South Asia | World Bank

India-Secondary Education Project

Sri Lanka-Sri Lanka: Emergency Northern Recovery Project

India - Karnataka Wind Power Carbon Finance Project

India - Additional Financing for Second Elementary Education Project

Sri Lanka - Dam Safety and Water Resources Planning Project : procurement plan

India - Additional Financing for Second Elementary Education Project

Sri Lanka - Emergency Northern Recovery Project

Sri Lanka - Additional Financing for the Community Livelihoods in Conflict Affected Areas Project

Sri Lanka-Additional Financing Community Livelihoods in Conflict Affected Areas Project

India - Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project

Consolidated environmental assessment report - volume one : main report

This environmental assessment for the Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project describes anticipated environmental impacts and their mitigation. Among them are the following: The microclimate is likely to be modified slightly due to removal of roadside trees and the addition of increased pavement surface. Avoidance measures, such as reducing the number of trees to be cut have been worked out as part of the project design. Avenue plantations along the upgradation roads, proposed as part of the landscaping strategy, will compensate for lost trees. Locating borrow pits, construction camp locations, and traffic detours on productive lands will be avoided. Topsoil stripped off will be stockpiled and used for redevelopment of borrow areas, top dressing of road embankments, and for filling slopes and tree pits. Flatter slopes have been worked out to ensure stability and reduce the chances of slope failures, and turfing, dry stone pitching, accurate grading of drains, and runoff control structures will prevent soil erosion. Transport vehicles and movement of equipment will be restricted to prevent soil compaction. Measures will be taken to minimize waste generation. Monitoring will be done at spill locations to reduce pollution. Licensed quarries will be identified. Impacts on water bodies are mostly limited to cutting of the embankments and do not involve reduction of storage capacity. Ensure that no permanent damage is caused to religious and historic sites. Remove sacred groves if needed to prevent damage. Changes in the cross section and in the curve radius will help lessen impacts on other cultural properties. Plant different fruits at different seasons to avoid degrading mangrove trees. To prevent forest animals from coming in the road, and to protect grazing cattle entering the road, install a thick barrier of non-palatable vegetation. Set up safety measures to prevent occupational accidents. Declare quiet zones to reduce traffic noise, use signs to curb vehicle speeds, schedule construction, and prevent noise-generating machinery and vehicles from operating in the area. Plant pollution resistant species, reduce vehicle emissions, ensure maintenance and repair, and educate drivers to reduce risks to air quality. Cover vehicles, spray water on earthworks to reduce dust and scrubbers to reduce exhaust gases. Install drainage system to dispose of runoff and encourage recharging of underground water resources. Construct replacement ponds and embankments to help conserve water level.

Consolidated environmental assessment report - volume two : appendices

Pakistan - Second Phase of the Punjab Barrages Improvement Project : environment and social impact assessment and action plans

The development objective of the Second Phase of the Punjab Barrages Improvement Project for Pakistan is to prevent the failure of Jinnah barrage and ensure its sustainable use, thereby providing improved and reliable irrigation and drinking water supply for about two million acres of farmlands and millions of farmers. Negative measures include: dust, air quality, soil erosion and water contamination, waste management, noise, and loss of natural vegetation. Mitigation measures include: a) ensure that the access tracks which are prone to dust emissions and marked on the map should be maintained by water spraying daily; b) to avoid the chemical and oil spills in storm water runoff such materials should be properly stored; c) ensure that fuels, oils, and other hazardous substances are handled and stored according to standard safety practices such as secondary containment. Fuel tanks should be labeled and stored in impervious lining and dykes etc.; d) at unavoidable noisy places, the workers should be provided ear plugs and other protective devices; and e) ensure that all the waste generated from different locations must be disclosed off according to waste disposal plan.

Public interest litigation in India : overreaching or underachieving ?

Public interest litigation has historically been an innovative judicial procedure for enhancing the social and economic rights of disadvantaged and marginalized groups in India. In recent years, however, a number of criticisms of public interest litigation have emerged, including concerns related to separation of powers, judicial capacity, and inequality. These criticisms have tended to abstraction, and the sheer number of cases has complicated empirical assessments. This paper finds that public interest litigation cases constitute less than 1 percent of the overall case load. The paper argues that complaints related to concerns having to do with separation of powers are better understood as criticisms of the impact of judicial interventions on sector governance. On the issue of inequality, the analysis finds that win rates for fundamental rights claims are significantly higher when the claimant is from an advantaged social group than when he or she is from a marginalized group, which constitutes a social reversal, both from the original objective of public interest litigation and from the relative win rates in the 1980s.

Urban youth bulges and social disorder : an empirical study of Asian and Sub-Saharan African cities

By 2050, two-thirds of the worlds population will live in cities, and the greatest growth in urban populations will take place in the least developed countries. This presents many governments with considerable challenges related to urban governance and the provision of services and opportunities to a burgeoning urban population. Among the concerns is that large youth bulges in urban centers could be a source of political instability and violence. Here, we assess this claim empirically using newly collected data on city-level urban social disorder, ranging from non-violent actions, such as demonstrations and strikes, to violent political actions, such as riots, terrorism, and armed conflict. The dataset covers 55 major cities in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa for 1960-2006. The study also utilizes a new United Nations Population Division dataset on urban populations by age and sex. The study further considers factors that could condition the effect of age structure, in particular the level of informal employment, economic growth, education, and gender imbalances. The analysis finds that large male youth bulges aged 15-24 are not generally associated with increased risks of either violent or non-violent social disturbance. Furthermore, the proxy measures of "youth exclusion" do not seem to increase the risk that large urban male youth bulges are associated with either form of disturbance. However, several other factors that may be associated with higher levels of youth exclusion - notably absence of democratic institutions, low economic growth, and low levels of secondary educational attainment - are significantly and robustly associated with increasing levels of urban social disturbance.

Sri Lanka - Provincial Roads Project

Afghanistan - Civil Service Reform Project : restructuring

This project paper introduces the following changes in the Afghanistan Civil Service Reform Project and accompanying amendments to the project's legal documents. The changes address challenges resulting from pursuing a complex public administration reform agenda in an increasingly difficult political reform and worsening security environment with diminishing government commitment and implementation capacity constraints on the part of the project's implementing agency the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission (IARCSC). The restructuring will recalibrate the project's development objectives to focus on more attainable priorities, adjust the project's scope to focus on areas with stronger government ownership; and strengthen implementation arrangements within the IARCSC. The modifications will focus the project and expected results on introducing core building blocks for more effectiveness and transparency in the management of human resources in the public sector, including adoption of new recruitment procedures, development of a more systematic approach job grading and associated pay levels; and introduction of human resource management functions in selected line ministries. It will thus contribute to the adoption and enforcement of a more orderly, fair and uniform system for the administration of public sector employment. Reforming the selection, management and development of the human resources across all sectors continues to be a critical need and prerequisite for the long term process of strengthening public administration and service outcomes.

Nepal - Rural Access Improvement and Decentralization Project : additional financing

Nepal - Poverty Alleviation Fund Project

Ratings for the Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF) Project for Nepal were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was moderate, Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and Borrower performance was satisfactory. Some lessons learned included: investing sufficient effort in developing a consensus on the appropriate institutional set-up for a major new government initiative, before agreeing to support a project and launching into detailed preparation, is extremely important. In this case, close dialogue on the institutional framework and mandate of PAF, before the start of preparation, helped to ensure strong client buy-in which has extended through the life of the original project and its scaling up. Staff continuity, both of counterpart and Bank teams, and the engaging of Partner Organizations (Pos) with intimate local knowledge and good track records have contributed to successful project implementation during a period of rapid scale up of the PAF program, even during periods of political transition and associated delays in some senior appointments at Board level. Going forward, it would be useful to review governance arrangements for such appointments as one of the options for further institutional strengthening under PAF II. Measurement and impact assessment of quantitative indicators, using a large statistical sample and rigorous methodology, requires significant time and resources and a process of technical support and capacity building. Challenges of topography, climate and political context in Nepal may compound and should be anticipated as far as possible.

Procurement plan for works and goods

The project KARNATAKA WIND is now in the pipeline.

2009-11-22T05:00:00.000Z

The project KARNATAKA WIND is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

World Bank’s Fund for Poorest Countries Delivers Record Support during Global Crisis

2009-11-20T20:02:50.000Z

Contact:

In Washington: Angela Furtado (202) 473-1909

Afurtado@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, November 20, 2009 – World Bank management and representatives of 45 donor and 12 borrowing countries today concluded a three-day review of the performance of the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the 79 poorest countries, that has delivered record support during the global economic crisis.

The three-day review of the 15^th replenishment period (IDA15), which covers funding from July 2008 to June 2011, included discussions on IDA’s policy and financial framework, the impact of the crisis on low-income countries, and measures to ensure swifter and more effective support to countries affected by crises. In particular, the group advanced a proposal for the creation of a Crisis Response Window in IDA15.

“We are very encouraged by donors’ and partners’ recognition of IDA’s overall performance and effective response to the global economic crisis,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick. “Although IDA operates under a fixed, three-year financial envelope, we have leaned forward, including through front-loaded and fast-tracked assistance, to scale up support to poor countries severely hit by the crisis. As a result, IDA’s lending commitments in the course of IDA15 have hit record levels.”

Following recent calls from the G-20 and the Development Committee, the Mid-Term Review of IDA15 advanced a proposal for the creation of a dedicated crisis response window in IDA to assist low income countries mitigate the impact of the global economic crisis.

“The financial gap created by the global crisis not only jeopardizes the progress made by countries, such as Rwanda, whose governments have been working hard to implement important reforms, it also reduces our chances of achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. A crisis response window in IDA15 will help us mitigate the short-term impacts of crises without sacrificing long-term efforts,” said James Musoni, Rwanda’s Finance and Economic Planning Minister, who participated in discussions about the impact of the crisis on low-income countries.

“We are delighted by the support of donors and partners for the creation of a crisis window within IDA15,” said Zoellick. “We will now be submitting the proposal to the IDA Board of Directors for approval.”

“While there are signs of recovery in developed countries, the risk of deepening poverty remains real in IDA countries.” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank Managing Director and Chair of the IDA15 Mid-Term Review. The crisis response window in IDA15 would provide additional funding for the protection of core spending on health, education, safety nets, infrastructure and agriculture in IDA-only countries.

Record Lending and Effective Response to the Crisis

In the first 15 months of IDA15 (July 2008-October 2009), IDA commitments reached a record level of $16.9 billion; a 50 percent increase over the comparable period in IDA14. This reflects a strong IDA15 replenishment size (which increased by 30 percent to $42 billion) as well as IDA’s front-loading and fast-tracking of operations in response to the financial crisis. IDA’s disbursements in the same period were close to $14 billion, with a sharp increase in the first four months of FY10 (July 2009-October 2009) when they reached $4.6 billion compared to $2.4 billion a year earlier.

Africa continued to be IDA’s largest recipient, with 55 percent of total commitments and 46 percent of total disbursements. South Asia came in second, accounting for about a third of commitments and disbursements.

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For more information on IDA and access to the technical papers prepared

for the IDA15 Mid-Term Review, please visit: www.worldbank.org/ida

The project Grant to Technology Incubation Centre, Pakistan has changed to Closed

2009-11-19T05:00:00.000Z

The project Grant to Technology Incubation Centre, Pakistan has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project West Bengal Health Sector Development Project has changed to Dropped

2009-11-18T05:00:00.000Z

The project West Bengal Health Sector Development Project has changed to Dropped. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

World Bank Announces Landmark Policy on Access to Information

2009-11-17T22:22:13.000Z

Contacts:

Geetanjali Chopra

1 (202) 473-0243

gchopra@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2009 – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the Bank’s new policy on access to information which positions the Bank as a transparency leader among international institutions. The policy was informed by extensive external and internal consultations held in 33 countries and through the Bank’s external website. It reflects the views of member countries, civil society organizations, academia, parliamentarians, media, the private sector, international organizations, donor agencies, and Bank staff.

