Sector/Thematic Studies

6,688 items available

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2110

Economic and Sectoral Work are original analytic reports authored by the World Bank and intended to influence programs and policy in client countries. They convey Bank-endorsed recommendations and represent the formal opinion of a World Bank unit on the topic. This set includes the sectoral and thematic studies which are not Core Diagnostic Studies. Other analytic and advisory activities (AAA), including technical assistance studies, are included in these sectoral/thematic collections.

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Pakistan – Human Capital Review: Building Capabilities Throughout Life

(Washington, DC, 2023-04-04) Ersado, Lire, ; Hasan, Amer ; Geven, Koen Martijn ; Kathuria, Ashi Kohli ; Baron, Juan ; Bend, May ; Ahmed, S. Amer

Pakistan can realize major economic growth and development by investing in its people and their human capital. But the reality is that Pakistan’s human capital is low and has improved only marginally over the past three decades. Inequalities in human capital outcomes have persisted or widened over time between the rich and poor, men and women, and rural and urban areas and among the provinces. Human capital outcomes are low across the board, with even the most economically advantaged groups in Pakistan having lower human capital outcomes than less economically advantaged groups in peer countries. Pakistan’s Human Capital Index (HCI) value of 0.41 is low in both absolute and relative terms. It is lower than the South Asia average of 0.48, with Bangladesh at 0.46 and Nepal at 0.49. Pakistan’s human capital outcomes are more comparable to those in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has an average HCI value of 0.40. To enhance its human capital, Pakistan should adopt a life cycle approach to building, protecting, and deploying human capital, starting before birth, continuing through early childhood development, and schooling, culminating in increasingly productive employment. This calls for a long-term commitment, recognition of the multidimensional and cumulative nature of human capital investments, deliberate efforts from multiple stakeholders and sectors to build on intersectoral linkages, and a continuity of policies across political parties and governments. Many countries previously at Pakistan’s level of development have managed to precisely do this, even with regional variations and gaps just as large. Pakistan has the tools to implement the recommendations in this report, provide stewardship for human capital investments, and enhance economic growth over the long term. Pakistan’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the country can manage complex challenges, despite its institutional constraints.
Plastic Waste: A Journey Down the Indus River Basin in Pakistan

(Washington, DC, 2022-06) World Bank

The perennial presence of plastic waste in the Indus River and its tributaries is a recent addition to the already extensive list of threats to water quality, ecological health, and environmental sustainability in Pakistan. While there is some information available, although insufficient, both on surface water resources as well as on solid waste management (SWM) in Pakistan, the intersection of the two remains grossly under-studied in research circles and underrepresented on policy forums. This study delineates the interface between land based plastic waste and the Indus River system with the objective of raising plastics-in-rivers as a major policy and developmental issue, and providing a starting point for researchers, policy makers, and development and environmental professionals to expand the agenda of SWM to include protection of rivers. It is the first study of its kind in Pakistan and uses a combination of active sampling of floating waste at key sites in the Indus River system, passive sampling of waste dumped along the banks at those sites, consultations with key stakeholders in the sector, and a review of relevant policies, laws, and literature.
Variable Renewable Energy Competitive Bidding Study

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-04-28) World Bank

This study was commissioned to support the government of Pakistan, the provincial energy departments, and the electricity regulator in the implementation of competitive bidding for the procurement and development of all future variable renewable energy (VRE) capacity in the country. The decision was taken in 2017 to move from a “cost-plus” tariff-setting regime for future solar and wind power capacity to one based on the principles of competitive bidding, following international trends and the very positive results seen in terms of steep cost reductions in other countries. In many locations, these cost reductions have led to solar and wind becoming the “least-cost” form of power generation, although this has already been achieved in Pakistan through gradual declines in the tariff awarded on a cost-plus basis to solar and wind projects by NEPRA, the electricity regulator. The report is structured as follows: Section 2 outlines key background issues of relevance to competitive bidding mechanisms for RE in Pakistan; Section considers potential arrangements for deployment of competitive bidding; Section 4 analyzes tender governance processes; Section 5 examines detailed arrangements for the design of competitive bidding; Section 6 evaluates implementation arrangements; Section 7 considers the impact of the forthcoming Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM) on renewable energy (RE) competitive bidding mechanisms; Section 8 reviews information technology needs; Section 9 considers communications and marketing strategies; and Section 10 reviews the potential for introducing local content arrangements.
Renewable Energy Jobs and Sector Skills Mapping for Pakistan

(Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank

The Government of Pakistan (GOP) has adopted ambitious national renewable energy (RE) targets under the RE policy 2019. The policy sets out a growth trajectory for grid connected, non-hydro renewables, mandating at least 20 percent renewables in the country’s installed power generation capacity by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030. The government has simultaneously approved a comprehensive power generation capacity expansion plan, the integrated generation capacity expansion plan 2021-2030. Since large hydropower makes up the bulk of capacity additions in the IGCEP, new wind, solar, and bagasse projects in the IGCEP account for approximately 11,700 MW compared to 16,300 MW of non-hydro RE needed to meet the national RE targets. To capitalize on the employment creation potential of the RE targets and the IGCEP, policy makers will have to anticipate changes in workforce trends and develop a preemptive plan to manage skill requirements and prevent workforce shortages. This study was commissioned by the World Bank to facilitate cohesive RE workforce planning and identify skill gaps that can inhibit RE investments in Pakistan. The findings of the study will help inform skill development in RE by providing policy makers and other stakeholders, including the higher education commission (HEC) and the national vocational and technical training commission (NAVTTC), with indicative employment projections required for long-term planning.
A Synthesis Report on Piloting of Remote Phone-Based Formative Assessment Solutions in Ghana, Nepal, and Pakistan

