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1 Bangladesh Empowerment and Livelihood Improvement “Nuton Jibon” Project (SIPP II) Mid-Term Review Mission (October 20- 31, 2013) Aide Memoire I. Introduction 1. A World Bank Team 1 carried out a Mid-Term Review (MTR) mission for the Empowerment and Livelihood Improvement “Nuton Jibon” Project from October 20 31, 2013. The main objectives of the MTR were to review the extent to which project activities, together with their implementation steps, have remained relevant and are on track to achieve the Project’s Development Objectives. The team reviewed the overall implementation status and findings from the recently completed mid-term impact survey; discussed key challenges and lessons learnt; and provided guidance on corrective measures for speeding- up implementation and disbursement wherever required. 2. The Team visited a number of villages in Rangpur, Jamalpur and Barisal regions and held discussions with representatives of community organizations, cluster and district team officers, and project staff at the national level. The Team is grateful to the entire SDF staff led by Mr. Sakhawat Hossain, Senior Program Director and Acting Managing Director, for logistical support provided for the field visits. The findings and key agreements reached with the implementing agency, summarized in this Aide Memoire, were shared with project staff on October 30, 2013 and discussed at a wrap-up meeting chaired by Dr. Aslam Alam, Secretary, Bank and Financial Institutions Division, Ministry of Finance on October 31, 2013. It was agreed at the wrap up meeting that the aide-memoire would be classified as a public document under the Bank’s Access to Information Policy. II. Key Project Data Project Data Project Performance Ratings Board Approval: 23 June, 2010 Original Ln./Cr. Amount: US$ 115 million Effectiveness Date: 05 December, 2010 Revised Ln./Cr. Amount: N/A Original Closing Date: 30 June, 2016 Amount Disbursed: US$ 74.39 million as of 28 October, 2013 Revised Closing Date (if relevant): None Performance Trend*: Improving MTR Date : 20 to 31 October, 2013 *improving, stable, deteriorating III. Assessment of Project Development Objectives 3. The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to to improve the livelihoods of extreme poor communities and to strengthen the community institutions in selected districts. 1 The mission team included Messrs/Mmes: Ousmane Seck (Task Team Leader); Frauke Jungbluth (Sr. Rural Development Economist); Pushina Kunda Ng’andwe (Sr. Rural Development Specialist, Co-TTL); Winston Dawes (Sr. Rural Development Specialist); Yuka Makino (Sr. Natural Resource Management Specialist); Elliot Mghenyi (Sr. Economist); C.S. Renjit (Community Institutions Consultant); Sugata Talukder (Operations Analyst); Atikuzzaman Mohammad (FM Specialist); Marghoob B. Hussein (Sr. Procurement Specialist); Farhat Jahan Chowdhury (Environmental Specialist); Sabah Moyeen (Social Development Specialist); and Amani Haque (Program Assistant). Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized

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Page 1: Public Disclosure Authorizeddocuments.worldbank.org/curated/en/482641468201530597/... · 2016-07-17 · the national poverty line (BBS, 2010) as benchmark, the mid-term survey. 2

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Bangladesh

Empowerment and Livelihood Improvement

“Nuton Jibon” Project (SIPP II)

Mid-Term Review Mission

(October 20- 31, 2013)

Aide Memoire

I. Introduction

1. A World Bank Team1 carried out a Mid-Term Review (MTR) mission for the Empowerment and

Livelihood Improvement “Nuton Jibon” Project from October 20 – 31, 2013. The main objectives of the

MTR were to review the extent to which project activities, together with their implementation steps, have

remained relevant and are on track to achieve the Project’s Development Objectives. The team reviewed

the overall implementation status and findings from the recently completed mid-term impact survey;

discussed key challenges and lessons learnt; and provided guidance on corrective measures for speeding-

up implementation and disbursement wherever required.

2. The Team visited a number of villages in Rangpur, Jamalpur and Barisal regions and held discussions

with representatives of community organizations, cluster and district team officers, and project staff at the

national level. The Team is grateful to the entire SDF staff led by Mr. Sakhawat Hossain, Senior Program

Director and Acting Managing Director, for logistical support provided for the field visits. The findings

and key agreements reached with the implementing agency, summarized in this Aide Memoire, were

shared with project staff on October 30, 2013 and discussed at a wrap-up meeting chaired by Dr. Aslam

Alam, Secretary, Bank and Financial Institutions Division, Ministry of Finance on October 31, 2013. It

was agreed at the wrap up meeting that the aide-memoire would be classified as a public document under

the Bank’s Access to Information Policy.

II. Key Project Data

Project Data Project Performance Ratings

Board Approval: 23 June, 2010 Original Ln./Cr. Amount: US$ 115 million

Effectiveness Date: 05 December, 2010 Revised Ln./Cr. Amount: N/A

Original Closing Date: 30 June, 2016 Amount Disbursed: US$ 74.39 million as of 28 October, 2013

Revised Closing Date (if relevant): None Performance Trend*: Improving

MTR Date : 20 to 31 October, 2013

*improving, stable, deteriorating

III. Assessment of Project Development Objectives

3. The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to to improve the livelihoods of extreme poor

communities and to strengthen the community institutions in selected districts.

1 The mission team included Messrs/Mmes: Ousmane Seck (Task Team Leader); Frauke Jungbluth (Sr. Rural Development

Economist); Pushina Kunda Ng’andwe (Sr. Rural Development Specialist, Co-TTL); Winston Dawes (Sr. Rural Development

Specialist); Yuka Makino (Sr. Natural Resource Management Specialist); Elliot Mghenyi (Sr. Economist); C.S. Renjit

(Community Institutions Consultant); Sugata Talukder (Operations Analyst); Atikuzzaman Mohammad (FM Specialist);

Marghoob B. Hussein (Sr. Procurement Specialist); Farhat Jahan Chowdhury (Environmental Specialist); Sabah Moyeen (Social

Development Specialist); and Amani Haque (Program Assistant).

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4. The project is on track and progress towards achieving its development objective is rated

“Satisfactory”. The project has undertaken two surveys in preparation of the mid-term review: (i) an

impact assessment survey. The survey was conducted between July and September 2013 and covered a

total of 1,636 randomly selected households (of which 502 belong to the control group) in six districts;

and (ii) a qualitative survey – the mid-term evaluation report - focusing on village-level institutions and

SDF staff through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The studies assessed the main

change as compared to baseline including for women and hardcore poor, in income, empowerment,

access to improved community infrastructure and social services, household expenditures, village

institutional development, Socio-economic improvement of vulnerable groups and savings, are presented

in Annex 3.

5. Based on the findings of these two studies, of the three PDO indicators, the end of project target of

one indicator has already been exceeded, while that of the two other indicators are on track to be

achieved well before the closing date.

(i) Impact on functioning of village level institutions: About 83% of village institutions are functioning

in a transparent, inclusive and accountable manner, which is higher than end of project target of 75%.

