Noticias de otros medios

Un proyecto pionero facilitará el acceso de 400.000 africanas encintas a un tratamiento preventivo de calidad. Financiado por Unitaid, se propone cambiar el abordaje del problema a nivel global

No es fácil saberse equivalente al prójimo. Es más difícil de lo que parece no creerse una persona mejor, o el sexo superior o el pueblo elegido

Un nuevo informe resalta los vínculos entre Internet, diamantes, política, industria y señores de la guerra en la República Centroafricana

¿Por cuánto tiempo fueron tus padres a la escuela y por cuánto tiempo fuiste tú? ¿Estás estudiando en la universidad? ¿Tus padres pudieron hacerlo? ¿Tu situación económica es mejor que la de ellos? Muchos dicen que las comparaciones son odiosas, pero en estos casos son más que necesarias. Responder a estas preguntas permite analizar cuánto ha avanzado, o no, una generación con relación a la anterior. El análisis más reciente sobre la pobreza realizado por el Banco Mundial, señala que la movilidad económica intergeneracional mejoró en América Latina y el Caribe, impulsada principalmente por la gran expansión del acceso a la educación. De acuerdo con este análisis, la región presenta uno de los mejores resultados en términos de movilidad intergeneracional absoluta, es decir, la proporción de individuos con más educación que sus padres. Sin embargo, sigue estando rezagada respecto a otras regiones en desarrollo en cuanto a movilidad relativa: aquellos que nacen en familias de padres con menos educación son mucho más propensos a ser los menos educados de su generación. Ahora ¿han logrado estos esfuerzos cerrar brechas desde el punto de vista de desigualdad e inclusión? Las comparaciones deben seguirse haciendo, esta vez entre las personas de una misma generación. Aunque se han logrado progresos significativos en acceso a la educación, también es cierto que este sigue siendo un problema para los más pobres, en especial en las áreas rurales y en las minorías. “A pesar de que la asistencia a la escuela primaria se ha vuelto casi universal en toda la región, sigue habiendo diferencias importantes en la educación temprana, así como en la educación secundaria y terciaria. Entre los niños de 3 años, solo la mitad de los hogares del quintil más pobre asiste a la escuela. Para los niños del quintil de ingreso alto, la proporción es del 90%. También hay una brecha importante en la educación secundaria y terciaria. Mientras que solo el 20% de los adultos pobres de 21 años estudian, los del quintil más rico lo hacen tres veces más”, señala el estudio. Además del acceso a la educación, la otra gran pregunta es: ¿más años de educación han colaborado en crear individuos más educados? El estudio señala que los hijos de padres menos educados son significativamente más propensos a ser los menos educados en sus propias generaciones. El acceso a la educación por sí solo no es suficiente. Si no se diseñan y ejecutan acciones para mejorar la calidad de la educación el ciclo de la pobreza intergeneracional continuará, según los autores del estudio. Señalan que los estudiantes de hogares más pobres también enfrentan disparidades adicionales en la calidad de la educación a la que tienen acceso. Esto contribuye a resultados de aprendizaje más pobres, como se muestra en las pruebas estandarizadas. Por ejemplo, los antecedentes socioeconómicos de un estudiante tienen un impacto mayor en los resultados de los exámenes de los estudiantes en los países de América Latina y el Caribe que en los países de otras regiones. Justamente, el tema de cómo crear políticas educativas que permitan mejorar la calidad y hacer realidad la promesa de la educación protagoniza el reporte de desarrollo mundial 2017 del Banco Mundial. No apuntar hacia esta necesidad hace más cuesta arriba la meta de poner fin a la pobreza. Hoy, en el Día Internacional para la Erradicación de la Pobreza, es importante poner el tema como una prioridad: una mejor educación, tanto desde el punto de vista de acceso como de calidad, colaboran con el crecimiento del capital humano que necesita la región para alcanzar un crecimiento sostenible que redunde en el bienestar de sus 600 millones de habitantes.