The new policy represents a fundamental shift in the Bank’s approach to disclosure of information – moving from an approach that spells out what documents it can disclose to one under which the Bank will disclose any information in its possession that is not on a list of exceptions. The policy statement will be finalized in December 2009 and become effective on July 1, 2010. A progress report will be presented to the Board by the end of 2011.

“This paradigm shift underscores the Bank’s commitment to transparency and accountability and recognizes their fundamental importance to development and to achieving the Bank’s mission of overcoming poverty and improving development effectiveness,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick.

“I am personally grateful to all of the civil society organizations, government officials, and citizens of our member countries who contributed their ideas and perspectives as we developed this new policy through a global consultation process. We have collectively come up with a policy that is in line with international best practice and opens up the development process by fostering public ownership, partnership, and participation in World Bank-supported operations from a wide range of stakeholders,” he added.

The policy on access to information provides for the disclosure of more information than ever before – on projects under preparation, projects under implementation, analytic and advisory activities (AAA), and Board proceedings. This information will be easily accessible on the World Bank’s external website and available through the InfoShop, public information centers, and the World Bank Group Archives.

At the same time, the policy strikes a balance between maximum access to information and respect for the confidentiality of information pertaining to its clients, shareholders, employees, and other parties.

Recognizing that the sensitivity of some information declines over time, the policy provides for the eventual declassification and disclosure of restricted information over a period of five, 10 or 20 years, depending upon information type.

“Openness promotes inclusiveness, engagement with stakeholders and public oversight of Bank-supported operations,” said Jeff Gutman, Vice President, Operations Policy and Country Services Vice Presidency. “This in turn will strengthen participation in the design and implementation of projects and policies and improve development outcomes,” he added.

The new policy includes clear procedures for responding to requests for information, as well as an appeals mechanism for requesters who believe that the Bank has unreasonably denied access to information that should be publicly available. This appeals mechanism includes review by an independent body consisting of international experts.

Over the next several months, the Bank will put in place measures that will enable effective and efficient implementation of the new access to information policy. Such measures include staff training; improving information management and technology systems; developing an effective document tracking system; strengthening the Archives Unit, the InfoShop, and the public information function in country offices; and establishing associated service standards.

The final policy statement incorporating comments from the Board will be issued in December 2009.

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Background

Over the past 15 years, the Bank’s policy on information disclosure has evolved in response to changes in the Bank’s business, the growing expectations of stakeholders, and the Bank’s continued commitment to enhancing transparency about its operations. The Executive Directors and Bank Management have periodically reviewed the policy and expanded its scope: for example, in 1993, 2001, and 2005.

For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.org

World Bank and Partners Award $4.8 Million to 26 Innovative Ideas to Save the Planet

2009-11-13T16:30:32.000Z

Contacts:

In Washington:

Edith Wilson, +1-202-473-1104

ewilson1@worldbank.org

Jonathan Daly, +1-202-458-2624

jdaly1@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, November 13, 2009—Close to $5 million in grant money has been awarded to 26 innovative climate adaptation projects, through the 2009 Global Development Marketplace, a global competitive grant program to fund innovation in development.

This year’s contest—‘100 Ideas to Save the Planet’— set a simple challenge: come up with one idea from your own community to help save the planet and its people from the effects of climate change. This ninth annual Development Marketplace was co-sponsored by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the World Bank.

This year’s event, which ran from November 10-13, featured 100 finalists from 47 countries selected from over 1,700 project proposals. The winning concepts announced today will be implemented in East Asia and the Pacific (5), Europe and Central Asia (2), Latin America (13), the Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa (4) and South Asia (2).

“The Development Marketplace is an important part of our mission to break down funding barriers and promote innovative entrepreneurial ideas at the grass-roots level." said Monique Barbut, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Winning ideas receive up to $200,000 in seed money, as well as guidance, and technical support as projects move into implementation. More than this though, all participants benefit from being able to hone their project design skills; by participating in knowledge and skills development sessions designed to help make them better development practitioners on their return home—win or lose.

"Managing risks from climate change will require not only one hundred, but thousands of ideas from communities all over the world," said Katherine Sierra, Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank. "This year’s contest was an opportunity to showcase the kind of creative thinking that can deliver tangible results in our work on climate adaptation. We will be watching how this year’s winners put their ideas into action."

Stand-out ideas from this year’s contest included:

· From Serbia: SZTR Sunce’s initiative to mitigate the effects of climate change induced bacterial blooms on commercial fishponds;

· From the Philippines: The University of the Philippines’ (Los Baños) ‘Bell and Bottle’ initiative – providing a low cost, high efficacy flood and landslide warning system;

· From Ecuador: International Network for Bamboo and Rattan’s idea to build elevated bamboo houses, essentially lifting communities in flood zones out of harm’s way

This year’s contest took place amid a wider pre-Copenhagen international discussion around climate change and its effects on developing countries. Many ideas combined traditional knowledge with 21st-century technology, as participants found creative ways to innovate, taking cues from both the ancient and the modern. Ideas included painting rocks around glaciers white to slow melting, to leveraging mobile telephony and SMS technology to strengthen disaster preparedness.

“Agriculture is where climate change, food security and poverty reduction intersect.” said Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). “The Development Marketplace is an excellent platform for scouting and collecting new ideas from diverse sources, fostering innovative solutions, and developing partnerships in support of climate change adaptation.”

Past winners have gone on to address pressing needs in their home communities. Many have seen their project concepts replicated elsewhere. The Kanchan Arsenic Filter project, a 2003 winner sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been scaled up with compelling results. The project, first implemented in Nepal, has been expanded to Cambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh. To date, over 7, 000 filter units have been distributed, serving 30,000 people in the region. Pump Aid, a 2006 winner of a $120,000 grant, went on to secure an additional $25 million to expand water and sanitation services to reach eight million people in Zimbabwe and Malawi over five years.

“I believe that Development Marketplace is a very good example of how to facilitate innovation – giving us tangible solutions on complex development issues like climate change adaptation,” said Ulla Toernaes, Danish Minister for Development Cooperation. “We have through our own experience seen how innovation has helped transform Denmark’s energy consumption patterns and created new business opportunities like wind energy.”

Speaking at the Development Marketplace award ceremony, Sanjay Pradhan, Vice President of the World Bank noted, “Among the World Bank's most important roles is scanning the horizon for innovative emerging ideas. Then our job is to identify, select and help scale up those innovative solutions. Development Marketplace winners over the years have proved the value of bringing fresh voices and ideas to the development discussion, and that it is possible to turn good ideas into tangible results.”

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About the Development Marketplace

The Development Marketplace is a competitive grant program that identifies and funds innovative, early-stage development projects with high potential for impact and replication. The program is supported by a consortium of partners including the World Bank.

This year’s contest gathered ideas around climate adaptation in developing countries, placing special focus on indigenous communities dealing with climate risks, climate adaptation and disaster risk management, and managing climate risks in ways that provide multiple benefits—eliciting ideas to help people deal with the effects of climate change, especially those living in some of the earth’s most vulnerable ecosystems.

A rigorous assessment by 200 specialists from within and outside the World Bank Group narrowed the list of 1,700 proposals to 100 finalists who were invited to present their ideas in Washington, D.C. this week. Since 1998, the Development Marketplace has awarded more than $61 million to initiatives identified through global, regional, and country competitions.

For more information about the Development Marketplace visit: http://www.developmentmarketplace.org

Visit our blog: http://blogs.worldbank.org/dmblog

Follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/WorldBankDM

Visit our YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/DevMarketplace2009

The project Sri Lanka: Emergency Northern Recovery Project is now in the pipeline.

2009-11-10T05:00:00.000Z

The project Sri Lanka: Emergency Northern Recovery Project is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

World Bank’s New Country Director Arrives Tomorrow

2009-11-10T02:15:00.000Z

Contacts:
In Dhaka: Mehrin A. Mahbub (880-2) 8159001 mmahbub@worldbank.org
In Washington: Erik Nora (202) 458 4735
enora@worldbank.org

November 09, 2009: The World Bank has appointed Ms. Ellen Goldstein as its new Country Director for Bangladesh. Ms. Goldstein will join the World Bank office in Dhaka tomorrow.
Ms. Goldstein joined the World Bank in 1988 as a macroeconomist, and served as a Senior Economist for Bangladesh between 1990 and 1993. For the past thirteen years, she has held managerial positions of increasing responsibility, including her most recent assignment as Country Manager for Burkina Faso.

For the past two years, Ms. Goldstein was on special assignment to the African Development Bank in Tunisia where she served most recently as Director of Quality Assurance and Results. Prior to that, she was Country Director for programs in nine West African nations.

Goldstein was selected through a competitive process at the World Bank. She replaces Mr. Xian Zhu, who is now the World Bank’s Director for Strategy and Operations for the South Asia Region.
Going forward, Ms. Goldstein will guide development of the World Bank’s strategy to support Bangladesh, in alignment with country priorities and in the context of the changing global circumstances. She will also give priority to further strengthening the capacity to manage public resources and deliver results for the people of Bangladesh.

In reflecting on her earlier experience in Bangladesh, Ms. Goldstein stated “I found a rich culture and wonderful people when I worked here in the early 90s. I am honored and excited to be returning to Bangladesh at a critical time in the country’s development. Working together with Government and the people of Bangladesh, I look forward to contributing to growth and poverty reduction in coming years.”

The World Bank had provided a record high in concessional IDA lending of US$1.1 billion to Bangladesh in the 2009 financial year. Currently, the World Bank in Bangladesh has 27 active operations, of which seven were approved by the World Bank Board in fiscal year 2009.

For more information on the World Bank in Bangladesh, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/bd

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The project Additional Financing Community Livelihoods in Conflict Affected Areas Project is now in the pipeline.

2009-11-06T05:00:00.000Z

The project Additional Financing Community Livelihoods in Conflict Affected Areas Project is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

Africa to Receive $1.1 billion in New Financing for Climate Action

2009-11-05T17:26:11.000Z

Contacts
In Barcelona: Robert Bisset +1 202 415 9646
rbisset@worldbank.org
In Washington: Roger Morier (202) 473-5675
rmorier@worldbank.org
Jeff Brez (202) 458-7628
jbrez@worldbank.org

Barcelona, 5 November, 2009— African efforts to invest in clean energy and prepare for the devastating consequences of climate change have received a boost with six countries set to receive $1.1 billion in new financing for climate action. From solar water heaters to wind power development and development policy planning, a range of new, scalable investments were given the green light at Trustee meetings of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) in Washington.

Mozambique, Niger and Zambia will each receive up to $50-70 million in additional resources to help transform their economies through climate resilience. While, Morocco and South Africa will join Egypt in receiving very low-interest loans for $150 million, $500 million, and $300 million respectively, to strengthen their investments in clean energy in support of national priorities for low carbon development.

“The CIF support for Africa is coming at a critical time. Climate change has the potential to turn back the clock on hard won development gains across the continent,” said Katherine Sierra, Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank. “CIF financing is teaching us how to work together with governments, civil society and the private sector to make truly transformational investments a reality. Each CIF dollar so far is leveraging an additional ten dollars in private and public investments,”she said.

The Climate Investment Funds are a unique pair of financing instruments designed to test what can be achieved to initiate transformational change towards low-carbon and climate-resilient development through scaled-up financing channeled through the Multilateral Development Banks. The two funds are the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), financing scaled up demonstration, deployment and transfer of low-carbon technologies for significant greenhouse gas reductions within country investment plans; and the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF), financing targeted programs in developing countries to pilot new climate or sectoral approaches with scaling-up potential.

In Africa, where access to energy is critical for economic growth and, therefore, poverty alleviation, the challenge is to help countries obtain the energy they need, without aggravating climate change.

