Other Public Sector Study
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Publication
Toward More People-Centered Service Delivery: Opportunities for the National ID System in Lesotho
(Washington, DC, 2022-05)This note documents the current and emerging use cases for the national ID (NID) system in the Kingdom of Lesotho. It demonstrates considerable potential and progress to date, and makes recommendations for moving toward a more inclusive, trusted and service delivery-oriented NID system. Global experience has shown that national ID systems can promote more efficient, transparent and people-centered service delivery in the public and private sectors, particularly when the system is designed with the appropriate enablers and safeguards in place to support improved development outcomes and mitigate risks. As countries move toward digital economies and governance, ID systems often serve as an essential digital platform, underpinning the digital payment infrastructure and transactions, as well as the provision of online and offline government services. -
Publication
Delivering Together: Using Indonesia's Village Law to Optimize Frontline Service Delivery
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-08-19)Over the past twenty years, Indonesia has pursued an ambitious policy agenda for decentralization. Indonesia's subnational governments play a key role in providing frontline services. In 2014, Indonesia's Village Law ushered in a new chapter in the country's decentralization agenda. The law establishes a legal and financial foundation for villages to contribute to Indonesia's rural development. In 2020, village transfers accounted for around ten percent of all subnational transfers, playing an important role in Indonesia's Coronavirus (COVID-19) response strategy. Despite these positive results, several frontier issues in the overall decentralization agenda hinder villages' contributing potential to improving frontline service delivery. This report categorizes these structural challenges into four broad categories of regulatory challenges, coordination gaps, limited capacity building systems, and fragmentation in accountability systems. The report aims to show how overcoming these structural challenges can enable the government to institutionalize systems of accountability and participation into its wider service delivery framework. -
Publication
Chatbots for Third-Party Monitoring: CivicTech Pilot in Madagascar
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06)Growing evidence confirms that citizen engagement is key to improving the delivery and quality of public services, management of public finances, and to promoting social inclusion, resulting in tangible improvements in people’s lives. The advent and availability of new technologies provide new opportunities to reach citizens, aggregate their ‘voice’ and demand, help governments respond, and partner with citizens to find and implement solutions collectively. With the right approach, CivicTech enables citizens to overcome income, social, and geographical barriers to interact with governments and participate at the local or national level. The CivicTech pilot in Madagascar supported the development of a Facebook ChatBot (bot) to enable third-party monitoring of service delivery operations for the Madagascar Public Sector Performance Project (PAPSP, P150116). A similar approach could be replicated for Community Driven Development (CDD) projects and local government and decentralized service delivery projects to achieve a multi-channel structure for third-party monitoring (offline, mobile, and web). The note documents the CivicTech pilot experience in Madagascar and lessons learned. -
Publication
Collaborative Social Accountability in Fragile Settings: Lessons from Guinea, Niger, and Tajikistan
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06)The United Nations and World Bank jointly urge a shift away from managing crises toward prevention through inclusive and collective interventions (United Nations and World Bank 2018). Collaborative social accountability—a process where citizens and civil society actors engage with state actors in joint, iterative problem solving to improve service delivery, sector governance, and accountability—can make an important contribution to this goal. Citizen engagement, and within that social accountability, can potentially help to strengthen the social contract and build state legitimacy. A consensus is emerging among scholars that state legitimacy is enhanced not by service delivery alone but by the opportunities the process provides for citizens to interact positively with the state. Inclusive citizen engagement involving women, youth, and other traditionally excluded groups in decision-making is fundamental to sustaining peace. Formal and informal civil society organizations (CSOs) can play critical roles by representing citizen interests and preferences, enabling citizens to hold government to account, facilitating collaboration of citizens and state actors, and involving coalitions of stakeholders. Supported by the State and Peacebuilding Fund (SPF), the Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) piloted collaborative social accountability approaches that bring together citizens, CSOs, and the state actors in Guinea, Niger, and Tajikistan from September 2018 to December 2019. This note aims to capture the activities and lessons learned as a resource for World Bank operations teams. -
Publication
Moving Further on Civil Service Reforms in Ethiopia: Findings and Implications from a Civil Service Survey and Qualitative Analysis