World Bank releases new data showing educational contributions to mobility WASHINGTON, October 17, 2017 – Economic mobility across generations in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has improved as people are now more educated than their parents, but the poorest are still the most likely to remain the least educated, shows a new World Bank note released today on End Poverty Day. Educational levels are a good indicator of economic and social mobility since people with more levels and higher quality of education generally have better incomes. The LAC region is a top performer in absolute intergenerational mobility – the share of individuals with more education than their parents—thanks to the great expansion of access to education over the last decades. However, LAC lags behind other developing regions in relative mobility, as those born to the least educated parents are significantly more likely to become the least educated in their own generation. “LAC has made remarkable progress in access to education, but more is needed to improve quality and increase access for children from the poorest rural and indigenous households,” said Jorge Familiar, World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Without higher quality and a broader reach in education, the cycle of intergenerational poverty will continue.”  The regional note on Intergenerational Mobility is drawn from research for the report “Fair Progress? Educational Mobility Around the World,” expected in 2018, whose early findings were released today as a preview to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. In LAC, school attendance varies widely among different socioeconomic groups. Although primary school has become almost universal across the region, significant differences remain in early education as well as secondary and tertiary schooling. Among three-year-old children, for instance, only half of those in the poorest households attend school, compared to 90 percent of children from the highest income level. Marginalized groups, including indigenous peoples, face additional barriers. For example, indigenous people are almost three times more likely to be extreme poor than non-indigenous people. These higher poverty rates lead to lower access to schooling for indigenous children. “Continued inequality between groups continues to be a problem,” said Oscar Calvo-Gonzalez, World Bank Practice Manager for Poverty and Equity in LAC. “Income and ethnic background are still determining factors in the region’s student performance in international assessments, where the socioeconomic position continues to have a bigger impact on test score than in other parts of the world.” However, there is good news regarding the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test scores, where LAC lags behind other regions. Out of the seven LAC countries that participated in PISA, five improved their performance in reading test scores between 2009 to 2015. Moreover, there has also been a decrease in the effect of socio-economic background on the performance of LAC students in PISA tests. This suggests that there has been some progress with respect to intergenerational mobility and shows that quality of education, and not just access, will be key moving forward. Contacts: Alejandra Viveros, +1 202 458 2841, aviveros@worldbank.org Candyce Rocha, +1 202 458 4963, crocha@worldbank.org   For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.org/lac Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldbank Be updated via Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BancoMundialLAC For our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/worldbank

Banco Mundial presenta nuevos datos que revelan contribución de la educación a la movilidad WASHINGTON, 17 de octubre de 2017 – La movilidad económica intergeneracional mejoró en en América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) dado que las personas ahora son más educadas que sus padres, aunque los más pobres siguen siendo más propensos a tener el nivel educativo más bajo, según una nota del Banco Mundial publicada hoy en el Día Internacional para la Erradicación de la Pobreza. El nivel educativo es un buen indicador de la movilidad económica y social dado que aquellas personas con un mayor nivel y calidad de educación en general tienen mejores ingresos. La región de ALC presenta uno de los mejores resultados en términos de movilidad intergeneracional absoluta —la proporción de individuos con más educación que sus padres— gracias a la significativa  ampliación en el acceso a la educación que tuvo lugar en las últimas décadas. Sin embargo, ALC sigue estando rezagada respecto a otras regiones en desarrollo en cuanto a movilidad relativa, dado que aquellos que nacen en familias de padres con menos educación son mucho más propensos a ser los menos educados de su generación. “ALC ha tenido un progreso notable en el acceso a la educación pero se necesita más para mejorar la calidad y aumentar el acceso de los niños que provienen de los hogares rurales e indígenas más pobres”, dijo Jorge Familiar, Vicepresidente del Banco Mundial para América Latina y el Caribe. “Sin una mayor calidad y un alcance más amplio en términos educativos, el círculo de pobreza intergeneracional continuará”. La nota regional sobre Movilidad Intergeneracional se basa en investigaciones realizadas