Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs

415 items available

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9389

These briefs report on ongoing operational, economic, and sector work carried out by the World Bank and its member governments in the Africa Region.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 32

Lesotho - Education Sector Development Project

( 2008-05) Mastri, Lawrence

The objectives of the Education Sector Development Project (ESDP) addresses critical needs in the areas of basic education, such as expanding access through the construction, and furnishing of new classrooms. The project aimed to revise curricula, develop instructional materials, and strengthen the system of assessment. In addition to recruiting more teachers, training for teachers at both pre-and-in service was planned to upgrade the standards of teaching. To address the needs of students enrolled in Technical and Vocational Education programs, the project proposed to introduce standardized craft curricula, strengthen skills certification and testing, and improve policy and management capacity within the sub sector. The project planned to support the National University of Lesotho in its efforts to introduce quality enhancement and cost containment measures. Finally, the objectives included improving sectoral management by reorganizing the Ministry of Education (MOE), promoting decentralization, and school level management.
Cameroon - Higher Education Technical Training Project

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-12) Mastri, Lawrence

The Higher Education Technical Training Project's objective was to introduce, develop, and test a new and improved model of public higher technical education in Cameroon in the Institut Universitaire Technologique (IUT) Douala. If successful, the model could then be used as a basis for reforming other higher education institutions in Cameroon. The IUT Douala was among the most advanced in this process, and IDA believed that it could serve as a reference for other institutions. The project had defined eight indicators to evaluate the achievement of the development objective in establishing a new model for technical higher education. The indicators provided a measure of the involvement of the private sector and of the impact on students. Except for two indicators, which were dependent on the granting of full financial autonomy, all other indicators were fully met. Some of the lessons are as follows: (a)The development of a pilot in an institution requires an assessment of the organizational and managerial capacity of the institution to carry out the experiment. (b) Well defined qualitative indicators are crucial to help pilot the implementation process. (c) Developing a cooperative relationship with the private sector takes time. The private sector needs to be convinced that real and sustainable benefits can be gained from this cooperation. (d) Study tours by key stakeholders to countries which have undergone a similar process helps gain support for the reform and build momentum.
Burkina Faso : The Post-Primary Education Project

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-02) Mohan, P.C.

In September 1994, the Government of Burkina Faso held a national convention on post-primary education to analyze the status of this sub-sector and to define a forward-looking strategy. In August 1995, the government initiated a 10-year post-primary education development plan ( PDEPP ) which focused on the educational system as the key determining factor for human resource development. Following a request from the government, the World Bank agreed to providing a credit of US$ 36.6 million (1997-2004) which would support the plan through (i) the promotion of cost-effective and equitable use of education resources; and (ii) an increase in access to and the quality of education.
Sierra Leone - The Role of the Rapid Results Approach in Decentralization and Strengthening Local Governance

( 2006-04) Matta, Nadim ; Hassanali, Zahra ; Balasubramaniam, Rashmir

Although Sierra Leone is endowed with rich natural resources, it is one of the poorest countries in the world. An eleven-year war over the period 1991-2002 destroyed the country's infrastructure and social fabric. The concentration of political power and public resources in the capital city Freetown, and the marginalization of the provinces were perceived as one of the root causes of the war. In 2004, Sierra Leone ranked bottom in the United Nations Human Development Indicators, and 70 percent of the population is said to be under the poverty line. To support the decentralization process, following the Local Council Election of May-June 2004, the councils were encouraged to adopt the Rapid Results Approach (RRA), which became an important driver in building a culture of performance, accountability and results. The initial efforts have also unleashed implementation capacity within the newly-created local councils that delivered measurable improvements in public services over a short period. The note further examines the first wave of rapid results initiatives, scaling-up, and devolution, and, stipulates that by adopting a structured process, based on a few principles designed to unleash capacity, and empower local teams, a favorable environment was created for achieving results in a short period.
Distance Learning : Connecting Development Practitioners

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-01) Prakash, Siddhartha

Information communications technologies (ICTs) have helped to reduce geographical boundaries and connect people across different countries, cities and villages. The internet and mobile phone revolution have enabled millions of people to engage in a global dialogue. Cyber cafes are thriving businesses in the bustling cities of Calcutta, Dakar and Rio and the remoter parts of rural towns and villages such as Tanga, Mopti and Sally. The Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) is a World Bank-supported initiative that uses technology to promote development through learning.
Cape Verde : Improving Education and Training

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-10) Mohan, P.C.

