Other Public Sector Study
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Publication
Responding to the Challenge of Fragility and Security in West Africa: Natural Resources, Extractive Industry Investment, and Social Conflict
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015)The inability to unlock natural resource wealth for the benefit of developing countries’ local populations, a phenomenon popularly known as the ‘resource curse’ or the ‘paradox of plenty’, has spawned extensive debate among researchers and policy makers in recent years. There is now a well-established body of literature exploring the links between natural resources and conflict, with some sources estimating that over the past 60 years, 40 percent of civil wars have been associated with natural resources. Following this introduction, Section two provides an overview of interstate tensions in West Africa in order to improve understanding of the drivers of fragility that trigger conflict between countries around extractive industry investment. Here, the discussion is grounded in examples in which interstate tensions have been apparent, including the case of the Mano River Union, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, a region with a history of conflict, and where the exploitation of commercial deposits of high-value resources may continue to have a potentially destabilizing effect. Section three focuses on the decentralization of natural resource revenues, a process that proponents believe can help manage grievances and defuse intrastate tension in areas directly affected by resource extraction, but one that is also not without challenges. Drawing upon the case of Ghana’s Mineral Development Fund, the section explores the potential for conflict (and conflict triggers) to arise when the redistribution of extractive industry revenues to subnational regions takes place. In doing so, it becomes apparent that the capture and misuse of revenues from the fund is as much a political issue as it is a policy or technical one. This sets the stage for section four, which focuses in greater detail on extractive industry-related conflict within catchment communities, and how contestation is most often a result of unequal power relationships. Section five, the conclusion, summarizes and reflects upon some of the challenges and struggles over resource management associated with West Africa’s recent resource boom, and draws out some of the cross-cutting themes. Here, suitable entry points for future lines of inquiry and engagement are identified. -
Publication
Land Governance in South Sudan : Policies for Peace and Development
(Washington, DC, 2014-05)South Sudan is a new country of 10.5 million people that has just emerged from conflict and still facing challenges with recovery and development. Although economic disparities, political exclusion and deprivation in the distribution of political and economic power between the northern and southern parts of then united Sudan were often tendered as the proximal causes of the conflict, at the center of the prolonged civil war was the struggle for ownership, control and use of land resources. The tool underpinning this report is the Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF), a diagnostic instrument for rapid evaluation of various aspects of land governance. LGAF was developed through a collaborative effort between the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN Habitat, International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the African Union (AU). -
Publication
Political Economy of Extractives Governance in Sierra Leone
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-07)Sierra Leone is still recovering from a brutal civil war (1991-2002), fuelled in part by a valuable and easily extractable natural resource (diamonds). Sierra Leone now stands on the verge of an unprecedented period of economic growth, driven primarily by revenues from large-scale iron ore mining. Yet it continues to face many governance and developmental challenges. The rapid rise of the extractives governance agenda in Sierra Leone requires an equally swift, yet strategic response from all stakeholders: the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL), development partners (DPs), civil society organizations (CSOs), communities, and mining companies. This report uses a 'value chain' approach to mining governance which highlights the critical stages through which a resource dependent country is expected to progress as it seeks to transform resource rents into economic growth and sustainable human development. The objective of this study is ultimately to improve the management of the natural resource endowment, enjoyed by Sierra Leone, in a manner that will allow the revenues generated from natural resource extraction to contribute in an optimal manner towards sustainable economic growth. Specifically, the study focuses on mining (iron ore, diamonds, and other minerals) and to a much lesser extent, oil and gas. By using the 'theories of change' approach to political economy analysis, the report looks at the historical challenges around extractive governance, identifies systemic features, and characteristics of 'the problem', extrapolates and analyses the incentives shaping the activities and behaviors of key stakeholders, and then lays out a possible platform for engagement based on clearly identified entry points. This report is organized as follows: chapter one is introduction, chapter two presents a summary of previous analytical work on the political economy of Sierra Leone with special reference to the extractives sector, its governance past, and possible governance futures. Chapter three undertakes an in-depth analysis of the extractives value chain in Sierra Leone and chapter four identifies key stakeholders across this value chain, noting their influence on extractives management policy and implementation, their potential relationships with other stakeholders, and influence over policy outcomes. Chapter five identifies and highlights suitable entry points for policy dialogue on extractives-led governance in Sierra Leone and possible project and technical assistance interventions across the value chain. -
Publication
Accountability in Public Services in South Africa
