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This Evaluation exercise is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency on behalf of Development Partners

EVALUATION THE PARIS DECLARATION

Evaluation of the implementation of the Paris declaration: Case study at Country level Bangladesh

Consolidated by; PRS-HAP CELL, ECONOMIC RELATIONS DIVISION (ERD)

MINISTRY OF FINANCE, GOVERNMENT OF BANGLADESH IN COOPERATION WITH DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS IN BANGLADESH

APRIL 21, 2008

Report Prepared and Submitted By:

Natural Resources Planners Ltd. (NRP) Dhaka, Bangladesh

Evaluation Team:

Siddiqur Rahman Choudhury, Team Leader Nargis Islam, Deputy Team Leader A.K.M. Shamsuddin, Education Consultant Abdul Malek, Energy & Power Consultant Kaniz Aklima Sultana, Environment Consultant

Evaluation of the Paris Declaration

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Acronyms and Abbreviations Acronyms & Abbreviations Elaboration

ADB Asian Development Bank

CAS Country Assistance Strategy

CPTA Common Pool Taka Account

CSO Civil Society Organization

DAC Development Assistance Committee

DESA Dhaka Electric Supply Authority

DFID Department For International Development

DoE Department of Environment

DP Development Partner

DPE Directorate of Primary Education

DPEO District Primary Education Office

DPP Development Project Proforma

DRGA Debt Relief Grant Assistance

DWASA Dhaka Water and Sanitation Authority

EA Environmental Assessment

ECA Ecologically Critical Area

Edn Education

EFA Education for All

EGCB Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh

EIA Environmental Impact Assessment

ERC Energy Regulatory Commission

ERD Economic Relations Division

EU European Union

FABA Foreign Aid Budget and Accounts

FDR Final Draft Report

FGD Focus Group Discussion

FMR Financial Monitoring Reports

GOB Government of Bangladesh

GTCL Gas Transmission Company Ltd.

HAP Harmonization Action Plan

HLF High level Forum

HNPSP Health, Nutrition and Population Sector Program


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HQ Head Quarter

HRD Human Resource Development

ICB International Competitive Bidding

IDA International Development Agency

IMED Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division

JBIC Japan Bank for International Cooperation

JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency

KW Kilowatt

LCB Local Competitive Bidding

LCG Local Consultative Group

MDGs Millennium Development Goals

MIS Management Information System

MoEF Ministry of Environment and Forestry

MOPME Ministry of Primary and Mass Education

MT Metric Ton

MTBF Medium Term Budget Framework

MTR Mid Term Review

MW Megawatt

NBR National Board of Revenue

NEC National Environment Council

NEMAP National Environment Management Action Plan

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

NORAD Norwegian Agency for Development

NRP Natural Resources Planners Ltd.

OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

PAD Project Appraisal Document

PCU Program Co-ordination Unit

PD Paris Declaration

PDB Power Development Board

PEDP-II Primary Education Development Program - II

PFMS Public Financial Management System

PGCB Power Grid Company of Bangladesh

PIU Parallel Implementation Unit

PLU Program Liaison Unit

PMU Program Management Unit


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PPR Public Procurement Regulations

PPA Public Procurement Act

PRS Poverty Reduction Strategy

PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

PSQL Primary School Quality Level

REB Rural Electrification Board

RFP Request for Proposal

RPA Reimbursable Project Aid

SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment

SEI Socio Economic Infrastructure

SIA Sub-Implementing Agencies

SLIP School Level Improvement Plan

SOE Statement of Expenditure

SPSS Statistical Package for Social Science

TCF Trillion Cubic Feet

TOR Terms of Reference

UEO Upazila Education Office

UN United Nations

UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework

UNDP United Nations Development Program

UNFPA United Nations Population Fund

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

UPEP Upazila Level Education Plan

USAID United States Agency for International Development

WB World Bank

WFP World Food Program

WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development


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Table of Contents Contents Page number

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS...................................................................................................... I TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................................... IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .....................................................................................................................VII EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................VIII 1. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................VIII FINDINGS: .........................................................................................................................................VIII

2.1 PARIS DECLARATION AS A TOOL FOR AID EFFECTIVENESS: ............................................................ VIII 2.1.1 Clarity: ......................................................................................................................... viii 2.1.2 Relevance: .................................................................................................................... viii 2.1.3 Coherence: ................................................................................................................... viii 2.2.1 Commitment.................................................................................................................. viii 2.2.2 Capacity...........................................................................................................................ix 2.2.3 Incentives.........................................................................................................................ix

2.3 PARTNER COUNTRY (BANGLADESH) BEHAVIOUR:........................................................................... IX 2.3.1 Commitment.....................................................................................................................ix 2.3.2 Capacity...........................................................................................................................ix 2.3.3 Incentives..........................................................................................................................x

2.4 EMERGING RESULTS: ........................................................................................................................ X 2.4.1 Process results:.................................................................................................................x

3. SECTOR STUDIES:............................................................................................................................XI 3.1 PRIMARY EDUCATION (PEDP-II) ..................................................................................................... XI 3.2 ENERGY AND POWER........................................................................................................................ XI 3.3 ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................................................. XI

RECOMMENDATIONS:.......................................................................................................................XII 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................ 1

1.1 EVALUATION CONTEXT..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 PURPOSE AND SCOPE......................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 APPROACH ........................................................................................................................................ 2

2. METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................................. 3 2.1 SAMPLING FRAME ............................................................................................................................. 4 2.2 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS .................................................................................................... 4 2.3 LIMITATIONS ..................................................................................................................................... 4

3. ASSESSMENT OF THE PARIS DECLARATION .................................................................................... 4 3.1 CLARITY............................................................................................................................................ 4 3.2 RELEVANCE ...................................................................................................................................... 5 3.3 COHERENCE ...................................................................................................................................... 5

4. ASSESSMENT OF DEVELOPMENT PARTNER BEHAVIOUR ................................................................ 5 4.1 COMMITMENT: .................................................................................................................................. 5


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4.2 CAPACITY: ........................................................................................................................................ 7 4.3 INCENTIVES:...................................................................................................................................... 7

5. ASSESSMENT OF THE PARTNER COUNTRY (BANGLADESH) BEHAVIOUR ....................................... 7 5.1 COMMITMENTS AND OWNERSHIP ...................................................................................................... 7 5.2 CAPACITY ......................................................................................................................................... 8 5.3 INCENTIVES ....................................................................................................................................... 9

EMERGING RESULTS: .......................................................................................................................... 10 6.1 PROCESS RESULTS: .......................................................................................................................... 10

6.1.1 Ownership: .................................................................................................................... 10 6.1.2 Alignment: ..................................................................................................................... 10 6.1.3 Harmonization ............................................................................................................... 11 6.1.4 Managing For Results: .................................................................................................. 11 6.1.5 Mutual Accountability: .................................................................................................. 11

6.2 OUTPUTS ......................................................................................................................................... 12 7. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: ............................................................................. 12 8. SOCIAL SECTOR: PRIMARY EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM-II ................................... 15

8.1 THE TASK (SCOPE OF WORK): .......................................................................................................... 15 8. 2 EXPECTED OUTPUT:......................................................................................................................... 15 8.3 THE PEDP-II:.................................................................................................................................. 15 8. 4 SALIENT FEATURES OF PEDP-II INCLUDE:...................................................................................... 16 8.5 FUNDING ARRANGEMENT: ............................................................................................................... 16 8.6 TYPES OF FINANCING: ..................................................................................................................... 16 8. 7 MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND:.......................................................................................................... 17 8.8 PROCUREMENT ARRANGEMENT: ..................................................................................................... 17 8. 9 THE PROGRAM STATUS: .................................................................................................................. 17 8.10 MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS (ACCORDING TO MTR): ............................................................................. 18 8.11 CHALLENGES OF THE PROGRAM: ..................................................................................................... 18 8.12 PERFORMANCE OF THIS PROGRAM IN THE LIGHT OF PARIS DECLARATION (PD):............................. 19 8.13 FINDINGS:........................................................................................................................................ 25 8.14 RECOMMENDATIONS: ...................................................................................................................... 25

9. PRODUCTION SECTOR: ENERGY AND POWER.......................................................................... 27 9.1 INTRODUCTION:............................................................................................................................... 27 9.2 TASK (SCOPE OF WORK): ................................................................................................................. 28 9.3 EXPECTED OUTPUT OF THE STUDY.................................................................................................. 28 9.4 SAMPLING ....................................................................................................................................... 28 9.5 ASSESSMENT OF UTILITY OF THE PARIS DECLARATION................................................................... 29 9.6 ASSESSMENT OF AID HARMONIZATION AND AID EFFECTIVENESS IN ENERGY AND POWER SECTOR:

........................................................................................................................................................ 29 9.6.1 Aid Harmonization: ....................................................................................................... 29 9.6.2 Aid Effectiveness: Critical Issues: ................................................................................. 30 9.6.3 Alignment to GOB Procedures:..................................................................................... 30 9.6.4 Conditionalities/Cross Conditionalities of Aid:............................................................. 30


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9.6.5 Tender Process:............................................................................................................. 30 9.6.6 Approval of Tenders by DP Headquarters: ................................................................... 31 9.6.7 Recruitment of Consultants/Owners Engineers:............................................................ 31 9.6.8 DPs Missions:................................................................................................................ 31 9.6.9 Transaction cost ........................................................................................................... 31 9.6.10 Parallel Project Implementation Units (PIUs):............................................................ 31 9.6.11 Disbursement of Project Aid in Energy and Power Sector: ......................................... 31 9.6.12 Progress in generation of Renewable Energy: .................................................................... 33 9.6.13 Reform Program:.......................................................................................................... 33 9.6.14 Power Sector Reforms: ................................................................................................. 33 9.6.15 Reforms in Gas sub-sector: .......................................................................................... 34 9.6.16 Measures Undertaken to Bring Efficiency & Reduce System Loss:.............................. 34 9.6.17 Findings on aid effectiveness issues: ............................................................................ 34

9.7 ASSESSMENT OF THE PARIS DECLARATION AGAINST FIVE AXES OF THE PD ................................... 35 9. 8 Recommendations......................................................................................................... 38

10. CROSS-CUTTING ISSUE: ENVIRONMENT.................................................................................... 39 10.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................ 39 10.2 THE TASK (SCOPE OF WORK).......................................................................................................... 39 10.3 THE TASK COMPLETED ................................................................................................................... 40 10.5 UTILITY OF THE PARIS DECLARATION ON CROSS CUTTING ISSUES -ENVIRONMENT ....................... 40 10.6 THE PARIS DECLARATION PRINCIPLES (SET AGAINST FIVE AXES) AND ENVIRONMENTALLY

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT......................................................................................................... 41 10.6.1 Ownership: .................................................................................................................... 41 10.6.2 Alignment: ..................................................................................................................... 42 10.6.3 Harmonization:.............................................................................................................. 44 10.6.4 Managing for Development Results: ............................................................................. 45 10.6.5 Mutual Accountability: .................................................................................................. 45

10.7 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................... 46 10.8 RECOMMENDATION:........................................................................................................................ 46

ANNEX 1 TOR ………………………………………………………………………………………………47

ANNEX 2 List of persons met ……………………………………………………………………………60

ANNEX 3 List of participants attended in the workshop on preliminary findings ……………67

ANNEX 4 List of participants attended in workshop on PEDP II …………………………………71

ANNEX 5 List of participants attended in workshop on Draft Final Report ……………………74

ANNEX 6 Review of aid effectiveness in energy and power sector projects ….…..…………77

ANNEX 7 Questionnaires ……………………………………………………………………...…………83


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Acknowledgements This report is prepared by a team of consultants of the Natural Resources

Planners Limited (NRP Ltd.), engaged in the evaluation of the Implementation

of the Paris Declaration at country level-Bangladesh. The evaluation

consultant team would like to express their deep appreciation and extend

their sincere thanks to Mr. Md. Aminul Islam Bhuiyan, Secretary, ERD and Mr.

Monirul Haque, Joint Chief, ERD and National Evaluation Coordinator of the

Paris Declaration Evaluation. The team would like to recall the contribution of

Mr. Monowar Ahmed, Deputy Secretary, PRS-HAP Cell, ERD, Mr. Rafique

Ahmed Siddique, Senior Assistant Chief, PRS-HAP Cell, ERD for their support

and cooperation during the evaluation study. The team would also like to

extend their special thanks to Ms. Kayo Torii, Deputy Resident Representative,

JICA, Ms. Ayshanie Medagandoda-Labe, Aid/Donor Coordinator, UNRC

office, Mr. Leo Van der Tang, First Secretary Embassy of the Kingdom of the

Netherlands, Mr. Bo Sundstrom, Head of Corporate Business, DFID, Mr. Touhid

Alam, UNFPA, Mr. Shamsur Rahman, Senior Economist, JBIC, and other

members of the Working Group for their guidance and cooperation given

throughout the evaluation study as well as report writing. The consultants also

acknowledge the contribution of other officials of the GOB, Development

Partners and resource persons consulted during the preparations of this

report. Special thanks to Mr. Faridul Islam Khan, Director, NRP and the staff of

the NRP for their consistent support throughout the study and in preparation

of the report.


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Executive Summary 1. Introduction In line with the resolution of the Paris Declaration (PD), the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) commissioned a country level evaluation on the implementation of the commitments of the PD. The evaluation mainly made assessments of (I) The utility of the PD as a tool for increased aid effectiveness, (II) Development Partners' (DP) behaviour and Country Partner (Bangladesh) behaviour in terms of their commitments, capacity, and incentives and (III) Impacts of the aid effectiveness initiatives set against the five axes of the PD - ownership, harmonization, alignment, managing for results and mutual accountability.

Three sample sectors, namely (a) Primary Education (b) Energy and Power and (c) Environment as a crosscutting issue were selected for a detailed study.

The summary findings and recommendations are given below:

Findings: 2.1 Paris Declaration as a tool for aid effectiveness:

2.1.1 Clarity:

In general, awareness of the PD exists among all DP staff. However, with the exception of officials dealing with PD matters, level of familiarity is not high. In regard to the GOB, sufficient dissemination of the PD commitments has not taken place. Further, few GOB officials dealing with aid policies and coordination are well conversant with the commitments and indicators of the PD, while most officials are not. Many respondents to the study feel that definition of ownership needs further clarification. For example, several respondents inquired as to whose ownership is it?

2.1.2 Relevance:

In general, the commitments of the PD are relevant to Bangladesh aid architecture and have captured major aid effectiveness issues of the country. However, project sustainability, an important aid effectiveness issue, has not been adequately addressed. Indicator No. 1 is too narrow to measure all aspects of ownership, and measurement of many important aid effectiveness issues (see section 3.2 of the report) could not be captured by other indicators.

2.1.3 Coherence:

Respondents to the study did not express any major concern in respect to coherence of the commitments of the PD.

2.2 Development Partners' behaviour

2.2.1 Commitment

Development Partners having more pronounced emphasis from their headquarters to implement the PD, demonstrate more commitments than those who do not. Some of the findings on commitment include: (I) support from the DPs to the GOB’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) and alignment of their aid agenda to the goals of the PRS, (II) development of a monitorable action plan to implement PD commitment, (III) collaboration with GOB in the formulation and implementation of Bangladesh Harmonization Action Plan (HAP),


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Participation in the DAC 2006 and 2008 surveys, and present country level evaluation, (IV) formulation of Country Assistance strategies (CAS) jointly by four major DPs (representing more than 80% of overseas development assistance) namely Japan, The UK, World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank(ADB), (V) harmonization of country assistance programs of 10 United Nations (UN) system members through United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), and (VI) Increasing alignment by some DPs to GOB procedures and country systems.

Despite the demonstration of commitments mentioned above, evidence such as the continuation of parallel implementation units (PIU) with very few reductions in recent years, involvement of donors in the micro management of projects, increasing number of missions (250 in 2006, increased to 402 in 2007), lack of initiative by some DPs to align to country systems and procedures, unilateral de-commitment of projects aid by some donors and the failure to untie aid completely—indicate non-fulfillment of some of the commitments of the PD.

2.2.2 Capacity Capacities of DPs vary. Turnover of staff is a problem with some DPs, while other report staff shortages. However, the major capacity constraint for several DPs is the lack of sufficient delegation of authority from the headquarter office to take decision at the field level on many issues.

2.2.3 Incentives Only a few DPs in Bangladesh have dedicated staff to implement the commitments of the PD. However, no evidence was found of any special incentive to motivate the DP staff to implement the commitments.

2.3 Partner Country (Bangladesh) Behaviour:

2.3.1 Commitment

GOB has demonstrated in clear terms its commitments to implement the PD. Some of the evidence includes: (I) formulation of the PRS and linking its goals to a medium term budgetary framework, reflected in the annual budgets; (II) establishment of a PRS-HAP Cell in the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and steering committee for Paris Declaration Evaluation; (III) restructuring the Local Consultative Group (LCG) by bringing the provision of co-chairing by the ERD Secretary along with the DPs’ nominated chairman; (iv) formulation of the Bangladesh Harmonization Action Plan, (v) conducting a 2006 Development Assistance Committee (DAC) survey , (vi) holding of workshops to disseminate the PD commitments; (vii)the ongoing initiatives for country level evaluation and DAC survey 2008,(viii) reforming the procurement system leading to enactment of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2006; and (ix)ongoing efforts to reform the Public Financial Management System (PFMS).

Commitments of GOB would have been more pronounced if the pace of implementation of the HAP had been faster and the PRS-HAP cell of ERD had been made more effective.

2.3.2 Capacity

An important challenge to aid effectiveness is the capacity limitations of the GOB officials in managing aid and other development resources. Some of the limitations are: (I) capacity to articulate aid policies and formulate aid worthy projects, (II) capacity to process and approve projects timely, (III) capacity limitations to implement and manage projects,


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particularly in the areas of procurement and financial management and (IV) limitations in monitoring and aid co-ordination.

Due to the slow pace of civil service reform, desired capacity is yet to be developed, despite the fact that some initiatives to strengthen GOB capacity have been made. Donor led initiatives to enhance GOB’s capacities also did not help much as they were often designed without due regard to actual needs, sustainability, and other local conditions. Misplacement of trained staff, and frequent staff turnover are other constraints that create bottlenecks and hamper aid effectiveness.

2.3.3 Incentives

Another obstacle to aid effectiveness is the absence of an appropriate incentive system to motivate GOB staff to implement development projects. In the absence of any special incentive, in terms of emoluments; and with very limited promotion and career prospect, there is very little motivation for GOB officials engaged in aid management and project implementation. While there have been many pronouncements to reform the GOB incentive system, no concrete progress has occurred.

2.4 Emerging Results:

2.4.1 Process results: • Ownership: The formulation of PRS by GOB through a participatory process, its

implementation and subsequent endorsement by DPs carries a landmark in attaining ownership commitment of the PD in Bangladesh. The PRS generally has clear strategic priorities linked to a Medium Term Budgetary Framework (MTBF), which are reflected in annual budgets. GOB is introducing MTBF in phases. So far MTBF has been implemented in 16 major development fund spending ministries. Further implementation of MTBF is facing difficulties due to capacity constraints of line ministries

• Alignment: - Use of GOB procurement procedures has increased. Almost in all cases of local competitive bids, GOB procedures are being followed. However, in the case of international competitive bids, some major DPs are yet to align their procedures. Use of Bangladesh’s Public Financial Management System (PFMS) has also increased with the reforms in PFMS. Some donors, however, still do not like to rely on country PFMS which led one of them to stop going for further budget support. While capacity limitations of GOB staff particularly in respect to procurement and financial management are barriers to alignment, the rigidity of the procedures of some multilateral DPs and the lack of initiatives on their part to align to Bangladesh’s system are equally responsible for not achieving full alignment.

• Harmonization: There is substantial progress in aid harmonization in Bangladesh since the commencement of the PD. Four major donors namely WB, ADB, DIFD and Japan have harmonized their Country Assistance Programs by jointly formulating their assistance strategies. Ten organizations of the UN system have also harmonized their country assistance programs through UNDAF which also has brought the introduction of joint UNDAF review. In addition, a harmonized approach to transfer cash to implementing partners has been rolled out. Sector Wide Programs like Primary Education Development Program (PEDP-II), Health,


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Nutrition and Population Sector Program (HNPSP) and other joint financing efforts on partnership basis having donor complementarities are other examples of harmonization. Harmonization efforts are sometimes constrained by the multiplicity of donor procedures.

