This is the Executive Directors Strategic Engagements Work Program and papers to be circulated from March 2015. Included in the report are checklists of action items.
... Vea más + The lists are separated by FY15 QIII, FY15 QIV and FY16 Q1.
Ver menos -
Kenyas economy has undergone a significant process of structural transformation over the last decade. Since 2002, the economy has shown an accelerating trend with GDP growth increasing steadily from below 1 percent in 2002 to 7 percent in 2007.
... Vea más + After a slowdown in GDP growth to 1.5 percent and 2.7 percent in 2008 and 2009 respectively, economic growth started to rebound in 2010. Amidst this positive growth context, in October 2013, the Kenyan Government launched the Second Medium-Term Plan (MTP-2) of the Vision 2030. The aim of Kenyas Vision 2030 is to create a globally competitive and prosperous country with a high quality of life by 2030 and to shift the countrys status to upper-middle income level.
Ver menos -
The restructuring of the Jilin Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Project for China consists of reallocating part of the loan proceeds among expenditure categories and adjusting the disbursement rate for civil works, based on the request submitted by the client.
... Vea más + The reallocation is necessary to account for the following changes: a) the appreciation of the CNY vs the USD since the time of project appraisal; b) the escalation in the cost of building materials and labor; and c) the increase in the cost due to the difference between the actual detailed designs and the indicative estimates made during project preparation. The restructuring would help the PMOs complete project activities prior to project closure and would contribute to achieving the overall project development objective.
Ver menos -
This Executive Directors' strategic engagements work program covers FY15 Q3, FY15 Q4, FY16 Q1, and also updated reports and other documents to be circulated for information.
... Vea más +Ver menos -
Most of the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa live in rural areas where agriculture is the main income source. This agriculture is characterized by low performance and its productivity growth has been identified as a key driver of poverty reduction.
... Vea más + In Niger, as in many other African countries, productivity is even lower among female peasants. To build policy interventions to improve agricultural productivity among women, it is important to measure the potential gap between men and women and understand the determinants that explain the gap. This paper uses the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition methodology at the aggregate and detailed levels to identify the factors that explain the productivity gap. The analysis finds that in Niger on average plots managed by women produce 19 percent less per hectare than plots managed by men. It also finds that the gender gap tends to be widest among Niger's most productive farmers. The primary factors that contribute to the gender productivity gap in Niger are: (i) farm labor, with women facing significant challenges in accessing, using, and supervising male farm labor; (ii) the quantity and quality of fertilizer use, with men using more inorganic fertilizer per hectare than women; and (iii) land ownership and characteristics, with men owning more land and enjoying higher returns to ownership than women.
Ver menos -
Documento de trabajo sobre investigaciones relativas a políticas WPS7199 FEB 01, 2015
This paper is the report and recommendation in response to the findings set out in the Investigation Report of the Promoting Basic Services Project for Ethiopia.
... Vea más + The request for the investigation was submitted by representatives of 26 Anuak people from the Gambella region of Ethiopia, who alleged that they have been adversely affected by the Project. Following Board approval for an investigation into these claims, the Panel reviewed the allegations and the Project, and issued its investigation report on November 21, 2014. This Management Report and Recommendation responds to the Panels findings as required by the Board Resolution and proposes actions to address the Panels findings. Management concurs with the Panels conclusion that the harm alleged in the Request cannot be attributed to the Project. Management further appreciates that while the Panels Report finds possible weaknesses in project appraisal and design, the Panels Report does not conclude that such weaknesses resulted in or contributed to the harm alleged by the Requesters. Management remains of the view that PBS 3 was neither intended, nor was it an appropriate instrument to address possible shortcomings of the Community Development Program, a GOE program that is not supported by the Bank. This is consistent with the Panels finding that these adverse impacts did not result from PBS 3.
Ver menos -
The second phase of the School-Based Management Project for the United Mexican States received a moderately satisfactory outcome with low or negligible risk to development outcome.
... Vea más + Both the Bank and Borrowers performances were moderately satisfactory. Ultimately there were three restructurings that took place. The first restructuring dropped Component 3 because most activities were not critical to the achievement of the PDO and were supported outside the Project, revised Component 2 to include the impact evaluation previously under Component 3, the provision of technical assistance to states to improve their prioritization of marginalized and indigenous schools, and the carrying out of an monitoring and evaluation survey to collect data from community members on the School Based Management model in Quality Schools Program (PEC) schools, among others. The restructuring also adjusted the results framework to ensure full measurement of the achievement of the PDO. A reallocation of part of the loan proceeds to increase the number of beneficiary schools and an extension of the closing date by one year were also part of this restructuring. The second restructuring reallocated all funds from Category 3 (Consultant Services) to Category 1 (Goods, Works and Consultant's Services supported under direct support to schools). This change was needed because Ministry of Public Education (SEP) decided to finance the impact evaluation of PEC with its own resources. The third restructuring reallocated US$93,331.55 from Category 2 (Incremental Project Costs) to Category 1 (Goods, Works and Consultants' Services supported under the direct support to schools). The change was necessary, given SEP's decision to finance the remaining operating costs with its own resources. There were six lessons learned from this project and they are as follows: (1) Early adjustment of PDO and project results framework is desirable. (2) A rigorous impact evaluation of PEC is crucial to understand the effect of the program on learning outcomes. (3) Local Education Authorities play an important role in planning and implementing federal programs on the ground. It is important to find compelling ways to ensure that all states provide their PEC counterpart financing in a timely manner and comply with management information systems (MIS) that are compatible with the federal MIS. (4) In future operations, Project procurement and FM should be simplified in regards to the direct support to schools to avoid burdening schools with excessive administrative requirements and delays in the reporting of disbursements and proof of expenditures from the Government to the Bank. (5) Moving into country systems in countries with a solid fiduciary structure could help expedite technical assistance procurement processes and ensure that countries benefit from the technical assistance built into the project designs without necessarily compromising healthy procurement procedures. (6) The simplification and dissemination of school planning instruments help disadvantaged schools put together initial school improvement plans and therefore allow them to benefit more frequently from programs such as PEC.
