Institutional and Governance Review

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  • Publication
    CPIA Africa: Strengthening Debt Management Capacity
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-07-31) World Bank
    The 2019 Africa Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) report covers the period January to December 2018. Over this period, the average quality of policies and institutions in International Development Association (IDA)-eligible countries remained unchanged, amid decelerating growth across the region. The overall CPIA score for IDA countries in Sub-Saharan Africa was 3.1 in 2018, the same as 2017, reflecting the slow progress in improving the quality of policy and institutional frameworks in the region.
  • Publication
    CPIA Africa, July 2018: Assessing Africa's Policies and Institutions
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-07) World Bank Group
    Favorable global economic conditions supported a turnaround in economic activity in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2017, easing pressure on weak policy frameworks. Output growth rebounded to an estimated 2.6 percent after decelerating to 1.5 percent in 2016 amid challenging external and domestic conditions. Notwithstanding the recent upturn in economic activity, growth remained well below its pre–financial crisis average of around 5 percent; moreover, per capita growth was negative for a second consecutive year. Important near and longer term vulnerabilities remain in many of the region's economies: eroded policy buffers constrain the scope for countries to formulate an adequate policy response to adverse shocks; public debt relative to gross domestic product (GDP) is rising, with implications for debt sustainability; employment opportunities severely lag the growing labor force, and livelihoods and economic fortunes are still tied to commodity price shocks and production disruptions, underscoring the limited economic diversification in the region; and poverty is widespread.
  • Publication
    Actionable Regulatory Governance Indicators for UE Regions
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-06-13) World Bank
    The European Union’s Cohesion Policy is its biggest investment instrument. It supports the Europe 2020 strategy of smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth. With a budget of €351.8 billion for 2014–2020, the Cohesion Policy accounts for around one-third of the EU budget. The Cohesion Policy is primarily implemented through investments in EU regions and cities. Local and regional governments in the EU are responsible for more than half of all public investment. There is a growing focus on the importance of good governance to ensure effective implementation. The European Commission’s 6th Cohesion Policy report notes that governance problems not only delay the implementation of Cohesion Policy programs but also reduce the impact of these investments. The report states: ‘a lower standard of governance can affect the impact of Cohesion Policy both directly and indirectly. In the first place, it can reduce expenditure if programs fail to invest all the funding available. Secondly, it can lead to a less coherent or appropriate strategy for a country or region. Thirdly, it may lead to lower quality projects being selected for funding or to the best projects not applying for support at all. Fourthly, it may result in a lower leverage effect because the private sector is less willing to co-finance investment.’ The purpose of this report is to develop and test a set of actionable indicators for the regulatory frameworks of EU regions. Deregulatory measures focusing on ‘fixing broken regulations’ are a necessary and important element of investment climate reforms. However, gains from one-off initiatives aimed at cutting costs and procedures are often reversed if the responsible institutions, tools, and incentives are not changed.
  • Publication
    Managing Afghanistan’s Rangelands and Forest Resources: An Assessment of Institutional and Technical Capacity Constraints
    (World Bank, Kabul, 2018-06) World Bank
    Afghanistan has been in conflict and internal turmoil since the early 1970s, which has resulted in loss of life, insecurity, ethnic division, and wide-spread damage to the environment and natural resources. As citizens of one of the poorest nations in the world with an increasing poverty level that reached 55 percent in 2016-2017, 80 percent of Afghans depend on natural resources for their daily subsistence. Fodder for livestock, fuel wood for heating and cooking, water for agriculture and consumption, medicinal plants and wildlife provide scarce means for survival and limited trade. The government of Afghanistan is giving agriculture and natural resource management utmost priority for development. Current policies link natural resources management to private sector development, justice sector reform (land administration), agriculture development, mineral and resource development, and human capital development programs. This World Bank paper that highlights the importance of the rangelands and forest resources for the country’s sustainable development. The paper explains the status and role of rangelands and forest resources for the country’s mostly rural population. It describes the importance of the sector for boosting agricultural productivity, addressing climate change and weather- related natural disasters, and contributing to rural jobs creation. It further offers some recommendations on how to revitalize the natural resources management sector that is critically important in the context of rural development and Afghanistan’s economy, and is yet often overlooked and broadly neglected.
  • Publication
    Indicators of Citizen-Centric Public Service Delivery
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-05) World Bank Group
    This report and the instruments it proposes aim at assisting public administrators in ensuring that their service delivery mechanisms respond to the needs and expectations of citizens. This document summarizes research undertaken under the set of activities dealing with citizen-centric governance indicators, that is, indicators that measure the capacity of public agencies to put the needs of citizens at the center of their service delivery mechanisms. The report is structured into five parts. Part I presents the conceptual framework that forms the backdrop for developing citizen-centric service delivery indicators and summarizes what citizen-centric service delivery entails. Part II introduces two complementary tools designed to assess the performance of public institutions and the quality of public services from the perspective of European Union citizens: a demand-side citizen survey and a supply-side self-assessment checklist for public administrators. These complementary instruments, assist public agencies identify gaps and areas for improvement in their service delivery mechanisms by gathering direct feedback regarding the experiences and perceptions of their users and by critically examining public sector efforts to fulfill the needs and expectations of citizens. The instruments are flexible, inspirational tools that provide an initial grid for administrations willing to move one step closer to their citizens. Part III describes options for customizing the instruments, which can be adapted to a variety of circumstances and service delivery types. Parts IV and V present the citizen survey and administrator checklist.