• Managing For Results: The PRS provides managing for results by linking national development strategies to annual budget process. MTBF produced in line with PRS goals have also clearly linked allocations with the development goals.

• Mutual Accountability: Establishment of PRS implementation forum led by GOB with representation from DPs to monitor implementation of the PRS and GOB-DP harmonization implementation task force to monitor the implementation of the HAP is example of progress towards a mutual accountability process.

3. Sector Studies: 3.1 Primary Education (PEDP-II) 3.1.1 The evaluation study noted same progress in PEDP-II in meeting the commitments of the PD. These include: (I) deepening of ownership of the programs, (II) use of standardised fund withdrawal application and financial monitoring report (FMR), (III) change of UNICEF budgeting calendar to align with GOB and (IV) better performance of PEDP-II against 12 indicators of the PD compared to national average.

3.1.2 The issues that need special attention for further improvement are: (I) harmonisation of different types of financing and streamlining complicated fund management system, (II) further alignment to GOB’s procurement system and (III) capacity development to institutionalise the achievements of PEDP-II.

3.2 Energy and Power

3.2.1 GoB’s ownership has increased in the energy and power sector. Programs and projects in the energy and power sector are formulated in line with PRS and in light of energy policy. Donors have aligned their country assistance strategies to GoB policies, master plans and strategies.

3.2.2 The sector study on energy and power noted improvement on aid harmonization and coordination and limited progress toward alignment to country procurement and PFM systems. Like other sectors, alignment to procurement procedures in case of local competitive biddings increased significantly but progress in case of international competitive biddings is limited. The study also reported positive movements in respect to sector reform programs and in the reduction of system loss.

Major concerns on aid effectiveness identified in the study are delays (I) in the tendering process from GOB side, (II) clearing of procurement proposals by DPs and (III) recruitment of consultants/owners engineers. Other concerns are unmanageable cross conditionality, no reduction in transaction cost and no reduction of individual missions.

3.3 Environment 3.3.1 Over the past few years, ownership of Bangladesh in developing national strategies for environment has deepened. Significant progress has been achieved in establishing policy, institutional and legal framework necessary to strengthen environmental management in Bangladesh. Environment as a cross cutting issue has been included in the PRS with linkage to


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the national development strategies and annual budget. The study reveals that the GOB’s institutional capacity and the existing assessment system to address potential negative environmental impact of the development projects/programs are inadequate. There are no specific guidelines for conducting and reviewing the environmental assessment of non-industrial projects. The donors in Bangladesh are not satisfied with the quality of environmental impact assessments (EIA) particularly in the requirements for public consultation and information disclosure. Donors are playing a supportive role in strengthening the capacity of GoB for environmental management and enforcement. Almost all the respondents feel that it is important to continue developing common EIA procedures for the development projects and establishing guidelines for EIA of non-industrial projects.

Recommendations: I. The process for implementation of the commitments of the PD should be

integrated with the aid architecture of DPs and GOB.

II. GOB in collaboration with DPs should hold more dissemination workshops.

III. ERD should strengthen its co-ordination and monitoring role by upgrading its present PRS-HAP cell to a full-fledged outfit and enhance the pace of implementation of Harmonization Action Plan (HAP).

IV. All major aid utilizing ministries should create a dedicated unit to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the HAP.

V. The PD should address the issue of sustainability of the outputs of the aided projects and programs.

VI. The indicators identified in the PD may be revisited so that indicators are adequate and appropriate to measure ownership and environmental sustainability.

VII. Capacity of local DP officials should be enhanced by delegating more authority from headquarters to enable them to take decisions quickly.

VIII. GOB may take initiative with the support of DPs to develop a government- wide comprehensive need based capacity development program.

IX. Initiatives should be taken by DPs to dismantle the parallel PIUs as early as possible. DPs should also avoid micro management of aided projects. Number of missions from the Headquarters of DPs should be reduced by having joint missions in place of single missions.

X. The tying of aid should be removed and the conditionality attached to disbursement of aid should be realistic and within the capacity of GOB to comply.

XI. Donors should provide grant assistance to support GOB in its efforts to protect the environment.


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PART I


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1. Introduction 1.1 Evaluation Context Despite country’s inadequate natural resources and vulnerability to frequent natural disasters including adverse effects of recent climate change, Bangladesh has done reasonably well compared to many other aid recipient countries in reducing its poverty and accelerating the pace of socio economic development. Bangladesh has been able to reduce its dependence on foreign aid over the years. In the eighties and early nineties major portion of the development budget financing would come from foreign aid which has declined to less than 50% in recent years. However, foreign aid still plays an important role as a significant portion of the overall budget deficit, about 47%, as projected in the current year’s budget, is financed by external aid.

In the above context aid effectiveness is considered a very important issue in Bangladesh. Accordingly, Bangladesh has participated in all international initiatives to enhance aid effectiveness and has joined other countries and international development organisations to endorse the joint commitments contained in the Paris Declaration (PD) 2005 on aid effectiveness. Since then Bangladesh Government has been making efforts towards better aid coordination and harmonization. As part of these efforts, Bangladesh has taken some initiatives like formulation of country level Harmonization Action Plan (HAP), arranging workshops to disseminate the PD commitments among government officials dealing with aid. Bangladesh took part in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC or simply “DAC”) 2006 Survey on monitoring of the Paris Declaration and is also participating in the ongoing DAC survey, 2008.

The Paris Declaration highlights the importance of an independent cross-country evaluation to complement the monitoring of its implementation. In response to this commitment, the DAC Development Evaluation Network has proposed a two phase evaluation. The first phase of the evaluation will focus on input, the implementation process and (to the extent possible) on the level of outputs through a series of partner country, development partners’ headquarters and thematic evaluations. The second phase will focus on whether the intended long term effects of the PD are being achieved. Bangladesh has demonstrated keen interest in an active role in the evaluation process and volunteered at the Evaluation Reference group meeting held in 2007 in Paris to conduct a country level evaluation of the implementation of the Paris Declaration.

The present country level evaluation initiative, taken by GoB in collaboration with DPs (financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)) is part of Bangladesh’s effort to fulfil its above mentioned commitment. A Steering Committee and a Working Group have been established, both comprised of representatives of GoB and DPs. A senior official of the Economic Relations Division of the Government has been appointed as the National Evaluation Coordinator and under his leadership; the Working Group formulated country Terms of Reference (TOR) in accordance with global TOR prepared by the DAC Evaluation group. Based on the sprit of the Paris Declaration, local consultants were procured following GOB Public Procurement Regulations 2003, and Natural Resources Planners Ltd., a local consulting firm, has been engaged to conduct the study. The National Evaluation Coordinator centrally monitors the progress of the evaluation study in close collaboration with the Working Group.

1.2 Purpose and Scope The purpose of this evaluation is to strengthen aid effectiveness by assessing what constitutes better practices for partner and donor behaviour in regard to implementation of the Paris Declaration. The scope of evaluation phase one will be on in-put, the implementation


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process and to the extent possible on out-put levels. The evaluation examines how far political support, peer pressure and coordinated action (from partners and donors as appropriate) are working to get the behaviour changes to which signatories have committed. The study investigates the nature of the interactions between the behavioural changes specified in the Paris Declaration under the headings of ownership, harmonization, alignment, results management and mutual accountability. The study has been split into two parts. The first part consists of the following:

Assessment of the Paris Declaration as a tool for increased aid effectiveness

Assessment of Development Partners’ behaviour

Assessment of Partner (Bangladesh) behaviour

Assessment of effects of the aid effectiveness initiatives set against the five axes of the PD and effects in terms of transaction cost

Three sample sectors namely (a) Primary Education, (b) Energy and Power, and (c) Environment as crosscutting issues have been selected for a detailed study which forms the second part of the evaluation.

1.3 Approach The evaluation’s approach seeks to answer the following questions: Are development partners and the government of Bangladesh taking necessary initiatives to fulfil the commitments of the Paris Declaration? If not, why not? In addition, the evaluation identifies good practices that are in place that assist with effective implementation of the PD. The evaluation also identifies constraints that hinder PD implementation. The core of the evaluation study is formed by the following dimensions of the aid effectiveness agenda:

(i) Assessment of the Paris Declaration as a tool for aid effectiveness The study is made to ascertain the level of awareness and perception of both the GOB and DPs on the Clarity, Relevance, and Coherence of the PD commitments and indicators. In addition, the study addresses the question of what are perceived as critical issues on aid effectiveness in Bangladesh and to what extent those issues have been addressed by the PD principles. The study also examines how the PD as a document influences the policy and the behaviour change of both GOB and DPs in respect to delivery and management of aid.

(ii) Assessment of Development Partner Behaviour The main focus of this part of the assessment is to ascertain the commitment of the development partners in Bangladesh to implement the Paris Declaration. The study evaluates whether DP commitment has been reflected in practice? Another question addressed is whether the development partners support the Bangladesh national development plan such as PRS and act coherently with the GOB to achieve the national development goals? The study assesses development partners’ capacity to implement the PD, and examines whether the incentive systems of development partners is appropriate to motivate the implementation of the PD.

(iii) Assessment of Partner Behaviour The evaluation study assesses alignment of GOB aid policy objectives to the PD commitments and how those commitments have been demonstrated. The study ascertains to comprehend how the issue of ‘ownership’ is understood by the stakeholders of Bangladesh. In addition, the study attempts to ascertain whether the implementation of the PD principles has brought an impact on the level of ownership inclusiveness in regard to civil society and other national bodies (e.g. Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI))? Has


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the nature of ownership influenced Government - Development Partners relationship? And, how conflict, if any, is resolved?

The study makes an assessment of the capacity of GOB to implement the commitments of the PD and identifies the capacity deficiencies. The study also assesses the adequacy of the incentive systems to implement the PD.

Capturing the Emerging results Along with the assessment of the above mentioned three dimensions of the aid effectiveness, the study captures in the context of Bangladesh, the emerging effects (intended and unintended)of aid effectiveness initiatives set against the five axes of the PD—ownership, alignment, harmonization, managing for results, and mutual accountability. The study assesses in a limited way the cost-benefits of implementing the PD commitments and direction in which the transaction cost in general has moved since implementation of the PD.

Sample Sectors In addition to the core evaluation issues mentioned above, the study includes an examination in detail of what works and what needs to be improved in the following sectors/cross cutting issues.

Social Sector: Primary Education Development Program II (PEDP-II)

Production Sector: Energy and Power

Cross Cutting Issue: Environment

2. Methodology One of the most important parts of this evaluation study is collection of appropriate information from reliable and authentic sources. Both secondary and primary sources of data have been used in the study.

Secondary data collection Secondary data and information have been collected from the documents published on the Paris Declaration and the information available from internet services. The other major secondary sources for collection of information include: the DAC Report, the Bangladesh Harmonisation Action Plan (HAP), DP reports, sector review reports, DAC survey 2006, reports on mid term reviews, and other relevant documents.

Primary data collection Primary data, through direct field visits, were collected from the following sources:

Interviews with relevant GOB officials and resource persons including those who have been involved in Paris High Level Forum (HLF), DAC survey and Harmonization Action Plan (HAP),

Interviews with the relevant DP staff,

Interviews with representatives of the Civil Society—Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO),

Opinions and views expressed by PD and GOB participants in ERD workshops, organized to discuss preliminary findings of the study, and

DP and GOB information gathered from focus group meetings.


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2.1 Sampling Frame The sample frame for the evaluation of the interim phase of the study is based on the number of organizations engaged in the implementation of the Paris Declaration and the stakeholders in general. The sampling has been made in such a manner so that the key stakeholders are represented in the process. Attempts have been made to ensure that in addition to the three sectors namely PEDP-II, Energy, and Environment already selected by the client for detailed examination, some other key Government agencies involved in the implementation of the PD are represented in the study. Within a particular organisation, selection of information sources have been made in such a manner that the sampling ensures a representative character. The evaluation team interviewed a total of 133 respondents, 66 from GOB, 54 from DPs, 13 from Civil Society Organization (CSO), NGOs and resource persons.

2.2 Data Collection Instruments A few set of key questionnaires prepared for the model evaluation framework and scope of work as laid down in the TOR were used as main data collection instruments. Other data collection instruments were recorded notes of focused group meetings and discussions. 2.3 Limitations

(I) Very few documents were available for consultations such as periodic

(annual and mid term) reviews/reports on the progress of implementation of the PD both in case of DPs and GOB. The study therefore had to be anchored mainly on the data collected through interviews. As the PD was relatively a new subject to many respondents, it was not easy for them to reflect their views in an organized manner as some respondents expressed their personal comments, rather than official comments as their organization’s representative.

(II) Lack of a sufficient data, framework or standards to calculate transaction costs limited the assessment scope of transaction costs and its trends.

(III) Limited availability of respondents both GOB and DPs in the initial few weeks of the study due to combination of Eid, Christmas and New Year’s holidays constrained the progress of the study.

3. Assessment of the Paris Declaration This assessment aims to assess the utility of the Paris Declaration as a tool to foster aid effectiveness. The assessment analyses, the clarity, relevance, and coherence of the PD in the context of Bangladesh. 3.1 Clarity

• A general awareness on the PD exists amongst all DP staff interviewed during the study. However, with the exception of officials assigned specifically to deal with the PD matters, level of familiarity is not high. DP staff during interviews expressed no discomfort regarding the clarity of the PD. However, some DP staff feels that indicator no. 4 "Strengthen capacity by coordinated support” lacks clarity and requires clarification.

• On GOB side, sufficient dissemination of the PD commitments has not taken place. Except key officials dealing with aid policies and coordination, most of the officials


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of the line Ministries/Divisions/Agencies dealing with aid are not well conversant with the commitments and indicators of the PD.

• Some of the officials of GOB and resource persons have questions on the clarity of the definition of ownership and also the adequacy of indicator no. 1 measuring ownership. They feel that an answer to the question ‘Whose Ownership?’ is missing in the PD. Further indicator for measuring ownership does not capture inclusive aspects of ownership. Also by the same indicator it is not possible to measure the extent to which a partner country has taken lead in aid coordination.

• Insufficient dissemination of the PD commitments and indicators and lack of urgency to seek clarification are perhaps the major causes for continued lack of clarity. In the absence of adequate monitoring on the progress of the implementation of the PD there is little to motivate both DPs and GOB to take any initiative to improve clarity.

3.2 Relevance This study reveals that in general the commitments of the PD are relevant to Bangladesh aid architecture and have captured major aid effectiveness issues of the country. However, sustainability of the outputs of aided projects, an important aid effectiveness issue in Bangladesh has not been adequately addressed by the PD principles. In regard to indicators, it has been found that twelve PD indicators do not capture critical aid effectiveness measures. Such indicators fail to capture politicians and senior civil servants’ commitment in setting the country’s development agenda, civil service reforms, sustainable development in harmony with global environmental sustainability and bio-diversity, donor complementarities, harmonization of salary supplements and allowances, and donor to donor delegation. In the context of ownership or leadership, the respondents consider the existence of a national Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as one of the proxy indicators in environment cross cutting issues.

3.3 Coherence Respondents to the study have not expressed any serious concern in respect to coherence of PD commitments. However, some respondents think that harmonization and ownership can have conflicting effects that also may stand in the way of alignment. Some respondents find that alignment of donors' procedures to GOB procedures, in respect to procurement and financial management, are at times difficult and complicated to implement.

4. Assessment of Development Partner Behaviour Development Partner behaviour has been assessed in terms of their commitment capacity and incentives for implementation of the PD. 4.1 Commitment: Officials of DPs interviewed during the study expressed their keenness to implement the commitments of the PD. In case of many DPs, the evidences of the commitments are quite visible while in case of some DPs evidences are not so pronounced. Degree of commitment of the DPs has a relationship with the emphasis they get from their headquarters to implement the PD. DPs having more pronounced emphasis from their headquarters particularly in the form of written instruments like action plans or guidelines demonstrated more commitment than those who did not receive such motivation from the HQ. The following evidence demonstrates the commitments of the DPs.

• Some DPs have developed a monitorable action plan to implement the PD commitments. The country assistance strategies of many DPs emphasize the need for implementing the commitments of the PD.


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• DPs in Bangladesh support in principle the PRS of the GOB. The aid agenda of most of them are centred on the priorities and goals of the PRS and in general they act coherently to attain those goals. However, all DPs express their agreement to align with PRS as a policy, but when it comes to alignment with procedures they did not show the same extent of commitment. For example, two major multilateral DPs in Bangladesh, WB and Asian Development Bank (ADB), provide strong support for GOB’s PRS. Nevertheless, in case of these DPs have yet to align their procurement procedure, especially foreign procurement, to that of the GOB. This finding has surfaced despite the fact that GOB’s procurement procedure has been reformed in consultation with these DPs to attain mutually agreed standards.

• DPs participated in the DAC survey 2006, collaborated with the GOB to formulate the Bangladesh Harmonization Action Plan and participate in the Local Consultative Group (LCG) meetings. The participation in the ongoing DAC survey 2008 and in this country level evaluation also demonstrates the commitments of the DPs in Bangladesh.

• Four major DPs in Bangladesh namely WB, ADB, DFID and Japan have jointly formulated their country assistance strategies in an effort to harmonize their country assistance programs. UN system members in Bangladesh have also harmonized their assistance programs through UNDAF.

• A number of DPs namely Canada, Denmark, the European Commission, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom expressed their willingness to work with the GOB towards a Joint Assistance Strategy. The Strategy would be linked to the next PRS for Bangladesh and would take the aid effectiveness as its point of departure.

• There is evidence of a greater degree of harmonization initiatives in the form of a sector-wide approach, and other jointly financed aid modalities through division of labor amongst participatory partners and complimentarities among each others’ initiatives.

• Some DPs have established a mechanism to report progress of PD implementation to their headquarters. However, most of the DPs have yet to establish any reporting mechanism.

• Alignment of DPs’ procedures to GOB systems increased in respect to procurement after the GOB enacted the Public Procurement Regulations.

Despite the demonstration of commitments as mentioned above failure to implement or slow pace of implementation of some commitments are also visible. The following are some examples.

• One important commitment of the PD was for DPs to strengthen country systems and not to create dedicated structures for day to day management. The implementation of this commitment in Bangladesh still remains unfulfilled. Parallel project implementation units continue to exist with very few reductions in numbers and donor involvement in the micro management of projects also persists in many cases. This has been found to be especially the case for major multilateral donors.

• Another important commitment called for a reduction in the number of missions. This commitment remains unfulfilled. Specifically, findings demonstrate that there were 250 missions in 2006, while in 2007 that number increased. Findings further demonstrate that single and duplicating missions have not decreased, and joint missions have not increased.


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• Despite a significant decline, tying of aid continues to exist. Findings demonstrate some donors limiting procurement of international consultants to either their own countries, or with whom they have alliances.

• The aid coordination in Bangladesh still remains donor led, despite restructuring of the LCG which made provision for co-chairing by the Economic Relations Division’s (ERD) representative.

4.2 Capacity: While major donors seem to have adequate capacity, capacity varies from donor to donor. Also, capacity varies within a particular DP. Some DPs reported a shortage of staff. Capacity to implement and monitor the progress of the PD has not been created in the field offices of DPs. Turnover of staff is also a problem. Some donors have addressed the issue by engaging local professional staff. Insufficient delegation of authority form headquarters to the field limits the capacity of many DPs to respond to emergencies and to make even very small adjustments, to accommodate implementation difficulties. For example, country offices of some bilateral donors who have authority to approve projects and programs up to certain threshold could have responded to the devastating cyclone (SIDR) that hit Bangladesh recently by providing timely emergency assistance. Nevertheless, delegation of authority from headquarters to the field has improved in case of DPs who formed partnership in formulating their Country Assistance Strategy. 4.3 Incentives: There is no evidence of special incentive initiative to motivate the DP staff to implement the commitments of the PD. Only a very few DPs in Bangladesh have a dedicated unit or staff to implement the commitments of the PD. Also, evidence demonstrates that there has not been any recruitment of staff on the basis of their special ability to implement the PD. Also, the system of performance evaluation of staff provides little incentive to motivate them to implement the PD.

