Building a strong Palestinian state requires a focus on national institutions' systems. To this end, many of the Bank projects involve building systems to enhance productivity and strengthen capacity.
These systems include The Palestinian National Social Protection System for the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA), which facilitates the cash transfer mechanism to the poor; The Tertiary Education Management Information System (TEMIS) for the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE), which enables improved collection, analysis, and production of statistical reports on the higher education institutions in West Bank and Gaza; and The Integrated Financial Management Information System for the Ministry of Local Government (MOLG) and select municipalities in the West Bank and Gaza, which enables municipalities to better monitor and control their revenue collection and improves the MoLG’s capacity to oversee municipal budgets.
The Palestinian National Social Protection System (PNSPS)
Introduction of PNSPS enabled MOSA to use one unified social protection database, eliminating duplication of records and the danger of duplicate payments. All of the MOSA Directorates in the West Bank & Gaza are connected to system via the internet, enabling facile data entry of forms filled out by social workers in the field. Over 70,000 records have already been entered in the system. PNSPS was developed as part of the Social Safety Net Reform Project.
The Tertiary Education Management Information System (TEMIS)
TEMIS was conceived by MOEHE with the aim of improving efficiency and building planning capacity in the West Bank and Gaza higher education system. It collects and validates the statistical data on which the Ministry bases its reports and decision making. TEMIS is capable of producing accurate and up-to-date reports instantly. Prior to its implementation, the production process could take up to three months. Its main modules are:
(i) Tertiary Education Data Collection (TEDC): collects data from the higher education institution (HEI) in a unified format and transfers it through an internet interface to the MOEHE hub. TEDC is currently installed at 49 HEIs;
(ii) Tertiary Education Data Processing (TEDP): automatically verifies and filters data collected from HEIs;
(iii) Tertiary Education Data Reporting (TEDR): uses TEDP outputs to produce analytical reports of seven basic types-- Students, Staff, Financial, Scientific Research, Institutions, Programs, and Courses.
The Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS)
The IFMIS is designed to provide municipal and MOLG officials with the data necessary for effective decision-making, planning and evaluation. It integrates information from all systems within each municipality and ministerial agency and then between the agencies, using recently drafted Unified Financial Policy Procedures and a Unified Chart of Accounts. The system is currently being implemented in 31 municipalities and at the Budgeting Department of the MOLG. Once fully operational, it will enable:
(i) Effective planning, budgeting and financial analysis, through provision of accurate, reliable and constantly updated data.
(ii) Performance monitoring, through automatic checks warning of abnormal conditions early enough for corrective actions to be implemented effectively.
(iii) Increased productivity, through the automation of routine tasks.
(iv) Enhanced transparency, through simpler and faster data retrieval.
(v) Enhanced communication, through comprehensive networking among municipalities and between them and the MOLG.