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-01-15)This report identifies key challenges facing the Ethiopian civil service today and suggests avenuesfor further reforms. Ethiopia’s civil service has so far developed at a rapid pace and faces anumber of constraints, challenges, and new or expanding demands. Continuing reform efforts and building on past achievements is critical for the successful implementation of Ethiopia’s Growth and Transformation Program (GTP II). While the past two decades have seen important achievements made, the government seeks to further strengthen its economic governance and service delivery.The analytic effort that this report reflects was triggered by a request from the Ministry ofPublic Service and Human Resource Development (MPSHRD). The Ministry sought to identify challenges and options to target and pursue further reforms and efforts to strengthen the civil service and its contributions to service delivery. The report is based on several sources: (i) the Ethiopian Civil Servants Survey (ECSS), which was undertaken in June through September 2016 and targeted professional level staff and directors or heads of federal ministries or agencies, regional bureaus, and woreda offices; (ii) a series of key informant interviews with officials and stakeholders, as well as focus group discussions with members of ‘Public Wings’; and (iii) administrative data and information, e.g. concerning the number of civil servants, as wellas salaries and benefits. The focus is on five key service delivery sectors: agriculture, education, health, revenue collection, and trade—all critical areas for state activity. The analysis encompasses an assessment of previous and ongoing reforms, and takes a look at the constraints and overall quality of current management practices. Where possible, the report also compares the civil service in Ethiopia to that of other countries, based on information gathered from similar surveys and other comparative information. -
Publication
Improving Public Sector Performance: Through Innovation and Inter-Agency Coordination
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-10)This report is an inaugural issue in a new series that aims to offer a fresh look at how developing countries are overcoming persistent problems in public sector management. Significant improvements in public sector performance are being evidenced across the developing world today, as government officials and political leaders find new and innovative ways to tackle long-standing challenges. Part I of this report demonstrates that public sector performance is being pursued diligently and successfully across a variety of country contexts, including in low-income environments. Through surveying its governance specialists from around the globe, the World Bank has assembled a collection of 15 cases that showcase how lessons from global experience are being adapted and applied in practice. The report also explores common success drivers that appear in each of the cases. Part II focuses on a special, cross-cutting topic that is critical to public sector performance -- policy and inter-agency coordination. As the responsibilities of government have grown in volume and complexity, policy and program coordination has become ever more challenging, and the stakes have never been higher. Enhancing coordination will depend not only on the adopted formal institutional mechanisms, but also on their interplay with the broader institutional environment and with other processes that influence coordination. -
Publication
Securing Water for Development in West Bank and Gaza: Sector Note
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-06-15)This note aims at describing the most challenging issues that face water and sanitation sector in West Bank and Gaza (WB&G) and highlighting the possible actions that can improve Palestinian water security. The WB&G Water Supply, Sanitation and Poverty Diagnostic (June 6, 2018) study that has been done by the World Bank, which this note depends on its analysis, concluded that WB&G is a water-scarce lower-middle-income territory with a relatively water-dependent economy and is vulnerable within its geopolitical setting; thus, assuring water security is a priority. Water security requires adequate water resources that are well managed, including management of risks, and water service providers (SPs) that provide sustainable, efficient, and equitable services. The goal of water security has been receding in recent years. Therefore, to improve water security, the sector note recommended two pathways; (a) efficient use of natural and financial resources, (b) collaborative solutions within the region and the Palestinians to improve access to water supply and protect resources, and four pillars; (i) addressing water supply and demand gap, (ii) strengthening the water sector institutions, (iii) enhancing the financial viability and sustainability; (iv) attracting other development partners, including strong cooperation and coordination with Israel. -
Publication
Mapping Indonesia’s Civil Service
(World Bank, Jakarta, 2018-05-21)Indonesia’s civil service has expanded by 25 percent in the last 12 years, which presents opportunities for the government of Indonesia (GoI) to work toward the goal of reducing poverty and enhancing social welfare. Yet civil servants must be skilled, knowledgeable, and effective at their jobs to maximize their contribution to society and the economy. This report examines an original data set constructed from GoI data on all the country’s active civil servants to examine personal characteristics including age, gender, education level (which proxies for skill), and promotions. It addresses two important questions: 1. Are highly skilled and knowledgeable workers currently being attracted, recruited, and promoted?; 2. Are civil servants from historically underrepresented groups, including women, being given equal opportunities for advancement and promotion? The study recommends government action in three policy areas: 1. Increase promotion opportunities for women and increase their overall representation in senior positions; 2. Distribute skilled civil servants more evenly throughout the country by improving the incentives for highly skilled service providers to rotate into poor and remote regions; 3. Plan for the upcoming wave of retirements within the civil service by recruiting more women from top universities and hiring medical and teaching staff only from licensed and accredited institutions. -
Publication
The Role of Digital Identification in Agriculture: Emerging Applications