5. Assessment of the Partner Country (Bangladesh) Behaviour The main thrusts of this assessment are to examine the GOB’s behaviour in relation to the ownership, commitment, capacity and incentive system for implementation of the Paris Declaration. 5.1 Commitments and Ownership Ownership is a complex issue is not well defined in Bangladesh. However, pattern of ownership is changing. For the first time in Bangladesh a participatory approach has been emerged in the preparation of national development strategy, like the PRS. Parliamentarian, civil society representatives, and local government officials have been involved in the consultative process for preparation of the PRSP by the government. As the result of this inclusiveness in the preparation of the PRS, the incoming government is likely to take ownership. However, it is not clear that this participatory approach will be continued in the implementation and monitoring of the PRS. So far, there is no demonstration of a participatory approach by involving stakeholders outside government in the monitoring and implementation of PRS. In line with the PD commitments, GOB has, however, linked goals and priorities of the PRS to the medium term expenditure framework. The annual budget also reflects the PRS priorities and goals.

Implementation of some of the PD principles has generated enthusiasm in GOB to take leadership in respect to aid management and co-ordination. Support by all DPs for the PRS has provided a framework for a GOB leadership role in aid co-ordination. The CAS of four major DPs and budget support are also helping GOB to assume a greater leadership role. All DP respondents to the study have expressed the view that the major constrain for GOB


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leadership is the lack of capacity. GOB respondents, while recognizing that capacity deficiency is a serious issue, have pointed to donor reluctance to change some of their practices; including, micromanagement is not helpful to transitioning to GOB leadership. Also, GOV respondents have further expressed their belief that the mindset of some donors has yet to match the spirit of the PD for promoting GOB’s leadership in aid management and co-ordination.

Establishment of PRS-HAP Cell in ERD, steering committee and working group for Paris Declaration Evaluation, restructuring Local Consultative Group by bringing the provision of co-chairing by the ERD Secretary along with the DPs’ nominated chairman, formulation of the Bangladesh Harmonization Action Plan, conducting DAC survey 2006, holding of workshops to disseminate the PD commitments, the ongoing initiatives for country level evaluation and DAC survey 2008 demonstrate the commitments of GOB. Reforming the procurement system leading to enactment of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2006 and ongoing efforts to reform the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) is also evidence of GOB commitment. Such commitments would have been more pronounced if the pace of implementation of HAP had been faster and PRS-HAP cell of ERD had been more effective. The distribution of the ERD function is donor-wise. Business with a particular donor or group of donors are handled by a particular wing of the division (e.g. WB wing, ADB wing etc.) and in such distribution the importance of overarching co-ordination has been overlooked.

The PRS-HAP cell has many constraints and limitations, including the shortage of adequate and appropriate staff, frequent turnover of staff, and logistic problems. With such constraints it is difficult to coordinate effectively to speed up the implementation of HAP.

5.2 Capacity A big challenge to aid effectiveness is the capacity limitations of the GOB in managing and coordinating aid and other developmental resources. The capacity of the ERD, line ministries, and project implementation agencies are inadequate to meet the emerging challenges posed by the Paris Declaration. Some of the limitations are:

• Capacity to articulate aid policies and formulate aid worthy projects;

• Capacity to process and approve projects timely;

• Capacity limitation to manage and implement projects, particularly in the areas of procurement and financial management, by line ministries and at field level; and

• Limitations in monitoring and aid co-ordination

Despite some initiatives to strengthen GOB capacity, due to the slow pace of civil service reforms, desired capacity is yet to be developed. Donor led initiatives to enhance GOB capacities also did not help much as they were often designed without due regard to actual needs, sustainability, and other local conditions. Capacity development initiatives were often fragmented, project based, overlooking the actual capacity needs, lacked comprehensiveness and a government wide approach. Initiatives were often limited to some local and foreign training programs of officials. Very little has been done to enhance institutional capacity. In the absence of appropriate policy and career development practices, trained officials were not properly utilized due to frequent transfer of such officials. Frequent turnover of staff in the ministries, departments, agencies, and projects dealing with aid management is another constraint that creates bottlenecks and hampers aid effectiveness. Continuity of parallel PIUs is not conducive to capacity building as it prolongs the dependency of GOB officials in those units.


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5.3 Incentives Another critical area of aid effectiveness is the absence of an appropriate incentive system to motivate GOB staff’s implementation of development projects. Except in ERD, no dedicated outfit has been created in the line ministries to implement and monitor the commitments of the PD. In the absence of any special incentive in terms of emoluments, and with very limited promotion and career prospect, there is very little motivation for the GOB officials engaged in aid management and project implementation. Salary supplement and allowances provided by DPs to GoB officials/staff working for a project has wide variation, which distorts the GOB incentive system, and create disincentive for those who receive a lower rate. Although there are many pronouncements to reform the incentive systems, no concrete progress has occurred.


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Emerging Results: 6.1 Process results:

6.1.1 Ownership: The formulation of the PRS, its implementation, and subsequent endorsement by DPs carries a landmark in attaining ownership commitment of the PD in Bangladesh. It has also demonstrated the qualitative and inclusive character of ownership as the PRS was prepared solely by Bangladesh’s own input and through a consultative process involving government officials (both central and local), politicians, parliamentarians and civil society representatives. The PRS has clear strategic priorities linked to a medium term budgetary framework and reflected in annual budgets. GOB is introducing the Medium Term Budget Framework (MTBF) in phases. So far MTBF has been implemented in 16 ministries that have incurred most of the development expenditures. However, implementation of MTBF is facing difficulties due to line ministries capacity constraints. As also discussed, Paris Declaration principles have provided incentive to the GOB to take leadership roles in aid coordination forums; including, the PRS implementation forum, the LCG, and other working groups. The establishment of the PRS-HAP cell in the ERD has further demonstrated GOB’s willingness to take on ownership and leadership roles to monitor and coordinate the implementation of the PD. Again, as discussed previously, the main constraints to the GOB taking on a greater leadership role here, centers upon several factors. Such factors include GOB capacity limitations, rigid procedures of several DPs, and reluctance on the part of several DPs to change procedures and practices. The leadership role that the GOB adopted in the formulation of the PRS is lacking in respect to project and sector wide program design and preparation. Project design is still largely donor led. The main GOB development project proforma documents (DPP) are generally prepared following the DP project appraisal documents (PAD). The DPP often are little more than a GOB formatted PAD. Such practices do not foster GOB commitments and ownership. Also, too much involvement by several DPs in the day to day management of projects does little to promote ownership. While DPs claim that GOB’s lack of capacity is the reason for DP involvement, GOB officials contend that DP over involvement is due to reluctance on the part of some DPs to change their mindset. As the result of these factors, many DPs and GOB officials believe that despite donors’ support to GOB led PRS in principle, the foreign aid regime in Bangladesh still remains largely donor driven.

6.1.2 Alignment: The issue of alignment is increasingly highlighted in Bangladesh both by DPs and the GOB. Some progress has been made with the enactment of GOB’s PPA 2006. Use of GOB procurements procedures has increased. Almost in all cases of local purchase, GOB procedure is followed. Some DPs have aligned fully their procedure with the country system. However, some major multilateral DPs (e.g. WB, ADB) are yet to align their procedures in respect to international procurement. Multilateral DPs feel that for them to align fully, capacity and quality of implementation of the PPR by GOB need to improve further. However, serious efforts to meet this PD commitment is lacking despite the fact that the country procurement system has been reformed in consultations and with agreements from


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DPs. Rigidity of procurement procedures of some DPs restricts them from aligning with GOB procedure. Failure in alignment is causing delay in procurement, as procurement involves the requirement to follow lengthy procedures of some DPs in addition to GOB requirements. As procurement represents a major part of the foreign aid in many projects, such lengthy and cumbersome practices delay disbursement, increase transaction cost, and reduce aid effectiveness. Use of the country Public Financial Management System has increased with the reforms in the PFMS itself. Nevertheless, several donors can not rely on the country PFMS. For example, a major donor recently changed their policy to provide budget support as they find the PFMS is not sufficiently reliable to cover fiduciary risk. Lack of mutually agreed standards, process and capacity limitation of GOB staff particularly in respect to procurement and financial management are major barriers to alignment.

6.1.3 Harmonization There has been substantial progress in aid harmonization in Bangladesh since the commencement of the PD. Four major donors namely WB, ADB, DIFD, and Japan have harmonized their Country Assistance Programs by jointly formulating their assistance strategies. Ten organizations of the United Nations (UN) system have also harmonized their country assistance programs through the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The UN reform strategy in Bangladesh prepared in 2006 is in essence a strong move by the UN system to align itself with the Paris Declaration. In a further step toward harmonization, the UN system introduced a Joint annual UNDAF review. The first Review held in 2006 is reported to have saved approximately 1,440 man-hours of civil service time and brought UN Heads of Agency and staff together for the first time to review collective development results. In addition, a harmonized approach to transfer cash to implementing partners has been implemented. Use of single assessments and a reporting format is expected to decrease transaction costs for Government. Sector wide approaches in PEDP-II, HNPSP, and other joint financing efforts having donor complementarities are other examples of harmonization. Evidence demonstrates that improved harmonization increased aid effectiveness in terms of fewer overlaps of assistance, implementation of common arrangements at country level for planning, funding (joint financial arrangements), disbursement, monitoring, evaluation and reporting to government on DP’s activities. However, harmonization efforts are sometimes constrained by the multiplicity of donor procedures.

6.1.4 Managing For Results: The PRS provides managing for results by linking national development strategies to the annual budget process. MTBF produced in line with PRS goals have also clearly linked allocations with development goals. GOB is also endeavoring to establish result-oriented (output and to some extent outcome) reporting and assessment frameworks that monitor progress against key dimensions of the national and sector development strategy.

6.1.5 Mutual Accountability: Both GOB and DPs share financial statements and other information on aid flow and aid utilization. Statement on aid flows and aid utilization are also presented in the respective parliaments of GOB and DPs in the form of budgets and other reports. This has improved mutual accountability. However, there is room for enhanced sharing of information on aid flow. DAC survey 2006 reveals that there is a big gap between aid disbursement recorded by the GOB and disbursement figures recorded by each DP. Establishment of the PRS


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implementation forum led by GOB with representation from DPs to monitor implementation of the PRS, and the GOB-DP harmonization implementation task force to monitor the implementation of the Harmonization Action Plan, are examples of the mutual accountability process. The current initiative of DPs and GOB to launch a country level evaluation of the implementation of the PD is another demonstration towards mutual accountability. Conditionalities for aid that are imposed by DPs are sometimes difficult for the GOB to comply; and hence, bottlenecks are created in aid disbursement. Some conditionalities are conducive to attain the objectives of the projects, promote mutual accountability, and helps to sustain the output of the project. However, at times conditionalities are imposed without due regard to local socio-economic and political realities. Sometimes the performance and the compliance of conditionality of one sector are made the conditionality of another sector. Such cross conditionality creates serious complications in the implementation of projects and diminishes aid effectiveness.

6.2 Outputs In the absence of a mutually agreed framework and sufficient data it is not feasible to assess whether the transaction cost is increasing or decreasing as a result of the implementation of the PD. There is a division of opinion on the effects of harmonization on the overall transaction cost. Some DPs feel that harmonization efforts are expected to contribute to fewer overlaps of assistance and eventually lead to a reduction in transaction costs. While others think that harmonization increases transaction costs, particularly for the lead donor in the harmonization. Perhaps, more studies would be needed to get a correct answer. However, given the lack of significant reduction of parallel PIUs and the lack of reduction in the number of missions, it seems reasonable to conclude that the desired reduction in transaction cost most likely could not be achieved.

7. Conclusion and Recommendations: The Paris Declaration for the first time has established a forum for both development partners and partner countries to discuss how the management and delivery of aid can be reformed and how such reform can be implemented. It has brought many critical aid effectiveness issues into focus and has generated a demand to reform the global aid architecture. The PD certainly has the potential to be used as a tool to foster aid effectiveness. However, the pace of implementation is yet to match the high spirit and firm resolution of commitments that have been made in the declaration. Nevertheless, a start has been made. Certainly many challenges lie ahead. This study has attempted to identify these challenges in the context of Bangladesh and has looked for a way forward to address these challenges. The government and the aid community in Bangladesh together should take on strong initiatives to address these challenges. The following are recommendations for addressing these challenges.

I. In order to improve clarity, the process for implementation of the commitments of the PD needs to be institutionalized or brought to the mainstream of the aid architecture of DPs and GOB. All aid manuals may include the PD commitments for dissemination. Bangladesh Public Administrative Training Center and other relevant GOB training institutes should include a module on the PD and Bangladesh Harmonization Action Plan in some of their training curriculum.

II. In order to enhance the awareness of the commitments of the PD, GOB in collaboration with DPs should hold more dissemination workshops similar to the HAP workshop organized by the ERD in August 2007. To start with, a high profile


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conference/roundtable/seminar/workshop with representation of all stakeholders, high GOB officials, DPs, politicians, civil society organizations, NGOs etc. should be held. This should be followed by a series of training for concerned officials at operational level.

III. Like the PRS, in the future, the formulation of major Projects and Sector wide Programs should be made through a participatory approach involving all stakeholders, both within GOB and outside. The design of projects should be led by the GOB. If required, DP assistance may come at the designing stage only to complement and support the leadership of GOB.

IV. All DP Headquarters should develop a monitorable action plan, or an equivalent instrument; and a monitoring mechanism should be in place. Also, to follow up on monitoring of the implementation of the HAP, a joint review mechanism, as outlined in the HAP (Action 5.3), should be pursued. If necessary the HAP itself should be updated.

V. ERD should strengthen its co-ordination and monitoring role by upgrading its present PRS-HAP cell to a full-fledged outfit. The reorganized outfit should be integrated into the mainstream administration of the ERD; headed by a senior official; and manned by a blend of career civil servants, and professionals hired on a permanent basis, and supplemented by the services of experts/consultants on a short term basis. Any DP may provide technical assistance to set up the outfit and finance some of its capacity building activities.

VI. ERD should revitalize the Bangladesh Harmonization Action Plan by enhancing the pace of its implementation. A mechanism for reporting to ERD by all the relevant line ministries on the progress of implementation of the HAP should be established. Such reporting will enable the monitoring of progress regarding HAP implementation. All major aid utilizing ministries should have a dedicated unit to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the HAP.

VII. The PD should address the general issue of sustainability of project output, along with the issue of global environmental sustainability.

VIII. The indicators identified in the PD should be revisited so that indicators are adequate and appropriate to measure ownership and environmental sustainability.

IX. Capacity of local DP officials should be enhanced by delegating more authority from the headquarters to enable DP officials to make timely decisions. Turnover of the relevant DP staff in the middle of an ongoing program should be minimized.

X. To foster aid effectiveness and a more efficient use of development resources, the GOB should take initiative with the support of DPs to develop a government-wide comprehensive need based capacity development program. These programs should address all capacity deficiencies—institutional, managerial and technical. To complement this government-wide program, ongoing capacity development programs may be integrated with it. In the future the major portion of the technical assistance flows may go to this program.

XI. The compensation and other service prospects of GOB project staff should be reviewed realistically so that staff is sufficiently motivated to contribute to the efficient implementation of the projects, and therefore, to aid effectiveness.


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Salary supplement and allowances provided by different DPs to GOB officials and staff working for aid projects should be harmonized; and GOB’s guidelines or a standard package for salary supplement for DPs to follow should be framed.

XII. GOB procedures should be further standardised and made mutually agreeable to enhance alignment. Public financial management systems should be reformed further to enhance DP confidence regarding DP ability to rely increasingly on the country’s system, enabling mutual accountability.

XIII. Harmonization efforts should be further enhanced by the DPs who are yet to form partnership arrangement with other DPs. Also, the issue of multiplicity of donor procedures in a Sector Wide Approach need to be addressed and further minimized.

XIV. Managing for results needs to be strengthened by joint initiatives of DPs and GOB. DPs should assist the GOB in developing result based monitoring capacity.

XV. Initiatives should be taken by DPs to dismantle the parallel PIUs as early as possible. DPs should also encourage GOB officials to take leadership in managing aid projects and DPs should avoid as much as possible the micro management of aided projects. The number of missions from the headquarters of DPs should be reduced by having joint missions in place of single missions.

XVI. The tying of aid in any form should be removed and the conditionality attached to disbursement of aid should be realistic and within the capacity of the GOB to comply; taking into account social, economic, and political realities of Bangladesh.


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PART II Sector Studies


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8. Social Sector: Primary Education Development Program-II 8.1 The task (scope of work): The scope of work for this part of the study is to analyze the case of Primary Education Development Program-II (PEDP-II) and examine challenges and opportunities in improving aid effectiveness in the sector.

8. 2 Expected output: The expected output of the study is to assess the aid harmonisation and aid effectiveness in PEDP-II. Also, the study aims to recommend measures towards achieving further aid harmonisation and aid effectiveness in the primary education sector.

8.3 The PEDP-II: With the initiative of the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) and 11 development partners (DP) (with ADB as the lead development partner), a good system of co-ordination and harmonization has been developed in the Primary Education Sector of Bangladesh with a comprehensive program approach, which has direct impact on poverty reduction to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The overall objective of the program is to improve quality, equitable access and efficiency in primary education.

The PEDP-II sub-sector wide program was designed through a joint planning process between the GOB and DPs during 2001-2003. The Government had initial reservation given the challenges facing the health sector wide approach. PEDP-II was launched on September 8, 2004, by the Honourable Prime Minister, and implementation commenced in early 2005.

The quality focused program consists of the following components:

Component 1: (Organisational development and capacity development): This component aims to improve educational management including good governance of the primary education system, with a focus on increasing capacity, authority and accountability at district, upazila and school levels.

Component 2: (Quality in schools and class rooms): The objective of the second component is to provide the framework for systemic and institutional change to improve quality in schools and classrooms. Overall interventions are designed to ensure that program schools meet the agreed primary school quality level (PSQL) criteria.

Component 3: (Quality Improvement through infrastructure development): The main objective is to provide adequate facilities conducive to good quality education through increased equitable access to infrastructure, facilities, and equipment in order to increase contact hours for students. However “contact hours” will still vary in different schools. Provisions under this component include additional classrooms (30,000), school furniture, tubewells, offices, upazilla resource centers, primary teacher’s training Institutes, district primary education offices and upazilla education offices.

Component 4: (Equitable Access to Quality Education): This forth component focuses on promoting and facilitating access to quality schooling for those children who have never attended formal schooling. It includes capacity building interventions which are essential for institutionalizing strategies and processes for disadvantaged children.


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This component would improve access for I) Special needs II) Ethnic minority and III) Vulnerable children.

In fact component 2 & 4 are the two main focuses of the program. The other two components reinforce the two major components of Quality and Access.

8. 4 Salient Features of PEDP-II include: • Implementation under a conventional "Project Proforma" normally used for the

planning and implementation of singular projects, subsequently integrated into a new Medium-Term Budgeting Framework (MTBF),

• Single (centralized) planning and budgeting is done with a single Annual Operation Plan,

• For procurement, over 80% procurement is done using GOB’s own procurement procedure (PPR 2003),

• For remaining procurements, a number of procedures (ADB, WB, JICA, UNICEF) are used, which still remains a challenge,

• Common auditing procedure is used,

• The program uses a common set of qualitative and quantitative indicators finalized through a baseline survey,

• Common review of the program is done. In this way much more time consuming review with individual development partners are avoided,

• Implementation arrangement is quite different from traditional way of having separate Project Implementation Unit (PIU) like setup from GOB’s side,

• Same set of permanent officials responsible for regular (revenue) works are also responsible for this program’s implementation, which guards against discontinuation of project staff and loss of institutional memory just after completion of the project. However frequent transfer of Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) officials often leads to difficulties.

8.5 Funding arrangement: The funding arrangement of the program is as follows:

A. Development Partners US$ 0.64 billion (36%)

B. GOB US$ 1.16 billion (64%)

Total = US$ 1.80 billion (100%)

8.6 Types of financing:

(1) For financing PEDP-II, difference in donor and GOB procedures prevented adoption of a simplified solution with one pooled bank account which still remains a challenge.