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-03)This report discusses selected issues regarding accountability in public services. The introduction discusses the accountability framework that will be used for the report. Chapter 1 assesses South Africa's progress on service access and quality, and summarizes recent policy initiatives. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 describe the international and South African experience with mechanisms that seek to improve accountability - public sector reform, citizen report cards, and others - and posits hypotheses to be explored in the following chapters. Chapter 5 applies the World Bank's accountability framework to a participatory assessment of services in six municipalities in South Africa. Chapters 6 and 7 apply the framework to the education and water and sanitation sectors. Chapter 8 explains why community-driven development does not factor in any main South African development programs. Chapter 9 explains the continuing learning practices pioneered in the manufacturing sector and addresses how these practices might be used by the South African government to effect change. Chapter 10 summarizes the conclusions, translates these into main hypotheses to be tested in future work, and formulates a number of policy recommendations for public debate. -
Publication
The Gambia - Improving Civil Service Performance : Public Service Pensions Policy Reform Note
(World Bank, 2010-02-03)There is a general consensus that The Gambia's civil service has a number of key capacity weaknesses. Pay is too low to hire, motivate and retain key technical and professional staffs. Staffs are not managed to achieve results, neither rewarded for good performance nor sanctioned for poor performance or breaking the rules. Frequent removals and transfers of Government officials have undermined job security and institutional knowledge. The main objective of this report is to outline the results of the analysis of civil service capacity constraints. Based on the analysis, the report presents options to consider for the proposed civil service reform program which the Government plans on preparing. The Personnel Management Office (PMO) drafted a reform strategy in August 2007, the 'public sector reform sector strategy paper 2007-2011,' which can be further developed by incorporating the findings of report. The expected goal of this strategy is to build the capacity of the civil service to formulate policies and allocate resources to implement those policies so as to ensure effective delivery of public services. This report is organized as follows: chapter one identifies the overall capacity constraints in the civil service; chapter two analyzes civil service pay and benefits; chapter three assesses human resource management; chapter four focuses on the education and health sectors; and chapter five summarizes the major findings and proposes reform options and the next steps. -
Publication
Darfur - Dimensions of Challenge for Development : Background Volume
(Washington, DC, 2007-06-29)This background volume is not about the recent conflict, nor the humanitarian situation in Darfur today. Rather, it adopts a longer term perspective in an attempt to understand the range of underlying structural obstacles to growth and prosperity in the region. The World Bank, in collaboration with a range of stakeholders, has investigated the nature and extent of the underlying structural obstacles to the region's development. This background volume presents the results of the work of several teams, drawing on primary and secondary sources and field work undertaken in the latter half of 2006. The aim is to help re-establish a knowledge base across multiple dimensions, to inform future development planning oriented toward broad-based growth and attainment of the millennium development goals. The report provides a diagnosis of existing constraints: the basic thesis is that redressing marginalization is central to effectively overcome the challenges to peace and prosperity in the region, and thus in the Sudan overall. The immense challenges facing Darfur reflect not only the immediate conflict, but a series of major structural factors that can be traced back over decades. Of foremast importance is the failure of national policies and development projects to promote broad-based development and good governance. Geographic and demographic factors, in particular increasing desertification, periodic droughts and rapid population growth - have exemplified the, challenges, but the underlying failure of institutions to function in ways that are accountable to the people, and conducive to pro-poor development, plays a critical explanatory role. -
Publication
State and Local Governance in Nigeria
(Washington, DC, 2002-07-23)The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge about state capacity in Nigeria by taking stock of governance issues, including public financial management and civil services, and analyzing them in representative states across the regions, as states assume an expanded role in delivering services to their populations under the 1999 constitution. Specifically, the study lays the groundwork for preparing a program of assistance to state governments, should the Federal Government seek financing from the Bank. Before capacity can be strengthened, the context for capacity building must be understood and the constraints analyzed. Thus the study focuses both on the evolving story of federalism in Nigeria, as well as the challenges states face in managing their finances and delivering services in the aftermath of misrule and decay under the military. Six states were selected for review: Bauchi, Nasarawa, Rivers, Anambra, Ogun and Sokoto--one from each of the geo-political zones of Nigeria. These are some of the principal findings: There is a great deal of variation across states in their capacity for governance. A new generation of state governors is emerging, albeit still a minority. Some are beginning to address public sector reform, through civil service modernization and right sizing, and strengthening financial management. These last are suggested areas for support, but they must be calibrated with the commitment to state reform, and not provided as an entitlement.