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-01)Agricultural development is one of the most powerful tools to end extreme poverty. Agriculture accounts for nearly one-third of global gross domestic product (GDP), and the majority of the world’s poor live in rural areas and make a living through agriculture. To end extreme poverty by 2030, most of the income gains will need to be made in rural areas, including by boosting smallholder farmers’ earnings from farming and off-farm activities.1 Increasing the ability of such smallholders to professionalize, improve their productivity, and generate additional income is therefore critical to both alleviate rural poverty and increase food security. Smallholder families have complex livelihoods. They typically rely on income from a variety of sources,including government safety nets, subsidies, and off-farm enterprises. Enabling these families to exit poverty will require innovative solutions to address critical challenges, such as (1) lack of access to financial services, (2) lack of adequate supply-chain traceability, (3) challenges related to the delivery of goods and services, and (4) gender inequality. When smallholder farmers lack government recognized identification (ID) documents, these and other challenges are further exacerbated. Without an official proof of identity, many smallholder farmers struggle to access services and subsidies and to seize new opportunities offered by innovations in mobile technologies, finance, and beyond. A robust, government recognized ID can help smallholder farmers formally register land and livestock, and access mobile, financial, and other services that would allow them to work, sell, and spend income formally. Thus, identification is an important building block to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. This paper looks at three key applications of identification in agriculture to understand how these can help tackle some of the critical challenges, remove barriers to agricultural productivity, and enhance farmers’ livelihoods, including through: (1) increasing the effectiveness and inclusivity of subsidy programs; (2) enabling formal land and asset registration; and (3) improving data about farmers’ economic activity and needs. At the same time, there are challenges to maximizing the benefits of identification in agriculture. ID systems increasingly rely on digital infrastructures for authentication and identity verification. Although mobile and broadband coverage is growing at a rapid rate worldwide, rural areas often still lack the reliable mobile and Internet connectivity required for certain applications of digital IDs. Rural households are also less likely to have the digital literacy required to navigate digital ID systems and may be less able to monitor and hold authorities accountable for how their personal data are being used and shared. Therefore, any ID application in agriculture will need to consider how data protection and privacy safeguards may need to be adapted to rural contexts. In addition, ID applications in agriculture may face institutional arrangements and coordination challenges. In the presence of a foundational ID system, the Ministry of Agriculture or other implementer will need to coordinate with other areas of the government, including the ID provider. In the absence of a foundational ID system, the Ministry of Agriculture or other implementer will need to consider how they can meet their own needs while coordinating with other agencies and partners who may be implementing separate yet overlapping functional ID systems. -
Publication
Realizing the Devolution Dividend in Kenya through Cohesive Public Finance Management and Public Participation at County Level: Challenges, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-08)This report covers four areas that had been identified by County officers from both the County Executive and the County Assembly as areas that have brought conflict and disharmony in Counties. These issues and challenges cut across Public Finance Management (PFM), public participation, functions and powers of the County actors and formed the basis for capacity building and training intervention that was provided through the Council of Governors (CoG) and Kenya School of Government (KSG) with the support from the Kenya Accountable Devolution Program (KADP). This brief report highlights the issues and challenges identified in four thematic areas and then provides the identified good practices and lessons learned that can be considered and implemented by County Governments. The first chapter discusses the PFM legal framework with reference to the fundamental processes of planning, budgeting, revenue, expenditure, and financial reporting and relates these to identified areas of conflict that are experienced while executing various PFM processes. The chapter also makes corresponding recommendations for good PFM practices in Counties. The second chapter highlights the challenges that County Governments have experienced in rolling out public participation and provides conceptual clarification and examples of good practices. The third chapter highlights areas that were recurring areas of misunderstanding and misinterpretation with regard to the Constitution and legislative framework on devolution (especially relating to functions and powers of the County Executive and County Assembly). Further, it articulates the Constitutional framework and interpretations of key provisions covering those areas of concern to facilitate common understanding that would help reduce recurring operational disharmony and conflicts. The fourth chapter highlights challenges that the County assemblies experience while executing their responsibilities with regard to fiscal matters and suggests good practices that should address these. This report is intended to be a simple, practical, go-to reference resource for County Executives and County Assemblies on common challenges that they experience while executing their roles and responsibilities and suggests good practices that can help them navigate through the challenges.