eC2:Mapping of SMEs in Central African Republic Conflict Affected States

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Deadline: 23-Jan-2017 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

The objective of the assignment includes:
– Mapping Central African Republic’s SMEs working in different sectors such as agriculture, mining, trade, forestry, construction, telecommunications, tourism, crafts or any other potential sector for the development of the Central African economy;
– Establishing the obstacles to SME development and growth;
– Making concrete recommendations to improve the business and investment climate.

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TCdata360: A Big Addition to the World of Open Trade & Competitiveness Data

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WASHINGTON, January 9, 2017—The inequalities that make some countries poorer than trade-data360-frontothers include inequalities of information. To make sound decisions on economic development, policymakers need reliable and—just as important—readily accessible data. That is the concept underlying a new World Bank Group platform called TCdata360, an open platform for trade and competitiveness data from inside and outside the World Bank Group.

TCdata360 combines vetted datasets from more than 20 organizations—including the Bank Group, United Nations, World Trade Organization, World Economic Forum, and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development—in an interactive, easy-to-use platform.  Busy policymakers, development practitioners, academics, and industry specialists can use the site to access, compare, and download timely data on some 2,000 indicators related to a wide variety of trade and competitiveness topics such as trade logistics, global value chains, investment climate, entrepreneurship, and the cost of business operations.

TCdata360 provides snapshots of countries’ economic performance on key indicators. 

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eC2: Design Coupon/Voucher Scheme for reducing the rural electricity connection fees

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Deadline: 15-Feb-2017 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)coffeeuganda

The “Agence Sénégalaise dElectrification Rurale” (Senegalese Agency for Rural Electrification – ASER), established in 2000, is the autonomous governmental agency in charge of implementing all rural electrification programs in the country.
ASER is considering a proposal to buy down the connection fees for the households. Instead of asking the concessionaires to directly reduce the cost of connection (and ASER reimbursing that amount to the concessionaires), ASER will implement a coupon/voucher scheme, wherein households will receive coupon/voucher of certain cash values that they can use to pay for the connection fees.

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eC2:Tanzania-Procurement Value Chain Analysis

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Deadline:  15-Jan-2017 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

The study will be carried out through a combination of face to face interviews, review of rw_gender_ag_blogreports and literature and survey of selected procuring entities. The scope of work will include:
a) Obtain and review available reports and Procurement Guidelines and Regulations that will include Bank Guidelines, Bank PROCYS reports, Government Procurement Regulations, Independent Procurement reviews, procurement audits by government agencies etc;
b) Conduct interviews with Bank staff, selected government agencies staff, consultants , suppliers and contractors to identify processes that are vulnerable to bottlenecks and/or redundant;
c) Explore the value added to efficiency, transparency and economy resultant from adherence to best practices/government/Bank procedures;

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eC2: Developing a Roadmap for Improving Water Quality of Lake Toba, Indonesia

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Deadline:  23-Jan-2017 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

The objective of the assignment is to (a) identify the nature and extent of point-sources Afbeeldingsresultaat voor lake toba indonesia(PS) and non-point sources (NPS) impacting water quality of the Lake; (b) provide options for appropriate targeted infrastructure investments as pollution control management; and (c) provide recommendations for a Government-led integrated Lake Basin Management plan which will inform the monitoring and evaluation system during the implementation of the government’s Tourism Development Program in Lake Toba. The Consultant will also facilitate a stakeholder process to agree on the roadmap for the improvement and preservation of the water quality in Lake Toba.

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Building the foundation for better early childhood care and education in Sri Lanka

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­The Little Rose preschool is situated at the base of a fifty-foot high landfill in Cofor-better-early-childhood-care-and-education-in-sri-lankalombo’s Kolonnawa Division. Despite being next to one of Sri Lanka’s largest waste sites, the one room preschool is spotless. Inside, 23 children from ages 3 to 5 sit on colorful plastic chairs, dressed immaculately in ‘Little Rose’ uniforms.

Running a preschool in one of Colombo’s biggest slums isn’t easy, but head teacher R. A. Shalika Sajeevani exudes positivity. “The children don’t always bring snacks, so once a week, I make lunch for all of them at my home. It’s not a big deal – I cook for my own two sons anyway, I just put in a little extra for them,” she says.

Imagining infrastructure services in 2017

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<!– <!– /sites/all/themes/blogs/templates/header/js/jquery-1.4.4.min.js –>One of my favorite songs when I was growing up was John Lennon’s “Imagine.” A few months ago, UNICEF created a project around it to highlight the plight of millions of refugee children. Now, as the year draws to a close, I couldn’t help but imagine a world with high-quality, affordable, sustainable, well-maintained, infrastructure services for everyone.

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Year in Review: 2016 in 12 Charts (and a video)

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Between the social, political, and economic upheavals affecting our lives, and the violence and forced displacement making headlines, you’d be forgiven for feeling gloomy about 2016. A look at the data reveals some of the challenges we face but also the progress we’ve made toward a more peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable future. Here are 12 charts that help tell the stories of the year.

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Small Agribusinesses in Mexico Benefit from Online Procurement Platform

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Mexico is at the forefront of climate-friendly solutions in various productive sectors.

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In line with the policies of Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), actions have been taken to promote the use of renewable sources of energy in the agricultural sector to decrease the negative impacts on the environment.

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Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive: Opportunities of EU accession

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Deadline: 23-Jan-2017 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)waste water treament

The objective of this study is to assess specific issues in Danube Basin region regarding: (i) implementation, (ii) outcomes; and (iii) sustainability (mostly from the point of view of affordability) of the UWWTD in the Danube Region. While the study will primarily base its assessment in the experience of current EU members countries within the Danube River Basin in the directive implementation, the work is expected to also benefit EU candidates and potential candidate countries from the region (meaning almost all other countries of the region). In this first stage, the study will not seek to answer all of those questions conclusively, but rather to provide sufficient elements needed to initiate an in depth discussion on achievement and appropriateness of UWWT directive implementation in DRB. In parallel, the study will also seek to document specific good practices that might show how to improve implementation efficiency.

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