Miscellaneous Knowledge Notes
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Publication
Public Services & COVID-19 – Reflections from the Pacific: Adaptable System Settings
(Washington, DC, 2022-12)The purpose of this note is to identify good practice in public sector management drawn from Pacific Island public service experiences of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. These experiences were brought together through a World Bank engagement with Pacific Island countries in 2021 and 2022. The engagement identified five core aspects of Pacific Island public service management in response to COVID-19: trust, preparation, adaptable system settings, adaptable operating models, and sustainable wage bills. This first note in the series of five focuses on the importance of trust. The primary audience is public service leaders in Pacific Islands. The note will also be of interest to anyone working on designing and leading public sector management systems through rapid change, uncertainty and crises. -
Publication
Public Services and COVID-19 - Reflections from the Pacific: Sustainable Wage Bills
(Washington, DC, 2022-12)The purpose of this note is to identify good practice in public sector management drawn from Pacific Island public service experiences of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. These experiences were brought together through a World Bank engagement with Pacific Island countries in 2021 and 2022. The engagement identified five core aspects of Pacific Island public service management in response to COVID-19: trust, preparation, adaptable system settings, adaptable operating models, and sustainable wage bills. This first note in the series of five focuses on the importance of trust. The primary audience is public service leaders in Pacific Islands. The note will also be of interest to anyone working on designing and leading public sector management systems through rapid change, uncertainty and crises. -
Publication
Public Services and COVID-19 - Reflections from the Pacific: Preparation
(Washington, DC, 2022-12)The purpose of this note is to identify good practice in public sector management drawn from Pacific Island public service experiences of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. These experiences were brought together through a World Bank engagement with Pacific Island countries in 2021 and 2022. The engagement identified five core aspects of Pacific Island public service management in response to COVID-19: trust, preparation, adaptable system settings, adaptable operating models, and sustainable wage bills. This first note in the series of five focuses on the importance of trust. The primary audience is public service leaders in Pacific Islands. The note will also be of interest to anyone working on designing and leading public sector management systems through rapid change, uncertainty and crises. -
Publication
Public Services and COVID-19 - Reflections from the Pacific: Adaptable Operating Models
(World Bank, 2022-12)The purpose of this note is to identify good practice in public sector management drawn from Pacific Island public service experiences of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. These experiences were brought together through a World Bank engagement with Pacific Island countries in 2021 and 2022. The engagement identified five core aspects of Pacific Island public service management in response to COVID-19: trust, preparation, adaptable system settings, adaptable operating models, and sustainable wage bills. This first note in the series of five focuses on the importance of trust. The primary audience is public service leaders in Pacific Islands. The note will also be of interest to anyone working on designing and leading public sector management systems through rapid change, uncertainty and crises. -
Publication
Myanmar Fiscal Monitoring: Myanmar Budget Brief
(Washington, DC, 2022-11)This budget brief presents a summary of developments in Myanmar’s public finances. This report includes two sections that cover the aggregate fiscal update and public finance developments in core service delivery ministries. The report relies on data obtained from published reports of the Ministry of Planning and Finance, and other publicly available information. Where news reports are referenced, additional efforts were made during the monitoring process to triangulate reports from several reputed news media sources to ensure the veracity of the information presented. -
Publication
COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea: Economic and Social Impacts - Insights from the Fifth Round of High Frequency Phone Surveys
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-05-31)The fifth round of the high frequency phone survey (HFPS) interviewed 2,630 households in June 2022 on the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19, including employment and income, community trust and security and COVID-19 vaccination. It follows four rounds of surveys conducted from June 2020 to December 2021. The previous round of the HFPS (round 4), found that recovery was weak in 2021, with household incomes falling, and highlighted persistently low COVID-19 vaccination rates. While the third wave of COVID-19 was over by June 2022, PNG remains the least vaccinated country in the EAP region and could be vulnerable to future outbreaks of COVID-19. The World Bank estimates that the PNG economy contracted by 3.5 percent in 2020 before returning to positive economic growth of 1 percent in 2021. Stronger economic growth is projected for 2022, of 4 percent. In particular, strong growth is projected for the extractive sector (6.8 percent). However, the trajectory of economic recovery remains highly uncertain. -
Publication