This Credit equivalent of US $6 million was intended to develop, through the Education and Training Consolidation and Modernization project (ETCMP ) - 1999-2003 - a technically and financially sustainable education and training system to ensure an educated and flexible work force capable of responding to the country's social and economic goals. The project was a follow-up to the previous IDA-funded Basic Education and Training project.
Global HIV/AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Team in the MAP Projects (GAMET)

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004-11) Watkins, Sharon

The Global HIV/AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Support Team (GAMET) was formed in July 2002 as a unit of the Bank's Global HIV/AIDS Program in the HDN Vice Presidency. Its aim is to work with countries globally to strengthen and develop their capacity to monitor and evaluate the results of national programs and policy on HIV/AIDS. GAMET was created as a partnership between UNAIDS, other UN agencies, the Bank, the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM), and several technical agencies including the Global Program on HIV/AIDS, and the MEASURE/Evaluation project. It is funded by the UNAIDS trust fund for GAMET operations and by the Bank. The GAMET Country Support Team (CST) consists of 17 international Monitoring and Evaluation specialists who work in collaboration with the national M&E teams. The broad development objectives of GAMET are to utilize the principles and practice of M&E to build country capacity and mitigate the problems associated with HIV/AIDS. This includes three central objectives; i) innovation and development of strategies that incorporate M&E into the framework of the MAP projects ii) country assistance in their initiation of a national framework for M&E and the development of success indicators, and iii) the creation of community-level activities that are able to help local managers accurately assess program interventions.
Mali - Improving Learning in Public Schools

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004-08) Mohan, P.C.

The overall objective of this Learning and Innovation Credit (2000-2003: US$3.8 million) was to further develop and assess the merits of bilingual education in Mali, in terms of financial and educational sustainability. The project was designed at a time when the education system was facing the following problems: (i) low enrollments, including gender and regional imbalances; (ii) poor learning results in primary schools; (iii) low efficiency in public education; (iv) poor accessibility to education for all children; (vi) proliferation of models for community involvement in schooling; and (vii) central management. To achieve its objective, the approach taken was to introduce a bilingual education model - pedagogie convergente - in six languages as the basis for introducing curricular revisions, producing textbooks based on the changed curricula, testing teaching and learning materials, testing student achievement at the end-of-project to determine the model's efficacy, and building community partnerships to elicit local support for introducing the model at the primary education level.
Eritrea - Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) on HIV/AIDS

(Washington, DC, 2004-06) World Bank

In January 2003, the Eritrean Ministry of Health prepared a National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS for 2003-2007. In an effort to boost progress in the Community Managed Response (CMR) component of the plan, the government and the World Bank explored the rapid results approach to accelerate the number of community project proposals. The initiative was launched in Asmara on February 24, 2003 through a two day workshop. Specific 100-day goals were agreed upon, self selected teams were assembled, and leadership and resource structures of support and accountability were established. At the conclusion of the workshop the participants agreed on four major areas to focus their initial actions: (a) voluntary counseling and testing, (b) school prevention, (c) behavioral change, and (d) home-based care.
Eritrea - Road Sector Engineering

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004-02) Mohan, P.C.

The project, begun in 1997 and completed in mid-2002, responded to the key findings of the IDA Participatory Rural Assessment study undertaken in 1994, which identified isolation and lack of road links as substantial constraints to poverty alleviation. It comprised the following components: (1) Infrastructure strengthening studies: (a) a feasibility and environmental impact assessment to determine appropriate design and construction standards of the existing Keren-Barentu- Tessenei road and upgrading of the Barentu-Mendefera road track; to be followed by detailed engineering designs for the agreed civil works; and (b) a national bridge condition and structural strength survey to develop a prioritized program of bridge works to remedy damage and deterioration. (2) Institutional strengthening: (a) technical assistance and training for personnel of the Road Transport Construction Department (RTCD) in procurement and contract administration organization, systems, and procedures; (b) hands-on training to upgrade mechanics skills, including the procurement of spare parts and equipment repairs and training programs; (c) training of trainers; and (d) construction of a small training facility and workshop within the RTCD compound, including basic workshop equipment and training aids.