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022) Khurana, Aishwarya ; Levin, Victoria ; Luna-Bazaldua, Diego ; Liberman, Julia

School closures related to Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) not only disrupted education but also impacted teachers’ ability to know whether and what their students were learning. This information gap was most challenging in contexts with limited internet connectivity and low access to smart digital devices. In such circumstances, conducting formative assessments remotely using basic phones was seen as a means to provide timely information to teachers, parents, and students and support learning continuity outside the classroom. As students return to school, the same solutions can be used to complement in-person instruction to accelerate learning recovery, expand the use of formative assessment in hard-to-reach schools, and improve the resilience of education systems when confronted by future shocks. This report describes the three pilot studies that aimed to test the logistical and technological feasibility of using short message service (SMS), interactive voice recording (IVR), and live phone calls (LPC) to conduct formative assessment of foundational math and literacy skills for primary-grade students. These pilot studies were conducted in Ghana, Nepal, and Pakistan between October 2020 and January 2022.
Strategy for Sustainable Hydropower Development in the Jhelum Poonch River Basin Pakistan

(Washington, DC, 2021-06) International Finance Corporation

IFC has remained financer and development partner in hydropower projects in Pakistan. In this process, IFC has developed a comprehensive approach for developing sustainable hydropower as a cheaper and cleaner energy that benefits the environment as well as the communities in the area. A key part of the approach involves raising environmental and social standards in hydropower development through its advisory engagements. Strategy for Sustainable Hydropower Development in the Jhelum Poonch River Basin (JPRB) is one such IFC initiative implemented through a multistakeholder-engagement process to provide practical guidance for government, developers, and other stakeholders. The proposed strategy presents key lessons learned from hydropower projects in the Jhelum-Poonch River Basin as well as other related basins during construction and operation. It enhances the knowledge base of the Jhelum-Poonch Basin and provides recommendations for hydropower developers and government to implement best practice in their projects. This helps strike a balance between conservation and development by minimizing negative environmental and social impacts from hydropower projects in the basin. The strategy provides recommendations for government and regulators on how to improve policy and regulation to strengthen the hydropower sector. Developers can make good use of this report to strengthen their planning, systems, and business operations.
Gender in Jobs Diagnostics: A Guidance Note

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-02) Scarpari, Raquel ; Clay, Timothy

The WBG's Jobs Group has developed a standardized Jobs Diagnostics tool to help countries identify key challenges in the effort to create jobs, improve the quality of jobs, and provide access to jobs. One important dimension of a good jobs diagnosis is to uncover gender disparities in labor market outcomes and understand the underlying factors that cause those disparities. The Jobs Diagnostic tool enables the user to identify priority jobs-relevant gender challenges through the production of an extensive set of sex-disaggregated indicators and regression analyses, employing standardized household and enterprise data. Underlying constraints can be further explored, through complementary in-depth analysis of country-specific quantitative and qualitative information.
Revitalizing the HIV Response in Pakistan: A Systematic Review and Policy Recommendations

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-11) Beyrer, Chris ; Singh, Sonal ; Ambrosio, Marco ; Semini, Iris

Pakistan has made strides over the last decade in its Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) response, with active surveillance, considerable research, both governmental and non?governmental prevention and care activities, and treatment since 2005 to 2006. However, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevalence among People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) has not declined, coverage of current prevention and treatment programs remains limited and the gains made to date are threatened by internal and external factors. This report attempts to review and synthesize available data on HIV in Pakistan and to use these data to suggest strategic priorities for the next phase of the HIV response in an effort to improve the allocative efficiency of resources and effective and efficient implementation of the response. This report presents an integrated model for HIV services delivery that depicts a continuum of care from prevention outreach to treatment with a focus on evidence based interventions and strong linkages. It describes three potential models for Volunteer Counseling and Testing (VCT) services for most at risk populations that increase outreach and engagement with PWID, hijra communities, and Male Sex Workers (MSWs), and their clients. It also places heavy emphasis on evidence based approaches to prevention including expanding treatment for High Risk Groups (HRGs) and improving the linkages for HIV positive and HIV negative PWID for drug treatment services, such as Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT), and outlines the steps for an evidenced based, effective and efficient policy response at a time of shrinking resources for HIV in overall low prevalence settings. This report is organized as follows: chapter one gives introduction; chapter two presents epidemiology methods; chapter three gives country context; chapter four presents status of HIV epidemic; chapter five gives summary of key findings; chapter six deals with systems response to HIV and AIDS in Pakistan; chapter seven gives key policy recommendations; and chapter eight gives conclusion.
Health Equity and Financial Protection in Pakistan

(Washington, DC, 2012-05-23) World Bank

The health equity and financial protection reports are short country-specific volumes that provide a picture of equity and financial protection in the health sectors of low-and middle-income countries. Topics covered include: inequalities in health outcomes, health behavior and health care utilization; benefit incidence analysis; financial protection; and the progressivity of health care financing. Pakistan's government is committed to improving the equity of health outcomes and the ability to offer financial protection in the health sector through the implementation of the National Health Policy. Pakistan spends 2.62 per cent (2009) of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health. This is far lower than the average spending levels in other countries in the South Asia Region, which have spent an average of 5.3 per cent (2009) of their GDP on health.