The program therefore receives three types of financing:

a. Co-financing by major DPs (pooled funding from 8 development partners),

b. Non-pooled funding, and

c. Parallel financing (UNICEF/Australian Aid Agency and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA))


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8. 7 Management of the fund: The management of the fund is rather complicated. In addition to GOB funding which is routed through the Accountant General’s office, in a commercial bank the following three separate US dollar accounts are held:

a. ADB loan,

b. ADB administered bilateral grant, and

c. IDA funds

Drawing of fund from these accounts for the program is a cumbersome process.

Following initial advances to the three accounts equivalent to estimated expenditure for the first six months (now at $60 million), the Program Liaison Unit (PLU) of ADB processes withdrawal applications submitted by the DPE and advises IDA and ADB Headquarters of the release of funds to Common Pool Taka Account (CPTA) from IDA Special Account, ADB Imprest Account and ADB Administered Grant Account from 6 co-financiers. DPE draws down from the CPTA on agreed financing percentages divided among development partners and the Government. DPE also shares a standardized single set of common financial monitoring reports (FMRs) with ADB-PLU on a quarterly basis. ADB shares the FMRs with DPs. Any disruption in timely arrival of contribution of any development partners according to agreed percentage could stall the whole process of utilisation as pointed out by some concerned officials of DPE.

The untimely arrival of GOB’s share of contribution may also stop the utilisation of pool funds even though there may be sufficient money for a particular activity. This has actually happened in the initial stage as remarked by some DPE officials. However it has not been a major problem so far.

8.8 Procurement Arrangement: The procurements of the program for goods, works or services are done following five distinct systems in the following manner:

a. All local procurement financed by pool funding follow GOB PPR-2003.

b. ICB goods financed by IDA are procured following IDA guidelines.

c. ICB goods procurement financed by other donors follows ADB guidelines.

d. International consultants are mostly recruited under ADB guidelines.

e. Other consultants are recruited following respective donor’s guidelines.

This applies to mainly parallel DPs.

8. 9 The Program status: Recently (October 29, to November 12, 2007) GOB and DPs jointly conducted a Mid Term Review (MTR) as a stock taking exercise to note the achievements, identify gaps and concerns, and focus on key priorities to move forward during the remaining period .

GOB and DPs agree that PEDP-II as the first program approach for primary education in Bangladesh has put considerable pressure on the initial capacity of the primary education system. DP funds were not available until late 2004. The program had a slow start, with program activities starting mainly in 2005. MTR noted that PEDP-II as a whole has made satisfactory progress against program targets. It has also recognized that it is quite early to expect an appreciable impact of the program at this stage. However GOB and DPs jointly identified a set of critical areas where the activities have to be accelerated or where


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additional efforts need to be taken for a successful completion of tasks with tangible results before the program ends.

The program faced initial difficulties like finalising outstanding audit objections, and finding out the real meaning of quality teaching and learning. These have, however, been sorted out subsequently through a number of working groups on Management, Quality Access, and Equity, Governance, Finance and procurement.

In the initial stages, there were inefficient utilisations of technical assistances also.

8.10 Major achievements (according to MTR): • The GOB has assumed ownership and full responsibilities for PEDP-II implementation,

the role of the Program Coordination Unit as it has been originally envisaged, is no longer applicable in the present context. The Unit was manned by consultants. Hence, this is a major achievement.

• DPE has made important achievements in governance. It has identified key challenges and realistic ways forward to establish good governance in the sub-sector.

• One example of good governance and transparency is the recruitment of the large number of Primary School teachers. Due to good governance initiatives, time taken to complete recruitment formalities could be considerably reduced. The whole process was conducted in a transparent manner with practically no complaints/criticism.

• Overall progress of implementation of goods and works (excluding textbooks) stands at 90% and 70% of targets respectively.

• The MTR confirmed that the Innovation Grants mechanism is one of the major initiatives of PEDP-II to engage NGOs, civil society based organizations, and individuals to support schools and communities, to improve primarily access and quality at the school level. However, DPE may require some additional trained manpower and capacity building to adequately handle the innovation grant mechanism.

• Standardised withdrawal applications are submitted to the PLU. DPE also sends to PLU a single set of common financial monitoring reports. These are big achievements towards harmonisation of the system.

• UNICEF has changed their budgeting calendar to align with that of GOB which is a major achievement towards harmonized alignment.

8.11 Challenges of the program: • The limited capacity of the line divisions of DPE to manage one of the largest primary

education systems in the world is a big challenge. While the Directorate of Primary Education fully supports the program approach, it also recognizes the challenges imposed by this approach which stretches its capacity to introduce reforms and improvements; as well as to introduce and scale up implementation of substantial activities through its regular system — which is already stretched in implementing its regular work.

• The need to effectively manage a large contingent of consultants adds a new set of challenges.

• The capacity of DPE in the area of management information systems and monitoring and evaluation needs to be strengthened significantly to enable it to collect, analyze, and present data that could show the results and outcomes of the program against set targets.


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• To strengthen the monitoring and reporting system with a focus on results and impact of the program by introducing Results Based Monitoring System.

• Wide dissemination of Risk Mitigation Strategy and other manuals already developed by DPE in order to improve transparency, efficiency, and capacity of the staff in these areas at all levels.

• Scaling up of School Level Improvement Plans and Upazila Level Education Plan already developed by DPE.

• Changing of mindset to follow the real spirit of the program approach.

• Donor harmonization is still a challenge, given the fact that 20% procurements are still done following at least five different procurement rules. In the MTR GOB has proposed to use PPR-2003 for all procurements under PEDP- II. The DPs indicated that they would look into the matter and respond later.

• Rigidity of GOB project proformas is one of the major limitations of the program. Serious thoughts are now being given to ensure project proforma flexibility for such a large, sector wide program.

• PEDP-II program is spread throughout the country. Timely arrival of a statement of expenditures is still a big challenge as it occasionally slows down the whole process.

• Maintaining the program team and avoiding frequent turnover is still a challenge.

8.12 Performance of this program in the light of Paris Declaration (PD):

The 12 indicators of progress included in Section-III of the PD are either too concise or too generalised. Hence, it is difficult to quantify or assess country level progress against these indicators. Nevertheless, the main text of the PD reflects a much better picture of indicators by aligning this with specific statements of commitments. Given this, an attempt has been made to assess the performance of PEDP-II against the PD indicators reflected in the main text. The following matrix gives the present status of performance of PEDP-II against the indicators of PD.


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Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness- Partnership commitments: Reality check of PEDP-II

Indicator Present Status A. Ownership Indicator 1:

Translate national level development strategies into prioritized result oriented operational programs as expenditure frameworks and annual budgets.

In line with the national level plan PRS, the sub-sector wide program PEDP-II was implemented. While the program is still governed by a conventional, project-oriented "Project Proforma" (PP) as a single implementation plan limiting the flexibility of programmatic and budgetary reviews and adjustments by the responsible line ministry, it has been integrated into a newly introduced Medium Term Budget Framework of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MOPME). The implementation arrangement has been ensured through a jointly (Donor and partner country) developed Annual Operation Plan which has been interfaced and now fully aligned with Annual Development Program of the GOB.

However PP requires more flexibility to respond to emerging needs and requirements.

B. Alignment

Indicator 2:

Work together to establish mutually agreed frameworks that provide reliable assessments of performance, transparency and accountability of country systems.

At the being of the program, a set of Primary School Quality Level (PSQL) indicators were jointly assessed. Against these PSQL indicators, the transparency of the program is being ensured through development of a set of procedures for sharing of various information of the program by all the stakeholders including providing a description of program activities on the website.

An example of transparency was recruitment of about 20,000 teachers in phases in an impartial and transparent manner which earned a high degree of


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credibility for all directly involved in the program.

Mutual accountability of the program was ensured through joint development of indicators and the monitoring progress against these indicators. The program framework and its set of key indicators were reviewed at the mid-term review of the program in November 2007. Elements of result-based management are being gradually introduced into the system. For this, dependable baseline survey reports will be required so that PRDP-II achievements may be judged.

Governance actions are being initiated and addressed under PEDP-II in four areas: (i) Information and Transparency (ii) Human Resources (iii) Financial Management and Procurement, and (iv) Administration and Devolving Responsibilities.

Indicator 3:

Donors commit to base their overall support-country strategies, policy dialogues and development co-operation programs, on partners’ national development strategies and periodic reviews of progress in implementing these strategies.

The sub-sector wide program PEDP-II was designed as a contribution to meet relevant MDGs and in line with an interim country strategy for eradication of poverty. However it predates the present PRSP and also the National Plan of Action for Education for All. Eleven development partners actively supported this initiative by co-financing the program. Now GOB and development partners periodically review the progress of implementation. The partners also (donors and GOB) take collective decision through various steering committees and task forces formed under this program.

Indicator 4:

Donors commit to align their analytic and financial support with partners’ capacity development objectives and strategies, make effective use of existing capacities and harmonize support for capacity development accordingly.

Donors of PEDP-II aligned their analytic and financial support for capacity development of the primary education sector. As a part of this process a human resource development strategy was jointly prepared and approved. Now this capacity development initiative is under implementation with the harmonized support of the donors under the umbrella of PEDP-II.

Indicator 5:

a. Donors commit to use country system a. In PEDP-II, 11 donors have pooled their


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and procedures to the maximum extent possible. Where use of country system is not feasible, establish additional safeguards and measures in ways that strengthen rather than undermine country system and procedures.

funds and agreed to go for more than 80% procurement using GOB’s procurement system (PPR-2003)

For the remaining procurements, system of ADB, IDA and parallel donors are used in a complementary fashion to support the program.

In the recently concluded Mid Term Review (MTR), as per request of GOB, donors have agreed to examine the possibility of using GOB’s procurement rule PPR-2003 for the remaining procurements as well.

b. Donors commit to rely to the maximum extent possible on transparent partner government budget and accounting mechanism.

b. In PEDP-II, GOB and donor representatives jointly prepare the Annual Operation Plan of the program in line with the Annual Development Program of the government, which is a part of the government’s development budget. The budgets are prepared in a transparent manner with public announcement when passed by the parliament after debate.

PEDP-II is audited through the established government procedures for the audit of foreign-aided projects.

c. Donors commit to progressively rely on partner country systems for procurement when the country has implemented mutually agreed standards and process.

c. The PPR-2003 which is now supported by an act of parliament of 2006 was prepared after detailed consultation with the donors which ensured mutually agreed standards and process. As a result, donors agreed for more than 80% of the procurement of PEDP-II applying PPR-2003.

Dialogue is on for arranging the remaining procurements using this GOB’s procurement system. This is a clear reflection of donors’ commitment for progressively relying on partner country’s procurement system.

Indicator 6:

Donors commit to avoid, to the maximum extent possible, creating dedicated structures for day to day management and implementation of aid financed projects and programs.

Based on the experience from the health Sector Wide Approach and in joint understanding with the PEDP-II, DPs, (ADB as the Lead DP) established the PLU under ADB’s management as a one-stop interface with GOB and DPs on program-related matters.

As such, it has reduced the transaction costs for the Government who no longer has to


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interact and report separately to 11 development partners. Following the MTR and based on the experience and close consultation with the DPs, ADB has merged the PLU with its Bangladesh Resident Mission.

Along with enhanced PLU activity, GOB is implementing a mega program utilizing existing permanent staff who are responsible for regular revenue work. This form of consistent use guards against:

- Discontinuation of program staff and loss of institutional memory just after completion of the program, and

- Least program liability in terms of surplus staff.

The limited capacity of the DPE to manage one of the largest primary education systems in the world is however a big challenge.

Indicator 7:

Donors commit to provide reliable indicative commitments of aid over a multi-year framework and disburse aid in a timely and predictable fashion according to agreed schedule.

In case of PEDP-II, the commitment of the donor is for providing financial aid over a multi-year framework covering the entire duration of the program.

The disbursement of funds is in a timely and predictable fashion, according to an agreed schedule detailed in a jointly prepared Annual Operational Plan.

GOB and Donors have jointly finalised some additional fund requirements in the recently concluded MTR. These funds are also expected to be disbursed according to the agreed schedule.

The inclusion of a major cyclone “SIDR” reconstruction within PEDP-II financing is a major breakthrough to address emergency needs.

Indicator 8:

Untying aid generally increases aid effectiveness by reducing transaction costs for partner countries and improving country ownership and alignment. Development Assistant Group Donors will continue to make progress on untying as encouraged by the 2001 Group

Most of the contribution of the donors in PEDP-II is in untied form and in response to GOB priorities and needs. So in this respect the initiatives of donors are in line with the PD.

There were high expectations for reduction of transaction cost due to adoption of the PEDP-II Program Approach. However some


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Recommendations on Untying Official Development Assistance to the Least Developed countries.

donors particularly the lead donor ADB feels that in reality the transaction cost is still high for them.

C. Harmonization Indicator 9:

Donors commit to implement, where feasible, common arrangements at country level for planning funding (e.g. joint financial arrangements), disbursement, monitoring, evaluating and reporting to government on donor activities and aid flows. Increased use of program-based aid modalities can contribute to this effort.

PEDP-II is a program based approach. It has country level arrangement for planning funding, disbursement, monitoring, evaluation and reporting to both the sides.

The PEDP-II has progressed completely in line with the provision of this indicator.

PEDP-II has established a standardized financial and implementation reporting system for all partners, through the ADB, PLU.

Indicator 10:

Donors commit to work together to reduce the number of separate, duplicative missions to the field and diagnostic reviews.

PEDP-II being a program approach is being implemented with the coordination of the lead donor. All dialogues with GOB are routed through the lead donor. Also joint review of the program is conducted at regular intervals through Joint Review Missions. In this way the numbers of separate and duplicative missions have been reduced considerably.

D. Managing for Results Indicator 11:

Partner countries commit to endeavour to establish results oriented reporting and assessment frameworks that monitor progress against key dimensions. These frameworks should track a manageable number of indicators for which data are cost-effectively available.

To establish result oriented reporting and assessment, frameworks that monitor progress against key dimensions, a set of 20 PSQL indicators have been set at the beginning of PEDP-II

The revised program Framework jointly agreed during the mid term review contains key performance indicators which will be reinforced and monitored through the gradual introduction of result based management. These help to ensure result oriented reporting and assessment in a manageable fashion.

E. Mutual Accountability

Indicator 12:

Partner countries and donors commit to jointly assess through existing and increasingly objective country level

In finalizing the PEDP-II implementation process, donors and GOB agreed to a set of assurances (total 33 in numbers) to be


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mechanisms mutual progress in implementing agreed commitments on aid effectiveness, including the partnership commitments.

complied by GOB to ensure aid effectiveness and fulfilling partnership commitments.

During the recent review of the program through MTR, it was revealed that most of the assurances (25 out 33) have been substantially met by GOB, with the remaining 8 assurances in different stages of compliance.

8.13 Findings: The performance of PEDP-II against the 12 indicators of the PD concerning ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results, and mutual accountability is much better than the national average. It is one of the few pioneering sectors of the government of Bangladesh where satisfactory progress has been made towards meeting the various targets set by the PD indicators.

PEDP-II should be treated as the first major attempt to move towards a program based approach in the education sector. It is a transition from around 20 projects to one consolidated program approach. Therefore the following issues need special attention for further alignment of the program with the PD which could be the next major step under a follow up to PEDP-II:

a. Harmonisation of different types of financing of PEDP-II is still a challenge.

b. The management of funds is rather complicated. Any disruption in timely arrival of contribution of any development partner according to agreed percentage may stall the process of utilization of pooled funds by GOB.

c. The procurements of the program are done following at least five separate systems. While some DPs have agreed that procurements should follow the GOB’s procurement system, others still follow their own system for remaining program procurements. The DPs, agreeing to employ the GOB’s procurement system, expect the other DPs to come forward to align their system with that of the GOB.

d. Given the limited capacity of DPE line divisions, it still remains a challenge to institutionalise the initial achievements of the program and make it sustainable. Thoughts may be given for introducing some incentive package for the officials directly involved in implementation of the program. Some more additional trained staff may be required at DPE for effective implementation of the program.

e. Lack of reliable data still remains a big challenge for the program.

f. Complementing pooled funding and parallel technical co-operation was also observed in the program. The complementing pooled funding and other DP parallel activities implemented in a harmonised framework could generate positive synergies.

8.14 Recommendations: a. As 12 indicators of progress included in section-III are either too concise or too

generalised, the progress of PD implementation for PEDP-II should be monitored against the indicators mentioned in the main text with specific statements of commitments.


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b. Efforts should be made for further harmonisation of different types of financing of PEDP-II

c. Management of funds should be made more simple to facilitate better implementation of the remaining works of PEDP-II

d. Honouring the initiatives of the donors of PEDP-II who have already aligned their procurement system with that of GOB’s, the remaining donors should also come forward to align their system with that of GOB’s.

e. Major initiatives are needed to institutionalise the initial achievements of PEDP-II. In addition some incentive package may be offered to the officials directly involved with the implementation of the program (PEDP-II)

f. The issue of lack of data may be addressed on priority basis.

g. Drawing lessons from PEDP-II, appropriate action may be taken to replicate the achievements and good practices of PEDP-II for further development activities in primary education sector and to other GOB sectors ensuring harmonisation and alignment in line with the PD to ensure better aid effectiveness in Bangladesh.


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9. Production Sector: Energy and Power 9.1 Introduction: In Bangladesh the supply of energy and power is unreliable and inadequate compared to demand. The present supply of natural gas can meet 73% of commercial use of energy. The total proven reserve of natural gas is 15.19 trillion cubic feet (TCF) and probable reserve is estimated at 5.28 TCF. Up to December, 2006, 6.79 TCF of gas has been produced out of total volume of gas discovered so far. On the other hand, the per capita electricity production is 165 kilowatt hours which is lower compared to that of other developing countries. At present the dependable generation capacity of power is 3600 megawatts (MW) against peak demand of 5300 MW. Only 42% of the population of Bangladesh are now covered under electricity supply. As for coal energy, the Barapukuria Coal mine has gone into production with the target of 1 (one) million metric tons (MT) of coal extraction per annum. Out of this 0.7 million MT will be used in the 250 MW Barapukuria Power Plant and 0.3 million MT will be used to meet internal demand.

Reduction of poverty and attainment of growth and development depends on increased investment and expanded economic activities which depends largely on adequate and unhindered supply of energy and power. The GOB has therefore given priority to adequate supply of energy and power. Accordingly, the GOB has increased budgetary allocation for this sector. With a view to reducing poverty and accelerating the pace of growth and development, GOB has set a number of objectives in the PRS for the energy and power sector. Some noteworthy examples include (1) increase in gas production through exploration, discovery, development and production of natural gas; (2) increase in power generation adequately with a view to bringing the whole population of Bangladesh under electricity coverage by 2020; (3) increase in coal extraction for power generation; (4) Development of gas and power infrastructure, including institutional reforms to increase efficiency and reduce system loss; and (5) encourage bilateral, multilateral, and foreign private investment in the sector.

The Energy Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources is in-charge of the energy sub-sector. Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, Petrobangla, and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation are main executing agencies. The Power Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources is in-charge of the power sub-sector. The Power Development Board (PDB), the Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA), and the Rural Electrification Board (REB) are the main executing agencies.

The major DPs working in this sector include ADB, IDA, DFID, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), JICA, Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD), and the German Development Bank (KfW). The LCG subgroup on energy coordinates DPs sector assistance strategies. The ERD Coordinates DPs sector assistance in cooperation with Energy Division and Power Division. Concerned Secretary of Energy and Power sometimes holds meetings with DPs to expedite the process of funding. Representatives of ERD and all concerned Ministries, Divisions, and agencies participate in these meetings.

With the establishment of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), a number of development partners and multilateral agencies, namely ADB, DFID, and JBIC have expanded their assistance in the development of infrastructure in the energy and power sector. They are also supporting reform programs to reduce system loss. Effective utilization of aid is expected to attract more bilateral and multilateral aid flow. Since endorsement of the PD, GOB has been putting efforts toward better aid coordination, harmonization and aid effectiveness. The noteworthy efforts include (i) working together with DPs to harmonize procedures, (ii) taking initiatives to identify DPs’ comparative advantage, and (iii) working together to reduce the number of individual and overlapping missions.