para el informe “¿Progreso Justo? Movilidad Educativa Alrededor del Mundo”, previsto para 2018 y cuyas conclusiones preliminares fueron presentadas hoy como  adelanto en el Día Internacional para la Erradicación de la Pobreza. En ALC, la asistencia a la escuela varía enormemente entre diferentes grupos socioeconómicos. Si bien la escuela primaria se ha convertido  en prácticamente universal en toda la región, persisten diferencias significativas en la educación temprana así como en la escolarización secundaria y terciaria. Entre los niños de tres años, por ejemplo, solo la mitad de los que habitan en los hogares más pobres asisten a la escuela, comparado con el 90 por ciento de los niños del nivel de ingreso más alto. Los grupos marginados, como los pueblos indígenas, enfrentan barreras adicionales. Por ejemplo, los pueblos indígenas tienen casi tres veces más posibilidades de ser extremadamente pobres que los grupos no indígenas. Estas tasas de pobreza más altas derivan en un menor acceso a la escolarización entre los niños indígenas. “La desigualdad persistente entre grupos sigue siendo un problema”, dijo Óscar Calvo-González, Director del Banco Mundial para la Unidad de Pobreza y Equidad en ALC. “El nivel de ingreso y el origen étnico siguen siendo factores determinantes para el desempeño de los estudiantes de la región en evaluaciones internacionales, donde la posición socioeconómica continúa teniendo un mayor impacto en los resultados de estos exámenes que en otras partes del mundo”. Sin embargo, hay buenas noticias en cuanto a los resultados de los exámenes del Programa de Evaluación Internacional de Estudiantes (PISA), donde ALC está rezagada respecto de otras regiones. De los siete países de ALC que participaron en PISA, cinco mejoraron su desempeño en las pruebas de lectura entre 2009 y 2015., También se registró una disminución del efecto del origen socioeconómico en el desempeño de los estudiantes de ALC en los exámenes PISA. Esto sugiere que hubo algún avance respecto a la movilidad intergeneracional y muestra que la calidad de la educación, y no solo el acceso, serán claves a futuro.   Contactos: Alejandra Viveros, +1 202 458 2841, aviveros@worldbank.org Candyce Rocha, +1 202 458 4963, crocha@worldbank.org   Para más información, por favor visite: www.bancomundial.org/alc Visítenos en Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bancomundial Manténgase informado vía Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BancoMundialLAC Nuestro canal de YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/worldbank

Challenge On October 28, 2007, Tropical Storm Noel struck the Dominican Republic with major rainfall nationwide. Around six million people—70 percent of the population—were directly or indirectly affected. More than 160 people were killed, and 130,000 were displaced. Only five weeks later, the country was hit by Tropical Storm Olga, which displaced another 62,000 people, killing 33 and causing further destruction. Productive infrastructure was severely damaged by these events, with especially widespread destruction of infrastructure related to water (irrigation, water supply, and sanitation), transportation, and energy. Key sectors of civil and economic function were affected, including agriculture, health, and many other sectors relying on power distribution. Approach The Emergency Recovery and Disaster Management Project was designed as a hybrid operation, focusing both on emergency response to immediate needs and on capacity building to strengthen disaster risk management in implementing agencies. At the request of the government of the Dominican Republic, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, along with other donors including the United Nations, worked to ensure that all priority infrastructure needs were met in the four most affected sectors: irrigation, transport, electricity, and water supply and sanitation. The Bank’s main focus was on the three areas in which it had the longest institutional relationship on the ground (irrigation, electricity, and water supply/sanitation), building, inter alia, on the experience gained from the Bank-supported Hurricane George Recovery Project that closed in December 2003. Results Over its span, from 2008 to 2016, the project achieved both of its goals: response to emergency needs on the ground and capacity building for resilience and preparedness to meet needs raised by future disasters. Primary results of the program included:Rehabilitation of 24 irrigation schemes, including works on canals and reservoirs, embankments, pumping systems, water intakes, and floodgate systems. Irrigation was restored on 37,218 hectares (of which 16,763 resulted from retroactively financed activities), benefiting 18,779 farmers producing bananas, chickpeas, rice, maize, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables—all essential for local and national food security.Restoration of three dams (Tavera, Jiguey, and Chacuey). Works covered the reinforcement and renovation of structures including embankments, protection walls, and drainage systems, all of which are essential for the dams to function effectively in key areas of flood reduction, water supply, irrigation, hydropower, and environmental conservation.Improved decision-making tools related to extreme events. The Disaster Information Systems, including the telemetric