Friday, June 29, 2012

ARTICLE - 16 WORLD BANK PROJECTS

EVALUATION OF 16 PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE WORLD BANK
(Haiti Libre) -

The Government of Haiti, in collaboration with the World Bank, has proceeded from 27 to 28 June 2012 to the Joint Review of portfolios of 16 projects and programs financed by the World Bank in Haiti.

More than a hundred representatives of the World Bank, the Haitian government, and development partners attended the meeting. Present on the government's side were present the ministers ensuring the supervision of projects and representatives of project management units. On the World Bank's side were sector managers, and a dozen specialists, and project managers in Haiti. Representatives of technical and financial partners of Haiti also participated in the discussions.

After two days of discussions between executives of the public administration and project teams, an action plan has been proposed to improve aid effectiveness, and increase the real impacts on people's lives. This plan must periodically be verified by the Government and the World Bank. The workshop was held under the theme "work fast and efficiently, a mutual responsibility".

The portfolio review is a very important step for the Government and the World Bank in the analysis of the performance of ongoing operations and in preparation, as well as for the identification of constraints faced by the implementation teams. This workshop is an excellent opportunity to go further in the effectiveness of aid, declared Ms. Jean Marie, Minister of Economy and Finance at the opening ceremony. "It aims to capitalize on the positive results achieved in the implementation of various projects and programs, to identify problems in the proper execution of projects, and propose solutions." The Minister was accompanied by Ms. Gauthier, Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, and the Special Envoy of the World Bank, Mr. Abrantes.

The review focused on a portfolio of 14 projects financed by IDA and two major trust funds, totaling 518 million U.S. dollars. Current performance of the portfolio is considered as largely satisfactory, but could be improved to maximize the perspectives of success of its development objectives.

The main recommendations are :

Strengthen the culture of results

Strengthen the capacity of financial management and procurement in project management units

Improve communication between ministries, project coordinators and the Bank

Create platforms for sharing knowledge

The World Bank fully supports the approach based on the results of the Government in order to quickly produce tangible results for the people of Haiti. "We hope this joint portfolio review will help us to operationalize the Government's objectives and maximize what can be achieved through the special allocation of IDA to Haiti," concluded Mr. Abrantes. "Accelerating the implementation of projects to achieve these objectives is a mutual responsibility."

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