  • Publication
    Strengthening Somalia’s Systems Smartly: A Country Systems Risk Benefit Analysis
    (World Bank and United Nations, 2017-12) Honig, Dan; Cramer, Sarah
    Despite the high-level commitments made on using country systems, Somalia continues to trail other fragile states in critical dimensions, including the proportion of aid delivered “On Budget.” Given the explicit focus on statebuilding in Somalia, the preferencing of short-term operational concerns over long-term government systems building appears to run counter to the international community’s stated objectives. No delivery modality is without risk; both country systems and alternative delivery channels have drawbacks. But these options also have differing strengths, depending on the type of project, sector or situation. In finding the right mix of tools, both government and international partners need to focus more on the statebuilding goals towards which they are jointly committed. This report examines donors’ decision-making about the use of country systems, exploring both the perceived and actual risks and benefits associated with it. It also articulates recommendations for improving and increasing the use of country systems, with relevance that extends beyond the Somali context. The report was financed with the generous support of the UN-WB Partnership Fund.
  • Publication
    CPIA Africa, July 2017: Assessing Africa's Policies and Institutions
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-07) World Bank Group
    Sub-Saharan Africa faced another challenging year in 2016. Economic activity continued to weaken, amid less favorable terms of trade, slowdown in global growth, and difficult domestic conditions. Output growth decelerated sharply to 1.3 percent, the slowest pace in over two decades and not as stellar as the average annual growth of around 5 percent in the pre-global financial crisis period of 1995–2008. Regional growth in 2016 was insufficient to raise gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, which contracted by 1.3 percent. At the same time, Sub-Saharan Africa's poverty rate remains high: 41 percent of the region's population—nearly 390 million people—were living in extreme poverty in 2013. Weak economic performance threatens gains in poverty reduction, and the region urgently needs to regain momentum on growth and make it more inclusive.
  • Publication
    The Performance of Palestinian Local Governments: An Assessment of Service Delivery Outcomes and Performance Drivers in West Bank and Gaza
    (Washington, DC, 2017-06-15) World Bank
    Palestinian local governments represent a key pillar of the future Palestinian state. Predating the Palestinian Authority, many have long and proud histories, including some of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. With increasing political and geographical fragmentation over the last two decades, Local Government Units (LGUs) have become of paramount importance regarding the provision of services to the local population, particularly in areas where the relatively young central government is politically, geographically, and fiscally constrained. Some existing LGUs were created as early as the second half of the 19th century, and over the decades, they have performed under the complexities of disparate political and legal regimes. As the lowest level of governance, Palestinian local authorities fulfill a critical role, not only as a key public service provider but also as the government tier closest to citizens, with elected councils critical for representation and accountability to citizens. The most recent local elections were on May 13, 3017, and in October 2012, only in the West Bank; following the most recent local elections in both the West Bank and Gaza in 2006. Strengthening LGUs and enabling them to perform as fully functional local governments accountable to citizens are key priorities for the Palestinian Authority.
  • Publication
    South Sudan Governance Analysis: Building Sustainable Public Sector Capacity in a Challenging Context
    (Washington, DC, 2017) World Bank
    This report was developed in the first half of 2016, when the signing of the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS) and subsequent establishment of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGNU) presented a possible window of opportunity to restart and reset state-building effort, in particular, to initiate a more strategic approach to capacity building. From the government side, it was possible incentives will emerge to signal a break with the past by delivering services to citizens. In this context, the main objective of the note has been to contribute a stronger evidence base for renewed efforts at supporting capacity building. Despite the renewed deterioration since mid-2016, it is expected that many of the key challenges and tensions analyzed will remain important considerations when capacity building efforts are eventually renewed. South Sudan has faced renewed conflict and a deepening macro-fiscal crisis. Shortly after the formation of the TGNU in late May 2016, fighting broke out in Juba and the security situation in the rest of the country has subsequently deteriorated. This note mainly covers the period until June 2016, as a contribution to providing a more nuanced understanding of efforts at capacity building in South Sudan. This note is primarily concerned with capacity in the civilian public service in South Sudan, and its ability to deliver public services. The note explores cross-cutting issues and challenges related to developing a capable and effective civil service and drills down into two specific areas: public financial management (PFM) and the public health sector. The report combines an analysis of the opportunities and constraints created by the evolving country context; cross-cutting factors which have shaped core public administration functions across sectors since 2005; and analysis of capacity in two selected state functions PFM and health care. The report is organized as follows: chapter one presents purpose, scope, and approach. Chapter two covers the conceptual underpinnings of the paper. Chapter three provides a cross-cutting perspective on capacity-building efforts in South Sudan, providing an overview of public sector as a tool for the management of political support, as well as the evolution of aid architecture. Chapter four covers PFM in South Sudan and chapter five addresses the health sector. Chapter six reviews key findings and emerging lessons and concludes with recommendations and options for improving monitoring of capacity-building efforts going forward.
  • Publication
    Building Sustainable Public Sector Capacity in a Challenging Context
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-01) World Bank Group
    In a conflict-affected and newly independent country like South Sudan, rebuilding public sector capacity is an important aspect of state building, both in the short and in the medium to long term. If capacity strengthening is not pursued or is ineffective, government functionality remains patchy and dependency on technical assistants (TA) remains high. Capacity strengthening has been considered amorphous and a difficult topic in academic literature. This paper looks at the experience of efforts to strengthen capacity in South Sudan over the decade from 2005 to 2016. The context has proved challenging for capacity-building efforts. On the one hand, some improvements have been seen and some skilled civil servants are in place. On the other hand, wider progress has been difficult and punctuated by crises and setbacks. Renewed conflicts from December 2013 to August 2015, and again since July 2016, have disrupted progress and planning for development support. The report’s recommendations are based on the assumption that minimum stability will eventually return for capacity strengthening to restart; but it cannot be predicted when this will be the case.