South Africa will receive $500 million from the CTF to support its goals of generating four percent of the country’s electricity needs from renewable energy by 2013, improving energy efficiency by 12 percent by 2015 and providing 1 million households with solar water heating over the next five years. In support of the government’s strategies, the CTF financing will focus on scaling up grid-connected solar thermal power, utility-scale wind power development, solar water heaters, and demand-side energy efficiency. It is expected that the new investments will mobilize additional financing of about 1$ billion from bilateral and multilateral funders, as well as the private sector.

Morocco will receive $150 million from the CTF to help establish a national “Fond de Developpement de l’Energie (FDE - Energy Development Fund), a funding mechanism which will serve as a central pillar of the government’s strategy to enhance energy security and pursue low-carbon growth. With CTF support, it is expected that the FDE will mobilize additional financing in the range of $1.5 - 2 billion to help meet the country’s goals, including a 600% increase in wind power and a 15% reduction in energy use in buildings, industry, and transport by 2020.

Egypt will use the $300 million from the CTF to support relevant sector development policies and strategies, such as the Power Sector Strategy and Greater Cairo Urban Transport Strategy. In particular, the financing, endorsed by the CTF Trust Fund Committee earlier this year, will be used to develop wind power and low carbon urban transport systems.

Mozambique, Niger and Zambia all share dramatic risks in potential loss of land, life and livelihoods as a result of climate change. They will each receive up to $50-70 million in grants and/or very low interest loans to help integrate climate risk and resilience into their core development planning. They have been selected as pilot countries for the SCF’s Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), which is still in early stages of implementation. Each country has demonstrated both the urgent need for resilience strategies and the commitment to rigorously integrate such strategies into their overall poverty reduction and development plans, including through national adaptation program of actions.

In Africa, the African Development Bank and the World Bank Group jointly implement the CIF, in cooperation with governments, United Nations and other partners.

Agreed in 2008, donor countries have pledged over US$6 billion to the CIF. The CTF and SCF trust fund committees have equal representation from developed and developing countries. Recognizing the imperative of climate change deliberations underway in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the CIF were designed as an interim measure to strengthen the global knowledge base for low-carbon and climate-resilient growth solutions.

The CIF, implemented jointly by the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, and World Bank, is comprised of the CTF to provide scaled up financing for the demonstration, deployment and transfer of low carbon technologies that have a significant potential for long-term greenhouse gas emissions savings; and the SCF, a suite of three targeted programs to pilot new approaches to climate action, each with potential for scaled up, transformational action: the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), the Forest Investment Program (FIP) and the Program for Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries (SREP).

For more information, please visit www.climateinvestmentfunds.org

The project Rural Access Improvement and Decentralization Project - Addl Financing is now in the pipeline.

2009-11-05T05:00:00.000Z

The project Rural Access Improvement and Decentralization Project - Addl Financing is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

Steps taken to improve the Statutory Framework for Accounting and Auditing

2009-11-01T09:52:31.000Z

Contacts:
In Dhaka: Mehrin A. Mahbub (880-2) 8159001
mmahbub@worldbank.org
In Washington: Erik Nora (202) 458 4735
enora@worldbank.org

DHAKA, October 29, 2009: With a population of 150 million, Bangladesh has only 750 Chartered Accountants; far too few to meet the needs of the growing economy. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) signed a memorandum of understanding with its counterpart the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) on Monday to jointly work to develop the accounting and auditing professions in Bangladesh. Under the MoU, ICAB and ICAEW will continue to work for developing the new ICAB qualification, which will be based on full implementation of the changes made with the assistance from the ICAEW.

The leading professional accountancy bodies in Bangladesh, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) and the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) have to be strengthened to face the emerging global challenges. Availability of transparent and reliable financial information and an independent audit regime conforming to international standards are both essential for strengthening the country’s economy.

Speakers at the MOU Signing Ceremony stressed on the need to accelerate the development of the accountancy profession in Bangladesh. Nasir Uddin Ahmed FCA, ICAB President and Martin Hagen, ICAEW President signed the agreement on behalf of their respective institutions to enhance mutual cooperation. Muhammad Faruk Khan, The Honorable Commerce Minister was present as the Chief Guest.

The Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce, along with the World Bank jointly facilitated the MOU Signing Ceremony under the umbrella of the technical assistance project Strengthening Auditing and Accounting Standards and Practice in the Corporate Sector.

“We commend ICAB for giving utmost priority to high-quality training programs by improving the curricula and quality of the teaching of accounting and auditing and by working with ICAEW to raise the skills and competencies in the profession to international standards” said Mohamed A. Toure, Country Management Unit, The World Bank. “I am hopeful that ICAB will play its role in enhancing the overall corporate governance by continuing its drive for excellence as one of the leading professional institutes in the country.”

The Honorable Commerce Minister lauded the role of the professional bodies in improving overall corporate governance while appreciating World Bank’s support to further strengthen the accountancy profession and education, and hoped for continued support in days ahead.

Strengthening the statutory framework of accounting and auditing in Bangladesh will help the country by improving the investment climate, attracting foreign investment, helping mobilization of domestic savings, underpinning securities market development, facilitating healthy growth of financial markets and enabling regulatory bodies.

The Government with the support of the World Bank has been focusing on a number of relevant areas including, formulating a Financial Reporting Act and establishment of an independent oversight body – Financial Reporting Council; capacity development of professional bodies through twining partnership with developed professional accountancy body; and improving professional education, training and Examination system.

For more information on the World Bank in Bangladesh, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/bd

Sri Lanka’s e-Society Program shines at World Bank’s Innovation Fair

2009-10-29T12:24:37.000Z

Media Contacts:
In Colombo: Chulie De Silva
e-mail: cdesilva@worldbank.org
Tel. (94-11) 5561-323
In Washington: Erik Nora
enora@worldbank.org
Tel: (202) 458-4735

Colombo, 29 October 2009: Sri Lanka’s e-society program that connects the unconnected rural and disadvantaged communities to the world of information and communication through new technologies drew plaudits at the recent Innovation Fair held at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. The Innovation Fair was organized to draw attention of the top Management of the World Bank to creative and fresh approaches in global development programs.

The e-Society program was one of six most distinctive projects from the South Asia region show cased at this inaugural World Bank Innovation fair. The program initiated and implemented under the e-Sri Lanka project by the Information Communication Technology (ICT) Agency stood out for its community driven use of ICT for Development (ICT4D). Encouraging local expertise, the e-society program showed how it has adroitly used ICT to develop programs that have helped rural farmers to access agricultural market information, provide social services and education opportunities to individuals and assist the disabled. In addition, the program demonstrated how new digital content products developed through e-society grants have harnessed local expertise to provide easier access to knowledge and learning for the vision and hearing impaired persons.

The e-Society Program was also presented at the “Ideas Market” – a forum which presented emerging opportunities in ICTs and social Media that would augment the Bank’s development work. “Many Senior Managers from a number of regions expressed much interest in learning more and replicating the e-Society concept and resulting projects and suggested that workshops be held for Task Managers of the World Bank.,” said Sandra Sargent, Operations Officer at the World Bank.
Suggestions were also made for establishing further cross-country and cross-regional collaboration between the ICTA and agencies implementing similar initiatives in other countries.

For more information:
About the ICTA agency visit: www.icta.lk
About the e-Sri Lanka Project: http://www.worldbank.lk/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=233047&menuPK=287063&Projectid=P081771
About World Bank activities in Sri Lanka, visit: www.worldbank.org/lk

The project India Energy Efficiency at Steel Forging Cluster has changed to Dropped

2009-10-27T04:00:00.000Z

The project India Energy Efficiency at Steel Forging Cluster has changed to Dropped. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project APRPRP 2nd Additional Finance is now in the pipeline.

2009-10-20T04:00:00.000Z

The project APRPRP 2nd Additional Finance is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Secondary Education Project is now in the pipeline.

2009-10-19T04:00:00.000Z

The project Secondary Education Project is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Afghanistan Pension Administration and Safety Net Project has changed to Active

2009-10-16T04:00:00.000Z

The project Afghanistan Pension Administration and Safety Net Project has changed to Active. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

This project paper provides a grant to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for a Pension Administration and Safety Net Project. The grant will help finance the costs associated with modernization of the public pension system administration and design and implementation of a basic safety net pilot program. The project will support specific objectives of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) toward implementing a modern and financially sound pension system and developing a targeted safety net scheme. It will also lay the institutional groundwork for implementing future initiatives in social protection. The grant will finance investments and technical assistance for: (i) improving administration of the public pension system, and (ii) piloting a modest social safety net scheme as a first step in starting to develop a sustainable approach to safety nets in Afghanistan. Furthermore, the grant will contribute to strengthening program planning and administration in the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD).

The project Andhra Pradesh Road Sector Project has changed to Active

2009-10-16T04:00:00.000Z

The project Andhra Pradesh Road Sector Project has changed to Active. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The objective of the Andhra Pradesh Road Sector project for India is to provide better quality, capacity and safe roads to users in a sustainable manner through enhanced institutional capacity of the Andhra Pradesh government in the road sector. The project comprises four components: 1. Road Improvement component comprises two activities designed to upgrade and maintain the Core Road Network (CRN): (a) upgrading about 429 km of priority state highways under public sector financing; and (b) maintenance of 6,241 km of the CRN under Long-term Performance-based Maintenance Contracts. 2. Public Private Partnership (PPP) Facilitation component will strengthen the capacity of the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GOAP) to attract private sector participation in financing, development, and management of selected high traffic density corridors. 3. Institutional Strengthening component will provide targeted technical assistance, training and advisory services for: (a) operationalization of the Road Development cooperation, with requisite capacity for its responsibilities in managing the CRN and new PPP projects; and (b) various aspects of project implementation including the Asset Management Program, the Governance and Accountability Action Plan and the Institutional Strengthening Action Plan. 4. Road Safety component will help GOAP to provide safer road corridors by initiating measures to reduce road accidents on major corridors, in particular by assisting the concerned GOAP agencies to (a) undertake demonstration projects on selected CRN corridors, (b) carry out black-spot improvement program, and (c) implement institutional and policy action plans for improving the states road safety responsibility framework and capacities.

World Bank Supports Better and Safer Roads in Andhra Pradesh, India

2009-10-15T18:42:57.000Z

Contact:

In Washington: Erik Nora (202) 458 4735

enora@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, October 15, 2009 ─ The World Bank today approved a US$320 million loan to India, designed to improve quality, capacity and safety of roads in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Road transport is vital to Andhra Pradesh’s economy, accounting for more than 80 percent of freight and passenger traffic. Recognizing that an efficient transport system is critical for agricultural and industrial growth, the State Government has invested heavily to improve its transport infrastructure. For example, double lane roads on state highways have increased from 52 percent to 68 percent over the past six years. However, lack of roads maintenance and deteriorating road safety require urgent actions.

The Andhra Pradesh Road Sector Project is designed to upgrade about 429 km of priority state highways and finance long-term maintenance of over 6,000 km of the state’s core road network.

“Improvements in road transport is vital to catalyze agricultural and industrial development and improve access to markets, jobs, and services to the people of Andhra Pradesh, especially its poor people,” said Roberto Zagha, World Bank Country Director for India. “This project will help to remove the infrastructure bottlenecks in the state, which is considered a major constraint to sustain the state’s impressive economic growth in recent years.”

The project will help strengthen the State Government’s ability to leverage its own resources with private sector financing for road infrastructure. This will help the state attract private sector participation in financing, development, and management of selected high traffic density corridors.

It will also support measures to reduce road accidents, including ‘demonstration projects’ on selected corridors.

“Road safety remains a huge problem in Andhra Pradesh. In 2007, an average of 36 people were killed on the state’s roads every day,” said, Binyam Reja, World Bank project team leader. “Hence, road safety is a very important component of this project. Key to this is to improve coordination between the multiple agencies that are developing and enforcing road safety regulations.”

