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21.05.2012 Business & Finance

Implementation Status Results of World Bank Assisted Projects (Update 1)

21.05.2012 LISTEN
By World Bank

Below Implementation Status Results reports of World Bank assisted Ghana Health Insurance Project, Ghana Gas and Oil Capacity Building Project, Ghana Local Government Capacity Support Project, Ghana Statistical Development Programme, and the Ghana Nutrition and Malaria Control for Child Survival. In 2010, the World Bank launched its Policy on Access to Information. The new policy represents a fundamental shift in the Banks approach to disclosure of information moving from an approach that spells out what information it can disclose to one under which the Bank will disclose any information in its possession that is not on a list of exceptions. Now the public can get more information than ever before information about projects under preparation, projects that are being implemented, analytic and advisory activities, and Board proceedings. This enhanced transparency and accountability will allow for greater monitoring of Bank-supported projects, thereby enabling better development results as well as providing an opportunity to better track the use of public funds.

Ghana Health Insurance Project
Implementing Agency(ies): National Health Insurance Secretariat, Contact Anthony Gingong, [email protected]

Total Amt US$15 million Amt disbursed US$4.3 million
Key Dates Board Approval Date 03-Jul-2007, Closing Date 31-Dec-2012

Project Development Objectives
The Project Development Objective is to strengthen the financial and operational management of the National Health Insurance Scheme by improving: (i) the policy adaptation and implementation capacity of the National Health Insurance Council in addressing ongoing core policy issues related to contribution collection, risk equalization, and provider payment mechanisms; and (ii) the purchasing function of the District Mutual Health Insurance Schemes, and the billing function of the Providers.

Component(s)
Component Name Component Cost
Streamlined Purchasing Policies and Mechanisms 2.05
Strengthening Integrated Claims Management Systems 8.60
Project Management 0.00

Overall Ratings
Progress towards achievement of PDO Moderately Satisfactory
Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Moderately Satisfactory

Implementation Status Overview
This is an update on project implementation based on the conclusions and recommendations of a mini country portfolio performance review (CPPR) of problem projects that took place on January 26, 2012. The mini CPPR concluded that enough progress is being made on the project and therefore recommended that the Implementation Progress be upgraded to Moderately Satisfactory. It was also recommended to maintain the Project Development Objective rating as Moderately Satisfactory.

Since the resolution of outstanding challenges the speed of implementation of all project activities has increased. A common targeting of the poor strategy has been completed for implementation by all stakeholders. This is a collaborative effort of the Ministries of Health and Employment and Social Welfare as well as the National Health Insurance Authority. The questionnaires for the national health account are ready to start field work in two weeks.

The upgrade of the Claims Processing Center is on course to be completed and for the National Health Insurance Authority to begin receiving electronic claims by end of March, 2012 to cover nearly 2 million claims, increasing in the following months.
Disbursement has started to improve with $2.9 million disbursed to date (22% of the IDA credit), a withdrawal application for $1.0 million currently being processed by the Bank and $6.0 million committed. Project management continues to improve and the Bank team continues to provide day to day support to the implementation team. Read more here for full Results

Ghana Nutrition and Malaria Control for Child Survival
Implementing Agency(ies): Ministry of Health; Ghana Health Services, Contact: Dan Osei email: [email protected]

Total Amt US$25 million Amt disbursed US$15.3 million
Key Dates: Board Approval Date 03-Jul-2007, Effectiveness Date 07-Sep-2007, Closing Date 31-Mar-2013

Project Development Objectives
The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to improve utilization of selected community-based health and nutrition services for children under the age of two and pregnant women in the selected districts.

Component(s)
Component Name Component Cost
Institutional Strengthening for coordination, implementation and outcomes 2.22
Community-based Health and Nutrition Service delivery 12.98
Malaria Prevention 9.80

Overall Ratings

Progress towards achievement of PDO Satisfactory
Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Moderately Satisfactory

Implementation Status Overview
The likelihood of achieving project development objectives has improved and therefore the PDO rating has been upgraded to Satisfactory. The overall implementation is maintained at moderately satisfactory. The project performance has continued to improve since March, 2011 under the management of the Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PPME)/Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the more active participation of the technical departments as well as regional and district health management teams in the delivery of community based health and nutrition services.

Development of policies and strategies has progressed significantly since the last review meeting in September, 2011. Intensive consultations have been carried out with many stakeholders on these policies and strategies. While coordination has improved at all levels, the oversight committees at the lower levels such as the district advisory committees and the community implementation committees are not functioning as expected.

Efforts to improve the monitoring and evaluation system are on track as piloting of the new system has been completed and plans are underway to roll it out into all the project target districts. The pilot was a proof of concept and a demonstration of how data collation and analysis can be improved for better results and timely reporting on the project.

Scale-up of community-based health and nutrition services has progressed according to plan with activities initiated in 20 districts in the Central, Volta and Western regions. However the target agreed for the new districts that were beginning was not reached; accounting for the moderately satisfactory (MS) rating of implementation progress (IP). Once scale-up in all districts is completed the implementation progress will be upgraded to satisfactory.