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9.2 Task (Scope of work): The scope of work of this study is (i) to assess the utility of the Paris Declaration in the energy and power sector, (ii) examine the challenges and opportunities of aid harmonization and aid effectiveness in the energy and power sector, and (iii) assess the performances of PD initiatives set against five axes of the PD.

9.3 Expected Output of the Study The expected output of the study includes:

(i) An assessment of the utility of the PD in the energy and power sector;

(ii) An examination of the challenges and opportunities of aid harmonization and aid effectiveness in this sector, Including identifying gaps and bottlenecks, and recommendations for improving aid harmonization and aid effectiveness are made; and

(iii) An assessment of performances of PD initiatives set against five axes.

9.4 Sampling 40-50 respondents participated in interviews and surveys. Respondents came from organizations as well as priority projects being funded by DPs, multilateral organizations, and civil society (participants are listed below), for data/information collection for preparation of a report.

Ministry/Division Energy Division, Power Division of Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

Concerned Agencies PDB, DESA, REB, Power Generation Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), Energy Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB), Petrobangla, Titas Gas Transmission & Distribution Ltd. Gas Transmission Company Limited (GTCL), Power Cell, BERC, Infrastructure Development Company Limited

Development partners ADB, IDA, DFID, JICA, JBIC, KfW, NORAD

Resource persons Former Secretary, Energy & Power, Former Chairman, PDB

Civil Society Summit Power, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

List of Projects (1) Development of Electricity Distribution in 10 Town,

(2) Greater Dhaka Power Distribution Project-Phase-4,

(3) Khulna-Ishwardi-Bogra-Barapukuria 230 KV Transmission Line Project,

(4) Construction of New Grid Sub-Station and Expansion with Transmission Facilities,

(5) Intensification and Expansion of Distribution System of 18 Rural Electrification Cooperatives


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(2nd Phase),

(6) Intensification and Expansion of Distribution System of 67 Rural Electrification Cooperatives,

(7) Siddhirganj 2x120 MW picking Power Plant,

(8) Technical Assistance for Implementation of Bangladesh Power Sector Reforms,

(9) Construction of Dhanua - Savar High Pressure Gas Transmission Pipeline under Dhaka Clean Fuel Project,

(10) Construction of Monohordi - Dhanua-Elenga - Jamuna Bridge East Bank Gas Transmission line and Establishment of Compressor Stations at Ashuganj and Elenga,

(11) Technical Assistance for capacity Building of Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Petrobangla and its companies,

9.5 Assessment of utility of the Paris Declaration On the basis of primary and secondary data and information collected from the sources as mentioned at para 9.4, assessment of the utility of the PD has been made. As for clarity of the Paris Declaration in the Energy Division and the Power Division and their agencies, it was observed that only a few senior and mid level officials and officials at operation level dealing with projects are conversant with PD. As for 12 indicators, both DP and GOB respondents observed that those indicators are general not specific. Some of the indicators appeared subjective in nature such as, ownership (indicator-1) and capacity strengthening (indicator-4) to measure performance in the energy and power sector. Respondents observed that ownership defined in terms of policy and strategy such as, PRS, Gas Sector Development Master Plan and Strategy, and the Power System Development Master Plan etc. has increased in the energy and power sector. Nevertheless, findings demonstrate that such policies and strategy are not sufficient unless there is strong commitment from the civil servants and politicians for implementation. Respondent, therefore, suggested that ownership should also include effective leadership over sector policies, strategies, and plans as well as undertaking development efforts. Capacity strengthening should also be clearly defined in terms of technical capacity, managerial capacity, and institutional capacity strengthening. The respondents observed that the 12 indicators have, however, provided a basis against which performance of the sector can be assessed and measured.

As for relevance of the PD Commitments and indicators, the study demonstrates that PD commitments are generally relevant for aid effectiveness in energy and power sector and that the 12 indicators are also generally relevant for capturing the intended commitments.

9.6 Assessment of Aid Harmonization and Aid Effectiveness in Energy and Power Sector:

9.6.1 Aid Harmonization:

The Harmonization Action Plan involving both DPs (LCG) and GOB has established a sound mechanism for aid harmonization and coordination. With the functioning of the LCG subgroup on energy and power, aid harmonization and coordination has improved in this


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sector. Improved harmonization increased effectiveness of aid in terms of reducing overlaps of assistance.

9.6.2 Aid Effectiveness: Critical Issues:

With a view to assessing aid effectiveness of the PD in energy and power sector, a number of projects funded by different DPs were reviewed. The details of the projects are given at Annexure-A. The findings of the review are as follows:

9.6.3 Alignment to GOB Procedures:

There has been significant alignment of DPs in general to GOB procurement procedures in respect to Local Competitive Biddings. But the alignment in respect of International Competitive Biddings has not been significant. Some major DPs namely, ADB, IDA are yet to align to GOB procurement procedures in respect to ICBs, although they have aligned to GOB procedures in respect to LCBs. At present procurement under LCBs is roughly 10% of the total procurements of the energy and power sector. According to respondents of ADB and World Bank, lack of agreed standards is a barrier to their alignment to PPR in respect to ICBs. They added that ADB and World Bank follow uniform standards for member countries in respect to procurement under ICBs. They therefore felt that it was difficult for them to make a departure for a particular country. On the other hand, GOB respondents hold the view that GOB procurement procedures are standard procedures prepared with extensive consultations and in agreement with the DPs. They also argued that PPR is being followed in ICBs by some DPs, namely DFID, and NORAD. JBIC is also following PPR in ICBs to the extent they are consistent with JBIC’s procurement guidelines. With reforms in the public financial management system, most of the DPs are following GOB’s PFMS.

9.6.4 Conditionalities/Cross Conditionalities of Aid:

Most of the aid agreements in Energy and Power sector contain conditionalities. Fulfilment of some conditionalities by GOB enhances efficiency of the sector and also helps increase aid effectiveness. However, several conditionalities are at times difficult to comply; specifically, those that relate to fulfilments of GOB commitments in other sectors (e.g. clearance of certain liabilities of Primary Education has been made a conditionality for disbursement of funds to the IDA funded TA project on Bangladesh Power Sector Reforms). IDA stopped disbursement of funds for this project until the liability of primary education was met. It was reported that the fulfilment of the condition took more than six months which affected the disbursement schedule and thus project implementation. During the past three years, disbursement of aid for this project has been about 20% as against projected 80%. Such cross-conditionality of aid delays the progress of implementation of projects having implications on aid effectiveness.

9.6.5 Tender Process:

Time consuming tender process is another area of concern in the energy and power sector. This occurs mainly due to (i) lack of flawless bid documents (ii) complaints lodged by the unsuccessful competing firms and (iii) Political interferences. Re-tender is floated in many cases thereby delaying the process of finalization of tender. GOB respondents have reported improvement in the tender process at present due to absence of political interferences. Both GOB and DP respondents have emphasized the need to improve the capacity of the executing agencies to prepare standard bid documents as well as undertaking effective procurement for effective implementation of the PD commitments and increasing aid effectiveness.


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9.6.6 Approval of Tenders by DP Headquarters:

Because of insufficient financial delegation to local offices by most of the DPs headquarters, tender documents need to be sent to the headquarters of DPs for approval. The approval process takes a longer time than reasonably expected had the delegation to local offices been sufficient. GOB respondents expressed the view that investment cost in energy and power being high, financial delegation to local offices may be enhanced to expedite the process of tender approval. However, some of the DPs financial delegation to local office namely DFID has been reported to be sufficient for meeting the local requirements.

9.6.7 Recruitment of Consultants/Owners Engineers:

Recruitment of consultants and owner engineers involved in the international competitive bidding process of tender, and approval process of tender by DPs take quite a long time, having implications on aid effectiveness. While GOB respondents recognized the need for recruitments of some foreign consultants for energy and power sector, they observed that some of their recruitments are not demand driven and that some foreign consultants not being well aware of the local conditions cannot make best use of their capacities. They therefore emphasized that foreign consultants should be limited to those areas only where local capacity is lacking.

9.6.8 DPs Missions:

The review of projects show that joint missions are not being undertaken in projects having more than one DP, namely ADB and JBIC funded construction of a New Grid Sub-Station and Expansion with transmission line; ADB, Swedish International Development Agency, Kfw and Chinese funded Khulna-Ishwardi and Bogra-Barapukuria 230 KV Transmission line; and ADB and IDA funded Intensification and Expansion of Distribution System of 18 Rural Electrification cooperatives (2nd phase). However, DPs hold consultations locally when their respective missions are fielded. As for individual DP missions, the review shows that individual DP missions have generally increased except in two to three projects namely Siddhirganj 2x120 peeking power plant where DP missions from headquarters are not being fielded after the local office has been authorized to handle those projects. Since then the local DP office has undertaken missions. However, DP headquarters are coordinating with the DP local office for broad sector issues, specific sector issues, and implementation issues.

9.6.9 Transaction cost

Joint DP missions do not appear to have increased, while DP missions do not appear to have decreased. As such, transaction cost does not appear to have decreased. However, the study shows that in the case of some projects where local DP offices are delegated by their headquarters, DP missions from headquarters are not being fielded. This has implications on transaction costs.

9.6.10 Parallel Project Implementation Units (PIUs):

Except in the DFID funded Rural Electrification project, existence of parallel PIUs has not been reported in other projects of the energy and power sector under review. The respondent of DFID reported that they had two PIUs earlier. It is now reduced to one.

9.6.11 Disbursement of Project Aid in Energy and Power Sector:

The largest share of foreign assistance in the energy and power sector is project aid. It is extended by the DPs primarily to finance the projects included in the Annual Development Program. Project aid flow in the power sub-sector increased slowly from US$140.8 million in


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2001-2002 to US$190.7 million in 2003-2004. During 2004-2005 it increased sharply from US$ 190.7 million to US$ 281.6 million. But it again fell sharply to US$162.4 during 2005-2006. A similar trend has also been observed in the energy sub-sector. Project aid flow in Bangladesh has been relatively slow and disbursement averaged near about 20% of the opening pipeline. The sharp fall in disbursement of project aid in the energy and power sector during 2005-2006 has been due to, as reported by the respondents, delays in project preparation, approval, slow release of funds, poor management associated with political unrest and delays in fulfilment of DPs conditions and cross conditions. The disbursement during 2006-2007 has however increased. The trend has been depicted in table-1 below:


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Table 1 Disbursement of Project Aid in Energy and Power Sector

(US$ Million)

Sector 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007

Power 140.8 186.2 190.7 281.6 162.4 233.4

Oil, Gas and NR 19.2 52.7 69.5 35.0 14.5 32.9

Source: Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance

9.6.12 Progress in generation of Renewable Energy:

There has been substantial progress in the generation of renewable energy, particularly solar energy. Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. in partnership arrangements with some local NGOs has provided 50 Watt solar home systems to 175,000 families of Bangladesh covering about one million people.

9.6.13 Reform Program:

The objectives of the reform program in the energy and power sector are (i) to improve the energy and power situation, (ii) to improve efficiency, and (iii) to reduce system loss and theft.

The following reform program of the energy and power sector has produced beneficial results. Governance in this sector has improved, efficiency has increased and system loss and theft has reduced substantially, having positive impacts on aid effectiveness.

9.6.14 Power Sector Reforms:

PDB’s commercial performance has been poor since its inception. With a view to improving services for the consumers and increasing revenue collection by reducing the prevailing high system loss, Dhaka Electric Supply Authority was created in 1991. DESA took over the electrical distribution network in the greater Dhaka area. Recognizing the need to improve the sector’s performance, GOB adopted a policy paper in 1994 entitled Power Sector Reforms in Bangladesh in consultation with major DPs. The power sector reform paper outlined the reform process to gradually remove constraints in the sector through (i) separating sector regulation and operation; (ii) creating autonomy and commercial orientation among the sector entities; (iii) unbundling generation, transmission, and distribution; and (iv) increasing private sector participation. As part of the reform program, the Private Sector Power Generation Policy of Bangladesh was approval in 1996 to facilitate development of private sector power projects. The policy includes fiscal incentives, tax and vat exemptions, and tariff for bulk purchases.

Several new public sector entities have been established and made operational. These include the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd., The Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd., The West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd., The Ashuganj Power Station Company Ltd., and the Electric Generation Company of Bangladesh Ltd.

To intensify development of the power sector and increase efficiency, the GOB has also undertaken a number of reforms. These include (i) PDB transformation into a holding company; (ii) GOB approval for release of bonds and shares of PGCB; (iii) the floating of 25% share of PGCB in the capital market for private sector participation; (iv) the floating of 25% share of DESCO in the capital market; (v) introduction of a pre-paid metering system; (vi)


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Installation of interface meters; (vii) disconnection of unauthorized and illegal electric connections by task force; (viii) realization of huge amount of outstanding revenue; (ix) establishment of 1290 MW power generation centres under private sector power generation policy; (x) Reduction of PDB’s system loss to 7.25% (generation) and 17% (distribution); and (xi) Introduction of a citizens charter.

9.6.15 Reforms in Gas sub-sector:

The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission was established in 2003 with a number of objectives. These include (i) the creation of an environment for private sector investment in energy generation, transmission, and transportation and marketing; (ii) attempts at transparency in fixation of tariff and gas price; (iii) preservation of customer’s interest; (iv) creation of competitive markets; (v) punishment for violators of the gas act; (vi) the issuance of commercial licenses to the traders; and (vii) review of energy and power sector customer billing objections.

BERC started functioning from 27 April, 2004. During 2005-2006, BERC earned 805.8 hundred-thousand taka and issued 14 trade licenses.

9.6.16 Measures Undertaken to Bring Efficiency & Reduce System Loss:

A number of reforms were undertaken in the energy sub-sector for increasing efficiency and reducing system loss. These include (i) the creation of a high powered task force to disconnect illegal gas connections and impose penalty; (ii) a massive drive to realize outstanding gas bills by the task force; (iii) a simplification of gas connection procedures; (iv) opening up of the energy sector for private sector investment; and (v) the introduction of citizen’s charter.

With the introduction of reforms, during 2007 to 2007, system losses in the energy sub-sector has been reduced to 4.26 percent.

9.6.17 Findings on aid effectiveness issues:

The following findings emerged on aid harmonization and aid effectiveness:

9.6.17.1 Progress : I. GOB ownership has increased in energy and power sector after the PD;

II. Aid harmonization and coordination has also improved in this sector after the PD;

III. Limited alignment of DPs to GOB procurement procedures particularly in ICBs in the energy and power sector;

IV. DPs alignment in LCBs and the PFMS has been significant;

V. With the implementation of the energy and power sector reform program, governance has improved, efficiency has increased, and system loss has been substantially reduced having positive impacts on aid effectiveness.

9.6.17.2 Issues of Concern/Challenges: i) Time consuming process for fulfilment of conditions and cross-conditions that

delay the process of project implementation and thus reduces aid effectiveness;

ii) Time consuming tender process by GOB side due to lack of flawless bid documents, complaints lodged by unsuccessful bidders, and political interferences;

iii) Time consuming process for recruitment of consultants and owner engineers;


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iv) Time consuming approval process of tender by DPs due to centralized authorization at headquarters, instead of sufficient delegation to local DP offices;

v) Joint missions have not increased. Individual DP missions have not decreased;

vi) Transaction costs do not appear to have decreased in this sector.

9.7 Assessment of the Paris Declaration Against five axes of the PD DAC survey report, 2006 conducted by OECD suggests that the indicators being general in nature are difficult to quantify or assess country level progress. However, the 12 indicators have provided a basis against which performance of the sector can be assessed. Therefore, an attempt has been made to assess the performance of the indicators against five axes of the PD in the energy and power sector. The following matrix gives the present status of performance.


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Indicators of Progress in Energy and Power Sector Indicators:

Ownership Present Status

1. Partners have operational development strategies (including PRSs) that have clear strategic priorities linked to a medium-term expenditure framework and reflected in annual budgets.

GOB has adopted PRS as a national development strategy incorporating a prioritized result-oriented operational program as expressed in medium term budget frameworks and annual budget. Program and projects of the energy and power sector are formulated in line with the PRS and in the light of energy policy, development of gas sector master Plan and strategy, and power system development Master Plan which are included in the medium term budget framework of the Energy Division and power Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

Alignment Present Status

2. Reliable country systems-Number of partner countries that have procurement and public financial management systems that either (a) adhere to broadly accepted good practices or (b) have a reform program in place to achieve these.

This has already been reflected in Part-I

3. Aid flows are aligned on national priorities – Percent of aid flows to the government sector that is reported on partners’ national budgets.

Aid flows in energy and power sector are aligned to national priorities of this sector and is reflected in the annual development budget.

4. Strengthen capacity by co-ordinated support-Percent of donor capacity-development support provided through co-ordinated programs consistent with partners’ national development strategies.

In the past capacity development support for this sector, in general, was neither well coordinated nor fully consistent with GOB’s national priorities. However, NORAD’s support for the “Hydro-carbon Unit” project of the Energy Division for upstream development of gas and strengthening of Bangladesh Petroleum Institute are the two success stories of capacity development. Recently, capacity development support provided for this sector by DPs namely, IDA and ADB is better coordinated and consistent with national priorities as well as sector priorities.

5a. Use of country procurement systems-Percent of donors and of aid flows that use partner country procurement systems which either (a) adhere to broadly accepted

Use of GOB procurement procedures particularly in ICBs is limited in the energy and power sector as some major DPs are yet to use them. Use of GOB procurement procedure in LCBs is however significant. But it


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good practices or (b) have a reform program in place to achieve these.

is roughly 10% of the total procurement. Consultations between GOB and DPs for standardization of procurement procedures are underway.

5b. Use of country public financial management systems-Percent of donors and of aid flows that use public financial management systems in partner countries, which either (a) adhere to broadly accepted good practices or (b) have a reform program in place to achieve these.

With reforms in Bangladesh PFMS, most of the DPs including major DPs are using the PFMS.

6. Strengthen capacity by avoiding parallel implementation structures-number of parallel project implementation units (PIUs) per country.

In the energy and power sector, the existence of only one PIU was reported at present in rural electrification.

7. Aid is more predictable-Percent of aid disbursements released according to agreed schedules in annual or multi-year frameworks.

Aid in the energy and power sector is more predictable now as aid-worthy projects are included in the three year rolling plan. Aid disbursements, in general, are also made according to schedules.

8. Aid is untied-Percent of bilateral aid that is untied.

Except for a small portion of suppliers credit, the aid in energy and power sector is untied.

Harmonization Present Status

9. Use of common arrangements or procedures-Percent of aid provided as program -based approaches

A program based approach is yet to be taken up in the energy and power sector, However, a number of projects are being implemented under the Sustainable Power Development Program.

10. Encourage shared analysis-Percent of (a) field missions and/or (b) country analytic work, including diagnostic reviews that are joint.

In the energy and power sector, joint financing arrangements have been made for a limited number of projects. But so far joint missions and joint analytic work has been reported in one project only, namely, Development of Electric Distribution System in 10 Town. Joint missions and joint analytic work are being encouraged. Through LCG activities, DPs are jointly undertaking analytic work in energy and power sector.

Managing for Results Present Status

11. Results-oriented frameworks-Number of countries with transparent and monitorable performance assessment frameworks to assess progress against (a) the national development strategies and (b)

This has already been reflected in part 1


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sector programs.

Mutual Accountability Present Status

12. Mutual accountability-Number of partner countries that undertake mutual assessments of progress in implementing agreed commitments on aid effectiveness including those in this Declaration.

This has also been reflected in part 1

9. 8 Recommendations

1) GOB’s ownership should further be enhanced through capacity strengthening of officials and staff of the power and energy sector to implement development plans, programs, and policies;

ii) High officials in the energy and power sector should also make regular consultations with the LCG energy subgroup for increased aid harmonization and aid coordination;

iii) Mid-level and operation level officials of this sector should also have more contacts with DP officials for increased harmonization and coordination;

iv) Harmonization efforts should be further enhanced by DPs in the energy and Power Sector through partnership arrangements with other DPs;

v) More training workshops may be organized in the energy and power sector for further dissemination and understanding of PD commitments and indicators;

vi) GOB should establish common arrangements on procurement system in consultation with DPs for increased alignment;

vii) GOB should improve the capacity of the executing agencies to prepare standard bid documents as well as undertaking effective procurement;

viii) DPs aid conditionality should be sector-related and strategy-based and should be as minimum as possible;

ix) Cross-conditionality should be avoided for increasing aid effectiveness in the energy and power sector;

x) Recruitments of foreign consultants should be demand-driven and limited to such areas where local capacity is lacking;

xi) Joint missions should be encouraged for reducing transaction cost. Individual donor missions should be discouraged;

xii) Local offices of DPs should be sufficiently authorized to approve tender documents;

xiii) Authority for handling more projects should be delegated to local DP offices for expediting project implementation as well as reducing transaction cost.