The loan is from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and has a maturity of 30 years, including a grace period of 5.5 years.

For more information on the Bank’s work in India, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org.in

For more project information, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org.in/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=295584&menuPK=295617&Projectid=P096021

World Bank Provides Support to Afghanistan’s Public Pension Program

2009-10-15T18:39:20.000Z

Contacts:

In Kabul: Abdul Raouf Zia (93) 700 280800

azia@worldbank.org

In Washington: Erik Nora (202) 458 4735

enora@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, October 15, 2009 ─ The World Bank today approved a $7.5 million IDA grant to support the Government of Afghanistan’s efforts to improve the administration of its public pension program and pilot a social safety net program as a first step to developing a sustainable approach to safety nets in the country.

The Afghanistan Pension Administration and Safety Net Project (APASNP) is designed to improve the administrative capacity of the public pension system to ensure the effectiveness of a reformed pension scheme for public sector employees. It will also develop a policy framework for safety nets, and on that basis implement a pilot safety net program for needy households, with subsequent proposal for a scaled up national approach.

The main formal social protection programs in Afghanistan include a pension scheme for public sector employees and uniformed servicemen of the military and police as well as pension program for selected families affected by conflict. Other programs consist of humanitarian aid and various, largely uncoordinated, public and nongovernmental programs. These programs, however, remain small both in terms of their reach and spending.

The current spending on the public sector pension program is less than half percent of GDP and reaches 60,000 people. Roughly the same amount is spent on a program which provides benefits to around 310,000 people affected by conflict, including disabled. The main weaknesses of the current social protection programs include lack of well-designed targeting instruments, poor coordination across programs, poor budgeting, and weak institutional and administrative capacity.

“The government’s vision for social protection and safety net is clearly articulated in the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS),” said Oleksiy Sluchynsky, World Bank Senior Economist and Project Team Leader. “The needs for social protection benefits and services are much broader and some donors – including the European Commission, USAID and UNDP – have already recognized the need and are providing technical and financial resources towards building capacity in the sector. The World Bank will join hands with other donors to ensure sustainability and efficiency of the government interventions and consistency with the broader public sector reform agenda.”

The project aims to develop capacity in the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) to plan and administer programs in pensions and safety nets and will be implemented over the period of 48 months.

For more information on the Bank’s work in Afghanistan, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org.af

For more project information, please visit: http://go.worldbank.org/JEU50VC1K0

India: Andhra Pradesh Road Sector Project

2009-10-15T18:22:43.000Z

WASHINGTON, October 15, 2009 - The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the following project:

IBRD Loan: US$320 million

Terms: Maturity = 30 years; Grace Period = 5.5 years

Project ID: P096021

Project Description: The Andhra Pradesh Road Sector Project aims to improve quality, capacity and safety of roads in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The project is designed to upgrade about 429 km of priority state highways and finance long-term maintenance of more than 6,000 km of the state’s core road network.

Media Contact

Erik Nora

(202) 458-4735

enora@worldbank.org

For more project information, please visit:

http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228424&Projectid=P096021

Afghanistan: Pension Administration and Safety Net Project

2009-10-15T18:19:53.000Z

IDA Grant: US$7.5 million equivalent

Project ID: P113421

WASHINGTON, October 15, 2009 - The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the following project:

Project Description: The Pension Administration and Safety Net Project aims to improve the administration of the country’s public pension program and pilot a social safety net program as a first step toward developing a sustainable approach to safety nets in the country. The project is designed to improve the administrative capacity of the public pension system to ensure the effectiveness of a reformed pension scheme for public sector employees. It will also develop a policy framework for safety nets, and on that basis implement a pilot safety net program for needy households, with subsequent proposal for a scaled up national approach.

Media Contact

Erik Nora

(202) 458-4735

enora@worldbank.org

For more project information, please visit:

http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228424&Projectid=P113421

Improving operational performance will help Local Government Engineering Department deliver quality infrastructure to people

2009-10-15T10:30:00.000Z

Contacts:
In Dhaka: Mehrin A. Mahbub (880-2) 8159001
mmahbub@worldbank.org
In Washington: Erik Nora (202) 458 4735
enora@worldbank.org

DHAKA, October 15, 2009: The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) of Bangladesh has the institutional capacity to undertake most reforms, with no more than routine budgetary spending and staffing authorizations needed from other agencies, to better serve its vision of developing infrastructure for the benefit of the country’s citizens.

Speakers today at a workshop held on “Efficient Delivery of Rural Infrastructure” stressed on LGED’s excellent reputation for professionalism, but agreed with the department that significant challenges remain and these have to be addressed to promote efficient delivery of rural infrastructure. The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and the World Bank jointly organized this workshop.

Following LGED’s efforts to improve governance and operation performance, an Operational Risk Assessment (ORA) was carried out with the support of World Bank to take a closer look at LGED operations.

“Effective implementation of the plan will require long-term commitment of LGED management, the LGD and partner agencies, politicians at all levels, the civil society and community groups. LGED will need to continue its commitment to maintain its high level of professionalism and to continue being a good example for other government agencies” said Tahseen Sayed, Operation Advisor, World Bank. “The payoff for such commitment will be more effective use of scarce public funds, and faster progress towards poverty reduction in rural Bangladesh.”

The workshop presented and discussed the Implementation Plan, drawn up from the ORA findings, listing risks facing LGED operation, measures to mitigate them, the responsible and cooperating agencies, milestones, dates, and estimated resources required.

"I am happy to learn that the exercise once again confirms the LGED’s excellent reputation for professionalism, including quality delivery of many contracts on time and on budget. However, the organization needs to have a dynamic process to manage such changes, so that it can remain effective” said Mr. Md. Monowar Hossain Chowdhury, MP and Member, Parliamentary Standing Committee, MOLGRD&C.

"LGED has the reputation as an “island of excellence” within the Government of Bangladesh, with high standards of professionalism, and comparatively robust risk management systems. This reputation stems in part from LGED’s willingness to undergo periodic organizational reviews and to implement the recommendations of each review. The present endeavor will help LGED to strengthen in its institutional capacity enhancing operational efficiency” said Mr. Monzur Hossain Secretary, Local Government Division (LGD)

The ORA Implementation Plan presents realistic solutions to minimize or eliminate operational shortcomings facing LGED, and highlights ways to monitor the activities of the LGED and LGD to ensure lasting compliance. It focuses on nine aspects, and provides detailed schedules for remediation for each: internal organization; information and communication technology; quality control; engineering design and costing; maintenance and asset management; road safety; land use and resettlement; financial management, and; procurement.

“The Department has the authority to improve its fiduciary and administrative management, construction and maintenance methods for infrastructure, and interaction with other government bodies” said Mr. Md. Wahidur Rahman, Chief Engineer, Local Government and Engineering Department. “Overcoming both governance and operational shortcomings will help LGED be more effectively involved in thousands of projects in rural and urban areas across the country.”

The workshop was attended by participants from Government, Union Parishads, civil society and international partner organizations.

For more information on the World Bank in Bangladesh, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/bd

Project Signing: World Bank and GOI Sign US$4.2 Billion Support for India’s Economic Stimulus and Infrastructure Investments

2009-10-13T09:30:00.000Z

Contacts:
In Delhi:
Sudip Mozumder
(91 11) 2461-7241
smozumder@worldbank.org

In Washington:
Erik Nora
(202) 458 4735
enora@worldbank.org

NEW DELHI, October 13, 2009 ─ Loan Agreements for three projects amounting to US$ 4.2 billion equivalent were signed today by the representatives of the Government of India, India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL), Powergrid Corporation of India and the World Bank.

The three projects were the Banking Sector Support Loan of US$ 2 billion equivalent, the India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd or IIFCL of US$ 1.195 billion equivalent and the Fifth Power System Development Project of US$ 1 billion equivalent. Mr Anup K. Pujari, Joint Secretary, Government of India signed on behalf of the government for all the three projects, and Mr Roberto Zagha, Country Director for India signed on behalf of the World Bank.

Mr S.S.Kohli, Chairman and Managing Director, IIFCL and Mr S. K. Chaturvedi, CMD of Powergrid Corporation of India signed on behalf of IIFCL and Powergrid, respectively.

After a period of high economic growth — which reached 9.7 percent in 2006-07 — the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008 saw India’s growth rate fall to about 5-6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008-09. Recognising the challenge that developing countries were facing in wake of the crisis, the G20 guided the World Bank and other multilateral development banks (MDBs) to use their full capacity to sustain their growth by helping finance counter-cyclical spending, bank recapitalization, infrastructure, trade finance, balance of payments support, debt rollover, and social support. The three loans signed today respond to this guidance. They will help containing the spill-over effects of the global financial crisis, and by so doing, contribute to global financial stability and recovery.

“This is a crucial time.” said Roberto Zagha, World Bank Country Director for India. “While the worst of the crisis seems to be behind us, doubts linger about the strength of the comeback, partly because the strength of the global recovery is uncertain. Today’s support will help maintain credit growth and continued infrastructure investments in the country. Supporting infrastructure is particularly important during the current crisis, not just to sustain the domestic economy at a time of reduced global demand, but even more to lay the foundations for stronger future growth.”

The US$2 billion Banking Sector Support Loan will provide budgetary support to the Government of India, helping it maintain its broad economic stimulus program by, among other measures, enhancing the capital of select public sector banks. As a result of the global financial crisis, private and foreign banks have slowed their lending and deposit taking, increasing demand on public sector banks. This loan will help maintain credit growth levels, support social banking and employment growth, and help strengthen the economic recovery ahead.

Sustaining high growth and making it more inclusive is one of India’s most formidable challenges. Central to this is the need to improve its physical infrastructure. India’s roads, railways, ports, airports, and above all, power supply, are urgently in need of investment. The US$1.2 billion loan to the India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd. (IIFCL) is designed to support its role to catalyze private financing for public-private partnerships in (PPPs) in infrastructure and stimulate the development of a long-term local currency debt financing market.

“This loan will help IIFCL increase the availability of long-term finance for infrastructure projects across a range of sectors including roads, power, airports, and ports,” said Mr. S.S. Kohli, Chairman and Managing Director, IIFCL.

“India's infrastructure needs have been estimated at between US$ 100 -150 billion per year, with realizations well short of this target. Closing the shortfall is important not only because infrastructure limitations now are India's most serious constraint to growth, but also because they are India's most serious limitation to translating growth into rapid poverty reduction." Zagha added.

Continuing its 15 years support to the Powergrid Corporation of India, the country’s national electricity transmission company, the Bank also approved US$1 billion for the Fifth Power System Development Project. It is designed to help address India’s acute deficit of power. Almost half of Indian households (44 percent) do not have access to electricity. The loan will help Powergrid strengthen five transmission systems in the northern, western and southern regions of the country. This will facilitate the transfer of power from energy surplus regions to towns and villages in under-served regions of the country. The Bank has supported Power Grid since its inception, during which time the company has nearly tripled its transmission network to become one of the world's largest electricity transmission system operators.

“This loan will enable Powergrid to strengthen the existing transmission system as well as expand the Indian national grid which will help the Government of India achieve its objective of ‘Power for All by 2012’,” said Mr. S.K. Chaturvedi, Chairman and Managing Director, Powergrid.

The loans (Banking Sector and Powergrid) from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) have a 30 year maturity including a 5-year grace period. The IBRD loan to IIFCL has a 28 year maturity including a 7.5-year grace period.