An institutional assessment of the nutrition area was carried out in 2011 and the report that was s submitted to the government was discussed during the February 2012 mission and agreement was reached as to how carry forward the recommendations

Key Decisions Regarding Implementation
(i) Project will scale-up to all districts and communities by June, 2012.
(ii) In order to improve the functioning of the oversight committees at the district and community levels, the Regional Health and District Health Management Teams will carry out massive sensitization programs for the district chief executive officers and community leaders about the importance of the program and their participation in it. (iii) With support from the World Bank, the project implementation team will develop participatory mechanisms to strengthen collaboration among key actors at the district and community levels, and improve community participation in M&E processes. The participatory monitoring process will also aim to enhance accountability and responsibility of key players in the delivery of the project activities at the community level. (iv) The new monitoring and evaluation system will be rolled out to all project districts by June, 2012.Read here for more results.

Ghana Gas and Oil Capacity Building Project
Implementing Agency(ies): Ministry of Energy contact: Alexander Kyei, [email protected]

Total Amt US$38 million Amt disbursed US$3.1 million
Key Dates Board Approval Date 20-Dec-2010, Closing Date 30-Jun-2015 Effectiveness Date 20-May-2011

Project Development Objectives
The project objective is to (i) improve public management and regulatory capacity while enhancing transparency; and (ii) strengthen local technical skills in Ghana's emerging oil and gas sector.

Component(s)
Component Name Component Cost
A.1 Resource Management 7.80
A.2 Data Management 10.00
A.3 Environmental Management 4.00
A.4 Revenue Management 1.00
A.5 Enhancing Sector Governance 3.00
B.1 Vocational Training Support 4.70
B.2 Tertiary Education and Research Support 6.00

Overall Ratings
Progress towards achievement of PDO Moderately Satisfactory
Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Moderately Satisfactory
Overall Risk Rating High

Implementation Status Overview
Implementation progress over the past six months has been uneven with some components advancing well and others experiencing delays. Disbursements have started to pick-up to reach about $3.1 million (less than 10% of the total credit amount), but they are still well below the projected estimates (less than 10% of the total credit amount). The Project Coordination Unit (PCU) at Ministry of Energy (MoE) is performing at a high level, adding a degree of confidence that implementation progress will pick up substantially in 2012. Institutions within GOG are mobilizing to build capacity, and work programs have been agreed upon with almost all beneficiary institutions for 2012. This includes the Petroleum Commission which came into existence in November 2011. However, the data repository (allocation of $10 million) and environmental management (allocation of $4 million) components are experiencing serious delays. To overcome bottlenecks to the implementation, key actions have been agreed upon with the beneficiary agencies, including: (i) information exchanges between the Bank and EPA on the specific scope of the laboratory at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and (ii) the formalization of an agreement between Ghana National Petroleum Company and the Petroleum Commission on the details of the transition of the data repository. Read more here for full results

Ghana Local Government Capacity Support Project
Implementing Agency(ies): Ministry of Local Government, contact; Alex Opoku Boamah, [email protected]

Total Amt US$175 million Amt disbursed US$3.4 million
Key Dates Board Approval Date 22-Mar-2011 Closing Date 30-Jun-2017 Effectiveness Date 15-Nov-2011

Project Development Objective
i. To strengthen the intergovernmental fiscal framework;
ii. To strengthen local public financial management and accountability for improved infrastructure and services in urban assemblies; and
iii. To improve citizens' engagement with urban assemblies and their perceptions of urban management.

Component(s)
Component Name Component Cost
Strengthening the fiscal framework for decentralization 4.90
Enhancing decentralized urban service delivery 156.20
Stimulating demand for accountable local governance and service delivery 3.80
Institutional and Project Management Support 5.90

Overall Ratings
Progress towards achievement of PDO Satisfactory
Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Satisfactory

Implementation Status Overview
The project teams successfully met the conditions of effectiveness and the project was declared effective on November 15, 2011. The official Project Launch Workshop was held on December 15, 2011.

Key procurement staffs are in place, and there has been progress with the procurement process for key long term technical advisers (for each component and within each implementing agency)--most positions are the stage of interviews and contracting. Procurement of key consultancies to kick off project components are also progressing with a number at shortlisting/RFP stage. These activities need to be followed up closely by government and Bank teams to ensure timely procurement and deployment of consultants. A withdrawal application for disbursements for capacity building, project management and operational expenses ($2.7m) has been submitted and approved.

The basis for the first disbursement of the Urban Development Grant in 2012 is the annual Functional and Organizational Assessment Tool or FOAT assessment. The consultants undertaking this assessment (financed by other Development Partners) started work in January 2012 and are on track for completing the assignment by end-March, based on which the first disbursements under the grant can take place in May 2012 (estimated $5m), once disbursement conditions for the grant have been met.

Read here for more results

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