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Secrets of Successful Operations
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What do Bank projects on port development and environmental protection in Mauritius and AIDS treatment in Thailand have in common? Operational excellence and a high development impact, according to the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), which presented awards to both project.
The Bank-supported project in Mauritius contributed to a substantial improvement in port productivity while implementing measures to foster a cleaner environment.
In Thailand, the joint analysis by the Bank and the Ministry of Public Health found that government antiretroviral treatment costs for HIV/AIDS would increase dramatically in the coming years, yet meeting such costs would be affordable and yield substantial health benefits. This put credible research behind the ministry's proposal for more resources from the national budget, and focused renewed attention on the importance of HIV/AIDS prevention programs.
Winners Demonstrate Results
These are but two examples of successful, results-oriented Bank operations that received the IEG's 2007 Good Practice Awards. Other winners included the country assistance strategy completion report (CASCR) for Bangladesh, the CASCR for Yemen, the implementation completion and results report (ICR) of the Guinea Capacity Building for Service Development Project, and the ICR of the Mali Urban Development and Decentralization Project. The Monitoring and Evaluation Award was given to the South Asia Region.
Congratulating this year's winners, Eckhard Karl Deutscher, the German Executive Director and Dean of the Board, said: "Institutional learning is key to development effectiveness, and self-evaluation is fundamental to this process. The Guinea, Mali, Yemen, and Bangladesh self-evaluations featured here all provide a candid and thoughtful assessment of the achievements and deficiencies of Bank operations."
This is the fourth year for the Good Practice Awards, with which IEG recognizes highly satisfactory Bank performance or exemplary project design and implementation, as well as strong all-around performance on other dimensions of development effectiveness.
"By rewarding projects and programs, we hope that the good practices embodied in them will be more widely emulated in other Bank operations," said Ajay Chhibber, Director IEG. He added, "While these are Bank awards, we must remember that a crucial part of the credit for success goes to the countries themselves."
What Makes a Successful Operation?
This year IEG went one step further and also organized a subsequent learning event, inviting IEG award winners from 2005 and 2006 to share experiences with Bank staff on key project features that made a difference. "Secrets of Successful Operations" was a two-hour discussion during which the panelists distilled practices of Bank operations in different regions and countries that had proved to be highly successful.
For Laura Rawlings, sector leader, LCSHD, the secret lies in the effective implementation of the results agenda: "The main challenge is to embed the results agenda in our culture at the Bank." She cited two elements that can help us to move forward: - Strengthen monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems in our client countries to help build institutions and their capacity to manage policies and programs effectively; and
- Make better use of impact evaluations, which are the basis of the Knowledge Bank and our professional credibility
Last year, the Latin America and the Caribbean Region received the IEG Good Practice Award for its use of M&E findings to share knowledge and influence decision making. The Region was recognized for disseminating good M&E practices and conducting impact evaluations in several sectors.
Lessons from Burkina Faso
Hasan Tuluy, now chief operations officer at MIGA, spoke about the Burkina Faso country program that won a 2006 award. He affirmed that the recipe for greater operational effectiveness requires four main ingredients:
- Lead with evidence, not ideology, and if you don't have the evidence, invest in it;
- Focus on the big issues before you get lost in implementation details; and
- Be bold and ambitious, but remain honest and even-handed about the risks. And lastly, allow countries to demonstrate that they can succeed-don't take the credit yourself.
Under his leadership, the Bank's Burkina Faso team helped the country achieve a per capita growth averaging an estimated 3.2 percent between 2000 and 2004 and a decline in the poverty headcount ratio by an estimated 8 percent.
Country Ownership in Armenia
The story of Armenia confirms the importance of country ownership for successful operations. The Bank and other donors made a major contribution to maintaining macroeconomic stability, which facilitated economic recovery and growth.
"Our secret was that we had excellent linkages between economic and sector work and lending, and the investment adjustment operations were mutually supportive," said Anthony Cholst, country manager for Armenia. He advised Bank staff to be patient: "Capacity building is very important, but it takes time. You cannot build functioning institutions overnight."
Disease Control in Cambodia
Rama Lakshminarayanan, senior health specialist, HDNSE, drew from her experience in Cambodia to highlight similar points. In 2005 the Cambodia Disease Control and Health Project won the IEG award for helping to decentralize the health system.
The need for good country counterparts was echoed by Malcolm Cosgrove-Davies, senior energy specialist, AFTEG, who until 2002 was part of a team that laid the basis for mainstreaming renewable energy on commercial terms in Sri Lanka. "Capable, committed, and empowered counterparts can lead to success even if the structures, institutions, and procedures are imperfect." He also advocated maintaining a clear, sharp focus on project objectives. "Viewing potential project changes through the lens of the objective facilitates rational decision making. Be able to state the project objective in one or two sentences, and keep it in mind. You can then weigh options against it."