# # #
For more information about these projects, please visit: http://go.worldbank.org/BID8YLZKI0

For more information on the Bank’s work in India: http://www.worldbank.org.in

The project Food Crisis Response Project has changed to Closed

2009-10-07T04:00:00.000Z

The project Food Crisis Response Project has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The objective of the Food Crisis Response Project for Afghanistan is to enhance wheat and other cereal production by supporting small scale irrigation at the community level through increase of irrigated land area and capacity building of communities to implement and maintain irrigation sector sub projects that address community needs. The credit grant will help finance approximately 500 small scale, community implemented and maintained irrigation schemes in the provinces most affected by the recent food price increases. This program document seeks financing from the Food Policy Crisis Response (FPCPR) Trust Fund for the Second National Solidarity Program being supported by International Development Association (IDA). One of the priorities of the Food Price Crisis Response (FPCR) resources is to reduce the medium term impacts of the food crisis, and irrigation rehabilitation is an effective way of achieving this. Afghanistan currently imports about 20-30 percent of its requirements in a normal year, and can reach 80-90 percent food self-sufficiency in a bumper-harvest year. Therefore, supporting enhancement of local production of wheat will help to ameliorate shortages and help achieve self-sufficiency in normal years. Considering that nearly 70 percent of Afghanistan wheat production comes from irrigated lands where the yields are 2 to 4 time higher than rain-fed areas, wheat productivity enhancement program must focus on irrigation improvement.

'The World Bank Group Beyond the Crisis'

2009-10-06T08:39:47.000Z

Annual Meetings

Board of Governors of the World Bank Group

Remarks of

Robert B. Zoellick

President

The World Bank Group

Istanbul, Turkey

October 6, 2009

“The World Bank Group Beyond the Crisis”

Mr. Chairman, Governors, and Distinguished Guests:

Thank you for joining us at these Annual Meetings. I want to express my particular thanks to the Chairman of the Board of Governors, Nguyen Van Giau, and to Agustín Carstens for his leadership of the Development Committee. Agustín and I have worked ever more closely over the last two years. I have deep respect for his skills as a Minister and as a thoughtful leader, and benefited greatly from his partnership and friendship. This is Agustín’s last meeting as Chair of the Development Committee, although I know I will wish to call on his advice and judgment in days to come.

I look forward to working with Minister Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, who has graciously agreed to assume the Chair of the Committee. Minister Al-Khalifa and I have worked together in earlier capacities, and I am delighted he has agreed to join us at this critical time.

I also want to thank my colleague Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Our two institutions have partnered closely over the last year, and I have much appreciated his insight, practicality and good humor.

I am grateful too, to the Turkish Government and the people of Turkey, who have been exemplary hosts for our Annual Meetings this year. We have enjoyed seeing this fascinating city in a country that has accomplished so much. Most of all, we thank the wonderful people of Istanbul and Turkey.

I would like to take this opportunity to recall former World Bank President Robert McNamara. He led and shaped the Bank for 13 incredible years. He brought to this institution enormous energy along with the firm belief that the problems of the developing world could be solved. He left behind him a formidable record: the effort to eradicate and prevent river blindness; the Bank’s first loan for nutrition; a focus on the rural poor; increased lending to agriculture; the publishing of the first ever World Development Report; and the opening of relations between the Bank and China at a crucial time in that country’s development – a reflection of both his foresight and leadership.

Robert McNamara shifted the focus of the World Bank Group toward the goal of overcoming poverty worldwide. It remains our core mission today, and ensures that Mr. McNamara’s legacy in international development – and to the World Bank Group – lives on.

In his final years, when I spoke to Mr. McNamara, he remembered fondly the tremendous staff of the World Bank Group, a true collection of talents across cultures and lands. His successors have expressed the same appreciation. I want to add my thanks to theirs. The people of the World Bank Group have risen to the challenge of crisis over the last year – with energy, creativity and strong sense of purpose for the client countries and people we are privileged to serve.

We are also saddened by the recent passing of Minister Futa of the Democratic of Republic of Congo. I would like to join the Chairman in extending my condolence to his family and the government of DRC.

I would also like to express my deepest sympathies to the family of the former Finance Minister of Japan, Mr. Nakagawa.

***** ***** *****

A year ago, we came together at a time of turmoil. Today, that turbulence is far from over.

As a result of the global crisis, we estimate that 90 million more people will be living in extreme poverty by the end of next year; up to 59 million more people will lose their jobs this year; and an additional 30,000 to 50,000 babies may die in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Behind these numbers lie human stories:

-- Aoy Puon is a garment factory worker in Cambodia. Since the crisis hit, her monthly salary has been cut in half. Today she can’t make enough to send money home to her family who depend on her income. 48 garment factories have had to close in Cambodia over the past year, and 62,000 workers have lost their jobs – 90 percent of them women. Aoy is now worried that she will lose her job.

-- Zagd is a herder in Mongolia, where the financial crisis has caused livestock prices to plummet. Meanwhile, food costs increase daily, so Zagd can no longer afford to buy flour, rice, or sugar. For herders like Zagd, there is no pension or social benefit money – instead, with decreased income, the only recourse is to cut consumption. As one herder says, “I do not buy sugar because it is expensive. We do not use vegetables. We do not go out, therefore we do not need many clothes…In the winter time, we do not buy wood and coal.”

-- Lindiwe is 28 and lives in a shanty town in southern Africa. She's HIV positive and has TB. She was turned away from the NGO clinic that provides treatment for these diseases, because donor funding has dried up as a result of the financial crisis, and the NGO has run out of drugs. Prospects for additional funding look bleak: a recent World Bank and UNAIDS survey found that 1 in 5 developing countries have experienced cutbacks on anti-retroviral treatment programs, and 33 countries expect the impact to worsen over the next year. For Lindiwe, time is running out: "I am scared of dying and leaving my little girl alone," she says.

Jobs lost and lives destroyed. Girls forced out of school. Families who need to decide which meal to cut out of their day. Children malnourished. Human progress reversed, often irretrievably.

While we talk of recovery, the personal pain of poverty is all around us.

In cities, villages, valleys, and plains; on Main Streets and communities with no streets we hear a common refrain: “Don’t let this happen again.”

Sadly, we cannot make that promise. We cannot crisis-proof our world. Indeed, if there is one thing that is assured about the future, it is that there will be another upheaval. But with leadership and cooperation, we can learn lessons from the past crisis, and we can look ahead.

We need to look beyond emergency response, to actions to “build back better” -- actions that can endure. That work is up to us in this room. Cooperation at times of crisis is the easier part. Cooperation when no longer staring into the abyss is the challenge.

Seeds of Crisis

Before looking to the future, we need to understand the past. Today’s upheaval did not occur from nowhere. The seeds were planted earlier.

The last 20 years have witnessed a huge economic shift. The breakdown of the planned economies in the Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe, the economic reforms in China and India, and the export-driven growth strategies of East Asia all contributed to a world market economy that vaulted from about 1 billion to 4 or 5 billion people. This shift offers enormous opportunities. But it has also shaken an international economic system forged in the middle of the 20^th Century, with patched-up changes in the decades since.

Some seeds of today’s troubles were sown by the responses – or lack of them – to the financial crises of the late 1990s. After the Asian financial crisis, developing countries determined they never again wanted to be exposed to the tempests of globalization. Many “insured” themselves through managing exchange rates and building huge currency reserves. Some of these changes contributed to imbalances and tensions in the global economy, but for years governments muddled through amidst generally good growth.

Central banks failed to address risks building in the new economy. They seemingly mastered product price inflation in the 1980s, but most decided that asset price bubbles were difficult to identify and to restrain with monetary policy. They argued that damage to the “real economy” of jobs, production, savings, and consumption could be contained once bubbles burst, through aggressive easing of interest rates. They turned out to be wrong.

Regulators and supervisors of financial institutions were no longer grounded in reality. Financial innovation and competition vastly expanded services – including to companies and families often shunted aside in the past – but the alluringly simple design of “rational markets theory” led regulators to take a holiday from the realities of psychology, organizational behavior, systemic risks, and the complexities of markets and humans.

Even as we learn these harsh lessons, we need to anticipate and build.

In 1944, the delegates at Bretton Woods seized a moment to shape a new global arrangement. They spent three weeks in New Hampshire developing a system of rules, institutions, and procedures for financial and commercial relations in the world economy.

That world has changed enormously over the past 65 years. The current upheaval is changing the landscape yet again.

Already, we can see potential shifts in power and institutions and international cooperation. In part, the shifts will depend upon how the parties adapt to new circumstances; in part, upon the rapidity of the recovery; in part, upon changes in who holds the world’s capital, technology, and human resources and what they do with them; in part, upon how countries cooperate – or do not.

The Changing Context

Just over 10 years ago, during the Asian financial crisis, the world’s primary concern was whether China would hold its currency peg to help stabilize the falling economic dominoes. Today, China ranks with the world’s major economies and acts as a stabilizing force in the global economy. Together, China and India account for 8.5 percent of world output. They and other developing countries are growing substantially more rapidly than developed countries.

The United States has been hit hard by the crisis. But it is a resilient nation. Its future will depend on whether and how it will address large deficits, recover without inflation that could undermine its credit and currency, and overhaul its financial system to preserve innovation while adding to safety and soundness. The United States also needs to help people adjust to change, so that it can maintain its greatest trump card: openness to trade, investment, people, and ideas.

Japan is the first leading industrial power to experience a political upheaval in the wake of the crisis. The election of the Democratic Party of Japan could create a sustainable two-party democracy for the first time in the country’s history.

It is not clear that the old export model of growth will meet Japan’s and the world’s needs or be sustainable in a more “balanced” global economy that does not rely so heavily on the U.S. consumer. An aging Japan will have new consumption needs. A global economy with more poles of growth could offer Japan new markets, especially for its impressive capabilities to use energy efficiently.

Central and Eastern European economies suffered strong blows. And their problems are far from over. The good strategic news is that the European states, for all their internal debates and negotiations, have recognized their interdependence. Under stress, this time, Europe did not splinter.

South East Asia may also have been given a boost by the crisis – depending on how opportunities are seized. The region lies at a geographic crossroads between India and China, two rising powers. ASEAN seems to have recognized the moment, and has taken actions to deepen its integration even while reaching out to others. Given the sizeable weight of Indonesia and the rising influence of Vietnam, their sound performance amidst economic turmoil has stood in sharp contrast to a decade ago.

For others, the long-term impact of the crisis may depend upon commodities, especially oil prices, which, in recent years, gave high returns. When the oil price is at $100, these countries are strong. When it is at $30, most are in serious trouble. This reliance on oil and commodities is a precarious basis upon which to build an economy in a world that is struggling to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, and in which commodity prices gyrate as investors move in and out of an “asset class.” Will countries use these returns wisely – to diversify and build broader-based economic development? These are the questions for Russia, countries in the Gulf, and some countries in Latin America and Africa.

Prior to the crisis, the growth rates of a number of African countries were achieving impressive levels with consistency. Coming out of the crisis, there could be new opportunities. Some Chinese manufacturing firms are considering shifting their basic production to Africa. China’s African prospects – which include resource development and infrastructure – are likely to be complemented by others. Brazil is interested in sharing its agricultural development experience. India is building railways. These are the early days of a trend that will build.

Understanding shifting power relations is fundamental for shaping the future -- as the Bretton Woods’ delegates appreciated. The political basis for that system was forged through a shared experience in failed responsibility after World War I and a clear assessment of power after World War II. Change those power relations -- and the nature of the markets that connect them -- and the system looks out of touch.

What Next: Responsible Globalization?

The old order is gone. We should not waste our time and tears lamenting it. Today we must build anew. Today we can put in place the foundations for a “New Normal” of growth and responsible globalization.

Globalization has helped sustain high economic growth in many countries and lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. Yet the growing linkages between economies have also played a central role in turning a financial crisis in the developed world into a global crisis that is driving millions back into poverty. The pace of climate change is accelerating, with poorest countries hardest hit. Diseases such as SARS in 2004, or this year’s H1N1 virus, start as localized outbreaks but quickly become global threats. Their virulence has only been intensified by increased travel and open borders.

