reform agenda and providing synergy with the implementation of the investment project portfolio.
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The objective of the Henan Yellow River Ecological Livestock Demonstration Project for China is to improve the local environment and develop modern and clean animal husbandry industry with the introduction of advanced technology and management Negative measures include: inappropriate drainage could lead to pollution of surface and groundwater; pollution; dust; noise; construction trash, soil and domestic waste; and waste water pump, grounder, and fan.
... See More + Mitigation measures include: 1) they should stay away from water source areas, they should not be located in areas with shallow water table that is drained to surface water bodies (rivers, lakes, wetlands; 2) excavated soil, construction waste, and unused construction materials (sand and concrete) should be covered during transportation. Construction site should be kept clean. Area should be sprayed during dry months to reduce dust; 3) domestic waste water should be treated in septic tank. After treatment, waste water can be discharged or applied to crop land. Use erosion prevention measure such as silt fence or hay bale to minimize water pollution due to sediment loading; 4) use low noise equipments and machinery, high noise construction should be stopped at night or use silencers to reduce noise pollution; 5) except for soil materials used for backfill, all other excavated soil and construction waste should be moved to appropriate dumping sites; and 6) use of low noise equipments should be encouraged, use of submersible wastewater pump should be promoted. Measures should be adopted to reduce noise and vibration.
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This paper provides a general treatment of the problem of estimating the parameters of a regression model in the presence of truncation and censoring.
... See More + The maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and its covariance matrix for both the censored and truncated models are presented. Since the likelihood equations are nonlinear, solutions must be obtained by iterative methods. Four computer algorithms for obtaining the MLE are given and compared. In addition, a method of modifying the algorithms so as to improve their rate of convergence is given. Finally Monte Carlo experiments are used to compare the consistent initial estimator with the convergent MLE and to provide guidelines for the selection of an algorithm.
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This paper proposes a multi-stage systems approach to the problem of specifying and calibrating macro-economic models in the context of arbitrary configurations of incomplete data.
... See More + As a vehicle to convey the basic ideas, the study employs the standard econometric model, consisting of a dynamic, nonlinear system of simultaneous behavioral equations and identities. It considers both the customary stochastic representation and a deterministic analogue. In the former, incomplete data either require high-order numerical integrations, beyond present computer capabilities; or, in certain specific exceptions, iterative linearizations around the model solution values--effectively reducing the model to a deterministic form. Accordingly, the paper devotes most of its discussion to deterministic structural models, though a variety of special cases may be given specific stochastic interpretations.
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This manual describes the use of the optimization code CONOPT with the features that have been implemented by the beginning of November, 1979. The code is still experimental.
... See More + The manual is organized as follows : i) a short definition of the mathematical problem to be solved is given along with the main assumptions on which the code is based; ii) the authors define the optimization problem of the code; iii) the authors describe the MODEL input that defines the structure of the problem, i.e. which variables enter in which relations, and defines the constant linear part of the model; iv) describes the SERIES input (where numerical values of the linear yet time dependent parts of the problem can be defined); v) a description of how the actual nonlinear functions are entered are given; vi) a description of the control language is given; vii) the meaning of the CONOPT output, especially abbreviations are explained; and viii) the authors give an example of a small optimal control problem, and demonstrate the four input files : MODEL, SERIES, FCOMP, and Control Program.
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) DRC16 MAR 31, 1980