While the end-of project target has been already fully achieved, the project should not sit on its laurels

because institutional building is a never-ending process that should continue to be strengthened, even in

well-performing project areas.

(ii) Impact on incomes: About 35% of the project HHs has been able to increase their income by 40 to 50

% compared to end of project target of “at least 50% of target HHs increase income by at least 50%”.

The project beneficiaries have almost doubled their average monthly HH income, compared to baseline

and have on average a 28% higher monthly income compared to the control group. Furthermore, using

the national poverty line (BBS, 2010) as benchmark, the mid-term survey2 estimates that about 27% of

the “hardcore poor” and 31% of the “poor” are now above the poverty line. The major sources of HH

income are livestock, poultry, business, agriculture, and salary/wages – accounting for nearly 90%

income of HHs. Income from businesses, livestock, and poultry are significantly higher in project areas

than in control areas. Income inequality is higher in control areas than project areas. The results suggest

that length of participation in the program has a positive and significant impact on HH food and non-food

consumption expenditures.

(iii) Access to improved community infrastructure and social services: The project invests in community

infrastructure and social services such as access to water and sanitation facilities and access to markets,

education, and health facilities. Most of investments in infrastructure are in earth works, culverts, tube

wells, and repairs to school buildings. The project is on track to meet the target. About 77% of HHs

(876,330) in project villages are directly benefiting from these improved infrastructures which is close to

the end of project target of at least 80%. According to the mid-term survey, about 50% of the respondents

mentioned that earthwork and culvert construction improves roads transportation system in their

localities.

6. The mission recommends that these key findings of the surveys be used to produce a small SDF

publication that describes the key impacts. It is expected that such a summary would be available by

January 31, 2014 and will be shared with SDF field staff and other key stakeholders through a workshop.

The mission also recommends SDF to follow up on the areas not covered by the evaluation (e.g. youth

employment, community infrastructure), using the available project monitoring information.

IV. Overall Implementation Progress

2 A summary of the survey findings is provided in Annex 3.

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7. To date, the project supports 3,262 community institutions in 16 districts comprising 657,593 eligible

HHs (approx. 2.5 million people). The number of target HHs mobilized into Nuton Jibon Groups (NJGs)

has increased from 536,463 (82%) to 544,937 (83%)3 since the last mission. The number of NJGs has

increased from 45,126 to 45,512. About 2,705 village organizations4 are functioning in an inclusive and

accountable manner following project guidelines. About 92% of the decision making positions of the

village institutions are occupied by women and most members are regularly attending the meetings. With

few exceptions, the institutions are saving and have accessed Shabolombi Funds (282,100 HHs) for

income generation activities. The project has also completed 3,818 community infrastructure and social

services sub-projects benefiting 876,330 households, including non-target households in the village. Out

of the 34,171 vulnerable HHs that have received a one-time grant, 94% have started income generating

activities and of the 31,000 youths that have received skill development training, 96% are employed. A

mid-term impact evaluation was conducted between July and September 2013 to inform the MTR. A

summary of the survey findings is provided in Annex 3.

V. Strategic Issues, Challenges and Way forward

8. Mid-line Impact survey. The survey makes a number of recommendations that are summarized as

follows: While incomes have been raised, it is now seen as critical to improve the market links. Youth

employment and skills development grants should be followed-up more closely through the youth

database to get a clear picture on the skills and work that youth are being able to successfully find jobs.

Spin-off effects should also be recorded (i.e. one youth in the village getting a job and bringing other

youth to follow suit) to allow to capture them as project impacts. While generally, the members are well

informed about the institutions and their functioning, there is a need to deepen their understanding and

clarify some of the uncertainty surrounding the return of the service charge. The formation and

functioning of the Community Information Center has been an innovative addition to the second

generation activities. The center is providing useful services to the community members, particularly

youth and students. This activity should be expanded to other clusters under a potential follow up

operation. SDF should assure that some provision for repair and maintenance is being made for the

infrastructures built. Some of the Shabolombi funds procedures are considered complicated and might

contribute to a slower than necessary uptake of funds. Hence, SDF field level staff should make more

frequent visits to support a good performance of these funds. The sustainability of the village level

institutions is challenging. SDF is considering to make more use of the community professionals to

support the institutions after the villages phase-out from direct SDF support.

9. Project Restructuring. A Level-1 restructuring of the project was initiated prior to the mission. The

restructuring involves: (i) a change in the Project Development Objective (PDO); (ii) a reallocation of

credit proceeds amongst categories of expenditure to meet actual project cost, based on field

requirements; and (iii) the creation of two new disbursement categories to disaggregate institutional

running costs from operational program costs. This is the second restructuring of the project. The first

restructuring was approved on Nov 16, 2011 to address inconsistencies between the Financing Agreement

and the PAD. It is expected that the approval process will be completed by December 15, 2013.

10. The mission, together with the implementing agency, reviewed the disbursement status and estimates

and agreed to further revise the reallocation of credit proceeds amongst expenditure categories proposed

in the project restructuring. The implementing agency estimates that based on these estimates, the credit

3 311,491 hard core poor and 233,446 poor

4 Gram Parishad- the village general body, the Gram Samiti- its executive Committee, and the Village Credit

Organization - its community finance arm.

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funds are likely to be fully exhausted by June 30, 2015. The revised allocation by category of expenditure

is presented in Annex 6.

11. With the revised reallocation, an additional 1,619 village communities will be able to receive their

full allocation of funds, bringing the total to 3,138 villages, out of the 3,262 covered by the project. The

remaining 124 villages are composed of problem-villages that are either facing some misappropriation of

funds or have not yet received any funds, due to conflicts and resulting delays in fulfilling project

requirements. Meanwhile a total of 2,520 villages will have completed their infrastructural works, which

represents an increase of 1,221 villages as compared to the current number of 1,299 villages (as of

September 2013). About 618 villages that will have received their full allocation would likely not have

completed their activities by mid-2015, requiring further technical assistance from SDF. Since the

completion of the above activities constitutes an important milestone for lowering the current engagement

and re-strategizing the support to be further provided to these villages, the mission recommends SDF to

closely monitor the implementation of these activities for their full completion by June 30, 2015. SDF

will ensure that progress made be reflected in their monthly and quarterly reports to be shared with the

Bank.

12. The mission noted that the formation of second generation institutions has been initiated. 732 villages

have been mobilized into Nuton Jibon Community Societies in two districts (Jamalpur and Gaibandha)

and another 682 villages are expected to be mobilized by project end, bringing the total to 1,414 villages.

However, the development of these institutions is at a very early stage and would require particular

attention under a potential follow-up operation.

13. Institutional Sustainability of SDF. The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) established the Social

Development Foundation (SDF) in 2000 as an autonomous, non-profit organization to enhance the

livelihoods of the rural poor. It envisions expanding the program coverage progressively to all 64 districts

in 13,000 villages out of the 68,000 of the country by 2030. At present, SDF does not receive any direct

funding from GoB5 and the World Bank has been the only donor to fund SIPP-I and SIPP-II. With the

completion of SIPP-II by 2016, the institution would be challenged to sustain the program. The

Government has already established an Endowment Fund (EF) of US$15 million for long term

sustainability of SDF. The Government has further committed to provide US$ 6.5 million in two

installments in the financial years 2014-15 and 2015-16, bringing the total to US$21.5 million.