We cannot and should not turn the clock back on globalization. Nor are publics demanding that we do so. But we can and must reform it to curb the damage it can wreak while expanding the enormous benefits that responsible globalization can provide to millions.

What Would it Take to Build Responsible Globalization?

First and foremost, we must recognize that developing countries are key to the solution today, progress tomorrow, and prosperity in years to come.

Two weeks ago, in Pittsburgh, world leaders embraced the G-20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation among the advanced industrialized countries and rising powers. This is a good start. But the G-20 cannot be a stand-alone committee. Nor can it ignore the voices of the over 160 countries left outside. The G-20 should operate as a “Steering Group” across a network of countries and international institutions with a broader membership. It should recognize the interconnections among issues and foster points of mutual interest, without being either hierarchical or bureaucratic. It should be connected to our G-186 here in this room.

Forecasters expect lackluster growth and continued high unemployment for a number of years. The U.S. consumer can no longer be the main engine of economic demand. Europe and Japan appear constrained; China can assist, but its credit growth could pose problems next year. With access to finance, other developing economies can help boost a global recovery. Many have the fiscal space to borrow, but cannot get the volumes they need at reasonable prices without crowding out their private sectors. The World Bank Group and regional development banks can assist. Enhanced financial regulation and supervision that shift incentives from short-term casino capitalism to long-term productive investment will help.

Second, leaders must emphasize that a balanced and inclusive global economy needs multiple poles of growth – and not just adding China and India. Countries in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and a wider Middle East can assist in the future if they invest today. Over time, investments in Africa, a market of almost a billion people, can integrate its markets and become another source of growth.

To build multiple poles of growth, we need to remove bottlenecks and boost productivity through investments in infrastructure and energy, private sector expansion, and regional integration linked to open markets. New poles of growth can be customers for the capital goods, services, and technology of developed countries.

Third, leaders must commit to making growth sustainable. As the World Bank’s recently released World Development Report on development and climate change points out, developing countries not only face 75-80 percent of the potential damage from climate change, but over 1.6 billion of their people still lack access to electricity. Developing countries – and their interests – must be at the table. They need incentives and financing to encourage low carbon growth by adopting technologies, implementing energy efficiencies, and investing in forestation.

Fourth, we must put in place mechanisms to protect the most vulnerable. Two weeks ago at the Pittsburgh Summit, the G-20 leaders re-iterated their support for a new $20 billion food security initiative launched at Italy’s G-8 meeting. They called upon the World Bank Group to work with donors and organizations to develop a multilateral trust fund to scale-up agricultural assistance to low income countries. Too often, bilateral aid concentrates resources in specific sectors and countries. But with this more comprehensive, multilateral approach we can pool resources and better support innovative efforts to tackle food security all the way along the food chain and build sustainable agricultural systems. Paper pledges, however, will not put seeds in soil or food in hungry mouths. Hunger and famine – as the present drought in East Africa shows – are an ever-present threat. So we must move quickly to turn this initiative into reality.

Food, fuel, and now financial crises have derailed progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, reversing years of gains. We must fill a gap in the global financial architecture by offering insurance to the poorest countries that they will not be left defenseless in the face of overwhelming shocks. The World Bank Group will work to flesh out the proposal for a Crisis Response Facility, endorsed by the G-20 and the Development Committee, that can be ready to offer quick and effective assistance for the most vulnerable and fragile countries, many of which are just emerging from conflict. From targeted safety nets to SMEs and microfinance, we can help buffer those with the least cushion from the greatest upheavals.

We must also work toward a hand-off from government stimulus to private sector demand, investment, and trade, by offering a counterweight to financial and trade protectionism. IFC has just launched a new Asset Management Corporation that manages funds to invest in banks, equity, infrastructure, and debt restructuring. We can help build developing country financial markets, while channeling capital from sovereign, pension, and other asset management funds to productive private sectors in developing countries.

The Role of the World Bank Group

Last year, the Bank Group stepped up to the crisis and delivered a record $59 billion of financial assistance. IBRD commitments almost trebled to $33 billion. IDA also reached a record high of $14 billion; over 50 percent of new IFC projects were in IDA countries. Support for infrastructure – critical to recovery and jobs – reached $21 billion; we scaled up assistance of $4.5 billion for safety nets and other social protection programs to cushion the most vulnerable.

IFC combines strong innovation with resource mobilization; we have launched initiatives on bank capitalization, trade finance, infrastructure, and microfinance.

We expect a new IBRD record of $40 billion or more this fiscal year. Demand for IBRD lending is now clearly moving significantly beyond the $100 billion level that the Development Committee called for in its Communiqué last year. IDA countries are also facing significant financing gaps. We estimate that financing shortfalls to cover at-risk core spending on health, education, safety nets, and infrastructure amount to some $11.6 billion for the poorest countries.

I know that budgets in developed countries are constrained. But responsible globalization requires responsible stakeholders. We can and must do more.

What is the Role for the Bank Group in a New Post-Crisis World?

A well capitalized World Bank Group would be positioned to play a leading role in the global response to the challenges of globalization, development, and financial crisis.

We have a global, local, and cross-sectoral presence with the skills to work with public and private sectors, middle income and low income countries. We have a repository of global best practice in development that we continually upgrade; world-class risk management and banking competencies; and the capabilities to leverage our balance sheet. We have a leadership role in the growing global public goods agenda, and a worldwide catalytic and convening power. All these factors make the World Bank Group unique among the multilateral development banks.

Four key drivers are likely to shape the Group’s post-crisis role:

Driver 1 will be traditional and innovative development finance. There is strong demand from the Bank Group’s clients for the institution to come out of the crisis well-capitalized and to be able to sustain the delivery of a critical mass of financing to support global economic growth and to overcome poverty. The World Bank Group can play this role in several ways. We can contribute to fiscal stimulus and protecting core spending in countries that are not in a position to implement counter-cyclical policies; we can help to boost global demand to support global recovery; we can finance and support trade; we can assist the private sector to assume the critical handoff from the governments’ crisis response actions; and through investment, we can help to build multiple poles of growth with responsive, accountable public sectors and dynamic private sectors.

The second driver will be delivering knowledge products. The Bank Group is a repository of global best practice in development, combining implementation experience, research, and learning, drawing on both public and private sectors. As such, clients are looking to us to connect and customize multiple sources of practitioner knowledge and innovation.

The third driver is the global public goods agenda – pressing global challenges such as climate change, and communicable diseases that require an institutional response that is multi-sectoral, combining policy advice and investments with a global reach grounded in country programs. Already the Bank Group is mobilizing significant financing through the Climate Investment Funds. We can play a key role in technology transfer, working with clients on low carbon growth strategies, and in strengthening health systems where we are now scaling-up our work. The Bank Group can also support the public goods of resilient and dynamic trading and financial systems, based on multilateral rules.

The fourth driver is future crises – those that we can’t foresee today but know will happen: it might be a pandemic, a natural or man-made disaster, or an economic or social crisis. In response, the Bank can mobilize its full range of skills and instruments for the benefit of its shareholders, as it has done recently in the food crises, or in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami or financial crises in Mexico and East Asia.

The World Bank is pursuing a number of financial measures to make the most of our capital, including a loan price increase; working with countries so we can use the shares they purchased with national currencies; a selective capital increase linked to changes in “voice”; tight budget discipline; and a possible increase in pricing for longer maturity loans. These measures emphasize the mutual responsibilities and contributions of all our members. But they may not be enough. If the IBRD continues its lending at the current rate, by mid-2010 it will be capital constrained. IFC is limited now.

Of course the future is uncertain. If the recovery falters, or simply struggles slowly, should we risk a World Bank Group already stretched to the limit and unable to lead? In the face of the next crisis – another food emergency, the next epidemic – can we afford to have a World Bank Group that has to hold back? I thank the Development Committee for committing yesterday that it will ensure that the World Bank Group has sufficient resources to meet further development challenges, and that it will reach a decision on this issue by Spring 2010. This is an important step forward in the first General Capital Increase for the World Bank in twenty years.

The Reform Agenda

To serve the changing global economy, the world needs agile, nimble, competent, and accountable institutions. The World Bank Group will improve its legitimacy, efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability, and further expand its cooperation with the UN, the IMF, the other Multilateral Development Banks, donors, civil society, and foundations which have become increasingly important development actors. We know well the importance of advancing multiple reforms to address shareholder requests, improve performance, and build support with your legislatures.

Our efforts include:

· Improving development effectiveness, with a focus on the results agenda, decentralization, gender, investment lending reform, and human resources;

· Promoting accountability and good governance, including with our global anti-corruption efforts, an improved transparency and disclosure policy, and the soon-to-be-released recommendations of the Zedillo Commission; and

· Continuing to increase cost efficiency.

But we must go further.

The Bretton Woods system was forged by 44 countries at a time when power was concentrated in a small number of states. The great waves of decolonization were just stirring; the few developing countries were seen as objects, not subjects, of history. That world is long passed. The new realities of political economy demand a different system.

If developing countries are part of the solution, they must also be part of the conversation. The international system needs a World Bank Group that represents the international economic realities of the 21^st Century, recognizes the role and responsibility of growing stakeholders, and provides a larger voice for Africa.

The first phase of the reforms to enhance the voice and representation of developing and transition countries in the Bank Group was completed a year ago, with an additional Board seat for Sub-Saharan Africa and an increase in the voting power of developing countries at IBRD to 44 percent. I am pleased that yesterday the Development Committee stressed the importance of securing a further increase in voting power for developing countries of at least an additional 3 percent – bringing developing countries to at least 47 percent, for final decision at our Spring Meetings next year. We must continue to be ambitious. We should try to see if we can increase the share of the developing countries toward 50 percent over time, even as the emerging economies share the responsibilities of assisting poorer countries with their development. The World Bank Group should more accurately reflect the world around us.

Conclusion

Mr. Chairman: The old international economic order was struggling to keep up with change before the crisis. Today’s upheaval has revealed the stark gaps and compelling needs. It is time we caught up and moved ahead.

We need a system of international political economy that reflects a new multipolarity of growth. It needs to integrate rising economic powers as “responsible stakeholders” while recognizing that these countries are still home to hundreds of millions of poor and face staggering challenges of development. It needs to engage the energies and support of developed countries, whose publics carry the heavy burdens of debt, competitive anxieties, and feel that the new powers must share responsibilities. It needs to help offer a hand to the poorest and weakest countries, the 900 million people who still live without access to safe water, and the “Bottom Billion” trapped in poverty because of conflict and broken governance.

Yet it won’t happen by itself.

The question is whether leaders can cooperate in steering these changes. They will be drawn to the interests of the national publics they represent, as they should. Yet they will also be challenged to recognize and build common interests, not only case-by-case, but through institutions reflecting a “Responsible Globalization.”

Bretton Woods is being overhauled before our eyes. This time, it will take longer than three weeks in New Hampshire. It will have more participants. But it is just as necessary. The next upheaval, whatever it may be, is taking form now. Shape it or be shaped by it.

World Bank Reforming to Meet New Challenges, Zoellick Says

2009-10-06T08:27:38.000Z

Contacts:

In Istanbul:

David Theis

(202) 203-0601

dtheis@worldbank.org

ISTANBUL, October 6, 2009 – The World Bank is pursuing an ambitious program of reform to enable the institution to become more efficient and effective while also gaining more legitimacy among the developing countries that it serves, World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick said.

In a speech at the start of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Istanbul, Turkey, Zoellick said the World Bank’s reforms would focus on improving development effectiveness, promoting accountability and good governance, and continuing to increase cost efficiency.

“To serve the changing global economy, the world needs agile, nimble, competent, and accountable institutions,” Zoellick told the meeting of the Board of Governors of the World Bank Group. “The World Bank Group will improve its legitimacy, efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability, and further expand its cooperation with the UN, the IMF, the other Multilateral Development Banks, donors, civil society, and foundations which have become increasingly important development actors.”