Ver menos -
Informe final de ejecución y resultados ICR1629 JAN 29, 2015
The Recurrent Costs and Reform Financing Project for Somalia seeks to make the following changes to the project: a) An extension of the closing date by two months to enable financing of eligible civil service salaries in non-security sectors in Mogadishu; and salaries and allowances for Subject Matter Experts for January and February 2015.
... Vea más + Additionally, it will facilitate the extension of contracts of consultants supporting the External Affairs Fiduciary Section (EAFS) for project implementation to April 2015. b) A reallocation from component three and two to component one to finance the payments of civil service salaries in non-security sectors and payment of fees and allowances to Subject Matter Experts who are supporting the core government functions for the months of January to March. c) A revision of the Results Framework based on the findings of the mid-term review to be able to better measure the PDO indicators, baselines, progress data and targets for all indicators and adjust and/or add any indicators to show all the results that the project has been achieved. There are no changes in the PDO.
Ver menos -
The need for safety nets in Sub-Saharan Africa is vast. In addition to being the world?s poorest region, Sub-Saharan Africa is also one of the most unequal.
... Vea más + In this context, redistribution must be seen as a legitimate way to fight poverty and ensure shared prosperity, and all the more so in countries where growth is driven by extractive industries that are not labor-intensive and often employ very few poor people. Given that most African countries face difficult decisions about how to allocate limited resources among a number of social programs, evidence is important. Do Safety Net programs actually benefit the poorest people? This book demonstrates with empirical evidence that it is possible to reach the poorest and most vulnerable people with safety net programs, and provides lessons for the effective use of targeting methods to achieve this outcome in the region. The book's introduction presents the rationale for targeting safety net programs to households that are chronically food insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity. A chapter on methods outlines the various ways that targeting can be carried out, along with providing technical details on proxy means test (PMT) and PMTplus methods. Seven case studies (Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, and Senegal) are then presented that document a variety of approaches and experiences in country targeting eff orts, taking into account country needs and existing programs. Each case study covers the extent of poverty and current safety net coverage, available data, targeting indicators chosen, procedures for long-term (and, in some cases, short-term) targeting, ex ante evaluation of targeting mechanisms, and key lessons learned. In the conclusion, the report discusses future challenges in regarding investments in data, procedures, and methods to improve program targeting. Particular emphasis is placed on the need for countries to invest in targeting methods and procedures to safeguard households against exposure to the negative short-term shocks that are prevalent in African countries.
Ver menos -
Publicación 94117 JAN 26, 2015
del Ninno, Carlo [editor]; Mills, Bradford [editor]
The Participatory Irrigation Development Project for the Philippines seeks to restructure the project in a number of ways. The changes include: (a) Extension of the Loan closing date by two years to allow the implementation and completion of rehabilitation and reconstruction activities.
... Vea más + (b) Reallocation from the Unallocated disbursement category to finance a percentage of the cost to repair and retrofit the 20 national irrigation systems/schemes (NIS) that were affected by Typhoon Yolanda. The rest of the cost will be financed by Government as additional counterpart fund. (c) Reallocation from the Unallocated disbursement category to finance a significant percentage of the cost of the additional works for some of the project supported NIS outside the Typhoon Yolanda affected areas to make them more climate resilient, and cover unexpected overruns in the ongoing contracts. The rest of the cost will be financed by Government as additional counterpart fund. (d) Application of the provisions of paragraph 12 of OP 10.00 for projects in situations of urgent need of assistance or capacity constraints, and specifically the exceptions in paragraph 12(b) to allow the procurement of works using direct contracting and force account procurement methods. (e) Revision of the project development objective (PDO) to reflect the modified scope, simplify the formulation, and correct the inconsistency between the Loan Agreement and the Project Appraisal Document (PAD). (f) Revision of the Results Framework to update: (i) some indicators to better align them with the PDO as stated in the PAD; and (ii) target dates of all indicators to reflect the new closing date (g) Removal of Schedule 4 (Performance Indicators) from the Loan Agreement and reflecting it as a stand alone results framework.
Ver menos -