network, were repaired and updated as needed.Restoration of transmission capacity, with the replacement of 152 km of transmission lines. The restored transmission capacity supplies most of the electricity in the southern region, benefiting more than one million people.Restoration of the Aguacate power plant’s original generation capacity (52 MW) and upgrade (additional 8 MW). Restored or expanded generation capacity, totaling 60 MW, benefited more than 590,000 inhabitants. The Las Barias dam, critical for the functioning of the La Valdesia  (54 MW capacity) and Las Barias power plants (0.85 MW), was restored as well.Restoration of the water treatment facilities in Santo Domingo and in Santiago. Working with Corporación del Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Santo Domingo and Corporación del Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Santiago, the project contributed retroactive financing for exceptional expenses incurred just after the tropical storms to acquire materials and equipment, implement ancillary works, and meet costs of operation. In Santiago, the project contributed to restoring 28 percent of the potable water consumption of 750,000 inhabitants, while in Santo Domingo over a million gallons of drinking water were provided to the population cut off from the regular water supply. 

Challenge By 2009, Colombia had experienced a decade of strong, sustained growth, but total factor productivity remained relatively low. The government recognized that to transform short-term achievements into sustainable long-term growth, the country had to develop a new productive economic model, leveraging technology and innovation. At that time, the development of scientific skills was limited, and the country had an inadequate stock of advanced human capital. Publicly financed research had little economic relevance and limited international linkages. Similarly, only weak links connected key science, technology, and innovation (STI) stakeholders, such as local researchers, the Colombian diaspora, the private sector, and knowledge institutions. Firms had low capacity to develop commercially oriented innovations into new products and services. Public access to STI content and information was relatively low, and awareness of public incentives for STI investment was limited. Citizens from rural areas, indigenous populations, and youth had limited engagement with the STI system. Approach The Strengthening the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation Project linked key actors in the STI sector, including many not previously engaged in innovation. Activities to strengthen and expand the STI system included institutionalization of collaboration on innovation programs between Colciencias  (the Colombian Administrative Department responsible for STI), providing training and technical support, and regional governments, overseeing local implementation. Activities to foster human capital took several routes, linking (i) PhD graduates to firms through research-based internships; (ii) domestic academics to the diaspora scientific community through grants for international collaboration; and (iii) students from preschool to secondary school to the scientific community through inquiry-based learning activities. Grants financing innovation in the private sector supported collaboration between firms and universities. Social appropriation grants promoted collaboration between Columbia’s citizens, especially vulnerable groups, and its scientific community on concrete solutions bringing science, technology, and innovation to bear on local challenges. Results The Strengthening the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation Project realized several key outcomes: · Beneficiaries developed 168 innovations projects between 2010 and 2015. Many of these innovations had a high social and environmental impact, and their development involved groups that rarely access STI activities, such as indigenous communities, children, and adolescents. Examples include the creation of a new magnetic fiber (in process of patenting), new systems of compressed air to improve energy efficiency, a new voice therapy instrument to rehabilitate people with disabilities, new processes for consultation with indigenous communities, and a new low-cost system for water purification. · Six months after program completion, 46 percent of beneficiary PhDs were employed by the same firms at which they had developed their research under the research-based internship program. · One and a half million children and adolescents from throughout the country participated in STI activities at school between 2010 and 2015. In 2014 and 2015, the most talented students participated in 10 international fairs on technology and innovation and won international prizes of up to US$ 100,000 to develop their innovations projects. An econometric analysis suggests that learning outcomes in mathematics and Spanish over the period 2009 to 2013 improved faster in participating schools as compared with nonparticipating schools. · Thus far, more than 25,000 people have participated in the project-financed contest A Ciencia Cierta, which mobilizes civil society to develop innovative solutions to local problems with support from others organizations in the national STI system. · Firms receiving grants and technical support to develop specific innovations registered an increase of 113 percent in their budget allocations for STI investment as compared with preprogram levels. Bank Group Contribution The World Bank, through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), provided a US$ 25 million loan to finance Colombia’s Strengthening the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation Project.  