Zoellick noted that when the World Bank was established in 1944, the world was different from today. The institution was formed by 44 countries whereas its membership today stood at 186. The developing countries of today were mostly still colonies. This system had long passed and the political economy of the 21st century demanded a changed order that reflected the growing role of developing countries. They were now a source of potential economic growth that could lead to a more balanced world economy.

“If developing countries are part of the solution, they must also be part of the conversation. The international system needs a World Bank Group that represents the international economic realities of the 21st Century, recognizes the role and responsibility of growing stakeholders, and provides a larger voice for Africa,” Zoellick said.

The World Bank’s shareholders supported reforms that would give developing countries at least 47 percent of the voting shares in the institution. Zoellick said shareholders should go beyond this to achieve a 50 percent share for developing countries.

Reform was inevitable as the world was changing so quickly, Zoellick said. “The old international economic order was struggling to keep up with change before the crisis. Today’s upheaval has revealed the stark gaps and compelling needs. It is time we caught up and moved ahead.”

The High Level Commission chaired by former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, which Zoellick set up last year to look at more far reaching reforms of World Bank governance, is expected to submit its report later this month.

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India needs to make mass secondary education system a reality, says new World Bank report

2009-10-06T06:13:07.000Z

Secondary education critical to breaking inter-generational cycle of poverty, with huge beneficial impacts on health, marriage age, fertility rates, and child rearing practices

Media Contact:
In New Delhi: Sudip Mozumder (91-11) 24617241
smozumder@worldbank.org

NEW DELHI, October 6, 2009 ─ India needs to equip the 12 million young people who join its labor force every year with higher levels of education and skills to be able to access better-paying jobs, and to benefit from the demographic dividend, says a new World Bank report. To achieve this, the country will need to reduce the significant bottlenecks in its secondary education system.

The Report, Secondary Education in India: Universalizing Opportunity puts forward several suggestions aimed at improving secondary education in India. These include increased investments in additional classrooms and teachers, improved curriculum and textbook development; more effective teacher education and training; introduction of new educational technologies; improved teacher management and accountability systems; and examination reforms that will improve access, quality and equity of secondary education.

Today, the challenge for the Government of India (GoI) is to dramatically improve access, equity and quality of secondary education, simultaneously. The GoI’s recently launched centrally sponsored scheme for secondary education – Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) – offers a tremendous opportunity to set up a mass secondary education structure - that is responsive to the country’s socioeconomic needs and capabilities.

“Compared to elementary and higher education, secondary education has not received the attention it deserves until now. Yet evidence from around the world suggests secondary education is critical to breaking the inter-generational transmission of poverty – it enables youth to break out of the poverty trap. Fortunately, the government’s new ambitious schemes for secondary education will, over the next ten years, provide young people with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the 21^st century and help India catch up with other countries,” said Sam Carlson, Lead Education Specialist, World Bank.

Inequitable access

Access to secondary education is today highly inequitable across income groups, gender, social groups, geography and states. According to the report there is a 40 percentage point gap in secondary enrollment rates between students from the highest and lowest expenditure quintiles. In addition, there is a 20 percentage point gap between urban and rural secondary enrollment rates, and a persistent 10 percentage point gap between secondary enrollment rates of boys and girls.

Secondary enrollment by state also varies greatly from 22 percent in Bihar to 92 percent in Kerala; and from 4 percent in Jharkhand to 44 percent in Tamil Nadu. In some states such as Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh enrollment of the general population at the secondary level is 80 percent higher than for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and Muslims.

Significant impact on gender, health and nutrition

Highlighting the immense social benefits that secondary education can have for girls, the report states that the average age of first time mothers with less than five years of education is 19, which is significantly lower than that of girls with at least 12 years of education, where the average age is around 25 years. This difference has a significant impact on both child mortality and malnourishment. Child mortality for girls who become mothers at 25 is around 30 per 1000 children much lower than the 80 deaths per 1000 children for mothers with less than five years of education.

The percentage of malnourished children also dramatically reduces to around 18 percent for mothers with at least 12 years of education as compared to 46 percent for mothers with less than five years of education. Such immense social benefits are critical to breaking intergenerational transmission of poverty, says the report.

Crucial for economic development

Availability of sufficient skilled human capital is one of the key variables in determining foreign direct investment in both manufacturing and services – a key factor in economic growth. It is here that India lags behind some of its global competitors. The share of the labor force which had completed secondary education in India in 2004 (16 percent) was just half of the percentage of workers in China who had completed secondary education in 1975 (31 percent), thirty years earlier.

India’s gross enrollment rate (GER) at the secondary level of 40 percent is far inferior to the GERs of its global competitors in East Asia (average 70 percent) and Latin America (average 82 percent). Even countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, which have lower per capita incomes than India, have higher gross enrollment rates. This suggests India has a lot of catching up to do.

Projections made in the report suggests an increase in absolute demand for secondary education between 2007-08 and 2017-18 of around 17 million students, with a total enrollment growing from 40 to 57 million students. However, an increasing share of these students will come from rural and lower income quintile groups, who will be less able to afford private unaided secondary education.

Key constraints: The report highlights some of the key constraints that limit access to secondary education. These include insufficient and uneven distribution of school infrastructure; lack of trained teachers and inefficient teacher deployment; sub-optimal use of private sector to expand enrollment capacity; and insufficient schooling opportunities. In fact, 27 percent of India’s districts have less than one secondary school for every 1,000 youth aged 15-19 years.

Low completion rate of elementary education, which limits the number of students ready for secondary education is a major constraint on the demand side. Currently fewer than 60 percent of children complete grade 8, though this is improving with SSA. Moreover, the average direct cost of secondary education is double that of primary education, which reduces poor households’ ability to pay for secondary education.

Recommendations made by the report:

Options to increase supply of secondary education include:

i. Innovative public-private partnership models including reform of the current grant-in-aid system;

ii. Public classroom and school construction, especially in rural areas;

iii. Training and hiring of more teachers;

iv. Introduction of double-shift teaching;

v. Expanded use of open learning and new technologies to complement and supplement face-to-face teaching

Options to raise demand for secondary education include:

i. Increase the number and quality of grade 8 students;

ii. Provision of financial and in-kind assistance for poor and disadvantaged students;

iii. Public information campaigns to change attitudes about benefits of schooling and delayed marriage;

iv. Investments in curriculum revision, progressive pedagogy, technology and examination reforms.

Options to improve quality of secondary education include:

i. Strengthened secondary education teacher training colleges;

ii. Peer-based, mentor-led, subject-specific professional development of teachers;

iii. Teacher performance standards and increased community monitoring of student learning;

iv. Financial incentives and technical assistance for State boards to align both curriculum and examinations to the National Curriculum Framework;

v. Improvements in textbook development and distribution;

vi. Participation in international assessments of student achievement at the secondary level.

For more information about the Report and the World Bank’s work in India, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org.in

[1] In the manufacturing and services sector

Clean Air and Sustainable Environment project launched to improve Dhaka’s air quality

2009-10-05T13:43:22.000Z

Contacts:
In Dhaka: Mehrin A. Mahbub (880-2) 8159001
mmahbub@worldbank.org
In Washington: Erik Nora (202) 458 4735
enora@worldbank.org

Dhaka, October 05: With already over 12 million population, Dhaka is projected to become the third largest city by 2020 with over 20 million population. Poor air quality in urban area creates serious health hazards, adversely affects environment and quality of life. To address air pollution in Dhaka, the Government of Bangladesh with support from the World Bank today launched an innovative project ‘Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE). This is the first project that integrates environment and transport under one common objective of improving air quality.

It is estimated that if the exposure to urban air pollution were reduced by 20% to 80%, it would result in saving 1,200 to 3,500 lives annually and avoiding 80 to 230 million cases of disease. The concentration of the key air pollutant (Particulate Matter or PM) in Dhaka and other major cities has been alarmingly increasing in recent years, with an annual average much higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) thresholds.

The Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) project aims to improve air quality in Dhaka city by addressing two main air polluting sectors: the brick manufacturing sector and the transport sector. CASE is a 5 year project that became effective on August 19, 2009. The World Bank is providing US$62.20 million interest-free concessionary credit for the project.
“Poverty reduction and Environment sustainability are interlinked. Dhaka is one of the most densely populated mega cities with high risk of health hazards for its residents due to poor air quality.” said Mohamed Toure, Acting Operations Advisor, World Bank Bangladesh “World Bank is particularly happy to be able to support the Government to tackle Dhaka’s environmental, transport and traffic challenges through the innovatively designed CASE project focusing on reducing air pollution and safe mobility under a co-benefit approach”

The CASE project will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Environment and Forest to improve air quality monitoring in Bangladesh. It will also introduce cleaner technologies, in the very polluting brick manufacturing sector. These energy efficient new technologies will reduce energy consumption and lower air pollution.

In urban transport, the project will introduce low cost measures to reduce conflict between motorized and non-motorized transport, reduce congestion and provide safer and cleaner mobility for pedestrian in pilot areas in Dhaka. Close collaboration between Dhaka City Corporation, Dhaka Transport Coordination Board and Dhaka Metropolitan Police is essential for the success of this project.

For more information on the World Bank in Bangladesh, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/bd

# # #

Construction industry needs to keep pace with India’s growth, says new World Bank study

2009-10-05T09:57:11.000Z

Forty percent contracts in India experience cost overruns of 25 to 50 percent

Media Contact:
In New Delhi: Sudip Mozumder (91-11) 24617241
smozumder@worldbank.org

NEW DELHI, October 5, 2009: If India is to move in its high growth trajectory over the next 8 years, the Indian construction industry is likely to witness a huge shortage of skills. The supply of skilled human resources required by the construction industry will fall short by 55 to 64 percent. To meet this demand, the number of civil engineering graduates and diploma holders would have to go up by at least a factor of 3, says a new World Bank study.

The study titled, India’s Road Construction Industry: Capacity Issues, Constraints and Recommendations says while the quantum of road works has gone up significantly in the last decade, the industry has not kept pace with this growth, as evidenced by the under-utilization of funds allocated to road projects and perennial time and cost overruns on national and state highway projects.

The study shows that while the outer limit of time extension for contracts in the United Kingdom is 25 percent, 70 percent of construction contracts in India exceed that limit, often by large margins. Moreover, 40 percent contracts in India experience cost overruns of 25 to 50 percent. The average time for making the site fully encumbrance free is 30 months against the usually allocated 18 months and in 75 percent of the cases the delays are also attributed to wrong survey data. The effectiveness of dispute resolution mechanism is another area of concern with about Rs. 90 billion estimated to be locked in various disputes and arbitration.

Weak project and financial management and resource management are other areas which need attention. As per estimates, India today has around 110,000 highway engineers. This is in sharp contrast with China where the road infrastructure development was supported by over 500,000 trained highway engineers, during the period 1989-97.

The Study makes key recommendations in the short (02 years), medium (2-5 years) and long (5-10 years) term time horizons covering a range of issues aimed at improving overall efficiency and performance of the industry. These issues include recommendations on institutional structures and regulation, project design, quality of human resources, access to finance and efficiency in procurement.

Amongst its several suggestions to improve the Indian construction industry and in order to eliminate the hassles associated with inter departmental coordination, the study has recommended:

(a) mainstreaming the pre-construction process and clearances;
(b) setting up a Road Appellate Tribunal for faster dispute resolution based on the US and Singapore models, rather than the current contract by contract approach;
(c) initiating a system on rating, grading and registration of construction companies and individuals, as currently followed in US and several European countries, to improve professionalization in the industry and facilitate improved access to finance; and
(d) framing a construction law to improve the legal and regulatory environment in the country.