14. The initial draft strategy paper for institutional sustainability and the associated Action Plan, prepared

by SDF during the previous mission, has been further refined with the help of the Bank’s SIPP task team

and Public Sector and Governance Teams, in consultation with SDF’s national and field staff (See Annex

4). The revised version covers various aspects, including : (i) financial sustainability; (ii) quality of

service delivery; (iii) current status of investments and results achieved; (iv) use of IT and monitoring and

Evaluation; (v) governance and accountability; and (vi) role and readiness of second generation

institutions for directly addressing emerging inter-village issues. With regard to the financial

sustainability, SDF estimates that it will require slightly more than US$2 million per year

beginning in 2016 to meet its core operating costs in order to sustain the SIPP-I and SIPP-II

programs in the original 16 districts. The EF is expected to earn 10% annual interest and with the

effect of compounding, the returns on the endowment should be more than sufficient to cover

these costs from 2016 onward. SDF will initiate a policy paper in 2014 for approval by the

Ministry of Finance containing recommendations on how the endowment fund should be

managed and providing guidelines on its use. The Government has taken note that there may be

5 The GoB has created an endowment fund for SDF, to which it has committed to contribute a total of US$21.5

million by 2015.

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however, a potential financial gap, if SIPP II is to close earlier than anticipated (June 30, 2015

instead of September 30, 2016) and agreed to further discuss the issue during the preparation of a

potential follow up operation.

15. Transparency of Fund Flows and Risk Management. Like other fully decentralized projects, SIPP is

exposed to critical risks in funds management given that funds are directly transferred to communities

who are fully accountable for their use and management. The following key governance and

accountability tools are inbuilt in the project design at the community level and closely monitored and

reported on a monthly basis by SDF: (i) Ten non-negotiable principles to be followed by communities for

effective functioning of their institutions; (ii) Participatory targeting of beneficiaries; (iii) Social Audit

Committee, the community watchdog to provide effective checks and balances to safeguard the use of

funds; (iv) Community Assessment Process (CAP) for reviewing the performance of community

institutions; (v) Governance and Accountability Action Plan; (vi) Financial Management and

Procurement Committees; and (vii) Communication Tree and Display Board in the community, as a

continuous feedback and redress mechanism. These community tools are reinforced by additional

mechanisms at SDF level and include: (i) Appraisal and Monitoring Teams to assess not only community

readiness to receive funds but also compliance with guidelines on the use of funds already received; and

(ii) Village Grading based on their performance, using specific criteria agreed with the Bank

(effectiveness in the functioning of the institutions, in accessing and utilization of funds, and

inclusiveness including women, youth and vulnerable). The mission noted that the systematic use of these

tools contributed to minimizing and preventing misappropriation in the flow and management of funds

transferred to communities.

16. Misappropriation of Funds. The project reported a total of 124 “problematic” villages composed of:

(i) 33 villages having received no funds due to internal conflict (20 in Rangpur and 13 in Jamalpur); (ii)

55 villages with internal conflict and are lagging behind (5 in Rangpur and 20 in Jamalpur); and (iii) 36

villages with misappropriation of funds (11 in Jamalpur and 25 in Rangpur).The misappropriation of

funds involves 31 villages for a total amount of US$ 0.132 million (US$0.022 million from Jamalpur and

US$ 0.11 million from Rangpur), of which US$0.069 million has been recovered (US$ 0.013 million

from Jamalpur and US$0.056 million from Rangpur) and the balance of US$ 0.063 million is still to be

recovered (US$ 0.009 million from Jamalpur and US$ 0.054 million from Rangpur). It is to be noted that

out of the 124 villages, 10 villages from Jamalpur are washed away due to river erosion, of which 5 have

received partial fund allocation amounting US$0.018 million.

17. The mission noted that SDF has taken a numbers of steps to address the misappropriation of fund at

all level of its operation and in particular at community level. SDF now maintains comprehensive

information on the amount misappropriated, amount realized with balance to be realized, action taken

against the perpetrators, preventive measure initiated to avoid recurrence. These records are regularly

updated and feedback is provided to the relevant officers for follow up. The mission also noted that Social

Audit Committee, in many villages, is re-constituted with competent members to make them more

effective in monitoring and supervision of lending and credit activities. Withdrawals of fund for loan

disbursement and distribution, and deposit of undisbursed loan amount now require presence of Cluster

Facilitators (CFs), Cluster Team Leaders (CTL) and also village organization members. Disbursement of

loan is widely circulated before actual disbursement is made to ensure disbursement to the genuine

applicant and avoid misapplication of undisbursed amount. Members’ pass books are regularly updated

and certified by the Village Credit Organization (VCO).

18. The mission noted that SDF has also developed a draft Policy Guidelines (Annex 7) for strengthening

supervision and monitoring at all level of SDF Operation, i.e., village, cluster, district and regional level

and head office. The Policy Guidelines is aimed to mitigate risk of corruption with adequate preventive

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measures which would ultimately play a vital role in ensuring corruption-free and transparent program

intervention at village, cluster, district and regional level. For close monitoring of the implementation of

the guidelines, all villages are being classified in three categories: (Red- R) – Corrupted: Corruption has

already taken place; (Yellow -Y) – Vulnerable: Situation exists that indicate corruption might take place;

and (Green - G) Corruption Free: Committee is honest and village organization is operated as per the

Community Operational Manual (COM). The mission recommends SDF to make the Appraisal and

Monitoring Teams accountable for recommending any release of funds to a village not complying with

project requirements. It was, however, observed that the draft policy guidelines do not include, as possible

measures, cancellation of sanctions or penalties such as peer pressure, social sanctions (isolation from

communities, debarment to participate in other program of local NGO), engagement of local body and

elite group for mediation etc. The mission recommends that the SDF addresses the inadequacies stated

above and shares the Policy Guidelines with the Bank before finalization.

19. The mission strongly reiterated its recommendation of the previous mission that a time frame is set to

dispose of misappropriation of fund rather than keeping it an open issue, particularly when phasing-out

and expansion of a program is under consideration. An updated “actions taken” report on these cases

should be submitted to the Bank by December 31, 2013. The mission also recommends SDF to develop

by April 30, 2013 a write-off procedure for dealing with dormant villages that are washed away. These

should not continue to be carried on the books as “problematic.”

20. Fiduciary Aspects. The performance on financial management continue to be moderately

satisfactory given that SDF is to reorganize its Internal Audit Department with more focus on risk based

audit plan and special attention to fraud prone areas in all transaction points. Pursuant to recommendation

of last mission, SDF, in consultation with the Bank, decided to move to report based disbursement from

December 1, 2013. The mission strongly recommends that the project clears all the eligible reimbursable

expenses, before starting report based disbursement. Overall progress on procurement and compliance to

environmental and social safeguards is satisfactory.