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10. Cross-Cutting Issue: Environment 10.1 Introduction Promoting a harmonised approach to environmental assessment, donors have achieved considerable progress in harmonization around environmental impact assessment at the project level. This progress needs to be deepened, including addressing implications of global environmental issues such as climate change, desertification and loss of biodiversity. The Paris Declaration lays down an action-orientated roadmap intended to improve the quality of aid and its impact on development. Aiming at sustainable environmental development, donors and partner countries jointly commit to the following: (1) to strengthen the application of EIAs, (2) to deepen common procedures for projects, including consultations with stakeholders, (3) to develop and apply common approaches for ‘strategic environmental assessment’ at the sector and national level, and (4) to continue to develop the specialized technological and policy capacity for environmental analysis and for enforcement of legislation. Major environmental concerns for Bangladesh are natural disasters, deforestation, biodiversity loss, deteriorating water quality, land degradation, arsenic contamination, salinity, unplanned urbanization, discharge of untreated sewage and industrial waste. Moreover, Private sector’s reluctance to support GoB initiative to invest in discharging untreated sewage and industrial waste, and hence GoB finds it difficult to address the challenge on it’s own. The contribution of Bangladesh to green house gas emission is considered to be very negligible in the global context. But the country is highly vulnerable to the projected impacts of climate change, as these are likely to increase the already high risk of disasters and exacerbate existing vulnerability. The annual deforestation rate of Bangladesh is about 3.3 compared to 0.6% in South Asia. The major causes cited for over exploiting this natural resource are population pressure, as well as power and profit seeking of the rich and influential. Moreover, a new form of encroachment in the forest has also occurred through clearing mangrove forests in the coastal areas for shrimp culture1. Loss of forestland and wetlands entails loss of biodiversity. Bangladesh has lost about 10% of its mammalian fauna, 3% of avifauna and 4% of the reptiles in the last 100 years. Wetlands are in worse condition compared to that of forests. Wetlands are being converted into agricultural land and are substantially degraded through development activities. With a huge population pressure, Bangladesh has achieved several milestones in its environment sector despite the hardship from poverty, resource scarcity, and natural calamities. However, the environment as a cross-cutting issue is generally sidelined in developments programs. The Country Environmental Analysis report by World Bank, 2006 reinforces the message that the linkages in the balancing act work in both directions: not only can economic growth compromise environmental protection, but environmental degradation threatens economic growth. Together, the environmental impacts considered in the report account for economic losses equivalent to more than 4% of Gross Domestic Product, and these costs are felt most severely by the poor2. 10.2 The Task (Scope of Work) The scope of work of this part of the study is to analyze cross-cutting - environmental issues and examine challenges and opportunities in improving aid effectiveness.

1 International Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, IUCN, 2007 2 World Bank, 2006


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10.3 The Task Completed Development of Questionnaire A set of key questions was prepared in line with the model evaluation framework and scope of work as laid down in Terms of Reference in order to collect relevant data from respondents included in the study.

Primary Data Collection As the environment is a cross-cutting issue, 25 personnel from the major donors, Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF), Department of Environment (DoE), civil society, member from the Local Consultative Group Environment Subgroup as well as other relevant sectors were selected for interview on the basis of involvement and concern with donor aided development projects. Within a particular organisation or agency selection of information sources have been made in such a manner that the sampling ensures a representative character. The interviews were conducted through questionnaire survey.

Secondary Data Collection Secondary data and information were collected from different published documents such as i) Paris Declaration, ii) DAC Survey Reports, iii) Bangladesh National Capacity Self-Assessment for Global Environmental Management Report, 2007, iv) Bangladesh Country Environmental Analysis, World Bank 2006, v) Guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessment, vi) Bangladesh Action Plan for Flood Control, 1992, vii) EIA Report of Pachanala-Koya beel Drainage and Irrigation Project, 2004, viii) EIA Report of Rehabilitation of Flood Embankment along the Right bank of Gumti River from Puiatong to Gouripur- Homna Road, 2004, ix) Final Report on Impact Evaluation of Teesta Barrage Project (Phase-1), x) Good Practice Guidance for Development Co-operation, OECD 2006, xi) Project information documents of BAN: PHULBARI COAL PROJECT, Bangladesh, an Asian Development Bank assistance project; and some PRA reports of ADB funded Local Government Engineering Department projects, and other information from internet sources.

Reports At the beginning of the study an inception report was submitted elaborating planning and methodology regarding the task of evaluating the implementation of the Paris Declaration (PD) in Bangladesh. Based on the findings of the interviews and report review, an Interim Report on preliminary findings highlighting changes in behaviour of the DPs and the GOB with recommendations on PD implementation were submitted on January 6, 2008.

10.5 Utility of the Paris Declaration on Cross Cutting Issues -Environment Clarity: In general respondents from the development partners, Economic Relations Division personnel, and members of civil society are much aware of the cross cutting issue-the environment. However, the respondents who were GOB officials of Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Department of Environment, Planning Commission-those who are the key personnel to implement environmental commitments of the PD and other agencies associated with cross cutting issues, have very little idea about the Paris Declaration.

Relevance: The respondents of the study indicate that indicators of the PD are not enough to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the PD commitments for sustainable development in harmony with global environmental sustainability and biodiversity. In the context of ownership and leadership, the respondents consider that the national environmental impact assessment can be used as one of the proxy indicators in environment cross cutting issues.


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10.6 The Paris Declaration Principles (Set Against Five Axes) and Environmentally Sustainable Development

10.6.1 Ownership:

This principle implies that partner countries lead their own development paths and ensure sustainability over the long term. The indicator (indicator 1) of this principle places a great deal of emphasis upon the national development strategy (including PRS) that has clear strategic priorities linked to a medium term expenditure framework and reflected in the annual budget.

It is observed that most of the DPs contributing to the development of Bangladesh, respect effective leadership of Bangladesh over its development policies and strategies in implementing environmental crosscutting issues. The study reveals that over the last few years, ownership and leadership of Bangladesh in developing national development strategies has deepened, and strategies are increasingly comprehensive. In the national development strategies there have been better integration of the environment as described below.

Response of the Government of Bangladesh: Since the beginning of the 1990’s the institutionalisation of environmental issues into broader development practices has been gradual and in many respects (such as environmental assessment laws) donor driven3, an enabling legal environment in Bangladesh has been created, in particular through the Environment Conservation Act 1995, Environment Rules 1997, and the Environmental court Act 2000, followed by a series of new pieces of environmental legislation issued since 20004. Further, environmental policy formulation has been led by the development of the National Conservation Strategy (NCS) in 1991, adoption of the National Environment Policy (NEP) in 1992 and National Forest Policy in 1994 and the National Environment Management Action Plan (NEMAP) in 1995. The GOB’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals has enabled action to address a range of environmental challenges, in particular to reduce environmental health risks, and to ensure the environmental sustainability of economic growth. A number of initiatives taken by the government for environmental sustainability have been successfully implemented, such as elimination of leaded gasoline, the phasing out of two-stroke three-wheelers from the streets of Dhaka, and the ban on thin polythene bags. In the PRS the GOB has explicitly focused on the cross cutting issue-environment and has emphasized the need for broad participation by stakeholders in this issue. Significant progress has been made in establishing the policy, institutional and legal framework necessary to strengthen environmental management. The GOB has developed complete Environmental Impact Assessment guidelines for water, and has adopted four ADBs’ EIA guideline for textile, paper & pulp, leather, and dyeing sectors. While such developments mark a growing recognition of the need to ensure environmental sustainability, the study found that still there are weaknesses in formal laws; such as the absence of a legal requirement for public disclosure and participation in Environmental Assessment laws and regulations. Environmental Challenges to Poverty Reduction: The National Strategy of Bangladesh for Accelerated Poverty Reduction has clearly recognized the link to environmental degradation and poverty. It emphasizes the 3 World Bank, 2006

4Including the Environment Conservation (Amendment) Act 2000, Environment Conservation (Amendment) Act 2002, Environment Court Act 2000, Conservation of Play Ground, Open Space, Parks and Natural Wetlands Act (in all municipal areas of the country) 2000, Environment Court (Amendment) Act 2002, Brick Burning Control (Amendment) Act 2001, and Three Amendments (in 2002 and 2003) to Environment Conservation Rules 1997.


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dependency of the poor on natural resources and the vulnerability of the poor to environmental health risks. The Strategy identified a number of issues as being of particular concern to the poor such as degradation of agricultural land and the unsustainable use of common resources such as fisheries, indoor and outdoor air pollution, contamination of drinking water bacteriologically and natural occurring arsenic), as well as the growing burden of toxic waste from urban, industrial and agricultural sources.

Sectoral Capacity for Environmental Management: A range of sector policies has significant consequences from an environmental perspective, in particular the Water Policy, Forest Policy, Fisheries Policy, Tourism Policy, Energy Policy, Petroleum Policy, Agriculture Policy, and Industry Policy. The study reveals that the integration of environmental concerns into these sector policies is still poor in Bangladesh.

Cross-Sectoral Coordination: Cross sectoral coordination is necessary to implement cross cutting issue- environment in sectoral development projects. Public sector projects under consideration by the Planning Commission are in principal passed to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for environmental review. It is found that this public planning process is not utilized to its full advantage because of limited technical expertise available to fulfill this role; and also, because of the lack of coordination between MoEF and other line Ministries. There are no specific guidelines for the preparation and review of environmental assessments for non-industrial projects and the process of providing environmental clearances for such public sector projects are ad hoc. It is found that the Department of Environment lacks the resources to monitor the implementation of environmental management plans for development projects undertaken by line ministries and further, has no authority to undertake legal proceedings against line agencies in the event that they do not address the environmental impacts of their activities.

Annual Budget for Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) and Department of Environment (DoE): MoEF has an annual budget (both development and revenue) of about 2 billion Bangladesh Taka (about US$34 million), which is less than 0.5% of the Government’s total revenue and development budget. Of this total, over 80% is allocated to the Forest Department and less than 1% to the DoE. As the DoE serves as the custodian of the environment, the number of staff and budget allocation to DoE is found to be very low in comparison to other departments and agencies of MoEF. DoE continues to be understaffed, with only 191 staff positions, of which only 85 are managerial or technical, and also under-budgeted relative to its broad mandate, with a revenue budget allocation of about 25 million Taka (less than US$ 0.5 million). The Department’s revenue budget covers only salary, limited travel, and certain basic logistics.

10.6.2 Alignment:

This principle is addressed by the seven monitoring indicators (indicator 2-8) of the Paris Declaration. The central thrust of this commitment is to strengthen and support the capacities of developing country partners. In practice aid effectiveness for Paris Declaration Principle in cross-cutting issue- environment, alignment can be assessed by the effort and progress made by the donors and the developing country in using the national Environmental Impact Assessment guideline and in strengthening and supporting capacity development.

The Paris Declaration throws the spotlight on strengthening the application of EIA and provides emphasis on using common procedures including consultations with stakeholders at the sector and national levels. The study reveals that the major donors use their own EIA


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guideline in all development projects and programs in Bangladesh. There is no alignment found for EIA guidelines in the development projects. Also the donors do not consider the national EIA guideline as a standard guideline. Respondents of the donor, GoB officials, and member from civil society feel that it is important to continue developing common EIA procedures for development projects. Though the alignment is yet to be achieved for EIA, the developments partners are playing supportive roles for strengthening environmental management in Bangladesh. A number of capacity building programs have taken place to strengthen the capacity of the GOB for environmental management and enforcement. The following are a few examples where the donors are giving support to strengthen institutional capacity aligned with GOB priority and needs The Sustainable Environment Management Program (SEMP): It is the first follow-up activity in the implementation of NEMAP (1995-2005) and is being executed by the Ministry of Environment and Forest from October 1998 to December 2006. SEMP is the largest program of United Nations Development Program in Bangladesh. The objectives of this project are to build and strengthen capacity for environmental management at the Community (to enable the poor to have access to environmental resources), Local (developing capacity to project for the interests of the poor), and National levels. Along with these, SEMP also aims to prevent and reverse the present trend of environmental degradation, to promote sustainable development and reduce existing poverty and raise the quality of life.

The Bangladesh Environmental Institutional Strengthening Project, (BEISP): To increase the capacity for sustainable environmental management in Bangladesh, Canadian International Development Agency initiated this joint project of the Government of Canada and DoE for a period of 2006-2010 The project has two main components: Strengthen the capacity of the Department of Environment to implement their strategic Plan and Strengthen the capacity of civil society for environmental management

Bangladesh Environment Management Project (BEMP): Recently DoE undertook an institutional assessment and developed a strategic plan (and an action plan for its implementation) to clarify its goals, expected results, and major initiatives (see Box 1) through the CIDA-supported Bangladesh Environment Management Project.


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Box: 1 Strategic Plan of the DoE Mission - DoE’s mission is to help secure a clean and healthy environment for the benefit of present and future generations through: • Fair and consistent application of environmental rules and regulations; • Guiding, training and promoting awareness of environmental issues; • Sustainable action in critical environmental problems that demonstrate practical solutions, and that galvanize public support and involvement. Strategic Priorities - DoE’s five-year strategy involves working to improve the DoE’s performance in all areas of its mandate while focusing on five strategic directions: • Enforce the Environmental Conservation Act and meet international obligations; • Administer the environmental clearance process competently and transparently; • Address major air and water quality management problems; • Expand public awareness efforts; • Build DoE capacity. Building Capacity - to better fulfil its mandate, the capacity of the DoE has to increase significantly. Accordingly, the first steps are (i) restructuring the Department, and (ii) increasing the number and competence of its human resources. Source: Strategic Plan of the DoE, 2002

National Capacity Self Assessment Project: With a view to develop capacity needs in order to effectively address crosscutting global environmental issues for global environmental management; the National Capacity Self Assessment Project was created by MoEF with the technical support from International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and financial support from Global Environment Facility and UNDP for a period of 16 months, June 2006 to October 2007.

10.6.3 Harmonization:

The monitoring indicators (indicator 9&10) for the harmonization principle relate to the use of common arrangements or procedure and encouraged shared analysis. The Paris Declaration explicitly recognizes the donors’ harmonization around Environmental Impact Assessment at the project level and the need to deepen such procedure, including addressing implications of global environmental issues such as climate, biodiversity loss, and desertification.

In recent years aid agencies have successfully put in place environmental assessment procedures that are based on good practice principles and approaches. Today, all donors working in Bangladesh have their own laws and regulations requiring the assessment of the potential adverse environmental and health impacts of development projects. In Bangladesh different donors use different procedures for the same kind of projects in different areas. The study reveals that aid is used less effectively if different procedures are taking place for the same kind of projects.


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10.6.4 Managing for Development Results:

This principle emphasizes the need for result oriented policies and programmes and the need to regularly monitor actual outcome in order to identify corrective measures as needed. The Paris Declaration indicator (indicator 11) for this commitment is the presence of a result oriented framework to assess progress against national development strategies and sector programmes.

The environment as a crosscutting issue is included in the PRS and has links to the national development strategies. National Environment Management Action Plan was developed for a period of 10 years (1995 to 2005) which provided an action plan for environmental development in combination with a set of broad sectoral guidelines. Development assistance is increasingly being provided through strategic-level interventions, aimed to make aid more effective. The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness calls upon donors and partners to work together to “develop and apply common approaches for strategic environmental assessment (SEA) at sector and national levels”. To ensure environmental considerations are taken into account in this new aid context, established environmental assessment tools at the project level need to be complemented by approaches fully adapted to policies, plans, and programmes. The study found that all development projects require EIA study and an Environmental Clearance Certificate from DoE. In Bangladesh EIA study does not provide opportunity to suggest alternatives in terms of design, technology, or location. In Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge Project, no alternative to the project site was identified in the EIA report. SEA addresses those shortcomings by offering the possibility of contemplating alternative technologies, lifestyle choices, and resource uses. The donor agencies are contributing to the adoption of SEA. For example, recent policy and institutional developments at the World Bank have implications for future use of SEA.

10.6.5 Mutual Accountability:

The Paris Declaration indicator (indicator 12) for this principle is based on the mutual assessment of progress in implementing agreed commitments on aid effectiveness by the national government and the donors. More broadly this accountability is related to the existence of a strong national accountability mechanism. Integration of environmental issues and concerns into development processes is considered as a prime concern for Bangladesh because economic growth and environmental sustainability is treated as a mutually interdependent aspect to improve the well-being of the nation. The Government of Bangladesh and development partners have a range of development policies in energy, transport, agriculture, and industrial development, among others. The study found that Development Partners are more committed to environmental sustainability in Bangladesh and follow the legal procedure for the environmental assessment process. Also, GOB achievements ranged from incorporation of environmental concerns in sector policy formulation to benchmarking success at the field level. However, there is no appropriate system in place to examine and assess the environmental soundness of these policies which may hinder the global agreement for environmental sustainability. According to provisions made in Environmental Conservation Act 1995, the DoE is authorized to issue environmental clearance on all types of industrial and non-industrial units and projects, and is also responsible for reviewing and approving EA reports. But it is clear from the study that the environmental clearance process of DoE is not transparent and accountable. The DoE has little spare capacity to systematically monitor and analyze environmental information. There has been no systematic compilation, interpretation, or subsequent publication of these data. Without any quality control or public scrutiny of the data, the little environmental data available is generally of questionable reliability.


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There exist a LCG environment subgroup consisting of 50 members which is supposed to identify shared environmental concern and maintain a constructive dialogue with GOB and the DPs. However, it is found that the subgroup is not functioning effectively. Some of the members found in the December 2007 list had left their job a year earlier from their respective organization. And some members expressed their ignorance about their membership in the subgroup.

10.7 Conclusion To secure desired global stability and development, the PD has acknowledged its necessity to enhance the environmental sustainability of aid programmes. With the help of Development Partners Bangladesh is making significant progress in developing national development strategies, establishing policy, institutional and legal framework necessary to strengthen environmental management. However, as the credible threat of regulatory enforcement is central to environmental governance, it is necessary to establish the institutional capacity to deliver such enforcement. Donors are giving consistent support to Bangladesh to strengthen the capacity for management and enforcement of the environmental process. Along with the environmental policies and governance a strong political will is also needed for the implementation of the commitment of the Paris Declaration.

10.8 Recommendation: • In the context of ownership or leadership the existence of a national EIA can be used

as one of the proxy indicators in cross cutting issue-environment. • Public consultation is a must for an effective and meaningful EIA process, particularly

for potentially high risk projects. Therefore, the first step in this direction would be for the government to prepare an appropriate amendment to Environmental Conservation Rule (ECR) ’97, requiring such consultation to take place.

• The Department of Environment should implement its Strategic Plan which is essential to strengthen environmental governance in Bangladesh

• GOB in cooperation with DPs needs to formulate a sector specific mutually agreed standard EIA. In order to ensure the consideration of environmental issues at the decision-making level, Strategic Environmental Assessment system should be implemented. In the context of Bangladesh, it might be more appropriate to institute SEA as an EIA-based SEA

• There should be incentives for improved environmental performance. • Information of the environmental assessments and clearance process should be

publicly available. • Publish a national environmental scorecard annually. • As the priority agenda of the LCG environment subgroup are PRS, renewable energy,

climate change and pollution; GOB can take initiative to make the LCG effective. • There should be a joint assessment and evaluation of the execution and

performances of environmental management programs by both donor and GOB every 3 to 5 years.

• Environmental audit should be introduced in the project level • Donors should provide grant assistance to support GOB in its efforts to protect the

environment.