Stressing the need for immediate action, Arnab Bandyopadhyay, Senior Transport Engineer of the World Bank and one of the authors of the study said: “While the capacity challenges in the industry are huge, certain recent initiatives taken by the Government of India in improving the investment climate are very encouraging. Notable among these initiatives, fully coherent with the study recommendations, are decisions to undertake the international road shows and review the

current Model Concession Agreement for National Highway projects.”

The key constraints faced by the road construction industry:

Design, pre-construction issues (delays in site hand-over), timely payments and other project implementation issues;
Availability of skilled human resources;
Poor governance, corruption, lack of decision-making;
Project management and non-adherence to the dispute resolution mechanism prescribed in the contract.

For more information about the Report and the World Bank’s work in India, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org.in

World Bank Group Private Sector Leaders Forum Announces New Measures to Improve Women’s Economic Opportunities

2009-10-04T15:30:00.000Z

Contacts:

In Washington: Alejandra Viveros 1 (202) 473-4306

Aviveros@worldbank.org

ISTANBUL, October 4, 2009 –World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick and Managing Director Ngozi N. Okonjo-Iweala met today with global business leaders in order to continue expanding economic opportunities for women worldwide. At an event co-hosted by the Hüsnü M. Özyeǧin Foundation in the margins of the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings, the leaders discussed the impacts of the ongoing economic crisis on women, and announced new partnerships to support women around the world.

“At this time of economic turmoil, investing in women is critical,” said Mr. Zoellick at the meeting. “A host of studies suggest that putting earnings in women’s hands is the intelligent thing to do to aid recovery and long-term development. Women usually reinvest a much higher portion of their earnings in their families and communities than men, spreading wealth beyond themselves.”

In the meeting of the global Private Sector Leaders Forum, comprised of 21 companies committed to promote women's economic empowerment, the leaders talked about the need to protect women from the adverse effects of the economic crisis, and shared experiences on successful programs designed to support women’s economic opportunities in key areas, such as targeted lending programs; inclusion and diversity initiatives to promote women into corporate leadership roles; and the training of business women in developing countries.

Highlights of new partnerships and initiatives announced at the event include:

- The Ozyegin Foundation and Goldman Sachs will expand the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women program to Turkey.

- Boeing announced Forum member efforts to track and spend $2 billion over the next three years on goods and services from women-owned businesses in supply chains.

- Belcorp announced a partnership with the World Bank to train 50,000 women in financial literacy in Latin America.

- McKinsey presented their new research, “The Business of Empowering Women,” which maps out potential business sector contributions across women’s life cycles.

According to the participants, these initiatives are crucial as the world sets about rebuilding economies around the world. Research shows that during economic crises, girls are the most likely to be withdrawn from school and be put to work to help their families. And adult women face the risk of suffering disproportionately from the jobs lost since they constitute between 60 and 80 percent of export manufacturing workers in developing countries, a sector expected to shrink due to fall in demand.

“Women and girls need to be protected because they are suffering disproportionately from the economic recession,” said World Bank Managing Director, Ngozi N. Okonjo-Iweala. “But more importantly, women can be the engine for recovery. If done right, we can emerge from the crisis with healthier growth and be on a faster track to reducing poverty and boosting development." Investing in improving women’s lives is critical,”

The Private Sector Leaders Forum is a public-private partnership between the World Bank Group and some of the world's leading private sector companies. The partnership supports the World Bank Group’s Gender Action Plan to promote women's economic empowerment and gender equality.

Launched in January 2008 during the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Forum is comprised of:

Eduardo Belmont, President, Belcorp
Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Henryka Bochniarz, Vice President of Boeing International and President of Boeing Central and Eastern Europe, Boeing
Frank J. Brown, Dean, INSEAD
John T. Chambers, Chairman & CEO, Cisco
Kristin Clemet, Chair, Company: Norfund
Samuel A. DiPiazza, CEO, Company: PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
Rick Goings, Chairman and Chief Executive, Tupperware Brands Corporation
Kevin L. Kelly, CEO, Heidrick & Struggles
Sung-joo Kim, Chairperson & CEO, Sungjoo Group/MCM Group
Yang Lan, CEO, Sun Media Investment Holdings LTD
Wendy Luhabe, Founding Member, Women Private Equity Fund
Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chair, Carlson
Hüsnü M. Özyeǧin, President, Hüsnü M. Özyeǧin Foundation
Lynn Taliento, Partner, Washington DC Office, McKinsey & Co.
Elena Viyella de Paliza, President, Grupo Inter-Quimica, S.A. Monte Rio Power Corp.
Nitin Paranjpe, CEO and MD of the Hindustan Unilever Ltd & Group Vice President of Unilever in South Asia
Mark Parker, President & CEO, Nike
James S. Turley, Chairman and CEO, Ernst & Young
Mona Zulficar, Senior Partner and Chair of the Executive Committee, Shalakany Law Office

To get more information on the World Bank’s work on gender, please visit: www.worldbank.org/gender

The project Emergency Communications Development Project has changed to Closed

2009-10-01T04:00:00.000Z

The project Emergency Communications Development Project has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The objective of the Emergency Communications Development Project is to support activities designed to improve delivery of communications services to the government, and to the people of Afghanistan. This will be achieved by: 1) carrying out urgent expansion of the government communications network, to restore critical communications between ministries, and provinces; 2) providing urgently needed policy advice, and capacity building to the Ministry of Communications (MOC) to promote sustainable communications sector performance, and increased private sector participation; and, 3) improving the postal sector, and the delivery of postal services. The outcomes of the Project are expected to be improvements in communications facilities, and delivery, while laying the foundations for sector reforms, and institution building, which would lead to sustainable development of the communications sector. While benefits include improved government communications capacity, sector development, and reform, leading to greater communications access, and increased private investment, there are however risks, such as the technical and financial sustainability of government network (mitigated through design), but as well, general security, and institutional weaknesses.

The project Higher Education Support Program has changed to Closed

2009-10-01T04:00:00.000Z

The project Higher Education Support Program has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The Higher Education Support Program (HESP) will support the Government of Pakistan (GOP) initiatives to increase participation, enhance quality and relevance, and strengthen the efficiency and sustainability of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). HESP will contribute to the rehabilitation of the higher education sector of Pakistan by helping sustain momentum of the core program and key accompanying reforms being undertaken by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) through the current period of fiscal stress. The country is going through a difficult period on several fronts. For the past year and a half, the political situation has hindered the timely undertaking of corrective actions requested by the deteriorating economy. Efforts were made early 2008 to promote private sector investment, better governance, increased devolution, investment in human capital, and protection of the poor and vulnerable. However, it is only since the fall of 2008 that the new government launched adjustment measures targeted at fiscal and external deficits. The recently adopted Second Poverty Reduction Support Paper (PRSP-II) of the GOP provides a framework for the government's policy agenda for the next three years. The Bank's Poverty Reduction and Economic Support Operation (PRESO) supports Government policies aimed at regaining and maintaining macroeconomic stability, enhancing competitiveness, and protecting the poor and vulnerable through improved targeting of safety nets and cash transfer programs.

The project PK - Promoting Independent Living Amongst Persons with Disabilities has changed to Closed

2009-10-01T04:00:00.000Z

The project PK - Promoting Independent Living Amongst Persons with Disabilities has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

India: Insuring the Rural Poor of Andhra Pradesh

2009-09-30T14:38:17.000Z

Last Updated: Sept 2009

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People living in rural communities in India confront a range of hardships that may lead them into poverty without the safety net of insurance. The cost of health services, high interest rates on private debt, social expenses – for instance, a family funeral – and drought are recognized as the greatest threats to the livelihoods of rural populations. Less than two percent of the rural poor have any kind of insurance cover, often discouraged by their lack of familiarity with insurance products and their cost. In hard times, the poorest rural families will turn to expensive loans from money lenders or traders, or dig into their own savings. Those who do have insurance often face long delays in getting settlements, or find their claims rejected, sometimes because of poor understanding of the policy’s terms. IDA, together with the State government of Andhra Pradesh, is bringing affordable and effective insurance to the most vulnerable.

Through the IDA-supported Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project, the World Bank is working with the state government and community groups to:

- Leverage the strong community-based organizations created and supported by the Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project to encourage financial literacy and use economies of scale to lower the cost of financial services.
- Enable rapid claims processing through: an insurance call center; web-based claims submissions to insurers; and trained grassroots workers/community leaders acting as insurance agents and claims adjustors.
- Provide quick cash relief to families within 24 – 48 hours after reporting a claims event to ensure they do not have to resort to borrowing from private money lenders or other informal sources to meet immediate contingencies.

Through the self-help groups supported by the Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project, more than eight million women and their spouses have life and disability insurance coverage, and more than 800,000 lives are insured against health risks. Significantly, given the importance of livestock to rural families, around 500,000 cattle, primarily cows and buffaloes, have been insured. The robustness of the system also has encouraged insurers to work with community organizations in Andhra Pradesh to provide a variety of insurance products and services to the rural non-poor.

Highlights:
- As of March 2009, the Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project had supported the formation of more than 850,000 self-help groups of 10-15 members each; 35,500 village organizations, 1,180 sub-district federations, and 22 district federations.

- More than ten million women are members of self-help groups and their federations.

- Cumulative investment by IDA totals around US$357 million toward the overall cost of the Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty reduction Project.¹

- An IDA investment of more than US$150 million (out-of the US$357 million) in a community-institution building component of the project, helped create the self-help groups and federations, with an additional US$500,000 supported training programs, investments in technology and management information systems, the creation of an insurance call center, and product design and development.

- The Project, which closes in September 2011, also partnered with local insurance companies to ensure rural households have access to better financial products.

¹ Andhra Pradesh Poverty Initiatives Project (2000 – 2006) of US$118.48 million; Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project (2003) US$239.31 million; 1st Additional Financing (2007) US$65 million and 2nd Additional Financing (under preparation) of US$100 million

The community-managed insurance initiative will seek to expand the range of products offered within Andhra Pradesh, especially in the areas of health, property, and livestock insurance. It will also seek to expand coverage to rural households with higher incomes. This model will also be taken to more states within India, and to other countries in East Asia and Africa who are making substantial investments in community-based development, such as Indonesia.

The project Elementary Education (SSA II) has changed to Closed

2009-09-26T04:00:00.000Z

The project Elementary Education (SSA II) has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The Second Elementary Education Project (SSA II) for India development objective is to significantly increase the number of 6-14 year old children, especially from special focus groups, enrolled, regularly attending and completing elementary school and demonstrating basic learning levels. SSA II is the second phase of the Development Partners' (DPs) support to the Government's ongoing and evolving SSA program. SSA is a national Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of Government of India (GoI) running from 2001 to 2010. The project will finance State and District Annual Work Programs which support the above project development objective. The key thrust and categories of activities financed under SSA II include: (i) the quality enhancement framework has a clear focus on capacity building, with the following main pillars: ensuring basic provisioning to create enabling learning conditions for all children; capacity building and academic support to state and sub-state structures; and monitoring learning outcomes and research and evaluation of quality initiatives; and (ii) a combination of demand and supply side interventions are being financed to enable the hard-to-reach children to attend school. These include the establishment, construction and extension of primary and upper primary schools in districts where access is still an issue, and provision of teachers. Demand-side interventions include provision of free textbooks and financial subventions to private aided schools to encourage them to subsidize enrolment of students.

The project FCPF Nepal Grant - Supervision is now in the pipeline.

2009-09-24T04:00:00.000Z

The project FCPF Nepal Grant - Supervision is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Nepal Second Health and HIV/AIDS Project is now in the pipeline.

2009-09-17T04:00:00.000Z

The project Nepal Second Health and HIV/AIDS Project is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Punjab Large Cities Project is now in the pipeline.

2009-08-23T04:00:00.000Z

The project Punjab Large Cities Project is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Investment Promotion and Financing Facility is now in the pipeline.

2009-08-04T04:00:00.000Z

The project Investment Promotion and Financing Facility is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database