21. Impact Evaluation. The project has initiated an independent Impact Evaluation to document the end

target outcome achievements. The evaluation is based on a sample size of 492 villages (273 treatment

villages and 219 control villages) and covers a total 4,701 HHs. It was agreed that the first follow-up

survey will be conducted between April and June 2014 – the same months the baseline survey was

conducted. This is to ensure that indicators are not affected by seasonality. The mission agreed that the

procurement process for the recruitment of the consultant should be started immediately so that proper

arrangements are made in advance of the survey window. As part of the preparations, SDF will revise the

questionnaires to collect more information related to project activities. A list of project HHs in the

evaluation sample and their wealth ranking will be prepared by SDF by December 15, 2013.

VI. Detailed Implementation Progress

22. Component A: Community and Livelihood Development at the Village Level. The purpose of

this component is to empower and build institutional capacity of pro-poor village level organizations and

their federations, and fund village development and livelihood-related investments at the village level.

Implementation progress under this component is rated as “Satisfactory”.

23. A1-Developing and Strengthening of Community Organizations: This sub-component aims to

develop Gram Samitis (GS) and Gram Parishads (GPs) into inclusive, autonomous and accountable

village institutions with financial and institutional capacity to (i) plan, facilitate and monitor capacity

building of their Community Based Organizations (e.g. Jibikayan Groups and the Village Credit

Organization); and (ii) plan and execute village development and risk reduction activities. The project

continues to cover 3,262 villages composed of 657,593 eligible HHs. Since the last mission, the number

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of target HHs mobilized into Nuton Jibon Groups (NJGs) increased from 536,463 (82%) to 544,937

(83%)6, and the number of NJGs - from 45,126 to 45,512. All village organizations (100%) have hard-

core poor members in decision making positions (against 80% target set in the PAD). According to

project reports, out of the 3,220 villages that have received funds as of October 2013 (09 other villages

are planned to receive funds by December 31, 2013), at least the first installment of village funds, 83%

(2,705) are functioning in an inclusive and accountable manner. The remaining 515 villages are composed

of 458 villages experiencing minor operational weaknesses, of which: (i) 123 villages have irregular

meetings of NJGs, irregular savings and/or are not updating regularly books and records; (ii) 142 villages

have an OTR below 95%; (iii) 49 villages have substantial delays in completing their infrastructure

works; and (iv) 139 villages are not updating their Display Boards on a regular basis. Ten villages have

ceased to exist due to river erosion.

24. The mission has reviewed the implementation status of corrective measures being carried out by SDF

to bring up the performance of all villages lagging behind. This includes: (i) guiding and mentoring

community members on potential and profitable IGAs; (ii) assisting communities to plan and implement

infrastructure works, given the time constraints associated with monsoon and cropping seasons; and (iii)

further strengthening the quality of supervision and closely monitoring the updating of village progress

data and display boards. The mission recommends SDF to : (i) further improve the quality and

effectiveness of the facilitation provided to communities by fully engaging the Governance and

Accountability teams at District, Regional and National levels; (ii) strategically redeploy field staff based

on their skills and actual performance, in reference to village level graduation in their respective areas of

operation; (iii) fully build on experienced community members in well performing matured villages; and

(iv) set-up with due diligence, a clear time line for taking a final decision to exit from villages which still

continue to lag behind, after all the above actions are completed.

25. A2-Village Development and Risk Reduction Fund (VDRRF): The purpose of VDRRF7 is to help

communities develop their institutions, promote income generating activities and build, operate and

maintain basic community infrastructure. It also aims to support skill development for employment,

especially for the youth. Out of the 3,220 villages directly accessing the village development fund, the

mission noted steady progress in 2,829 villages: (i) 1,472 villages received first installment of IDF; (ii)

1,305 received first installment of SF; and (iii) 1,337 received first installment of CISF; against 1,343,

488, and 640 villages respectively during the last mission. The release of second installments is also

picking up in these villages and some villages have even accessed the third installments for IDF and

CISF. The mission recommends that the village development cycle momentum and pace be kept to move

funds to all villages as planned. This will require SDF to ensure that unutilized funds in the accounts of

Gram Samitis and Sub-project Committees are fully made use of before releasing any remaining

installments.

26. Since the last mission, 267 villages have completed construction of their own Gram Samiti (GS)

offices, against 264 villages as at last mission, bringing the total to 531. The mission noted that there are

568 constructions ongoing, though the past missions recommended SDF to ensure that the already

initiated constructions be completed before starting new ones. The purpose was to avoid risks of ending

with unfinished tasks at the closing of the project in light of other commitments made under CISF. It is

worth noting that these new constructions works may jeopardize the amount available under VDRRF for

moving forward with the SF. The mission recommends SDF to ensure that the GS buildings and other

infrastructures are properly maintained by communities, through clearly defined procedures and plans.

6 311,491 hard core poor and 233,446 poor.

7 VDRRF has three Sub-Funds: Institution Development Fund (IDF) consisting of 3 installments; Shabolombi Fund

consisting of 2 installments; and Community Infrastructure and Social Funds (CISF) consisting of 3 installments.

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27. Developing communities’ capacity to apply the project’s Vulnerability Analysis Framework. The

objective of the framework is to ensure that any village plans have risks identified and mitigation

measures built-in. It is also to ensure that vulnerable groups have been identified through the social

mapping and vulnerability analysis process. So far, a total of 2,369 villages (out of 2,519) have completed

Participatory Vulnerability Assessment (PVA) and risk mapping and planned their infrastructure

investments accordingly. 2,320 Disaster Volunteer Teams (DVT) have been formed and 1,318 villages

have begun disaster preparedness activities. The project also prepared the “Environmental Health and

Safety Guidelines” to be used as field manuals by the communities. A national poster competition to raise

awareness of school children on disaster management was held on June 4, 2013 with three winning

posters from each region. The winning posters should be printed and distributed to all schools that

participated in the competition by November 30, 2013.

28. Some critical issues have been identified by the mission for which the mission recommends the

following: (i) ensure uniformity in addressing vulnerability and disaster risk management in all SIPP-I

and II villages; e.g. some villages have established DVTs and are holding regular weekly meetings

whereas others are yet to receive capacity building or awareness training on disaster risk management.

The Cluster Facilitators should provide necessary training in all uncovered villages by February 28, 2014;

(ii) prepare clear guidelines on the management and operation of the Emergency Fund by December 31,

2013. The guidelines would specify how the fund is collected, managed and utilized; (iii) in addition to

risks associated with flood and cyclone currently being addressed, SDF will finalize the drought

management strategy and program and start its implementation by December 31, 2013. The strategy will

build upon the community consultations already held in September 2013; and (v) clarify the role of Nuton

Jibon Community Societies–NJCS in supporting disaster and vulnerability reduction by February 28,

2014.