Public Works in Yemen
Inger Andersen, director, MNSSD, shared two secrets that helped the Bank perform well under difficult circumstances in Yemen when implementing a public works project. "When projects are inter-ministerial in nature, involving water, education, transport, etc., make sure you identify a champion at the right level."
"In Yemen, the project was hosted at the level of the Deputy Prime Minister rather than a sector ministry, and thus got the high-level support we needed," she advised. "Equally important is ensuring that the community ownership is genuine; that priority projects are selected based on community selection. In a country such as Yemen, this meant ensuring that the project was staffed by female and male community outreach specialists who could interact effectively with communities."
Collect the Truth
Jiayi Zou, Chairperson of the Board's Committee on Development Effectiveness, told this year's IEG award winners of a Chinese proverb: The practice uncovers the truth. "IEG's work," she concluded, "is to collect these truths and disseminate them." |
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 Latin America and the Caribbean Region Monitoring and Evaluation
2006 Monitoring and Evaluation Award Winner
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is critical to managing for results in the Bank, and IEG's Good Practice Award
recognized in 2006 that this Region has done much to use M&E findings to influence decision making and share
knowledge. This Good Practice Award went to the Bank's Latin America and Caribbean Region because of the
number and diversity of M&E initiatives across the Region, both in-country and in the Bank. At the country level,
this Region's initiatives include the BRAVA program in Brazil, the evaluation network of policymakers in the
Region, and the Mexico integrated system for M&E of social programs. Within the Bank, this Region disseminates
good practices in monitoring and evaluation, conducts impact evaluations in several sectors, and provides technical
assistance and support to project teams in designing and improving the M&E components of projects.
Armenia Country Program, Fiscal 1993-2002
2005 Country Program Award Winner
The Bank's country program during the period, in tandem with the International Monetary Fund and other donors,
made a major contribution to the maintenance of macroeconomic stability in Armenia, which facilitated economic
recovery and growth (averaging 7.4 percent per year during the period). Although poverty remains widespread, it has
been falling since the late 1990s. The Bank's country program has been highly relevant and well coordinated-there
were excellent linkages between economic and sector work and lending, and the investment and adjustment
operations were mutually supportive. The Bank played an important role in areas such as the development of a
regulatory framework, legal and judicial reform, and the creation of means-tested poverty benefits, bringing about
substantial institutional development impact.
Burkina Faso Country Program, Fiscal 2001-05
2006 Country Program Award Winner
Introduced in 2006, IEG's Special Award for Africa went to the Bank's Burkina Faso Country Program for fiscal
2001-2005. The Bank's assistance effectively supported the core objectives of the government program. Key
outcomes achieved during this period were a per capita growth averaging an estimated 3.2 percentage points
between 2000 and 2004, a decline in the poverty headcount ratio by an estimated 8 percentage points between 1998
and 2003, and an increase in literacy by about 3.5 percentage points between 1998 and 2003. Good progress has
been made toward achieving many important outcomes for the country, as well as for the broader development of
Africa.
Cambodia Disease Control and Health Project
2005 Project Award Winner
The project contributed to a significant improvement in the country's institutional development in terms of its
ability to make better use of its resources through better institutional arrangements and better alignment of the
mission and capacity of the Ministry of Health, the national disease programs, and provincial health offices with their mandates. It was a catalyst for fundamental changes in the relations between the Ministry of Health and the
provinces in which the government was responsible for strategic direction and mobilization of resources for
planning, management, and implementation. Substantial progress was achieved in integrating "vertical" national
disease programs into the decentralized health system, an achievement that has eluded many other countries. It
created the institutional basis and technical and managerial capacity for a nationally owned AIDS response based in
the Ministry of Health, and it built the capacity of indigenous NGOs to address AIDS.
Sri Lanka Energy Services Delivery Project
2005 Award Winner
The Bank provided high-quality advice to the client during project preparation, implementation, and supervision.
Throughout supervision, there was strong attention to identifying and designing solutions to emerging problems,
including through regular stakeholder workshops. The Bank supported various innovative grant mechanisms-for
example, financing village-based enterprises for mini-hydro projects and providing subsidies through dealers of
renewable energy systems based on their delivery performance-which promoted both participation by the poor
and quality service provision to them. The project laid the basis for mainstreaming renewable energy on commercial
terms in Sri Lanka.
Yemen Public Works II Project
2006 Project Award Winner
The Bank performed well in difficult country circumstances. The project succeeded in helping the client design the
Public Works II Project based on learning from the previous project, through the introduction of procedures to deal
with nonperforming contractors, and by ensuring that there was sufficient support from appropriate ministries for
anticipated recurrent expenditures. Quality at entry was high, and the preparation costs were reasonable compared
with similar projects in the Region. The project also attracted substantial parallel financing from other donors. The
project delivered significant amounts of cost-effective infrastructure. Project success is explained largely by the
effective management of relationships at varying levels, the clearly defined roles of the participants, and the
enthusiasm and leadership of key persons in government.
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