Objective. The objective of the PHRD Partnership Program is to support activities that strengthen the Partnership and build relationships between Japanese stakeholders and the World Bank Group (WBG) on key development issues, stimulate public interest in Japan for international development issues, and strengthen aid coordination initiatives.
The program supports, among others, the joint efforts of the WBG and Japanese institutions to improve health systems and achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by monitoring the progress towards UHC, highlighting breakthrough innovations for UHC, supporting learning and knowledge exchange, creating momentum for reforms, and assisting the capacity building of UHC core capacity in Africa and globally. This effort is within the framework of the "World Bank-Japan Joint UHC Initiative" that builds on the recommendations of the Ise-Shima G7 Summit and TICAD VI and complements UHC activities under the PHRD UHC country window that provides analytical work to inform policy reforms and innovations of target countries toward achievement of UHC.
Contributions from inception to FY21 amounted to $101 million.
Key results under the Partnership Program include:
- Informing World Bank's Corporate goals for achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2030
- Raising awareness on the principles of responsible land governance in 33 countries; tools developed for decision makers and relevant stakeholders improve the security of property rights and sustainable management of land resources
- Implementing Land Governance Assessment Framework in eight countries
- Demonstrating effectiveness of Responsible Agriculture Investment principles in reducing potential negative impacts and boost positive impacts
- Strengthening of Joint Learning Network for UHC and Communications:
- Efficiency Collaborative meeting in Surabaya, Indonesia
- Domestic Resource Mobilization collaborative meeting in Seoul, Korea
- Efficiency Collaborative meeting (in partnership with Centre for Global Development) in Nairobi, Kenya
- Learning Exchange on Fiscal Policy for Public Health (in partnership with World Bank Global Tobacco Control Program), Nairobi, Kenya
- Domestic Resource Mobilization collaborative meeting (in partnership with Global Financing Facility for Every Woman, Every Child)
- UHC Joint Learning Network Phase II Results
- Efficiency Collaborative meeting in Surabaya, Indonesia
- Delivering seven UHC Flagship Courses in FY18 - All courses were rated by participants with satisfied and highly satisfied ratings above 95%:
- Regional Flagship courses for Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia in collaboration with USAID and GFF
- Francophone course for 19 countries in collaboration with WHO and USAID focusing on health financing
- Kazakhstan country course focusing on social insurance
- Asia course delivered by ANHSS in collaboration with USAID
- Libya Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) course in collaboration with WHO
- Angola country course
- Global Flagship in Washington, DC, which was developed with representatives from several geographies
- UHC Flagship Courses Results
- Japan-WBG Partnership on Science, Technology and Innovation
- 2021 Global Economic Prospects Report: The PHRD financed four Studies/Analytical Reports on critical economic issues affecting developing countries. Key Findings: Although the global economy is emerging from the collapse triggered by COVID-19, the recovery is projected to be subdued. The pandemic has:
- Exacerbated the risks associated with a decade-long global wave of debt accumulation.
- Steepened the projected slowdown in potential growth over the next decade, undermining prospects for poverty reduction.
- Prospects: With weak fiscal positions severely constraining government support measures in many countries, an emphasis on ambitious reforms is needed to rekindle robust, sustainable and equitable growth. Download Report
- 2022 Global Economic Prospects Report: The PHRD financed the research underpinning Chapter 3 "Commodity Price Cycles: Drivers and Policies". Main findings:
- Price cycles are highly synchronized across commodities.
- Global recessions have been accompanied by weak demand and disruption in supply.
- Global macroeconomic shocks have become the main source of commodity price volatility.
- There is a need for policy options to manage and contain the economic consequences of commodity price volatilities, especially for emerging markets and developing economies that are heavily dependent on commodities for revenues. Download report
- Light Manufacturing in Africa study drew on innovative analytical research that showed that Sub-Saharan Africa could become competitive in light manufacturing and create millions of productive jobs in the process. Comparisons were made with Asian countries to benchmark Africa's potential. A focused and pragmatic policy agenda was proposed for Ethiopia, with additional insights for Tanzania and Zambia. Download Report
Last Updated: May 26, 2022