29. Developing a Sustainable Village Based Savings and Credit System. The objective of savings and

credit activities is to expand opportunities for income generation to those people who do not currently

have access to formal financial institutions. The project has made notable improvements in the level of

internal savings, On-Time Repayments (OTR) for both, internal lending and loans from project funds

known as Shabolombi Fund (SF), and utilization of idle funds (refer to Annex 4). However, the mission

recommends that renewed efforts be made to increase on a consistent basis, the level of regular internal

savings and OTR for both internal and SF to at least 95%. This would increase the NJG lending corpus.

Going forward, the mission recommends that as NJGs mature, they should be encouraged to consider

increasing the amount of their weekly/monthly savings, as well as their loan sizes to adequately meet their

members’ needs.

30. With regard to distribution of the service charges obtained from both internal and SF lending

activities, the mission would like to remind the project that as per the COM booklet on Community

Finance, under no circumstances should service charge funds be allocated for activity other than those

that have been described in the COM.

31. The monitoring and reporting of group activity has become more reliable, due to the improvement in

the MIS system which allows district and cluster level staff to electronically capture and report village

level information coming from the various data points(such as Social Audit Committees - SACs, the

Governance and Accountability Action Plans - GAAP, the Process Monitoring reports, appraisal and

monitoring). The mission emphasizes that the MIS is not a substitute for the weekly monitoring and

facilitation of the NJGs, but is an additional tool for making the monitoring and supervision of the

community financing activities more effective. As the project accelerates it second generation activities, it

will need to develop more innovative approaches, such as better use of ICT, introduction of new products

such as micro-insurance (crop, livestock) and cultivation of linkages with other financial institutions. The

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Bank team will ensure that an ICT Specialist be brought in during the next supervision mission, to see

how to leverage technologies better in the project.

32. Strengthening productive and social community infrastructure at the village level. The mission

noted good progress on the Community Infrastructure and Social Services (CISF). The number of

infrastructure sub-projects completed increased from 2,841 to 3,818 and an additional 1,027 sub-projects

are ongoing. The mission recommends that the construction of these sub-projects be completed by March

31, 2014. The mission is pleased to note that SDF carried out an independent technical audit of completed

infrastructure on a sample basis. The audit confirmed overall good quality of construction works. It also

noted that the operational controls on the procurement, financial and accounting systems to be

satisfactory. However, in order to further improve transparency in implementation, SDF should also re-

introduce the appraisal for the second installment of funds under CISF sub-projects besides the appraisal

already being carried out prior to the first and third installments. The mission urges SDF to: (i) prepare an

action plan by December 15, 2013 for addressing the recommendations provided by the technical audit

and to submit to the Bank an implementation progress report by March 12, 2014; (ii) establish clear

Operations and Maintenance strategy for infrastructure investments by each village by January 31, 2014.

33. Component B: Institutional Development and Livelihoods Promotion at Inter-village Level. The objective of this component is to promote the development and strengthening of inter-village level

organizations and enterprise and business development for higher value livelihood activities.

Implementation progress under this component continues to be rated as “Moderately Satisfactory”.

34. B1-Development and Strengthening of Inter-village Organizations: The networking of village level

institutions into second generation organizations (the Nuton Jibon Community Society –NJCS) started in

Gaibandha and Jamalpur Districts, have now accessed the first installment of the Institution Development

Fund. The Societies are registered under the Companies Act, as a two tier (Cluster and District levels)

umbrella organization, supporting member village institutions on the organization development, savings

and credit, and establishment of a community professional pool for technical assistance and capacity

building services. As of September 30, 2013, 572 villages have paid their membership fee and capital

contribution and have become full members. 160 other villages are admitted as associate members.

35. The mission observed that, though in a very early stage of development, the Societies are already

providing support to member villages: (i) facilitating support to lagging villages to improve their

performance on savings and credit, such as improving OTR and updating the books; (ii) mediating to

resolve conflicts and fund misuse; (iii) conducting refresher training to strengthen accountability and

governance; and (iv) initiating the formation of producer groups in some villages. The societies are also

vigorously implementing their organization development activities like awareness raising campaigns

across villages and training of office bearers. However these institutions are in their infant stage and at

the request of SDF, the mission agreed to provide further technical assistance by late January/early

February 2014, to build a shared understanding and common vision so that SDF staff at all levels are well

equipped for facilitating the development of both NJCS and Producers Organizations.

36. B2- Business Promotion, Livelihoods and market Linkages and Partnerships: Good progress has

been made in livelihood development sector since last mission. Nearly 94,000 NJG members received SF

loans and started income generating activities since February 2013, bringing the total number to 386,675.

Large shares of SF loan recipients are currently investing in various livestock activities (at least 55%).

There is a clear progression in the size of loan and business being undertaken. A concern of the mission is

the lack of diversification in IGA and the ability of NJG members to be able to effectively calculate their

operating cost and net revenue/profit from the IGA they are engaged in. The mission is pleased to note

that partnerships have already been established with milk processing companies like Milk Vita Ltd. and

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Grameen Danon Foods Ltd. The team was also informed that Pran Milk, Rangpur Dairy, Aarong Milk for

milk processing, Zil Bangla Sugar Mill for sugarcane, and BRAC for artificial insemination are in the

process of establishing partnerships in Jamalpur and Rangpur districts. In addition, effective linkages

were also established with the Department of Livestock Services, the Department of Fisheries, the

Department of Agriculture Extension and the Department of Youth Development for ensuring technical

services, qualitative inputs, market information and collective marketing.

37. The mission recommends SDF to provide proper market analysis information, cost-benefit analysis

data, and needs assessment; so that community beneficiaries are encouraged to engage in viable business

models covering more diversified and market-led income generating activities. As progress will be made,

the Bank team will explore potential partnership to be developed with IFC in the regard. The mission also

suggests SDF to identify good performing Producers Groups and establish linkages with formal financial

institutions for accessing financial resources to undertake higher scale of economic activities once they

are technically sound and capable of managing it. Finally SDF will have to explore the possibility of

promoting more local service providers based on the specific demand for services in various regions.

38. B3-Creating Conditions for Employment Generation: The purpose of this subcomponent is to

develop strategic partnerships negotiated with service sector, telecommunications, technology, garments,

agribusiness and other growth sectors, as well as through linkages with key GoB training, vocational and

job creation initiatives. Measures are in place to facilitate a strategic approach towards increasing access

to employment opportunities for youth in project areas. So far, youth data bases for the remaining 278

villages have been completed; bringing the total to 3,262 villages with data bases and data entry into the

MIS is ongoing. It is expected that the process will be completed by December 31, 2013. The project is

tracking key employment/self-employment sectors with respective average monthly wages to tailor

project interventions to identified emerging labor supply and demand needs. In addition, the project team

is tracking employment drop-out rates, as a proxy to measuring youth in sustained job placements.