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Annex 1 Terms of Reference (TOR)

Under the supervision of the National Evaluation Coordinator, and in close consultation with the Working Group, the consultant team will undertake the following tasks. In addition to the present Terms of references, the team will use both the Generic TOR prepared by the OECD and the country level Terms of Reference of the Bangladesh (attached below) as the overall guiding framework for the entire evaluation, including the evaluation questions mentioned in these ToR’s. Any change of these ToR’s during the course of the evaluation may need to be incorporated as required. 1. Scope of Work The consultant will perform the following tasks, but not limited to: 1) Analyze the clarity, relevance and coherence of the Paris Declaration in the Bangladesh context

while taking into consideration of the lessons from the DAC Survey 2006; 2) Analyze the behavior of Development Partners in implementing the PD and their bottlenecks; what

are the harmonization effort made by the Development Partners and what mechanism worked and what did not work;

3) Analyze the behavior of Bangladesh Government in implementing the PD and their bottlenecks; what are the efforts made by the Bangladesh Government and what mechanism worked and what did not work;

4) Analyze the case of PEDP-II and examine challenges and opportunities in improving aid effectiveness in the sector;

5) Analyze the case of Energy or Power sector and examine challenges and opportunities in improving aid effectiveness in the sector;

6) Analyze the case of cross-cutting issue (environment) and examine challenges and opportunities in improving aid effectiveness in the sector; for items 4) to 6), the analysis focuses on the differences of harmonization efforts done by both Development Partners and the Bangladesh Government by sector, together with the difference in applying 12 indicators and 56 commitments and other aspects to be taken into consideration in those three sectors;

7) Analyze the gaps and bottlenecks and identify the areas to be addressed jointly and formulate recommendations to improve aid harmonization and aid effectiveness;

8) Submit deliverables outlined in section 4; 9) Make presentations to the Steering Committee/Working Group as well as LCG upon request; 10) Take care of logistics associated with the survey. 11) Any other tasks related to the assignment as decided by the client and his representative

2. Methodology Data/information will be collected from the following sources:

• Documents/literatures (e.g. DAC report, Harmonisation Action Plan (HAP), DPs’ report, etc.) • Interview with the relevant GoB officials and resource persons who have been involved in

Paris High Level Forum (HLF), DAC survey and HAP. • Interviews with the relevant DP staff • Interviews with representatives of the Civil Society

3. Outputs of the Study The following information will be presented in the form of a Final Report as per the ToR of the Bangladesh Country Level Evaluation:

• Assessment of the Paris Declaration in terms of its clarity, relevance and coherence, including analysis of the bottlenecks;

• Assessment of Development Partners’ behavior; • Assessment of Partner behavior; • Assessment of aid harmonization and aid effectiveness in Primary Education/PEDP-II; • Assessment of aid harmonization and aid effectiveness in Energy or Power;


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• Assessment of aid harmonization and aid effectiveness in Environment; • Assessment of effects of the aid effectiveness initiatives set against the five axes of the PD; • Assessment of effects in terms of transaction cost • Recommendations towards achieving aid harmonization and aid effectiveness in Bangladesh

on each of the mentioned assessments.

4. Remarks • The team is expected to work closely with the National Evaluation Coordinator and Working

Group.


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First Phase of the Evaluation of the Implementation of the Paris Declaration

TOR for Country Level Evaluations – Bangladesh

Background and rationale 1) Country context – Bangladesh’s commitment

Bangladesh, with a number of other countries and international organisations, participated at the High Level Forum (HLF) and placed its signature to the joint commitments contained in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in 2005. Since then, the Government of Bangladesh has been taking commendable efforts in pursuit of better aid coordination and harmonization and has enhanced coordination/consultation to implement Paris Declaration. First of all, Bangladesh formulated the Bangladesh Harmonization Action Plan (HAP)5 to localize the spirit of the Paris Declaration and promote its implementation. This was then followed by a dissemination workshop to enhance understanding among the involved staff in line ministries. Bangladesh in close consultation with Development Partners, also took part in the OECD-DAC baseline survey in the 2006 Survey on monitoring of the Paris Declaration6

In 2007, the Government of Bangladesh volunteered, at the Evaluation Reference Group meeting held in Paris, to conduct a country level evaluation of the implementation of the Paris Declaration,

Global context of the Evaluation Alongside its strong focus on monitoring, the Paris Declaration also highlights the importance of an independent cross-country evaluation process. The Declaration states that this evaluation process should provide a more comprehensive understanding of how increased aid effectiveness contributes to meeting development objectives and that it should be applied without imposing unnecessary additional burdens on partners.

In response to this commitment, the DAC Development Evaluation Network explored possible approaches to an evaluation. A two-phase evaluation was proposed. The first phase of the evaluation will focus on input and output levels, through a series of partner country, development partner7 headquarters, and thematic evaluations. The second phase of the evaluation (up to 2010) will focus on outcome and impact levels. The evaluation will complement the monitoring of the implementation of the Paris Declaration, undertaken through the Joint Venture on Monitoring. The proposed Evaluation has received strong support from the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness

(WP-EFF) and the DAC Evaluation Network. An international Reference Group, comprising partner country members of the WP-EFF, members of the DAC Evaluation Network, and representatives of civil society, has been established to commission and oversee the evaluation. The first phase will run from March 2007 to July 2008 and will aim at providing information on the

‘HOWs and WHYs’ of the implementation process of the Paris Declaration in order to deliver practical lessons and help take stock of implementation performance at the 3rd High-Level Forum (HLF) on Aid Effectiveness to be held in Ghana. The second phase of the evaluation will run from the HLF in Ghana in 2008 up to the 4th HLF in 2010. This second phase will focus on whether the intended long-term effects of the Paris Declaration are being achieved.

5 http://www.lcgbangladesh.org/ 6 http://www.lcgbangladesh.org/aidgov/index.php 7 By Development Partners is meant donors, multilateral agencies, IFIs and other organisations engaged in development assistance


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1. Purpose and Objectives of the Evaluation of the implementation of the Paris Declaration

While the overall purpose of the evaluation is to provide information about the end impacts and

effects of implementation of the Paris Declaration principles; the first phase of the evaluation will only focus on input, the implementation process and (to the extent possible) on the level of outputs: Are development partners and partner governments doing what they said they would do? If not, why not? What difference is it making at country level? The specific purpose of the evaluation is to assess what constitutes better practices for partner and

development partner behaviour in regard to implementation of the Paris Declaration. Starting from the premise that implementation of the Paris Declaration principles will lead to more effective aid, emphasis will be on learning by asking the twin questions: are we doing the right things and, at the output level, are we doing things right? The objectives of the evaluation are: • To deepen the understanding of the lessons emerging from the Paris Declaration’s baseline

survey conducted in 2006. • To facilitate global learning on aid effectiveness and to facilitate a more efficient implementation of

the Paris Declaration by the evaluated countries. • To make specific recommendations to the evaluated countries and to the global aid community for

improving aid effectiveness. • To provide the basis for the second phase of the evaluation.

2. Two Phases of the Evaluation

In order to provide a proper basis for assessment it has been decided to carry out the evaluation in

two phases: The first phase of the evaluation will focus on input and output levels, through a series of partner

country, development partner8 headquarters, and thematic evaluations. The second phase of the evaluation (up to 2010) will focus on outcome and impact levels. Phase one will be conducted with the purpose of strengthening the aid effectiveness by assessing

what constitutes better practices for partner and donor behaviour in regard to implementation of the Paris Declaration. The first phase of the evaluation will only focus on input, the implementation process and (to the extent possible) on the level of outputs: Are development partners and partner governments doing what they said they would do? If not, why not? What difference is it making at country level? It is necessary to describe the factors and conditions that help in the effective implementation PD and the factors that hinder the implementation of PD. The first phase of the evaluation is to see whether there has in fact been a behavioural change among donors and partners countries alike in the context of PD. The pattern of behavioural changes need to compared with donors who have not been a signatory to PD. Monitoring of PD is centred on 12 indicators which will be used for evaluation as well. However, evaluation may go beyond these 12 indicators and capture relevant new proxy indicators and also address the qualitative aspects as well. The concerns on aid policy related issues need be addressed in the evaluation. Phase two will be conducted with the purpose of assessing the linkages between aid effectiveness

and development results. This will be determined after the completion of phase 1. Hence, the first phase evaluation will not assess the underlying assumptions of the PD; namely that

increased aid effectiveness leads to development impact. Instead, the assumptions will be assessed (in the extent possible) during phase two of the evaluation, evaluating the same countries. Other assumptions underlying the PD may however be assessed, i.e. that harmonization and alignment, 8 By Development Partners is meant donors, multilateral agencies, IFIs and other organisations engaged in development assistance


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ownership and mutual accountability may form the necessary preconditions leading to aid effectiveness. 3. Scope and Focus of the First Phase of the Evaluation

Since the endorsement of Paris Declaration (PD) in March 2005, at least 60 countries have taken

steps to implement the PD. Bangladesh, among other 33 countries, has undertaken the 2006 Survey on Monitoring the PD. From the Survey Report, which summarised the baseline findings9, and from country-specific implementation experiences recorded in a range of different studies, evidence on three dimensions of the aid effectiveness agenda can be identified: • The utility of the PD itself as a tool for aid effectiveness10; • The change of development partner behaviour in terms of alignment of their policies, systems and

procedures to implement the PD commitments; and • The change of partner behaviour, with ownership as the key entry-point These three dimensions will constitute the main scope of the evaluation. The Paris Declaration as a Tool for increased Aid Effectiveness. Regarding the utility of the Paris Declaration as a tool to foster aid effectiveness three core issues

have been identified: a. Clarity. In many countries it has been unclear how implementation of commitments under the PD should be interpreted and assessed; which has lead to potential lack of parity in the monitoring process. First of all, most countries have experienced difficulties in transposing the various indicators of the PD to the country context. Indeed according to the Survey Report, few country groups seem to have been able to reach a consensus on locally adjusted definitions. Especially the indicators concerning capacity strengthening (indicators 4 and 6) and programme approaches (indicator 9) have given rise to extensive discussion and, in some instances, further normative work.11 But also indicators providing a relatively unambiguous measure of progress, such as indicator 5 for alignment to country systems and procedures, have been subject to measurement problems.12 As a result of the perceived lack of clarity, the lowest denominator has often been applied allowing development partners to place their performance closer to the targets than what would otherwise be the case. It comes therefore as no surprise that the Survey Report cautions against a naïve utilisation of the baseline data and that firmer steps are needed to ensure the standardisation of measures for the next survey rounds. b. Relevance. Also the relevance of some of the Paris Declaration Indicators has been questioned during implementation in regard to the perceived main aid effectiveness issues in-country. Some of the indicators appear too narrowly defined to capture the intended commitment. E.g. ownership dimensions which are crucial to the whole aid effectiveness venture are only measured by the proxy indicator of the existence of national development plans, while the interest of the country’s senior officials and its politicians in setting the agenda for development efforts is not captured. Another example is the reduction of parallel implementation units (PIUs) as a sole measure of capacity building. Furthermore, some of the commitments included in the PD are not captured in the 12 indicators such as commitments concerning donor-to-donor delegation and complementarities of development assistance – issues critical to the harmonization agenda. As a result, the implementation 9 The survey report is scheduled for release March/April 2007. 10 There is no agreed-to definition of aid effectiveness, but a widely held consensus about the different changes in behaviour and practice which are together taken to comprise effective aid. 11See e.g. PIU Reference Matrix of Cambodia: http://www.oecd.dac/dataoecd/42/58/37105997.pfd 12 E.g. according to the Survey Report, for several countries it is not clear that all of the programmes included as using country budget execution systems are accurately described as « subject to normal country budgetary execution procedures, namely procedures for authorisation, approval and payment, as specified in the survey’s Definitions and Guidance paper.


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of these commitments at country level, have proven difficult to pursue. In addition, current country progress measures considered critical to the attainment of the aid effectiveness agenda are not captured by the PD indicators such as harmonization of salary supplements and allowances, and codes of conduct for capacity building. c. Coherence. Thirdly, the coherence of the Paris Declaration, in terms of the inter-linkages between the various commitments and indicators, has also been challenged. In particular, alignment to partner policies and alignment to financial management and procurement systems are experienced to be contradictory – at least in the shorter term – due to inefficient governance systems which slow programme implementation and hence the meeting of the MDGs. In the rural water sector in Benin for example, the disbursement level fell from 108 per cent in 2004 to 55 per cent in 2005 due to new alignment measures – a difference in disbursement that had a direct influence on the number of water points installed.13 Development Partner Behaviour In regard to development partner behaviour required to meet the PD commitments, a number of

issues have been identified. a. First of all, a disconnect between development partner headquarter policies and in-country practices has been noted, which has led partner countries to increasingly voice their concerns about the slow pace of change in development partner practices. In particular, development partner driven technical cooperation and lack of progress on untying aid have been highlighted as areas of concern. While there is agreement that development partner commitment is critical for even PD implementation, the picture is less clear in terms of the entry point for reinforcement – headquarter or field offices, or both. For some development partners there is a tendency for the PD to be owned by policy staff at headquarters level with country level staff seeing harmonisation tasks as getting in the way of efforts to achieve tangible development results. For other (typically project-oriented) development partners, the picture is reverse with country level staff experiencing difficulties in engaging in collaborative efforts due to legal liability and financial control concerns of headquarter. Indeed, in some instances the legal liability concerns of development partner HQs have led to initial below-PD commitments at field level. b. Communication and Understanding While the development partner’ headquarters/field level disconnect is a real issue, country experiences demonstrate that leadership on PD commitments is first and foremost person-borne reflecting, commitment/ownership differences of individual staff as well as uneven capacities. Indeed, a single development partner representation might represent very different approaches to aid effectiveness as has been registered during PD roll-out with some staff embracing the PD agenda while other staff sees collaborative efforts as time-consuming tasks with limited bearings on development results. As a consequence, development partners and National Coordinators alike have called for more effective and unambiguous communication on PD issues between headquarters policy advisers and operational staff; this especially is the case in countries where the aid effectiveness agenda has been launched only recently. c. The incentive systems of the development partners have been reported as a critical parameter for efficient development partner behaviour. The baseline survey suggests that a number of obstacles work against development partners’ ability to meet the commitments made in Paris. These include amongst other things, excessive pressures for disbursements, lack of flexibility on staff time, and high staff turnover, which taken together create incentives that reward short-term benefits over longer term, and collective gains. Further, the development partners’ need for visibility and influence at times takes precedence over the commitment to harmonized approaches – a tendency which has been especially noted in intervention areas such as decentralization where development models are seen as ‘export-vehicles’ of different development partner systems. Similarly, the same need for visibility limits the embracing of delegation – even when development partners are willing to harmonize and align - as illustrated by the proliferation of development partner groups and development partner

13 Mise en œuvre de la Déclaration de Paris au Benin. COWI, 2005


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group members. It seems that career prospects for development partner staff are improved by the maintenance of individual development partner profiles through active participation in development partner coordination. Such incentives may result in permanently high transaction costs.14

Partner Country Behaviour Partner behaviour is a critical factor for a successful implementation of the PD. As mentioned above,

the starting point for aid effectiveness is that the partner countries assume leadership and responsibility for their own development in response to their citizens needs and own development priorities. And, measured in the form of the proxy indicator of national development plans and the degree to which they are prioritized and linked to budgets, expenditures and results (indicator 1), the baseline findings show that country ownership needs substantial strengthening. Partner leadership in aid coordination is another major concern. But there is no specific indicator dedicated to measure this dimension of ownership. However, the variable is measured indirectly through other sections of the survey: the degree to which aid data are captured in the national budget or the government accounts (indicators 3 and 5) and the use of Programme-Based Approaches, for which a government-led policy framework is a necessary condition (indicator 9). Fortunately, the survey findings demonstrate that partner governments are more inclined than they were only a few years ago to assume a leadership role in aid coordination as demonstrated by the recent proliferation of Aid Policies. a. As indicated above, these proxy indicators for ownership are increasingly being viewed as too limited to demonstrate the complexity of the ownership dimension. First and foremost, the fact that a given partner country holds different ownership claimants, as reflected by an uneven commitment to national development policies and aid policies, is not addressed. Whose ownership is to be strengthened? Is it the executive or the legislative arm of government? Is it politicians or officials? Is it central or local government? Is it the Ministry of Planning and Finance or the sector ministries?15 Further, to what extent is this ownership inclusive, especially with respect to key civil society constituencies’ relation to human rights, gender equality and the environment? These questions are important to clarify when implementing the PD, as the approach to national development and aid policies differs strongly depending on the partner stakeholder. E.g. one of the fundamental tenets of the PD – namely the programme approach – has during PD implementation mainly been championed by the central ministries, such as ministries of finance, while sector ministries have been reported seeing budget support (general and sector) as a relinquishing of their power. Another example is the oft experienced resistance of central governments to the devolution of competences and funds to local governments in the context of decentralisation. b. Capacities of ownership in terms of adhering to and communicating the underlying ideology of partners’ development plans are critical. While the World Bank criteria for the assessing the state of operational national development plans are commonsensical, they do not say anything about the content of the countries’ development policies. Nonetheless, in practice conflict has been experienced between development partners seeking an MDG-driven poverty reduction strategy and partner countries wanting a growth-oriented development strategy with major infrastructure projects as the key elements.16 Further, experiences show that sector ministries routinely accept development partner funding which is non-aligned to partner sector policies with the consequence of having multiple approaches to e.g. cost-sharing within a given province depending on the development philosophy of the development partner. c. Finally, the extent of ownership of national development results has been an issue for discussion with partner incentive systems for aid effectiveness being the entry point. In several countries, development partners have been voicing concerns about partner governments’ slow progress on key reforms, leaving the development partners without a programme framework and/or 14 Ole Winckler Andersen and Ole Therkildsen. Harmonisation and Alignment: the Double-Edged Swords of Budget Support and Decentralised Aid Administration. Danish Institute for International Studies. 2007. 15 Richard Batley. Mozambique: The cost of ‘owning’ aid. Public Admin. Dev. 25, 415-424 (2005). 16 Although the two development approaches may be mutually dependent with commitment to growth being a necessary (but not significant) prerequisite for poverty reduction.


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systems for alignment. Further, weak leadership has also been noted in regard to ensuring that emerging donors such as China and global funds adhere to the commonly agreed aid effectiveness principles. Indeed, in Zambia the provision of non-confessional funding from non-JASZ signatories has been stated as a key risk to the debt sustainability of the country.17 Emerging Results While the PD might be too recent for the capturing of outputs, emerging aid effectiveness results

might be recorded either in the form of process results and/or outputs based on pre-PD aid effectiveness initiatives18. In regard to process results the Survey Report has noted an improved understanding at country level about the PD objectives and commitments which is expected to be translated into an actionable agenda for a number of countries. There is evidence that “dormant” country harmonisation processes have been to some degree revived as actors within government involved in the survey had an important instrument for instigating change. Emerging outputs are yet to be collected in a coherent manner. However there are indications that for countries which have been engaged in the aid effectiveness discussions for some years, harmonisation efforts (such as division of labour exercises) have led to fewer overlaps of assistance. Further, the managing for results approach – linking resources with results – has at sector level in some instances led to more strategic partner-donor dialogue (e.g. in terms of realistic projections of fulfilment of the MDGs) as compared to what has previously been noted. 4. DAC 2006 Survey in Bangladesh

Through the process of conducting the 2006 Survey in Bangladesh in particular, the Government of

Bangladesh (GoB) and Development Partners observed following issues to be further discussed through close consultation.19 • DAC definitions of some indicators, e.g. parallel PIU, procurement, and PFM, are not specific

enough. • Some indicators, e.g. coordinated technical assistance, left room for various interpretations

leading to lengthy discussion and could not reached commonly agreeable working definition. • Indicators are too much procedure-oriented and no room for discussion on how these target

indicators are relevant/ can really contribute to the improvement of aid effectiveness. • No exhaustive data sets as requested by the DAC were readily available from GoB. • Discrepancy of data between data provided by DPs and data recorded by GoB were observed. Lessons learnt from the experience of conducting Bangladesh 2006 Survey should be taken into consideration in this evaluation. 5. Evaluation Questions

As mentioned above the evaluation will focus on learning by asking the twin questions: ‘are we doing

the right things?’ (Relevance) and ‘are we doing things right?’ (Effectiveness) Hence, the outlined evaluation questions below shall be taken as explorative starting points for the assessments. While the issues to be evaluated are split ‘neatly’ into the three dimensions or aspects: Utility of the

PD; Development Partner Behaviour; and Partner Behaviour; it is understood that strong inter-linkages exist. For example, partner ownership of development efforts depends to a significant degree 17 Joint Assistance Strategy of Zambia. 2007. 18 Toward Country Led Development: An Independent Evaluation of the Comprehensive Development Framework, the World Bank; 2003; The Drive to Partnership: Aid Coordination and the World Bank, The World Bank, 2001; The Round-Table Mechanisms, UNDP, 1998, DP/1998/CRP.2, New York; Evaluation of General Budget Support, DFID 2006). 19 Presentation titled “Update (2 May to 8 November 2006) for discussion: OECD-DAC Survey – Monitoring Paris Declaration in Bangladesh” by DP focal points at LCG Plenary on 9 November 2006.