Partners In 2010, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved an independent but complementary project, also titled Strengthening the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation Project. Activities financed by both IBRD and IDB were organized around the same development objectives and the same project components. Implementation guidelines for the two independent projects were collected in a single operations manual and the projects shared a single coordination team. Beneficiaries The students at the Manuel Agustin school in Choco, one of the poorest departments in the country, benefited from project-financed activities supporting the development of their science and innovation skills. They used this opportunity to design a low-cost prototype to filter rainwater at the school, and by participating in the project-financed contest A Ciencia Cierta they won 80 million Colombian pesos to develop their concept. Before developing these filters, children at the school did not have access to free drinkable water. Students from the poorest households, who could not afford to buy drinkable water, had to ask other students for it or go without. These students, in addition to solving their most immediate need of free drinkable water, benefited from the project through concrete experience of how research-based thinking can develop innovations that improve lives. Moving Forward The new government program Colombia Cientifica, in preparation for financing under a new IBRD operation, will provide continuity on this project’s human-capital dimensions. The pilot investments that have proven most successful will continue or scale up using domestic resources. For those pilots for which financial resources for continuation or scale up cannot be leveraged, Colciencias will support strategic spin-off initiatives with narrower focuses, the added value of which has been confirmed by the pilot experience. Learn More “Strengthening the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation” Project (2010-2015) Project Appraisal Document Implementation Completion and Results Report

 

Singapore, October 20, 2017: Multi-billion dollar projects are fueling stronger private sector investment in infrastructure projects in developing countries, which increased by 24 percent from 2016 levels, reflecting US$36.7 billion across 132 projects, says a new World Bank Group report. However, although the growth of larger-sized projects is contributing to improved figures for the first half of 2017, investment levels remain 15 percent lower than the half-year averages of the past five years, reports the Half Yearly Update of the Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) Database. Excluding the mega-projects, average project sizes increased from US$156 million in 2016 to US$171 million in 2017. “Private sector investors are committing increased investment in infrastructure projects, and that is a welcome development given the tremendous need for more infrastructure in developing countries. The World Bank Group continues to encourage more private investment in infrastructure, which remains a small part of total infrastructure spending. Since 1990, the private sector has invested only US$1.6 trillion overall in infrastructure projects in developing countries,” said Cledan Mandri-Perrott, Head of the Infrastructure, PPPs, and Guarantees Group at the World Bank Hub for Infrastructure and Urban Development in Singapore and leader of the report team. The East Asia and Pacific region received more than one-third of total global investment, overtaking for the first time the Latin America and Caribbean region, which saw investment commitments decline slightly. The energy sector also drew the most interest, accounting for almost three-quarters of total 2017 investment commitments, with top destinations Indonesia, Jordan, and Pakistan signing power projects worth over a billion dollars, respectively. While 17 of the 33 destination countries for private sector infrastructure investment commitments closed only one project each, a few countries signed many deals, with China and India topping the list. China approved 36 projects, and India 22 ventures. The renewable energy sector continues to gain strength, with 68 of the 82 electricity generation projects focused on solar and wind power. Of the 29 solar projects signed in 2017, 13 are in China and seven are in India, while Brazil accounts for 7 of the 16 wind projects recorded. The average size for renewable energy projects is US$149 million. Investments in low-income countries also strengthened, with investments increasing to US$2.1 billion across 15 projects in 10 countries. In 2016, only six low-income countries received private sector investment in infrastructure. While the PPI Database focuses on private sector investment, many of the deals involve public sector or multilateral financing. Many countries are stepping up efforts to encourage more private participation in infrastructure projects. 

