An Independent Review of World Bank Support to ... - DAG Ethiopia

identification of capacity constraints and development needs have not been addressedfully. The health sector has achieved institutional restructuring in the pharmaceutical subsector.4.25 Organizational change. At the organizational and systems level, Bank supporthas been limited and its effectiveness variable. The success of the interventions has beenhighly dependent on (i) the capacity of the executing agency at entry to identify capacityneeds and formulate Terms of References and (ii) the Bank’s in-house expertise,particularly at the resident mission, to assist executing agencies to address designweaknesses during implementation. Bilateral donors appear better placed to providecapacity building support at the organizational level due to higher personnel-to-fundsratios, more flexibility in the support, and ability to ensure continuity of experts, whereand when required.4.26 Objectives for organizational change in Bank-funded operations have been lesscomprehensive than institutional and human resource objectives, with the exception ofthe roads sector. The establishment of new engineering systems within ERA for planningand resource management (pavement management system, resource management system,and road classification system and design manuals) has mostly been successfullyimplemented and proven durable. In public financial management, one (revised)objective of an organizational nature was implemented with Bank assistance (aprocurement manual under CSRCB), while another was achieved (reduced delay inclosure of government accounts and audit), but due to support provided by other donors.In the health and education sectors, organizational objectives supported through the SDPshave been achieved only to a modest extent, again with the pharmaceutical sub-sector asa possible exception.4.27 Human resource development. The Bank’s portfolio has included objectives forhuman resource development in the roads, education and health sectors, but not in publicfinancial management (and not in general public sector management). The objectiveshave been most explicit in the health and education sector development programs.4.28 Technical assistance inputs have been significant only in the roads sector, buteven in that sector their impact has been mixed. The Bank provided TA support for theestablishment of a resource management system, pavement management system, newstandard specifications and design manuals, the Roads Inspectorate Unit (RIU), and forthe improvement of the financial management system. No evidence was available on thescope and impact of the TA for the resource management system. Although for pavementmanagement and design of specifications/manuals, the scope was substantial and theassistance effective. There are also indications that these systems continue to be utilizedby local staff long after the departure of the TA personnel. TA support to financialmanagement had limited impact, while support to the RIU was substantial and effectivebut failed to create sustainable capacity due to fundamental flaws in the institutional roleand organizational line of reporting of the unit. The Bank has financed limited TAsupport in public financial management. This has mainly involved short inputs to helpwith reform of government procurement systems (e.g. drafting legislation), which was19