Other Public Sector Study

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    Managing Groundwater for Drought Resilience in South Asia
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-01) World Bank
    This report presents the findings of a diagnostic study examining pathways and options for strengthening the governance of South Asia’s groundwater resources in the face of climate change and increasing reliance on the resource by dependent communities, particularly during times of drought. This study identifies, analyzes, and recommends management interventions that aid reforms of groundwater governance and, thus, greater sustainability of groundwater; in addition, these management interventions can strengthen drought resilience within the South Asia region. A broad analytical framework and a series of case studies comprise most of the report. These cover a range of policy and management approaches in different hydrogeological and socioeconomic settings with reference to key groundwater challenges. They provide insights and potential solutions, tailored to specific groundwater resources and contextual problems across South Asia.
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    Institutional Assessment of the Central Statistics Organization of Afghanistan
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-06-01) World Bank Group
    Afghanistan has achieved substantial development progress since 2001, but faces important upcoming challenges. Government efforts supported by aid inflows have fueled rapid economic growth, expanded the quality of and access to basic social services, and improved the capacity of public sector institutions. However, deterioration in the security situation following the security transition in 2014 combined with declining international assistance pose formidable challenges for Afghanistan to manage its economy and deliver public services. The availability of high quality, reliable economic, socio-economic, and demographic statistics is vital if appropriate policy responses to these challenges are to be identified and implemented.
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    Republic of India: Piloting and Operationalization of City Sanitation Plans towards Outcome Oriented Sector Investments
    (Washington, DC, 2015-04-28) World Bank
    This synthesis report details the process, outputs and intermediate outcomes of the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) Technical Assistance (TA) to pilot and operationalize city sanitation plans (CSPs) towards outcome oriented sector investments (P131967). This TA addresses issues of ad hoc planning though CSPs that are holistic, intended for city-wide implementation and address the full cycle of sanitation. However, prior to preparation and operationalization of CSPs, it was recognized that this needed to be anchored in a statewide sanitation program. The statewide sanitation program needed to: estimate and provide for the capital requirements to address the gaps in sanitation infrastructure across the sanitation service delivery chain (collection, treatment and disposal), estimate the operation and maintenance (OM) requirements, and set out the framework for prioritization of cities, and attendant institutional frameworks. This TA aimed at piloting and operationalization of CSPs towards outcome oriented sector investments, by supporting (i) select state and local governments with technical assistance to operationalize city sanitation plans by targeting outcome oriented investments, and (ii) improving the institutional and regulatory framework and strengthening state and local government capacity for efficient and sustainable delivery of Government of India or World Bank or other development partner funded programs.
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    Supporting Impact Evaluation Studies in Water Supply and Sanitation in India
    (Washington, DC, 2015-04-28) World Bank
    This synthesis report details the process, outputs and intermediate outcomes Technical Assistance (TA) ‘supporting impact evaluation studies in water supply and sanitation in India (P144956)’ implemented by the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). The TA supported the design and implementation of impact evaluations in water and sanitation projects in India and also facilitated data driven analytical work and capacity building. Specific contributions of the TA are the following: enabling monitoring and evaluation, enabling policy, and enabling institutions. In the context of the significant challenges India is facing in water and sanitation access and the extreme complexity of the institutional systems for the provision of water supply and sanitation, the access to flexible yet practical analytical assistance at the point of need is highly valued by government counterparts. This TA on supporting water supply and sanitation has identified the need for a larger regional or global activity that can carry forward impact evaluations in the sector and produce global knowledge that will serve as a public good for the client countries. The TA also underscored the importance of upstream analytical work and replication of results in different contexts as well as the need to develop customizable tools and instruments for faster implementation of data collection efforts. Above all, the TA emphasized the need to invest in expanding local capacity in designing and implementing rigorous impact evaluations so that more evidence could emerge in the coming years for better policy formulation in the water and sanitation sector.
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    India Land Governance Assessment: National Synthesis Report
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015) World Bank
    As India continues to urbanize and move towards a less agricultural- and more industry-based economy, land demands will continue to grow. Its urban population is expected to increase by more than 200 million by 2030, requiring 4 to 8 million hectares of land for residential use alone. Demands for infrastructure and industry could add a similar amount, summing to total land demand of 5 to10 percent of the land area currently used for agriculture. If not handled well, such massive land use change may increase vulnerability and food insecurity, rent-seeking, environmental problems, social dislocation, inequality, and conflict. But it also provides an opportunity to address the underlying structural issues, propelling India into the league of middle-income countries and laying the ground for significantly advancing shared prosperity and reduced poverty. This synthesis report presents results from land governance self-assessments by six states: The fact that land is a state subject implies that actions to improve land governance need to be initiated at state level. To identify opportunities, six states implemented the Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF), a tool that allow comparing the status of their land governance against international good practice along a set of dimensions in a very participatory process. Results are summarized in state reports that were validated publicly and discussed with policy makers in each state. This national report complements these and draws out common areas.
