Since 1984, the World Bank has financed 87 Financial Management Information System (FMIS) projects in 51 countries totaling over US $2.2 billion, of which US $938 million was for FMIS related information and communication technology (ICT) solutions. This study presents the World Bank's experience with these investment operations to share the achievements and challenges observed, and provide guidance for improving the performance of future projects. The report is structured according to four overarching questions: -What historical patterns emerge from World Bank financed Treasury/FMIS...

Every two seconds, across the world, an area of forest the size of a football field is clear-cut by illegal loggers. In some countries, up to 90% of all the logging taking place is illegal. Estimates suggest that this criminal activity generates approximately US $10-15 bn annually worldwide--funds that are unregulated, untaxed, and often remain in the hands of organized criminal gangs. Thus far, domestic and international efforts to curb forest crimes have focused on preventative actions, but they have had little or no significant impact. While prevention is an essential part of enforcement...

Despite substantial progress towards peace, economic growth, and better governance since 2003, Liberia remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The objective of this study is twofold. First it is to provide a basic diagnostic of both consumption-based poverty and human development (especially education and health) in the country using the 2007 CWIQ (Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire) survey. Second, it is to assess the likely impact on the poor of the recent economic crisis, and especially the increase in rice prices, and to document the targeting performance of various measures...

Economists have long sought to predict how macroeconomic shocks will affect individual welfare. Macroeconomic data and forecasts are easily available when crises strike. But policy action requires not only understanding the magnitude of a macro shock, but also identifying which households or individuals are being hurt by (or benefit from) the crisis. A popular solution is to extrapolate the welfare impact of a shock from the historical response of income or consumption poverty to changes in output, by estimating an 'elasticity' of poverty to growth. Although this method provides an estimate...

This study provides a conceptual framework for the analysis of the questions of out-of-court debt restructuring from a policy-oriented perspective. The starting point of the analysis is given by the World Bank Principles for Effective Insolvency and Creditor Rights Systems. The study offers an overview of out-of-court restructuring, which is not seen as fundamentally opposed to formal insolvency procedures. Actually, the study contemplates different restructuring techniques as forming a continuum to the treatment of financial difficulties. Thus, from the purely contractual - or informal -...

Health indicators particularly on child health and malaria in Ethiopia have improved significantly in recent years, with the next challenge now focused on improving maternal health indicators. Improvements in Child health and Malaria in particular can be attributed to strong government commitment towards health results in the country, reflected in a number of notable policies and programs related to Human Resources for Health (HRH), in particular the health extension worker program. However, indicators related to maternal health, remain problematic. Ethiopia has one of the lowest levels of...

Tanzania is currently developing a Health Financing Strategy to provide a medium to long-term road map for a sustainable and integrated health financing system. This book is designed to inform this discussion by providing an analytical basis for the discussion of options, a series of policy options which could be considered in moving forward, and the economic and financial implications of these options. In doing so, it is hoped that this book will help stimulate the discussion of options and help Tanzania develop a health financing strategy which meets its long-term needs. Health financing in...

Le Congo est engage dans un processus de reformes economiques et sociales depuis le milieu des annees 80. Ces reformes structurelles visent la restructuration du secteur public, le desengagement de l'Etat de la sphere de production, la restructuration et la promotion du secteur prive. Les structures du secteur prive sont representees par les cliniques, les centres medico-sociaux, les cabinets medicaux, et les cabinets de soins. L'une des orientations de la politique nationale de sante stipule que l'Etat doit redefinir ses responsabilites en ouvrant le secteur de la sante a d'autres acteurs...

Increasing concerns over the effects of climate change have heightened the importance of accelerating investments in green growth. The International Energy Agency, for example, estimates that to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent by 2050, global investments in the energy sector alone will need to total US$750 billion a year by 2030 and over US$1.6 trillion a year from 2030-2050. Despite global efforts to mobilize required capital flows, the investments still fall far short. Bloomberg New Energy Finance argues that by 2020 investments will be US$150 billion short from the levels...

'Financial Management Information Systems and Open Budget Data: Do governments report on where the money goes?' is a World Bank Study, initiated in 2012 after an extended stocktaking exercise, to explore the effects of Financial Management Information Systems (FMIS) on publishing reliable open budget data, as well as the potential improvements in budget transparency. A rich data set was created by visiting the government public finance web sites in 198 economies, and collecting evidence on the use of 176 FMIS in publishing open budget data. This study is not intended to develop another index...