Additional data collection, analyzing reasons for drop-out is also being used to strengthen quality of

interventions. Partnerships with public and private service providers continue to be strengthened and there

has been a concerted effort to ensure that youth skill training is accredited to increase marketability.

39. As of September 13, 2013, a total of 52,301 youth have been mobilized into 3,885 youth groups.

Since the last mission, an additional 7,279 youth have received skills training bringing the total to 30,739

youth; 10,382 youth have found employment and/or are self-employed aggregating to a total of 29,357

youth in employment. This represents 59% of the project’s end-target of 50,000 at mid-term and indicates

that the component is on track to meet its end target. The mission noted that, 195 youth have been trained

as Local Service Provider (LSP) for Livestock in partnership with the Department of Youth Development

and Department of Livestock Services. The trained youth are self –employed and are earning an average

of BDT 5,000 to 6,000 per month. The mission recommends that data entry of youth data base into MIS

be completed by December 31, 2013. In order to tap into the potential of other sectors, the mission

prompts SDF to develop a more aggressive approach by effectively using the village level youth

databases already established coupled with appropriate promotional efforts. It also recommends that the

database be updated to capture length of employment and change of job profile.

40. Component C: Capacity Development and Partnership Building from Cluster to National

Levels. The objective of this component is to strengthen the capacity of SDF and partner organizations,

from the cluster to the national level, and build synergies and partnerships to scale-up delivery of SIPP’s

community-driven development program across Bangladesh. This component is rated as “Moderately

Satisfactory”.

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41. C1- Capacity Building of SDF and Partner Organizations: After eight months of delay, the

Capacity Building Agency- CBA (Capacity Building Service Group) is now on board (from September

16, 2013) and has conducted mini workshops, focus group discussions and key informant interviews from

cluster to regional level staff and community members to assess the training needs for developing a

comprehensive training plan. SDF should ensure that the CBA completes developing the training plan and

submits it to SDF by November 30, 2013. SDF should share the final plan with the Bank by December

15, 2013.

42. The Capacity Building Cells (CBCs) have been functioning at both national and regional levels.

Given the critical importance of improving technical effectiveness and efficiency of the institution, the

capacity of CBCs will be further strengthened by the CBA along with other staff to form the SDF

resource pool. SDF is also encouraged to establish service standards to enhance responsiveness and

timely support of clusters and districts to village community needs. SDF should also explore conducting

exposure visits to countries with proven experience in similar programs promote cross-learning for

project beneficiaries. SDF may consider preparing a technical and financial proposal for South-South

Experience Learning and Sharing Program for the Bank’s attention by December 31, 2013.

43. C2-Supporting Innovations: As one way of promoting innovative and replicable interventions in key

areas relating to Nuton Jibon’s approach and objectives, SDF initiated a marketplace to identify potential

innovative ideas/approaches that could be supported to advance employment generation. The selection of

an independent technical committee to review proposals was finalized in April 2013 and a call for

proposals was initiated thereafter. A total of 11 proposals were received and reviewed by the committee

who shortlisted four organizations for further assessment. Bangla-German Sampreeti (BGS), an NGO

whose expansive program includes promotion of employment amongst disadvantaged youth through

skills training and vocational training, was selected. The contract was signed on November 6, 2013 and

the activities have started. It was agreed that the NGO will provide certified training and employment

linkages to about 1,000 youth in Gaibandha District, Rangpur Region. The project team should adopt a

more strategic approach to assess how best to optimize this type of collaboration without duplicating

efforts for either party. In assessing the success of the approach, special attention should be paid to the

quality of expected results and lessons learned, and to the replicability and sustainability of the model.

44. Component D: Project Management, Monitoring and Coordination. The objective of this

component is to ensure (i) overall project coordination and management at national, regional and districts

levels; and (ii) monitoring, learning, communication and evaluation. The component is rated as

“Satisfactory”.

45. D1-Coordination and Management: The mission took note that the term of appointment of the

Managing Director (MD) expired on September 30, 2013 and the Senior Program Director has been

assigned as Acting MD. It is critical that a full time MD be appointed with due diligence to allow

continued smooth program implementation. The mission recommends SDF to submit the draft ToRs by

December 14, 2013 for the position to be advertised by Jan 14, 2014 and the new MD to be on board by

March 31, 2014.

46. D-2 Monitoring, Learning, Evaluation and Communications. Monitoring and Information System

(MIS): SDF has created a well-functioning MIS. All models are finalized, staff trained and data entered

on a monthly basis on the cluster level. The system now allows real time information at all levels (i.e.

region, cluster, and village). A village matrix can be created for each project village which includes the

core information for each village. The MIS is accessible online. The MIS will substantially help SDF to

monitor its activities and have up to date information available for all key milestones at all times. It is

good to see that the MIS is now live and used and the mission was very impressed with its capabilities. It

will be important to ensure that the data entry quality is being maintained to assure that the system is

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using the correct information. It is recommended that the village matrix also includes information on the

grading of the village institution and includes more information on the Shabolombi funds (on-time

repayment, 30, 60, 90 days outstanding, defaults).

47. Third Party Monitoring. The project has a third party monitoring tool built into its design. The

Centre for Natural Resource Studies (CNRS) has been contracted to conduct the monitoring. The agency

visits a fixed number of villages (67 villages in each of the two regions of the Northern Zone; 63 villages

in the Southern Zone) on a monthly basis. Of these villages, 10 are a fixed sample in each region with

repeater visits to 10 other villages from the previous month and the remainder is selected on a random

basis. The focus of this monitoring is to review the processes in place and whether these are substantially

followed. Findings of these visits are summarized in a monthly process diary and discussed at each level.

They are further consolidated and discussed regionally through quarterly monitoring meetings. The SDF

regional office then initiates the follow-up based on the third party recommendations. The mission noted

that with timely efforts, over 80% of issues identified are addressed and 51% completely resolved. In

terms of reporting, the mission recommends summarizing long pending issues and those which require

urgent management attention to be shared on a monthly basis as a summary report. SDF should also

ensure that the reports are shared with the Bank as they become available.

48. In addition to the above described mechanisms, an independent third party monitoring has been

initiated under funding from CARTA (Citizen Network for Results, Transparency and Accountability).

At this stage, the NGO to undertake the monitoring of SIPP-II is being procured. It is expected that the

agency would be selected by November 30, 2013.

49. Follow-up on the Mid-term Impact Survey: The mission recommends that the key findings of the

surveys be used to produce a small SDF publication that describes the key impacts. It is expected that

such a summary would be available by January 31, 2014 and will be shared with SDF field staff and other

key stakeholders through a workshop. The mission also recommends SDF to follow up on the areas not

covered by the evaluation (e.g. youth employment, community infrastructure), using the available project

monitoring information.

50. Communications: The mission noted that the communication strategy, prepared under SIPP-I, is yet

to be updated. A communications needs assessment, strategy and plan should be developed identifying

the medium of communication and clear messages/learning to be presented.

