Miscellaneous Knowledge Notes

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https://hdl.handle.net/10986/9388

Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa, home to more than 1 billion people, half of whom will be under 25 years old by 2050, is a diverse ...

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Understanding the Gender Gap in ID: Key Research Findings and Policy Lessons from Nigeria
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-03) Esquivel-Korsiak, Victoria; Hanmer, Lucia; Pande, Rohini
The World Bank Group’s identification for development (ID4D) initiative estimates that 1 billion people are without an officially recognized means of ID - of these, the majority are women. ID4D undertook an in-depth qualitative study in Nigeria to build global knowledge on women and marginalized groups’ access to and use of IDs, and to inform the country’s Digital ID4D Project. This study draws on data from focus groups discussions and interviews with over 1,500 Nigerian participants that explored gender-based barriers in obtaining the national ID and the intersectionality of issues faced by women and persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and pastoralists. A systematic analysis of this data reveals that universal issues which make it difficult for many Nigerians to register under the current system are compounded by gender-specific barriers and other barriers faced by marginalized groups. The study synthesizes solutions suggested by communities along with international good practices to provide evidence-based recommendations on how to improve access to ID for women and the public more broadly. This note provides a summary of the study and the insights.
The Labor Market Impacts of COVID-19 in Four African Countries (April to October 2020): Evidence from LSMS-Supported High‑Frequency Phone Surveys on COVID-19
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10) Contreras-Gonzalez, Ivette; Siwatu, Gbemisola Oseni; Palacios-Lopez, Amparo; Pieters, Janneke; Weber, Michael
As part of a global effort led by the World Bank to track the socio-economic impacts of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the living standards measurement study (LSMS) team supports high-frequency phone surveys in Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda (among other countries). This brief focuses on the early impacts of COVID-19 on the labor market and their evolution from April to October 2020 using phone surveys in four African countries.
Budget and Procurement Monitoring in Nigeria : A Civil Society Perspective
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-09) Zovighian, Diane
Can governments be held accountable for spending by citizen organizations? In this issue the author present the experience of two civil society organizations (CSOs) engaged in budget and procurement review and monitoring in Nigeria. In the Nigerian context, the preconditions for accountable citizen-state relations are underdeveloped. In particular, some of the building blocks of transparent and accountable public financial management systems are absent or dysfunctional. Lack of information and limited opportunities for citizens' engagement in government processes have resulted in high levels of mistrust between citizens and government. Despite these challenges, there are people and groups, in both government and civil society, who have taken bold steps to ensure greater transparency and accountability in the planning and management of public resources. For example, networks of CSOs working in the area of procurement oversight have started demanding information on procurement bids. The World Bank civil society fund provides financial and technical support to CSOs aimed at improving their capacity and effectiveness to engage in reform and policy processes. Given the World Bank's broader focus on governance reforms, a particular emphasis has been placed on supporting CSO engagement in monitoring the use of public resources, including budget and procurement processes and the delivery of public assets and services. This note features interviews with two civil society fund (CSF) grantees. The first is with Amy Oyekunle, the executive director and manager of the CSF grant at the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), and the second with Nkem Ilo, manager of the CSF grant at the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC). The aim of these interviews is to look at how these organizations navigate the challenges of the Nigerian governance context and what they can realistically achieve with financial and technical support from the World Bank in this context.
Open Government Initiative in Edo State : Fostering an Ecosystem of Collaboration and Transparency
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-05) Bujoreanu, Lyudmila; Kaplan, Jeff; McNaughton, Matthew
This note is intended to briefly describe the World Bank's experience supporting the development and implementation of an open government initiative in Nigeria's Edo State. It reflects upon the process of design and implementation of the first phase of the Edo State Open Government Initiative, which began in 2011 and sought to establish a broader framework for an Open Government ecosystem in the state. Phase 1 culminated with the launch of the Edo State Open Data Portal in September 2013, the first sub-national portal in Africa and which contains more than 100 data sets that had not been previously digitized or released to the public. Using this experience as a reference point, the note seeks to surface some lessons learned for effectively partnering with governments (both federal and state) on an open government agenda. At its core, open government is commonly perceived as being comprised of three main pillars: participation, transparency and collaboration. The World Bank's engagement with the Edo State Government in establishing of an Open Government Framework and moving open government ideas forward has resulted in a number of tangible outcomes and public goods. The Edo State Open Data Portal is now being reused by the developer's community and is providing citizens of Edo with free access to high-value, government data. As a result of the project, the government created two special units: a data digitalization unit and a GIS unit. The case of Edo presents a valuable knowledge sharing opportunity around creating an open government ecosystem and moving this agenda forward in a complex environment.
Making Mobile Feedback Programs Work : Lessons from Designing an ICT Tool with Local Communities
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-05) Lee, Panthea; Schaefer, Merrick
Does providing a free text messaging (SMS) reporting tool, which facilitates communication between farmers and the state-level Project Implementation Unit (PIU) overseeing the Fadama III Project, improve the quality of service of the program? This note highlights initial outcomes from a pre-pilot exercise conducted in 2013 with two program objectives: 1) to explore whether working with local Community-Based Organizations (CBO) to train farmers to use and to promote the tool was an effective means to get and maintain user adoption; and 2) to examine whether the ICT-generated information and system helped the PIU better manage the project. Two main conclusions can be drawn from this pre-pilot. Firstly, it was found that CBO engagement led to significantly larger uptake and use of the system. Secondly, the State PIU only minimally used the reports that were being sent by farmers, despite institutional excitement about the system and a strong mandate from management to use the reports. The findings presented here are based on the deployment of MyVoice, a prototype SMS tool, in six communities in the Federal Capitol Territory of Nigeria. The tool was rolled out over a two-week period through training sessions in the community. The tool was then left operational for an additional four weeks for the communities and government to utilize it. The data informing this note was from all six weeks. Despite the fact that the prototype had significant technical and usability limitations, which were well-understood by the implementing team, its deployment allowed the team to test and learn about the social adoption and use of the tool, as well as to refine the program, training and final software for a more formal pilot and launch. This responsive and adaptive approach helped the team build a more locally relevant and useful system.
Targeting Women in a Community-Driven Development Project : Uncovering Gender Roles in the FADAMA Agriculture Project in Nigeria
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-05) Porter, Raewyn; Zovighian, Diane
How does local context affect the targeting and selection of women in community-driven development (CDD) projects? This note explores how local social and economic structures shape the inclusion of female farmers in a CDD agricultural project in Nigeria known as the Fadama project. This story is specific to the cultural context of the southwest of Nigeria. However, it also considers the effects of embedding targeting and selection mechanisms in any local structure, as it illustrates how gender relations and socio-economic stratification affect a project's outreach to different categories of women. This note is based on broader research exploring the performance and empowerment of female farmers in of the South West of Nigeria under the World-Bank supported Fadama project. The Fadama project aims to reduce rural poverty and increase food security. Beneficiaries are organized in Fadama Farmer User Groups (FUGs), and the project facilitates their access to financial and technical resources through matching grant arrangments. In 2013 additional financing to extend the Fadama project has provided an opportunity to incorporate in the project design new interventions to improve the targeting of female farmers. These interventions include the development and testing of information and communications strategies targeting poor or more excluded female farmers as well as a series of discreet pilots (e.g. financial literacy, peer learning, and mentoring programs) aimed at supporting the access of female farmers to the Fadama project. Impact evaluations attached to these pilots will generate knowledge on the most effective ways to open opportunities for equitable access to agriculture services for all female farmers.