The delay in
the full-fledged budget, frequent and untimely transfer of project staff, and
weaknesses in financial and procurement management, coupled with limited
performance monitoring have posed a serious risk to implementing World
Bank-funded projects, affecting their performance and results.
"However,
regular review meetings could help unlock implementation issues to enable the
projects to accomplish their results," according to participants of the
government and World Bank joint review meeting of World Bank supported projects
in the country.
The World
Bank currently supports 17 projects in Nepal through concessional and grant
financing amounting to $1.3 billion. But the meeting reviewed 10 projects that
are considered risky and slow-moving, or heading towards closure later in the
year.
"Nepal’s
achievements in the areas of health, education and livelihoods have made a
positive impact on people’s lives, especially girls and women," said World
Bank country manager for Nepal Tahseen Sayed, who led the bank's team.
She welcomed
the commitment made by the Finance Ministry and line ministries to expedite
implementation, curtail staff transfers, and unlock the issues impeding
progress in energy sector projects.
This year's
second joint portfolio review meeting — that was coordinated by joint secretary
and chief of the Foreign Aid Coordination Division at the finance ministry Lal
Shankar Ghimire and chaired by finance secretary Krishna Hari Baskota – noted
Nepal’s good development results including progress in poverty reduction,
gender parity in education, reduction in maternal mortality, and improved
infrastructure access.
The World
Bank has been supporting Nepal in poverty reduction, gender parity in
education, reduction in maternal mortality, and improved infrastructure access.
Welcoming
the World Bank as a large and stable development partner, Baskota said that
budget allocations will be made available on time, and implementation of five
projects that will end in 2013 will be accelerated, ensuring proper utilisation
of the remaining amount available under these projects.
He also
offered organising a high-level meeting to address implementation issues,
including compliance with social and environment safeguards, which is slowing
down progress in the energy sector.
According to
the Finance Ministry, World Bank — that has contributed 23.7 per cent of the
total disbursement — was the largest donor among the development partners in
fiscal year 2010-11.
The top five
multilateral donors were the World Bank Group ($ 256.1 million), Asian
Development Bank ($184.4 million), United Nations Country Team ($112.5
million), European Union ($42.4 million) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria ($19 million) in 2010-11, the ministry added.
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