VII. Fiduciary Aspects

51. Interim Unaudited Financial Report (IUFRs) and Disbursement Method. The Project continued to

submit IFRs on time, which on review by the Bank, were found consistent with the prescribed formats

and reporting requirements. Pursuant to recommendation of last mission, SDF, in consultation with the

Bank, decided to move to report based disbursement from December 1, 2013. The mission strongly

recommends that the project clears all the eligible reimbursable expenses, before starting report based

disbursement.

52. Computerization of FM System. The trial run of computerized program (FIS) has been completed by

the vendor in September 2013. Detailed hands-on orientation for all the users are planned to be completed

by November 30, 2013 and automated report generation is expected to commence from December 2013.

The mission is also pleased to note that SDF Management also formed a Committee, headed by Director

(Finance and Procurement) to use automated system for e-fund transfer and e-payment system from SDF

to cluster, GS and e-payment to third parties including suppliers, contractors and for other administrative

cost at SDF and District level.

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53. Internal Audit. The mission noted that the recommendation of last mission on the disposal process of

internal audit issues is compiled by SDF involving MD and the Audit committee of SDF in making final

decision on the reported audit issues. As a part of strengthening oversight initiatives, SDF is going to

reorganize its Internal Audit Department with more focus on risk based audit plan and special attention to

fraud prone areas in all transaction points.

54. Annual Audit. Annual audit of Financial Statement of the Project for the year ended on June30, 2013

is in progress and the audit report is expected to be submitted to the Bank by December 31, 2013 as

required under the Financing Agreement.

55. Un-utilized Fund. The Mission noted that a Policy Guideline titled “Idle Fund Management

Guidelines” has been prepared by the SDF Management and circulated at the village level to act on un-

utilized fund. The Guideline identifies a number of reasons for funds remaining un-utilized and suggests

measures to address the situation. Consequently, as reported by SDF, there have been significant

improvements in reducing unutilized funds.

56. Books of Accounts and Reporting. The Mission noted good internal control system with adequate

segregation of duties between records of savings and credit activities at GS. However, in order to address

the inadequate capacity of the book keeper of GS members, the mission recommends that SDF appoints

book-keepers with adequate capacity at the initial stage of formation of the GSs.

57. Monitoring and Supervision. The mission noted that SDF Management has developed a draft Policy

Guidelines for strengthening supervision and monitoring at all level of SDF Operation, i.e., village,

cluster, district and regional level and head office. The Policy Guidelines is aimed to mitigate risk of

corruption with adequate preventive measures which would ultimately play a vital role in ensuring

corruption-free and transparent program intervention at village, cluster, district and regional level. It was,

however, observed that the draft policy guidelines do not include, as possible measures, cancellation of

sanctions or penalties such as peer pressure, social sanctions (isolation from communities, debarment to

participate in other program of local NGO), engagement of local body and elite group for mediation etc. It

is also important that a time frame is set to dispose of misappropriation of fund rather than keeping it an

open issue, particularly when phasing-out and expansion of a program is under consideration. The

mission recommends that the SDF addresses the inadequacies stated above and shares the Policy

Guidelines with the Bank before finalization.

58. Misappropriation of Fund. The mission noted that the SDF authority has taken a numbers of steps to

address misappropriation of fund at all level of its operation and in particular GSs. SDF now maintains

comprehensive information on the amount misappropriated, amount realized with balance to be realized,

action taken against the perpetrators, preventive measure initiated to avoid recurrence. These records are

regularly updated and feedback is provided to the relevant officers for follow up. The mission also noted

that Social Audit Committee, in many GSs, is re-constituted with competent members to make them more

effective in monitoring and supervision of lending and credit activities. Withdrawals of fund for loan

disbursement, distribution of loan, and deposit of undisbursed loan amount now require presence of

Cluster Facilitators (CFs), Cluster Team Leaders (CTL) and also GP members. Disbursement of loan is

widely circulated before actual disbursement is made to ensure disbursement to the genuine applicant and

avoid misapplication of undisbursed amount of loan. Members’ pass books are regularly updated and

certified by the VCO.

59. The overall rating of Financial Management is maintained as “Moderately Satisfactory”.

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60. Procurement Performance. The mission reviewed the procurement performance during the last

supervision period (between current and last mission), including implementation of the procurement plan.

Considering the overall progress, procurement performance is rated as “Satisfactory”.

61. Planning. SDF submitted a procurement plan on September 2013 followed by a status report of the

procurement performance monitoring (PPMR) during the mission. The procurement plan was approved

on September 19, 2013 with some observations which were mitigated during the mission. Bank sought

clarification and correction on the PPMR during the mission and this was provided on Oct 30, 2013. The

procurement plan shall not be deviated by more than 5% (in terms of days between advertisement and

award of contract), for contracts which have not been awarded yet.

62. Issues and Concerns. SDF has been advised to have the terms of references of three consulting

services cleared with the Bank prior to procurement. These are S-18.0 (Individual Consultant for

Financial Management & Accounting), S-57.0 (Consulting Firm for Development of e-Fund Transfer &

e-Payment System), and S-58.0 (Consulting Firm for Design of National Resource Center) where

consultants will be hired under post review. 3 contracts (G-28.0; G-29.0; G-30.0) originally cleared as

NCB have now been revised and cleared to be contracted through National Shopping method.

63. Capacity and Staffing. Procurement proficient staff is available at SDF through the long-term

presence of one senior procurement officer, but apparently there is no succession planning. The project

may need the service of one more procurement officer/consultant, provided there is restructuring in the

project and availability of funds. The mission expressed concern over SDF's sustainability without

support of development partners, and this needs to be considered even in the field of procurement as

SIPP-II, being the one of the few CDD-type operations in Bangladesh, requires SDF to have specialized

procurement skills i.e. development of simplified procurement manual and procedures as well as the need

for regular monitoring and audit of field-level activities.

64. Post-Review: During the last post-review, significant observations were found in two contracts and

the Bank may consider these contracts for further investigation.

65. Environmental management and monitoring of infrastructures. The mission has reviewed the

environmental management and monitoring system and found that Environmental Screenings (ES), Initial

Environmental Examinations (IEE) and Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) are being prepared for

the GS office building and other infrastructures. An Environmental health and safety guideline has been

prepared and a Bangla version distributed to regional and district offices. The mission noticed that EMPs

are not being included in the fund application package along with the ES and IEE and funds are being

released without proper review of EMPs. The mission also noticed that 5% villages have not prepared ES

and IEE whereas EMPs have not been prepared in 16% villages (Annex 6). To date, SIPP has

implemented 4,208 culverts associated with the rural roads where most of them could be reported as

environmental mitigation measures. The mission suggests establishing a good reporting system where

mitigation measures are identified and reported properly to showcase the benefit of environmental

management system.

