Other Public Sector Study
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Publication
Republic of India - eGovernance in the North East : Reducing Public Administration Constraints to Improve Service Delivery
(Washington, DC, 2014-06-02)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. -
Publication
Critical Administrative Constraints to Service Delivery : Improving Public Services in Afghanistan's Transformational Decade
(Washington, DC, 2014-05)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. -
Publication
Punjab Public Management Reform Program : Program for Results Operation, Detailed Technical Assessment
(Washington, DC, 2013-10-01)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. -
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
Strengthening Bangladesh's Public Service Commission
(Washington, DC, 2012-01)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. -
Publication
Colombia - Programmatic Strategic Engagement on Public Sector Management and Governance : Concept Note
(Washington, DC, 2011-03-14)This concept note presents the strategic engagement of the World Bank in the areas of public sector management and governance in Colombia. It describes the short and medium term approach through which the Bank will provide support to the country on those areas of reform, as well as their links and synergies with other sectors activities. It also provides a summary of the Bank's public sector management and governance recent activities and their links with the program proposed by this strategy. This concept note lays out the strategy and program of financial support, knowledge and convening services to continue supporting the Government's public sector reform agenda in a demand-driven and flexible manner. The program aims to contribute to improve sustained and inclusive growth and competitiveness through strengthened government's management and improved service delivery. Its objectives are aligned with the National Development Plan (NDP) pillars and cross-cutting themes of good governance and regional development and integration, as well the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) outcomes. The remainder of this note is structured as follows: (i) section two summarizes the trend public sector reforms have been following in Colombia; (ii) section three provides an overview of the trajectory the reform key National Government Management Institutions (NGMI) has followed in Colombia, summarizing the current status of Government's efforts in this area and outlining the pending policy reform agenda; (iii) section four presents a review of past Bank engagement in NGMI' s reforms and a description of the strategy to respond to the Government's priorities and pending reform agenda, including key expected outputs; (iv) section five provides an overview of the trajectory decentralization reform has followed in Colombia, summarizing the current status of Government's efforts in this area and outlining the pending policy reform agenda; (v) section six presents a review of past Bank engagement in decentralization reforms and a description of the strategy to respond to the Government's priorities and pending reform agenda, including key expected outputs; and, (vi) section seven contains a resource section, describing the timeline of proposed activities, budget, team composition, and processes for quality review, monitoring and evaluation. -
Publication
Base Line Study : Transparency in the Public Construction Sector in Guatemala
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-11)This study examined the level of transparency in the public construction sector in Guatemala to create a benchmark for the implementation of the CoST (Construction Sector Transparency) Initiative in the country. It was based on an analysis of the disclosure of 31 indicators of Material Project Information (MPI), as defined by the CoST Initiative. The study showed that disclosure of Material Project Information in Guatemala is supported significantly by the national legal framework. The law mandates online disclosure of almost 87 percent of the MPI required by the CoST Initiative. This is the highest percentage among countries participating in the CoST Initiative to-date. Yet, an analysis of 16 projects selected randomly in seven Procurement Entities (PEs) - four at the central level and three at the local level - revealed that actual information disclosure only amounts, on average, to 38 percent of the MPI required by law. This represents 34 percent of the MPI required by the CoST Initiative. Procurement Entities (PEs) at the central government level disclose on average 40 percent of the MPI required by the law online in the GUATECOMPRAS (Contracting System of the State of Guatemala) system; PEs at the local level disclose 35 percent. In the project cycle, the stages registering the lowest levels of information disclosure were: design (6.29 percent of the MPI required by the law), execution (5.50 percent), supervision (4.13 percent) and post-contract (19.25 percent). Road infrastructure projects under analysis underwent, on average, 17 variation orders, with additional times and price amounting to 123 percent and 103 percent, respectively. Based on the results of the study, the Guatemalan CoST Initiative will collaborate in its pilot phase with selected PEs to facilitate the analysis and disclosure of MPI throughout the project cycle. -
Publication
Romania - Functional Review : Center of government
(Washington, DC, 2010-10)The medium-term objective of this review of the Center of Government (CoG) is to improve the Government's policy performance by strengthening Romania's policy process and policy institutions. The objective of the review will be accomplished by identifying short- and medium-term measures to strengthen central capacity to deliver high quality policy management to the Prime Minister and government and effectively coordinate policy with other central institutions and line ministries. Four critical success factors will signal effective implementation: 1. Decision makers will focus increasingly on strategic rather than legal or administrative issues; 2. Sound policy formulation will precede and guide legal drafting; 3. GSG will be empowered by the Prime Minister to enforce the rules and assure the quality of ministry proposals; and 4. The central institutions responsible for public policy and public finance management will work collaboratively to provide coherent, high quality support to the GoR. 2. The CoG review seeks to engage Romania's decision makers in these deliberations and, ultimately, in a concerted effort to improve Romania's policy performance. -
Publication
Governance and Anti-corrupton Diagnostics : Guidance and Tools for Implementation, Monitoring, and Assessment in the Field
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-09)This guide focuses on one of the more granular approaches to governance improvement, the governance and anti-corruption diagnostic. Governance and anti-corruption diagnostics are used as an initial strategy to identify the nature of governance problems, to target the key sources or institutions associated with these problems, and to establish a baseline and indicators which can be used to make reforms and to measure progress over time. Increasingly, these diagnostics are becoming sectoral in nature, meaning they are customized to assess governance and anti-corruption in a targeted sector. If conducted properly, the diagnostic process informs and catalyzes stakeholders to demand reform. If repeated periodically, these diagnostics can become useful tools to monitor governance and anti-corruption over time. More specifically, governance and anti-corruption diagnostics: 1) Unbundle corruption by type - administrative, capture of the state, bidding, theft of goods and public resources, purchase of licenses and regulations; 2) Identify both weak institutions (which are in need of reform) and strong institutions (which provide examples of good governance); 3) Assess the cost of each type of corruption on different groups of stakeholders; 4) Provide insight into the relationship between corruption, service quality and access, and trust in public institutions; 5) Identify key determinants of good governance; and 6) Serve as a strong foundation for policy recommendations and reform. -
Publication
Sudan - Strengthening Good Governance for Development Outcomes in Southern Sudan : Issues and Options
(World Bank, 2010-04-01)This report is the product of a joint Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) and World Bank initiative aimed at facilitating informed policy making in key areas of public service management. The objective was to facilitate a process in which a Bank-supported team will provide technical inputs and will support appropriate consultation leading to informed and pragmatic policy making and implementation. Coordination, in particular on policy formulation, is difficult and a key constraint in young governments and more so in post-conflict situations such as that of Southern Sudan. Available analytical and executive capacity is already stretched. The number of issues that need to be addressed is large and prioritization is difficult. There are sharp political divisions that are not easily reconciled. The report is presented in two parts. Part one provides the background as well as a summary of findings and recommendations. Chapter one provides a brief historical background and lessons from this experience but may be skipped without loss of continuity. Chapter two presents an overview of the issues and options facing the GoSS in managing the public service, implementing the decentralization vision and tackling corruption and summarizes the findings presented in detail in the second part of the report. Part two covers the three thematic areas that are the subject of this initiative in greater detail: chapter three on public service reform, chapter four on decentralization, and chapter five on corruption. Two annexes document key aspects of the process. A third annex summarizes a paper on traditional authorities prepared as part of this exercise.