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    Republic of India - eGovernance in the North East : Reducing Public Administration Constraints to Improve Service Delivery
    (Washington, DC, 2014-06-02) World Bank
    The Government of Assam (GoA) is engaged in a process of improving services to citizens. The focus on better services to citizens is in line with the National e-Government Plan (NeGP), with a number of existing and anticipated Union Acts, and with recently passed acts in Assam, especially the Assam Right to Public Services Act of 2012. The GoA is fully aware that progress on service delivery will require attention to both vertical and horizontal connectivity, and it intends to develop a Strategic Action Plan which focuses on these critical elements. The policy dialogue with the Government of Assam and review of relevant documents reveal general agreement on main public administration constraints (PAC's) to service delivery. The current report proposes a gradual reform approach, with a focus on searching for improvements that can be accomplished with a reasonable effort. The present report is structured as follows. Chapter two, 'Public Administration Constraints (PAC's)', provides a detailed diagnostic of constraints identified in Assam, groups those under five headings, and proposes actions to address each of the constraints. Chapter three, 'the way forward' proposes a process leading to the preparation and adoption by the Government of Assam of a strategic action plan to address to address selected PAC's.
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    Critical Administrative Constraints to Service Delivery : Improving Public Services in Afghanistan's Transformational Decade
    (Washington, DC, 2014-05) World Bank
    Since 2001, the Afghan population's access to basic services has greatly improved in nearly all sectors. School enrolment has increased sharply, with over eight million children currently enrolled in school, of which 39 percent are girls. Current strategies for improving sub-national service delivery focus on delegating greater authority to provincial and district administrations. This report aims to identify administrative constraints in three key sectors of public service delivery, education, health and agricultural extension services. The analysis follows the service delivery chain, from central to provincial, through district to community level, and is particularly concerned to examine service delivery in these three sectors through the window of sub-national governance and its relations to the service delivery mandates of line ministries. The study provides the Government of Afghanistan with recommendations on how to alleviate critical constraints to service delivery at sub-national levels on a sustainable basis, in the context of an expected restrained fiscal future. The report's main findings are based on qualitative research. The key findings are based on existing literature and reports as well as field visits to 5 provinces and 10 districts and qualitative analyses of over 171 key-informant interviews on different levels of service delivery administration, 68 in-depth interviews with community leaders, and a community household survey in 20 communities spread over 5 provinces and 55 service facilities (for example, schools and clinics) were assessed. The report is split into six sections: section one gives executive summary; section two provides a brief introduction to the study objectives and clarifies some key definitions; section three outlines the methods used to perform the analysis; sections four, five, and six provide in-depth discussions of education, health, and agriculture extension respectively; and section seven provides recommendations and concludes. The over-arching governance structures and further methodological details are given in appendix one. All references and research tools are presented in annexes.
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    Punjab Public Management Reform Program : Program for Results Operation, Detailed Technical Assessment
    (Washington, DC, 2013-10-01) World Bank
    This document includes the full Technical Assessment of the Punjab Public Management Reform Program. The Assessment is based on the technical analysis of the Program. It covers: the strategic relevance and technical soundness of the proposed Program; the Program's results framework and monitoring and evaluation; the Program s governance structure and institutional arrangements; and the economic justification of the Program. It also presents an evaluation of the technical risks, and defines the improvements proposed as part of the Program Action Plan.
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    Strengthening Bangladesh's Public Service Commission
    (Washington, DC, 2012-01) World Bank
    Bangladesh's Public Service Commission (PSC) is a constitutionally mandated custodian of merit-based recruitment to the civil service. In practice, however, it is perceived to be a weak organization that has not always well-managed the recruitment process. Since the 1990s the media has reported politicized appointment of its members. Recently there have been allegations of examination irregularities, including leakage of question papers of the civil service examinations. The management of the PSC and its role in civil service recruitment has departed from comparative administrative practice. This note argues that the PSC's independence from micromanagement by the executive, and its improved management of the civil service examination are critical for its credibility to uphold the merit principle. It lists short- and medium-term actions that could help in restoring the PSC's intended role and functions. PSCs are common in administrative traditions where the appointed executive is meant to be permanent, politically neutral and unaligned to any particular political party or group of elected officials. A PSC forms a critical piece of the public sector's good governance framework by providing a check and balance between the government's interest and its employee's interests. In recruitment, which is an important element of civil service management, the PSC protects the government's interest by selecting the best among available candidates for a particular position.
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    Pakistan : Contingent Liabilities from Public Private Partnerships
    (Washington, DC, 2010-07) World Bank
    This final report is the fourth and final deliverable in Castalia's assignment, funded by the World Bank, to improve how contingent liabilities are managed in Pakistan. The report presents recommendations on how Pakistan should improve its policies and processes for issuing and managing contingent liabilities associated with public private partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure. The contents of this report are organized as follows: section two explains why it is important for Pakistan to establish sound policies for managing contingent liabilities, based on the Government's existing exposure and gaps in the policies and processes that are currently in place. The Status Quo Report presented in appendix A provides an assessment of the Government's exposure to contingent liabilities and the existing policies and processes that are in place. Section three explains how Pakistan can better manage contingent liabilities by presenting recommendations to eight specific functions that will strengthen existing PPP policies. Section four analyzes options for who should perform the functions for managing contingent liabilities, and explains why we recommend empowering existing institutions in the preferred institutional framework. Section five presents the steps we suggest that the Government follows to implement these recommendations and operationalize an effective contingent liabilities management framework. Finally, section six presents assessment of international experience and good practice in managing contingent liabilities to provide additional context for recommendations in Pakistan. Appendix A includes the Status Quo Report from the first stage of this assignment. Appendix B includes a summary of the stakeholder consultation workshop conducted in Islamabad on July 21 to receive feedback on the draft recommendations for this assignment.