Results from Round Three (July 2021) of the Solomon Islands High-Frequency Phone Survey
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-04-01)These are four reports covering the July 2021 Solomon Islands phone survey: The first brief presents analysis of the social and food security impacts of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Solomon Islands. While widespread transmission of COVID-19 did not occur in 2021, COVID-19 preparedness measures such as border closures and precautionary public health measures, as well as weak external demand may have had an impact on the welfare of households. The findings in this brief come from the third round of the World Bank’s High Frequency Phone Surveys (HFPS), as well as UNICEF’s Social-Economic Impact Assessment Survey (SIAS). The second brief focuses on household level impacts of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Solomon Islands for the first half of 2021 based on data from the third round of the World Bank’s High Frequency Phone Surveys (HFPS) and UNICEF’s Social-Economic Impact Assessment Survey (SIAS). The survey covered topics including employment and income, COVID-19 vaccination, basic services, food security and nutrition, coping strategies, public services, and public trust and security. While widespread transmission of COVID-19 did not occur in 2021, COVID-19 preparedness measures such as border closures and precautionary public health measures, as well as weak external demand may have had an impact on the welfare of households. The third brief focuses on household-level economic impacts of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Solomon Islands during the first half of 2021, based on data from a High Frequency Phone Survey (HFPS). While widespread transmission of COVID-19 did not occur in 2021, COVID-19 preparedness measures such as border closures and precautionary public health measures, as well as weak external demand may have had an impact on the welfare of households. The annex provides information on the survey methodology. The fourth brief covers COVID-19 Vaccination and Essential Service Access. -
Publication
Opportunities to maximize the effectiveness of food and tobacco tax to help address Samoa NCD crisis
(Washington, DC, 2022)Samoa is one of the first countries in the Pacific to introduce taxation measures to address Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs). The predicted probability of dying from NCDs between the ages of 30 and 70 years is more than double in Samoa compared to high-income nations in the Pacific region. Over several years, the Government of Samoa has imposed excise taxes on several products including cigarettes, alcohol, and sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs). There are plans to expand excise taxes to unhealthy products in 2023. This includes raising excise taxes on tobacco and SSBs and introducing import duty and/or excise taxes on imported high fat cuts of lamb, syrups, confectionery, biscuits, ice cream, and french fries. Simultaneously, there are plans to reduce and/or waive import duty on selected vegetables, fresh chicken, and bottled water. Therefore, in 2020, a nationally representative survey was conducted to generate baseline data to inform future tax measures. -
Publication
Impacts of COVID-19 on Communities in the Philippines: Results from the Philippines High Frequency Social Monitoring of COVID-19 Impacts Round 2, April 8-14, 2021
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-08-23)The brief outlines the finding from the second round of a high frequency social monitoring survey that aimed to assess the impact of COVID 19 (coronavirus) pandemic on the poorest and most vulnerable rural communities. The survey also aimed to determine the level of understanding and source of information of the communities pertaining to the COVID 19 vaccine. The second round of phone-in survey was conducted April 4-13, 2021 and across National Community Driven Development Project (NCDDP, implemented by community DSWD) communities in nine regions in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. Some of the views and observations from the respondents included : Communities were markedly concerned about vaccine safety and effectiveness and looked to doctors and health practitioners for information about vaccination plans. Getting vaccinated would likely be difficult for seniors, persons with comorbidities, and children because of health reasons. Communities preferred food, cash, and livelihood assistance. -
Publication
Improving Health Services in Myanmar through Public Financial Management Reform
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-08-03)To support socioeconomic development objectives and improve service delivery, the former government of Myanmar issued a public financial management (PFM) reform strategy (2019-2022). Plans were underway to modernize PFM legal and regulatory frameworks, systems, and practices to improve the efficiency of public expenditures and services that are critical for citizens. First Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and then recent political events in Myanmar not only disrupted service delivery, but also emphasized the criticality of public health service delivery. This brief offers a selective overview of a more in-depth assessment of the health sector conducted jointly by the former government and the World Bank in 2020 to support this effort. While it does not take into account the impact of political events that occurred in February 2021, it summarizes the assessment’s central findings and recommendations for enhancing health financing, service delivery, and efficiency at all levels of health care, when the conditions are right. The assessment is based on a large survey of health practitioners, including at the frontlines.