Synopsis The Haitian population is one of the most exposed in the world to natural disasters, including hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. The number of disasters per kilometer tops the average for other Caribbean countries. The Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index ranked Haiti third in the world in 1995–2014 for impacts from climatic events, and the country is among the ten zones in the world considered most vulnerable to climate change. In 2008, tropical storms and hurricanes caused losses estimated at 15 percent of GDP. The earthquake on January 12, 2010, killed 220,000 people, displaced 1.5 million people, and destroyed the equivalent of 120 percent of GDP. These disasters tend to disproportionately affect the poorest and most marginal populations, those settling in the flood zones and coastal areas particularly affected by tropical storms. Almost 50 percent of damage and losses to the productive sectors have been concentrated in the agricultural sector. Based on available historic data, weather-related disasters are estimated to have caused damage and losses in Haiti amounting to about two percent of GDP on average per year from 1975 to 2012. Challenge Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti on October 4, 2016, as a Category 4 hurricane. The combined effects of wind, coastal flooding and rain caused heavy flooding, landslides, and the destruction of a great deal of infrastructure, agricultural crops and natural ecosystems. In all, 546 people were killed, more than 175,500 people sought refuge in shelters, and about 1.4 million people required immediate humanitarian assistance. An assessment of the damage and losses had to be carried out very quickly to unlock financial resources from the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund to provide the assistance needed by those affected by the disaster. Approach The WBG, in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank, closely supported the client through data gathering from field visits, phone surveys, and satellites and drones, as well as simulations through modelling. A full report assessing the damage and losses was delivered less than two weeks after the request, a task that usually takes at least three months. This rapid assessment covered all affected sectors and was the first multi-sectoral evaluation of the socioeconomic impacts of the hurricane as well as of its macroeconomic effects and impacts on individual and household income. Results Matthew was a Category 4 hurricane, an event predicted to occur only once every 56 years. It inflicted damage and losses in Haiti estimated at the equivalent of 22 percent of GDP. Specific impacts of the hurricane included the following:The disaster affected over 2 million people, about 20 percent of Haiti’s population, primarily in the poorest regions of the county.The hurricane resulted in flooding, landslides, and extensive destruction of infrastructure and livelihoods.The agriculture and housing/urban sectors were the hardest hit, with up to 90 percent of crops and livestock lost in some areas.Thousands of structures were damaged, and key roads and bridges were washed away.It’s estimated that over 450,000 children were out of school.The vaccine cold chain was destroyed.A sharp increase in suspected cholera cases was recorded in affected departments. Assessing in record time the damage and losses, as well as identifying the most affected sectors and the potential human costs, led to rapid reallocation of about US$50 million from the Bank’s ongoing portfolio. The enabled responses included:Rehabilitation of roads and bridges, including the major bridge to the country’s south.Schools were repaired and refurnished, semi-permanent school shelters built, school children fed, and water treatment kits and school kits provided.Rapid response to cholera was strengthened.Emergency sanitation and chlorination water systems were implemented.Irrigations systems were rehabilitated, inputs for the next agricultural season were provided and seeds given to 2,500 farmers.Some entrepreneurs received cash transfers to cover damages and losses in the coffee, cocoa, and honey value chains.Portable solar lamps and solar household systems were made available, some distribution grids were rehabilitated, hurricane preparedness was strengthened and energy infrastructure vulnerability was reduced. These rapid interventions not only helped to minimize losses in the winter harvest and prevent widespread famine, they also helped contain the cholera outbreak and limit migration and violence. Bank Group Contribution The World Bank, through the International Development Association (IDA), reallocated US$50 million from ongoing projects to the affected sectors. In addition, US$100 million under the IDA Crisis Response Window were mobilized for four additional financings to relaunch heavily damaged agriculture, restore connectivity through transport infrastructure and provide a robust cholera response. Partners Bank support focused on sectors with limited technical capacity, and particularly those sectors with counterparts in the