World Bank Project Award

Argentina Provincial Maternal and Child Health Sector Adjustment Loan and Provincial Maternal and Child Health Adaptable Program Loan, Phase I (back)
The objectives of the Provincial Maternal and Child Health Sector Adjustment Loan (SECAL, 2003–2007) were to respond to the urgent health needs of the poor, particularly uninsured mothers and children, and to assist the government in modifying the incentive framework for financing and delivery of health care services. The Provincial Maternal and Child Health Adaptable Program Loan, Phase I (APL1, 2004–2010) sought to halt recent increases in the national infant mortality rate and to change the dynamic of financing and providing health care services at the provincial level. These two operations, which were developed together and implemented concurrently, are being recognized for their joint contribution to health reforms and for introducing a system of performance-based financing in Argentina. The SECAL initiated changes in the incentive framework in the health sector that were implemented with the support of the Phase I APL. The APL financed both fiscal transfers to the health sector and traditional investments; fiscal transfers were linked to results and large investments were made in service quality, putting in place an incentive for health authorities and providers to focus on health service delivery for poor patients. The two operations were based on major investments in monitoring and evaluation in the health sector, coupled with independent verification. Bank performance in both cases was highly satisfactory. The operations were informed by strong analytic work on Argentina’s health sector, public expenditure, and the political economy of reforms in a decentralized health system. As a result of the operations, enrollment in the Maternal and Child Health Insurance Program increased rapidly, reaching an estimated 84 percent of the target population by 2010. Administrative data show a substantial increase in the provision of care to previously uninsured mothers and children since 2005.

World Bank Implementation Completion and Results Report (ICR) Quality Awards

Liberia Reengagement and Reform Support Program II Development Policy Loan (back)
The ICR presents a thoughtful, well-reasoned, and detailed analysis of the program. It is concise, yet comprehensive. The context for, and priority of, the specific actions supported by the program are well-argued. The discussion of the implementation experience of the program is thorough. The Risk to Development Outcome is well-analyzed. The lessons are grounded in the evidence and analysis and are likely to be useful for other countries facing similar post-conflict, low capacity, challenges.

Philippines Diversified Farm Income Project (back)

This Intensive Learning ICR meets the challenge of candidly reporting on an unsatisfactory project. The ICR demonstrates depth of institutional and political understanding, presents balanced judgment commending positive aspects of performance while convincingly explaining reasons for the project’s failure to achieve its objectives. It distinguishes between outputs and outcomes and draws thoughtful lessons. The analysis of efficiency (including the distinction made between efficiency of specific investments and that of the overall use of project funds) is commendable given the lack of economic analysis at appraisal.

World Bank Group Country Assistance Strategy Completion Report
(CASCR) Quality Award

Albania Country Assistance Completion Report (back)
The CASCR is clear, providing good background on development challenges facing Albania and on the key issues that the joint World Bank and IFC Country Assistance Strategy was trying to address. It is comprehensive in reporting outcomes, and in providing a candid assessment of progress made under the various Bank interventions, both lending and non-lending. IEG agrees with the lessons drawn by the CASCR, which are applicable to future engagement in Albania and relevant to Bank involvement in other lower middle-income countries.

World Bank Monitoring and Evaluation Awards

Colombia Social Safety Net Project (back)
Improving the monitoring and evaluation of Colombia’s safety net portfolio was one of the two objectives of this project. The monitoring and evaluation system developed for the Ministry of Social Protection provided an integrated and consistent information platform for safety net activities, adopted by nine of 17 relevant agencies and nearly all programs (99 percent). The system was tested as part of a results-based approach to the budget at the Institute of Family Welfare. An agenda for the evaluation of safety net programs was developed and the findings were publicly disseminated, promoting transparency and accountability. The Ministry’s report to Congress changed from a list of activities by project to a structure of results by objectives. The strategic plan to develop an integrated results-based monitoring and evaluation system, launched by this project and supported by subsequent projects, has led to a set of consistent information systems within the Ministry that allow monitoring of social assistance, health insurance, pensions, and labor markets. A key lesson from this experience is that major changes in the monitoring and evaluation system require changes both in information systems and the organizational culture, in which the relevance and validity of the indicators and the anticipated use of evidence in the decision-making process are acknowledged.

India Karnataka Watershed Project (back)
The project’s monitoring and evaluation adopted a triangulated approach that combined rigorously designed household surveys, recurrent satellite imaging, and the input/output data from the project‘s management information system. Impact evaluations applied to two of the three phases of project implementation used treatment and control groups, multi-stage random sampling, and a combination of quantitative and qualitative data sources. The project’s monitoring and evaluation findings were timely and led to numerous mid-course corrections in project management. For example, when a survey picked up that the income-generating activities sponsored by self-help groups were hampered by a lack of commercial acumen, the project recruited a nongovernmental organization with the specialized marketing skills to train group members in how to identify and exploit market openings. The findings of the evaluations provided convincing evidence that the project had increased the productive potential of the watersheds.