Publication: Impacts of Covid-19 on the World Bank’s Forest Investment Program Portfolio
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2023-11-10
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2023-11-10
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With the COVID-19 pandemic, the development context for the world is fundamentally challenged in many ways. The pandemic has taken a drastic human toll, and its global-scale economic and social impacts affected rural development work focused on the most poor and vulnerable populations. It has also highlighted the increasing need to invest in natural climate solutions that protect and restore critical ecosystems, support climate stability and ecosystem resilience, and help people access livelihood opportunities. This report provides an in-depth portfolio analysis of WB-implemented FIP and DGM projects during the pandemic, gathering information from documents and directly from stakeholders involved in these projects on the impacts of the pandemic during their preparation and implementation, finding trends in delays in project activities, and identifying coping mechanisms used to overcome the challenges resulting from the pandemic. For example, some projects have shifted activities requiring in-person engagement, such as training and workshops, to a virtual format. Other projects use electronic monitoring and data collection tools to follow up on activity implementation. Finally, this report provides a few general lessons for the CIF program, WB-financed operations, donors, and other external international development partners. Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a challenge, authors now hope, having already experienced it for roughly three years, to learn from the various adaptation measures implemented by the projects, for application to future shocks.
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“World Bank. 2023. Impacts of Covid-19 on the World Bank’s Forest Investment Program Portfolio. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/40593 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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