Capacity Development in Project Design

1. Capacity Development in Project Design Review of 2006 Investment Project Portfolio Mark Nelson World Bank Institute Capacity Development Unit

2. Background and Methodology • A period of intense review of capacity development in the World Bank and beyond • World Bank and other reviews showed many shortcomings • First stage of study looks 217 WB investment projects approved in FY06 • One questionnaire per PAD based on definitions and instructions • Imperfect exercise: Just how much can be said at the design stage? • A work in progress: Further insights downstream

3. Lending instruments in FY06 • Investment Loans (244 projects) • Specific Investment Loans (163 projects) • Adaptable Program Loans (33 projects) • Technical Assistance Loans (15 projects) • Sector Investment and Maintenance Loans (11 projects) • Emergency Recovery Loans (19 projects) • Financial Intermediary Loans (3 projects) • Development Policy Operations (53 projects) • Development Policy Loans (31 projects), • Poverty Reduction Strategy Credits (16 projects) • Programmatic Adjustment Loan (6 projects) For this presentation, we are dealing only with 217 investment loans for which Project Assessment Documents are available.

4. Project Distribution by Region

5. The Paris Agenda

6. Paris Indicators

7. Questions covered • Was CD mentioned in the “Development Objective”? • Did the project have self-labeled capacity development components? • Types of CD inputs (training, technical assistance, knowledge sharing, study tours) • Levels of CD addressed (enabling environment, institutions and policies, organizational and individual) • Implementation arrangements (PIUs) • Cost of CD inputs • Basic information about region, networks, and types of loans, and lending instruments • Did the project involve coordination among donors?

8. Is capacity development included in the “Development Objective”? N=217

9. Is capacity development included in the “Development Objective”? N=190 N=101 N=89 N=19 N=8

10. Evidence of co-financing with other partners?

11. Capacity development component costs as percentage of total project cost N=173 N=85 N=88 N=100

12. CD Inputs - Definitions • Training: Structured learning activities in an expert-learning mode through which knowledge and skills are transmitted and acquired • Consultant Assistance/TA: Foreign or local consultants hired to provide assistance and expertise • Knowledge Sharing: Discrete events with emphasis on peer learning, knowledge exchange and awareness raising • Study Tours: A group of stakeholders visits selected countries or organizations with specific goals in acquiring knowledge not readily available at home • Twinning: Cooperation between two institutions where knowledge and skills are transferred

13. Capacity development inputs

14. Stated aims of capacity inputs n=217

15. Quantitative Descriptions of Baseline Capacity

16. Project Implementation Unit used? Percentage of 217 investment projects

17. PIUs by region (n=30) (n=55) (n=56) (n=51) (n=10) (n=15)

18. Highlights from the Project Portfolio Examples of good practice?

19. Institutional and policy level Resolution of policy differences and process issues. Enabling environment Coordinating government-wide reform Organizational level Change management, audits and reviews Fertile Conditions for Capacity Growth Individual level Intensive training and technical assistance for civil service staff Institutional Reform and Capacity Building in Kenya

20. Institutional Strengthening and Health Sector Support Project in Niger • Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) focused on institutions, organizations and individuals • Detailed diagnosis of capacity constraints • Coordination among all stakeholders • Management capacity developed within government – no PIU Human Capital Enabling Environment & Governance Health Sector Organizations

21. Second Multisectoral STI/HIV/AIDS Prevention Project in Madagascar • Harmonization & donor coordination • Use of informal networks (video-clubs, community gathering places) • Well defined indicators • Comprehensive multi-sectoral approach to preventing the disease

22. Judicial Modernization Project in Azerbaijan Clear capacity objective with actions focused on constraints • Weak management impedes policy implementation • Weak human capital deters professionalism • Lack of court facilities impedes modernization • Lack of information limits accessibility and accountability

23. Features of project design Benchmarks, specific targets, engaged partners, accountability • Focus on systems, organizational functioning • Training of 1000 officials by CoE, GTZ, USAID • Strong emphasis on information flow, accountability • Implementation by the Ministry of Justice which is accountable for results and sustainability

24. Education Excellence and Equity Project in Albania • SWAp focused on improving quality of learning conditions, increased enrollment in general secondary education • Identifies short-term, intermediate and long-term goals • Focus on capacity of Ministry of Education and Science – no external PIU Components Higher education reform Improving and rationalizing education infrastructure Improving conditions for teaching and learning Strengthening leadership, management and governance of education system

25. Local government capacity development in Uganda: An ongoing project • Long-term process: Started in early 1990s • Significant resources allocated competitively through grants to local districts • Strong country leadership • Culture of participation • Demand from public and from local leaders • Huge effort at monitoring and evaluating outcomes • “Every morning when I get out of bed, I feel the demands of the people coming through every window,” George Ntulume, Wakiso District Administrator

26. Uganda’s District Governments Wakiso District Population 1 million (includes Entebbe)

27. Some Preliminary Conclusions

28. Progress towards Paris commitments

29. SWAps cost more to prepare…

30. …and may take longer to prepare months months months

31. Disincentives to harmonization and alignment • Time and efficiency constraints • Career incentives linked to quantity of “deliverables,” not “good behavior” • Focus on corruption creates impression that country systems are less reliable • Budget: Coordination costs more

32. Many ways to skin a cat? • Highly diverse approaches to, and definitions of, capacity development • Some projects include a single, discrete capacity development component (often focused on project implementation)—“The Capacity Component” • Others contain multiple CD components focused on broader capacities, Paris-inspired approaches • Will we see a difference between these two approaches downstream?

33. Yet, growing evidence of attention to long-term capacity development • A number of projects which stand out of the crowd, but the proof will be in the results downstream • Greater attention to capacity in recent Quality Assurance Group assessments, after QAE7 showed “institutional development/capacity building” as the most frequently cited development objective (cited in 60% of the sample). In QAE6, analysis had focused almost exclusively on capacity for implementation. • Criticisms of the “capacity is for implementation” line of thinking from Independent Evaluation Group in its 2005 evaluation of capacity development in Africa, the Task Force on CD in Africa and by OECD/DAC report

34. Areas for further work • Are there special capacity approaches that traditional investment projects can bring? • When capacity is not planned carefully in design, can it appear in implementation? Task managers say weak countries benefit from the strong attention that comes from traditional projects. • Do PIUs reduce corruption in the weakest countries? • Does the stronger performance of DPLs, particularly under programmatic approaches, extend to capacity development? (DLPs were 100% “Mostly Satisfactory” or higher compared to 91% for investment loans in QEA7)