66. Although project initiated environmental monitoring, a systematic monitoring plan to be prepared

from regional to cluster level in order to check the intended functions of the interventions, and

effectiveness of the EMPs. The project has already established a functional linkage with the DPHE and

performed arsenic test in 699 Tube Wells where 22 were found contaminated with arsenic. All Deep Tube

Wells (DTW) with more than 500 feet need to be routinely tested, at least 2 times a year, for checking

contamination by arsenic. Although, sub-projects required tree cutting in 16% villages, the project

compensated this by planting 125,000 saplings at the GS office premise and homesteads.

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67. Mission noticed that 5 ECCRR positions and 47 CF-technical staff positions are still vacant. The

mission recommends that: (i) recruitment of 5 ECCRR and 47 CF (Technical) be completed for smooth

implementation of environmental management and climate change related activities; (ii) EMPs be

prepared for all schemes, and reviewed and checked before releasing funds for the sub-projects; (iii) once

prepared, village based EMPs be shared with the villagers and other sub-committees. The project should

also consider including in the graduation criteria - from poor to marginal – ownership of sanitary latrine

as an indicator of graduation to middle class category which will contribute in achieving the respective

MDG. Environmental awareness program should be organized on every June 5 (World Environment Day)

and March 29 (National Disaster Preparedness Day) at the cluster level to enhance awareness among the

project beneficiaries and local communities.

68. Environmental Management and Monitoring of Income Generating Activities (IGAs). Overall

implementation of environmental management is rated as “Satisfactory”. The mission observed that a

total of 4,943 mini farms have been established and IGAs are being scaled up under the second generation

institution. The mission recommends that a proper system of environmental screening and monitoring be

established to avert any possible negative impacts and properly implemented. In addition, composting and

vermicomposting activities are being suggested in the Second Generation livestock program that would

enhance proper management of cow dung, add more value to the product, and thereby increase income of

the poor community, as well as enhance overall sustainability of the IGA. A manual for preparing

compost particularly Farm Yard Manure has been prepared and circulated. An appropriate training and

exposure visits on the vermicomposting can be organized for the interested producer groups. The mission

further recommends that an improved cook stove (ICS) be introduced as an alternative of traditional cook

stoves which would not only discourage the use of cow dung as fuel, but also save energy and reduce

indoor air pollution (Annex 6) and that a linkage be established with the German Development

Cooperation, Village Education Resource Center, Development Company Limited and other

organizations to identify and implement suitable ICS for the SIPP-II.

69. Social Safeguards. The ``Nuton Jibon” Project (SIPP-II) does not trigger OP 4.12 Involuntary

Resettlement, nor OP4.10 Indigenous People (IP). No land acquisition or displacement of people has

occurred under the project. However, the mission notes that small numbers of Indigenous HHs in

Jamalpur and the Southern belt have fallen within project boundaries and benefited from the project. In all

cases, the inclusion has been voluntary and welcome, as these resulted in positive outcomes for IPs and

forged better communication and collaboration with mainstream populations. IPs in these regions speak

Bangla fluently and so did not require a separate consultation and communication modality, other than the

one used for the overall program. The mission recommends that the Environmental and Social

Management Framework for the project be reviewed and updated and where social screening (formats are

present) shows that IPs will be included, appropriate Plans and communications methods are applied.

70. Inclusion. A significant number of target HHs (83%) have been mobilized into NJGs (Project target

is 652,400 HHs and achievements as of Sept 2013 is 544,937 HHs). 34,171 most vulnerable persons have

been supported with the One Time Grants and 93% of them started IGAs. A total of 54 (Rangpur region-

19, Jamalpur region-14 & Barisal region-21) NJG members have been elected as Ward members of Union

Parishad.

71. Gender.: All village level institutions like GP, GS, Village Credit Organization, Social Audit

Committee (SAC), Procurement Committee and other sub-committees have been constituted as per the

guidelines of Community Operational Manual (COM). About 92% decision making positions of the

above mentioned village institutions are occupied by women.

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VIII. Next Steps and Key Agreed Actions

Agreed Actions By Whom By When Status/Remarks

1. Recruitment of the Managing Director (MD) of SDF:

Submit the draft ToR

Advertise in the daily Newspaper

New MD will be on board

MoF/GB of

SDF

Dec 14, 2013

Jan 14, 2014

Mar 31, 2014

2 Initiate a policy paper for approval by the Ministry of Finance

containing recommendations on how the endowment fund should

be managed and providing guidelines on its use

MD/SDP June 30, 2014

3 Prepare and submit to the Bank an updated “actions taken” report

on misappropriation cases

MD/SDP December 31,

2013

4. Develop a write-off procedure for dealing with dormant villages

that are washed away due to river erosion.

MD/SDP April 30, 2013

5. Under the phasing out plan:

A total of 1,619 villages to receive all allocation of funds

A total of 1,221 villages to complete all infrastructure

sub-projects after receiving all funds

A total of 682 villages to mobilize CS and form 17

NJCSs (District – 1 and Cluster – 16)

SDP/RPD June 30, 2015 1,519 villages

received all funds;

1,299 villages

completed all sub-

projects; 732

villages mobilized

into 28 NJCSs

6. Complete on-going 1,027 infrastructure sub-projects

Prepare an Action Plan for addressing the recommendation

provided by the Technical Audit and submit to the Bank

Establish clear operation & maintenance strategy for

infrastructure investment by each village

RPDs March 31, 2013

Dec 15, 2013

Jan 31, 2013

7. Develop a comprehensive capacity building plan for SDF staff and

share with the Bank

CB Agency/ CB

Manager

Dec 15, 2013

8. Develop and publish a summary of key findings of the surveys that

describes the impacts

SDP/Director

ME&L

Jan 31, 2014

9. Complete data entry of youth data base into MIS and maintained

and updated to capture length of employment and change of job

profile

Youth and

Employment

Spec./Cluster

team

Dec 31, 2013

10. Prepare a clear guideline on the management and operations of the

Emergency Fund

ECCRR

Spec./RPDs

Dec 31, 2013

11. Winning Posters be printed and distributed to all schools

participated in the competition.

Manager-

IEC/RPDs

Nov 30, 2013

12. Prepare and submit a technical and financial proposal for South-

South Experience learning and Sharing Program for the Bank’s

attention

CB

Manager/SDP

Dec 31, 2013

13. Provide hands-on orientation training on computerized program

(FMIS) for all users and start generating automated report

Director ME&L Dec 31, 2013

14. Move to report based disbursement SDF/Bank Dec 31, 2013

15. Conduct the first follow-up survey of the Impact Assessment SDF April 30, 2013

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Annexes

Annex 1 Updated Results Framework Annex 7 Phase out Plan

Annex 2 Key agreed actions from last mission Annex 8 Guideline on Fund Misappropriation

Annex 3 Summary of mid-line IA Report Annex 9 Savings and Credit

Annex 4 Strategic Plan for sustainability of SDF Annex 10 Vulnerability Analysis & Com. Infr

Annex 5 Disbursement Projection Annex 11 Environments

Annex 6 Reallocation of Proceeds Annex 12 Updated Procurement Plan