government. The support promoted local ownership of the assessment by each of the line ministries while ensuring implementation of a standardized methodology. The rapid assessment benefited from joint support from the Inter-American Development Bank teams, FAO, UNICEF, and UNEP. In addition, the IMF mobilized US$ 41 million under their Rapid Credit Facility to help with urgent balance of payments needs in the aftermath of Matthew. Beneficiaries The rapid assessment allowed the identification of populations in need of urgent assistance, including over 30,000 children in affected schools. The assessment also provided information for effective targeting of rehabilitation efforts: about 45 school roofs and school grounds were rehabilitated, 60 semi-permanent shelters were built, and 4,000 pieces of school furniture (benches, desks, blackboards, etc.) were distributed, enabling schools to reopen and to increase their capacity in the short and medium term. In addition, 16,000 student kits (bag, books, notebooks, pens), 900 teacher kits (including dictionaries, compasses, rulers, maps), and 151 school kits (including blackboards and chalk) were distributed. Further efforts included providing 22,000 students in 90 schools in affected regions (Grand’Anse, Sud, and Nippes) with a daily snack and hot meal, as well as water-treatment and sanitation kits, soap, de-worming medication, vitamin A and cholera-prevention hygiene training.  Subsequent interventions targeted 1.5 million beneficiaries in areas with limited health service delivery infrastructure. Isolated populations in the southern peninsula benefited from the provision of health services through mobile clinics, and in Nippes, Grande-Anse and Sud, 300,000 children benefited from the restoration of basic infrastructure for immunization and vaccine cold chains. Cash transfers and in-kind support will also be provided to 325 micro, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. The cash transfers and in-kind support will help the beneficiaries recover from losses and continue productive activities in their respective value chain, i.e., coffee (Grand’Anse and Southeast); vetiver (South); and honey (Nippes). Moving Forward This rapid damage and losses assessment fed into the more thorough Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) undertaken under the leadership of the Haitian Ministry of Planning, with support from the World Bank Group, the European Union, the Inter-American Development Bank, UNDP and various UN agencies. The PDNA was finalized in early January 2017 and launched by the President of the Republic in early February 2017. More importantly, this rapid assessment was instrumental in drawing up the needed framework and quickly moving from emergency response to recovery. Finally, this rapid assessment served as an important input to the preparation of the Bank’s first financing to reach the Board post–Hurricane Matthew. An International Development Agency education grant of US$ 30 million to maintain access to quality education in the areas most affected by Hurricane Matthew, delivered to the Board approximately five weeks after the disaster, was approved in November 2016.      

Challenge In 2015, Brazil went through its greatest recession in decades while undergoing a major political crisis that led to President Rousseff’s impeachment in August 2016. In 2015, industrial production in the state of Amazonas decreased by 17.2 percent as compared to a national decrease of 8.3 percent. Collections under the Imposto Sobre Operações Relativas à Circulação de Mercadorias e Serviços de Transporte Interestadual de Intermunicipal e de Comunicações (the national equivalent of the value-added tax), which accounts for 90 percent of tax revenues, dropped 14 percent in real terms. Meanwhile, federal transfers to the Amazonas contracted 8 percent. Payroll expenditures dropped 3 percent in real terms in 2015. Investments suffered a much larger cut, dropping 64 percent. Consequently, although the Amazonas government was restructured, essential services were maintained and, most importantly, all its obligations were met (unlike those of some other Brazilian states, including Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul, which were unable to meet all wage payments due to the fiscal crisis). Moreover, Amazonas delivered a primary surplus in 2015, despite weak revenue performance.  The economic downturn had a negative impact on the implementation of certain policies: The Amazonas government made important organizational readjustments (for example, it merged certain secretariats and closed others), and it readjusted investments across all sectors, even in priority areas such as citizen security.  Approach Reforms supported by the Amazonas: Modernizing Public-Sector Management, Citizen Security, and Gender Policies Development Policy Loan (DPL) enabled the state to weather some of the negative effects of the economic crisis. With support from the operation, the Amazonas government undertook policy reforms largely informed by existing analytical work and lessons from other Brazilian states and operations, along with original analysis specific to the operation. The Poverty and Social Impact Assessment provided information on the state’s broader context and needs, and the state government produced two technical notes on procurement and tax administration. The World Bank commissioned a risk assessment of the security sector, informed by prior analysis by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and supported by field consultants who had accompanied the state reforms. For the gender component, analysis was informed by previous countrywide reports, such as the Bank’s 2013 “Towards a More Comprehensive Domestic Violence Policy in Brazil,” as well as by Brazil Gender and Social Inclusion Non-Lending Technical Assistance. Results The Amazonas government succeeded in improving tax compliance, government procurement efficiency, and provision of judicial and basic services to women, as exemplified below:In 2015, mobile units providing judicial and basic services reached women in 47 communities, up from two in 2013.Amazonas hired 2,750 implementers of the Maria da Penha law (Federal Law 11340/2006), an anti-domestic violence law that, among other provisions, increases punishment for those perpetrating domestic violence against women.Electronic invoices, known as the NFC-e, were issued by 9,396 firms in 2015, up from 0 in 2013.VAT tax collection improved by 3 percent in 2015, despite an overall decrease in retail sales of 7.5 percent.   Cost and time to comply with requirements for issuing consumer receipts were both reduced considerably, from R$ 3,000 to R$ 300 and from 30 days’ wait to an automatic process.Information collected in 2015 through the NFC-e, enabled the government to identify 3,549 fiscal infractions, worth R$206 million, up from 0 in 2013.The rate of procurement processes completed in less than 45 days improved to 66.6 percent, as opposed to only 29 percent completed in that time in 2013.All procurement plans in 2015 were published on e-compras.am, as opposed to only nine in 2013. The measures resulting from the DPL, combined with the state’s urgent need to reduce expenditures, led to an approximately 20 percent reduction in public expenditures in areas such as cleaning, security, and vehicle leasing. In 2015, savings from measures under the DPL accounted for R$ 213 million, of which R$ 91 million resulted from measures directly related to standardized services and R$ 122 million resulted from the decreased need for and substitution of services and quantities. Bank Group Contribution The World Bank, through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, provided a single-tranche loan in the amount of US$ 216 million to finance Amazonas: Modernizing Public Sector Management, Citizen Security, and Gender Policies Development Policy Loan. The operation originated in a direct request from the federal government and the government of Amazonas, and, despite the short preparation time, the cooperation of officials from both government levels led to its success as well as to opening an important space for policy dialogue. Partners The operation represents a successful collaboration between the IDB and the Bank. The DPL was designed to complement and extend the IDB’s Program of Consolidation of Fiscal Equilibrium for Social and Economic Development in the State of Amazonas, PROCONFIS AM. The Bank and the IDB established a successful partnership that reduced the burdens on the government of Amazonas (for example, by using the same Project Implementation Unit, constantly sharing information, and linking prior actions), thus guaranteeing a continuation of the broader reform process. Before this DPL, the Bank had limited engagement in Amazonas. The partnership with the IDB not only enabled the Bank to engage in the state, it also led to a subsequent DPL (approved by the Board in December 2015) with the capital city of Manaus. Beneficiaries Under the program Itinerant Citizenship: Woman in the Field, Forest, and Waters, mobile units reached several isolated communities with basic services for women. In 2015, the Secretariat for Gender-Related Policies supported 4,486 women through this program. All firms based in the state of Amazonas also benefited from the introduction of the NFC-e, which reduced the cost of complying with tax collection. All firms supplying the state government benefited from the introduction of more efficient procurement processes. Moving Forward Although this was a single-tranche operation, the Bank’s engagement with Amazonas continues.  The World Bank is conducting an impact evaluation on a procurement reform to be introduced in the second half of 2017. In addition, this operation opened an opportunity for a separate DPL with the government of the municipality of Manaus, which has led to an unprecedented partnership between the government of Amazonas and the city of Manaus to launch the Nota Facil, a partnership between the Secretaria da Fazenda (the tax authority) and the Municipal Finance Secretary. The Nota Facil Program will allow expanded use of the NFC-e in the Manaus service sector and is expected to extend the service to more than 10,000 businesses.