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on development partner behaviour, while several dimensions of alignment depend on actions by partners. To the extent possible, the country level evaluations should capture these inter-linkages. All 10 country level evaluations are expected to cover these three main dimensions critical to the

implementation of the aid effectiveness agenda. However, in order to accommodate for a variety of country circumstances the country level evaluations may differ in the degree of focus and detail. Assessment of the Paris Declaration:

• What is the perceived clarity of the PD commitments and indicators? If further clarification work has been needed, which agreements have been reached by the partners (country government and development partners) and are the agreements satisfactory?

• What is the perceived relevance of the PD commitments and indicators? What are perceived as the critical aid effectiveness issues in country? Are these addressed by the PD principles? Are all elements perceived critical to aid effectiveness in the country currently addressed?

• What is the perceived coherence of the PD? Are any of the commitments and indicators and/or derived implications experienced as contradictory?

Assessment of development partner behaviour:

• Is development partner field staff aware of the PD commitments? Are they committed to implementing the PD? How has this been demonstrated in development partner practices? Does development partner field staff across sectors and themes address PD commitments evenly? Are development partner HQ and field offices aligned with respect to PD significance and implementation?

• Do the development partners work coherently to support nationally led development frameworks such as the national plan, PRS or UNDAF?

• Do development partner incentive systems motivate field staff to fulfil PD commitments? (Have incentive systems changed to reflect PD commitments?)

• Does development partner field staff (including project/programme staff) hold sufficient capacities to implement the PD?

Assessment of partner behaviour:

• What do partners understand as ‘ownership’? Who are the key claimants to ownership? Which national development and aid policy objectives hold real political power in terms of high government commitment? How well do these align with PD commitments? How are internal alignment conflicts resolved? Has the implementation of the PD principles had an impact on the level of ownership inclusiveness in regard to civil society, marginalised groups, and other national bodies?

• Do partner stakeholders have capacities to communicate and adhere to partner national development and aid policies? Has the nature of partner ownership given rise to change in development partner-partner country relations? If conflictual, how was the conflict resolved? Are emerging donors such as China more or less attuned to partner country needs?

• Do the partner country’s incentive systems motivate staff to fulfil national development and aid policy commitments?

Capturing of emerging outputs:

• What are the emerging intended and unintended effects of the aid effectiveness initiatives set against the five axes of the PD – ownership, alignment, harmonisation, results-based management, mutual accountability? Is there evidence of changes? Has the roll-out of the aid effectiveness agenda had effects on development co-operation priority-setting, including cross-cutting priority issues?

• What are the transaction costs/cost-benefits of implementing the PD commitments of the five axes? And, in what directions have the transaction costs/cost-benefits moved since implementation of the PD commitments?


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6. Sampling sectors in Bangladesh

In addition to the core evaluation questions above, following sector/cross-cutting issues will be selected to examine in detail what works and what to be improved.

Social Sector: Primary Education

Production Sector: Energy or Power Cross-cutting issue: Environment 7. Structure of Work

The evaluation should be conducted in three phases:

Inception Phase. Based on the country terms of reference, the contracted evaluation team (mentioned below) will develop an inception report (30 pages maximum) including: • A contextualised evaluation approach and framework based on the outlined evaluation questions

of the present ToR; • A sampling frame (sector- and cross-cutting focus mentioned above) including the identification of

relevant information sources; • Data collection methods and draft instruments (interview guide, questionnaires, etc.); • Processes for institutional learning during the evaluation; and • A detailed work plan. The Steering Committee as well as its Working Group should be invited to review and comment on the draft Inception report. If at all possible there will be an Inception Workshop/Meeting of all evaluation teams to discuss and compare approaches, before fieldwork is undertaken to share ideas and understanding and to try to encourage comparability in approach and conceptual frameworks including evaluation indicators and criteria.

Data collection and report drafting Phase.

The evaluation questions listed above are intended to be posed to development partner and partner country stakeholders alike, with a focus on perceptions of changed behaviour. Further, it is recommended to also include civil society stakeholders in the evaluation process.

The drafting of the report will be facilitated; adhering to the country level evaluation report outline (to be developed). The country level evaluation report should be of maximum 50 pages including the executive summary.

Consultation and Finalisation Phase.

Evaluation findings would need to be discussed at country level between the GoB and its development partners and other stakeholders before being finalised and communicated to the Evaluation Management Group by the National Evaluation Coordinator.


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Appendix 2: Reporting Requirements 2A Deliverables The following reports/documents will be submitted to the Client and the National Evaluation Coordinator in a timeframe specified in the section below. After reviewed by the Client, National Evaluation Coordinator and the Working Group, final report will be further reviewed by the Steering Committee for approval. At least 2-3 presentations (Steering committee, Working Group and the LCG) Interim report with preliminary findings Preliminary report First draft report Draft final report Final Report with comments received from different stakeholders Background information sets and data sheets, questionnaires and other related to the exercise

including the sector specific discussions The above outputs will be examined by the Client and National Evaluation Coordinator, in close consultation with Working Group/Steering Committee. If the outputs are not acceptable by the Client and National Evaluation Coordinator, the Consultant shall revise the work as soon as possible and shall re-submit for approval. In any case, all works of the Consultant shall be completed by 15 March 2008 unless otherwise the date of completion of the work would be adjusted by prior agreement between the Parties. For the inception report, interim report with preliminary findings, first draft report, and draft final report, soft copy to the both Client and National Evaluation Coordinator as well as 2 hard copy to the Client and 25 hard copies to the National Evaluation Coordinator will be submitted. For the final report, soft copy to the both Client and National Evaluation Coordinator as well as 3 hard copies to the Client and 100 hard copies to the National Evaluation Coordinator will be submitted. 2B Timeframe 1) Submission of inception report: within one week after the date of contract signed. 2) Submission of interim report with preliminary findings: end of December 3) Presentation on the preliminary findings to the Working Group/Steering Committee: end of

December/early January 4) Submission of First Draft Report: middle of January 2008 5) Presentation of findings to the Steering Committee/LCG: middle of January 6) Submission of draft final report: late February 7) Submission of final report: middle of March 2008


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Appendix 3: Personnel Titles (and names), details job descriptions and minimum qualifications of key personnel, and staff-months for each. 3A Key Personnel

Position Name Staff-months

Team Leader Mr. Suddiqur Rahman Choudhury 3

Deputy Team Leader Ms. Nargis Islam 3

Consultant (Primary Education) Dr. Mohammed A. Mabud 3

Consultant (Energy or Power) Mr. Md. Abdul Malek 3

Consultant (Environment) Kaniz Aklima Sultana 3 The key personnel will work full-time exclusively for this assignment to fulfill the Service and will not concurrently hold other posts/jobs. The key personnel who concurrently hold other post/job submits the letter from the respective authority declaring that he/she will be released from the job during the period of assignment under this Contract. The key personnel who currently hold post of Government service submits the copy of admission letter from the Government.

Qualifications and Experience of the key professionals:

1) Team Leader: Master’s Degree in Political Science, International Relations, Economics, Social Sciences, Public Administration or related field. With advanced knowledge and experience (20 years) in the development sector and development effectiveness in general and knowledge and understanding of the Paris Declaration in particular. Excellent analytical skills; Knowledge about the Development effectiveness modalities. Prior experience with State/international organization, and relevant work experience in developing countries, preferably in the region, will be an asset. S/he is expected to apply the methodology, coordinate the sector studies and compile the final report. In particular, the team leader will have overall responsibility for the quality of the draft evaluation report as well as the management/logistics of conducting the evaluation survey and the presentations to the respective steering committee or the working groups. S/he should work in close consultation with the National Evaluation Coordinator/ Steering Committee/ Working Group and should report the progress of the evaluation study when requested by the National Evaluation Coordinator/ Steering Committee/ Working Group.

Excellent English language drafting and oral communication skills.

2) Deputy Team Leader: Master’s Degree or equivalent in Political Science, International Relations, Economics, Social Sciences, Public Administration or related field. Will report to the Team leader. Excellent analytical skills; Knowledge about the Development effectiveness modalities. Prior experience with State/international organization, and relevant work experience in developing countries, preferably in the region, will be an asset. With knowledge and experience in the Paris Declaration and Development/Aid effectiveness. Supporting the team leader, S/he will work mainly on the core evaluation questions mentioned above. Excellent English language drafting and oral communication skills.

3) Consultant (Primary Education): Master’s Degree in Education, Economics, Social Sciences,

Public Administration or related field. Excellent analytical skills; Knowledge about the Development effectiveness modalities. Prior experience with State/international organization, and relevant work experience in developing countries, preferably in the region, will be an asset.


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With knowledge and experience in the primary education sub-sector in Bangladesh and PEDP-II including aid harmonization/ coordination in the sector. Excellent English language drafting and oral communication skills.

4) Consultant (Energy or Power): Master’s Degree in Economics, Environment/Energy, Natural

Sciences, Social Sciences, Public Administration or related field. Excellent analytical skills; Knowledge about the Development effectiveness modalities. Prior experience with State/international organization, and relevant work experience in developing countries, preferably in the region, will be an asset. With knowledge and experience in energy/ power sector in Bangladesh including aid harmonization/coordination in the sector. Excellent English language drafting and oral communication skills.

5) Consultant (Environment): Master’s Degree in Economics, Environment/Agriculture, Social

Sciences, Public Administration or related field. Excellent analytical skills; Knowledge about the Development effectiveness modalities. Prior experience with State/international organization, and relevant work experience in developing countries, preferably in the region, will be an asset. With sufficient knowledge and experience (5-10 years) in environment related issues including aid harmonization/coordination in the sector. Excellent English language drafting and oral communication skills.

Appendix 4: Hours of Work for Personnel Entitlement to leave is not included in the contract. When such need arises, leave will be allowed only with the prior approval of the client. Staff-months covers period during government holidays.


BANGLADESH

NRP Page 60

Annex 2

List of Persons Met (Date wise) Sl.

No. Organization Name Title Date

Government of Bangladesh

1. Bangladesh Planning Commission,

Mr. M. A Jalil Joint Chief (Education) 15 Dec, 07

2. Energy Division Mr. Khandokar Nuruzzaman

Deputy Chief 23 Dec, 07

3. Power Division Mr. Nazrul Islam Deputy Chief 23 Dec, 07

4. Primary Education Directorate

Chowdhury Mufad Ahmed

Joint Program Director, PEDP-II

23 Dec, 07

5. Economic Relations Division

Dr. Jibon Ranjan Majumder

Deputy Secretary, World Bank Wing

23 Dec, 07

6. Energy Division Mr. Mohammad Mohsin Secretary, Energy Division

24 Dec, 07

7. Petrobangla Mr. Moktadir Ali Director (Planning) 24 Dec, 07

8. Planning Commission

Mr. Habibur Rahman Division Chief, Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Institution Division

24 Dec, 07

9. Petrobangla Mr. Shafiqur Rahman GM(Planning) 24 Dec, 07


Ms. Mahbuba Hasin Assistant Chief, Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Institution Division

24 Dec, 07

11. Primary Education Directorate

Mr. Khandaker M. Asaduzzaman

Director General, PEDP-II

26 Dec, 07

12. Ministry Of Primary and Mass Education Bangladesh Secretariats, Dhaka

Mr. Md. Zakir Hussain Deputy Chief, Planning 26 Dec, 07

13. ERD, Ms. Monwara Begum Joint Secretary, 26 Dec, 07

14. IMED Mr. Sk. A K Motahar Hussain

Secretary 26 Dec, 07


Mr. Rafiqul Islam Division Chief (Energy) 26 Dec, 07

16. Finance Division Mr. Ranjit Chakrovarty Joint Secretary and PD, FMRP

26 Dec, 07

17. Department of Environment

Mr. Reazul Islam Director, Technical-1 26 Dec, 07


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NRP Page 61

Sl. No.

Organization Name Title Date

18. ERD, Mr. Md. Aminul Islam Bhuyian

Secretary 27 Dec, 07

19. ERD, Mr. Md. Monirul Haque Joint Chief and National Coordinator

27 Dec, 07

20. ERD, Mr. Monowar Ahmed Deputy Secretary (cord) & PRS-HAP Cell

27 Dec, 07

21. ERD, Mr. Rafique Ahmed Siddique

Senior Assistant Chief 27 Dec, 07

22. General Economics Division, Planning Commission

Mr. Mothar Hossain Division Chief 27 Dec, 07

23. REB Mr. Habibullah Mojumder

Chairman, REB 27 Dec, 07

24. PDB Mr. D. K. Podder Member (Planning and Dev.)

27 Dec, 07

25. DESA Mr. Nishit kumar Sarker Member (Finance) 27 Dec, 07

26. REB Mr. Shahidul Alam Director (Planning) 27 Dec, 07

27. ERD Mr. Shahidul Huq Additional Secretary (World Bank)

27 Dec, 07

28. ERD Mrs. Monwara Begum Joint secretary (ADB) 27 Dec, 07

29. ERD, Ms. Shamima Akhter Deputy Chief (ADB wing)

27 Dec, 07

30. Bangladesh Planning Commission,

Dr. Krishnaw Goyan Deputy Chief (Education)

27 Dec, 07


Mr. Mirza Shawkat Deputy Director, International Convention

27 Dec, 07


Dr. Shorab Ali Deputy Secretary ( Current Charge), Clearance

27 Dec, 07

33. LGED Sahidul Hoq Executive Engineer 3 Jan, 08

34. DoE Mohammed Iqbal Hossain

Demonstration & Training Coordinator, BEISP, CIDA

8 Jan, 08

35. Petro Bangla Mahbibur Rahman Director, Operation 9 Jan, 08

36. Petro Bangla Mr. Akkas Ali G.M, Environment and Safety Division

9 Jan, 08

37. Power Cell Mr. Abdul jalil Director General 14 Jan, 08

38. GTCL Mr. Monjur Morshed Talukdar

Managing Director 14 Jan, 08

39. GTCL Mr. Sanwar Hossaine Choudhury

General Manager 14 Jan, 08


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NRP Page 62

Sl. No.


40. PDB Mr. K. B. A. Rabbani Director 15 Jan, 08

41. REB Mr. Md. Shahidul Alam Director 15 Jan, 08

42. PGCB Mr. Syed Muniruzzaman Director (Tech) 15 Jan, 08

43. PGCB Mr. Fariduddin Ahmed DGM 15 Jan, 08

44. DESCO Mr. Shah Alam DGM 15 Jan, 08

45. Power Cell Mr. Mohammed Hossaine

Deputy Director 15 Jan, 08

46. MoEF A, H, M Rezaul Kabir Secretary 17 Jan, 08

47. MoEF Dr. Md. Nasir Uddin Deputy Secreatry 17 Jan, 08

48. MoWR Mohammad Inamul Haque

DG, WARPO 27 Jan, 08

49. Infrastructure Development Company (IDCOL), Dhaka

Mr. Ehsanul Huq Chief Executive Officer 06 Feb, 08

50. Ministry of Power & Energy

Mr. M. Fouzul Kabir khan Secretary, Power Division

07 Feb, 08

51. MOPME Mr. Musarraf Hossain Bhuiyan

Secretary, Primary and Mass Education

10 Feb, 08

52. Titas Gas Ltd. Mr. Md. Abdullah Managing Director 10 Feb, 08

53. MOPME Mr. A. S. Shameem Ahmed

Joint Secretary 10 Feb, 08

54. MoL Md. Emdadul Haque Deputy Secretary 11 Feb, 08

55. SRDI Mr Jalal Uddin M. Shoeb

CSO 11 Feb, 08

56. SRDI Mr. Md. Moqbul Hossain SSO, Land Use Planner 11 Feb, 08

57. SRDI Nazmul Hasan SSO, Soil Survey Interpretation

11 Feb, 08

58. DPE Mr. Chowdhury Mufad Ahmed

Joint Program Director 12 Feb, 08

59. DPE Mr. Md. Abdur Rouf Director (Administration)

12 Feb, 08

60. DPE Mr. Shamsul Alam Director(Training) 12 Feb, 08

61. DPE Mr. Abul Kasem Bhuiyan Director (Planning) 12 Feb, 08

62. DPE Mr. Shamsul Alom Director (Training), DPE, MOPME

12 Feb, 08


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NRP Page 63

Sl. No.


63. DPE Mr. Abul Kasem Bhuiyan Director, Planning, DPE, MOPME

12 Feb, 08

64. DPE Mr. Md. Abdur Rouf Director, (Administration), DPE, MOPME

12 Feb, 08

65. DPE Mr. Amzad Hossain Director(Policy and Operation)

12 Feb, 08

66. Roads and Highways

Md. Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal

Sub- Divisional Engineer 14 Feb, 08

Development Partners

1. JICA, Dhaka Mr. Nega Waga Education Advisor 14 Dec, 07

2. JICA, Dhaka Ms. Kayo Torii Project Formulation Advisor

14 Dec, 07

3. ADB, Dhaka Md. Abdus Salam Officer in Charge, Program Liaison Unit of ADB (PEDP-II)

18 Dec, 07

4. Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Dhaka

Leo Van der Tang First Secretary 21 Dec, 07

5. Canadian High Commission, Dhaka

Mr. Joseph Sebhatu First Secretary (Dev.) 24 Dec, 07

6. Canadian High Commission ,CIDA, Dhaka

Prof. Selina Mohsin Education Advisor, PEDP-2

24 Dec, 07 and 21 Jan, 2008

7. High Commission of Canada, Dhaka

Mr. Chandra Thiruchittampalam

Counselor (Development)

24 Dec, 07


Ms. Rajani Alexander Counselor & Head of Development Cooperation (CIDA)

24 Dec, 07


Mr. Omar Farooq Khan Senior Development Advisor

24 Dec, 07

10. Embassy of Japan, Dhaka

Mr. Masami Tamura Counselor for Development Co-operation and Economic Affairs

24 Dec, 07

11. Embassy of Japan, Dhaka

Mr. Yusuo Fujita Chief Representative JBIC, Dhaka

24 Dec ,07

12. UNICEF, Dhaka Mr. Shamim Ahmed Project Officer, Quality Education Team(PEDP-2)

24 Dec, 07

13. ADB, Dhaka Mr. Nurul Huda Deputy Country Director

26 Dec, 07

14. ADB, Dhaka Dr. Jahid Hussain Senior Economist 26 Dec, 07

15. World Bank, Dhaka Mr. Mohammad Alhousseyni Toure

Advisor, Operations 26 Dec, 07


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NRP Page 64

Sl. No.


16. ADB, Dhaka Mr. Rahman Morshed Head, Energy & Power 26 Dec, 07

17. UNDP Mr. Monoj Basnyat Country Director 29 Dec, 07

18. JICA, Dhaka Prof. Aziz Ahmed Education Advisor (PEDP-2)

29 Dec, 07

19. DFID Mr. Bo Sunstrom Head of Corporate Business

8 Jan, 08

20. DFID Mr. Islam M Faisal Environment and Livelihoods Advisor

9 Jan, 08

21. DFID Mrs. Penny Devis Infrastructure Advisor 13 Jan, 08

22. European Union Dr. Stefan Lock Second Secretary 13 Feb, 08 & 21 Jan, 2008

23. UNDP Ms. Ayshanie Medagangoda - Labe

Aid / Donor Coordinator Adviser

13 Jan, 08

24. Royal Danish Embassy

H.E Einar H. Jensen Ambassador 14 Jan, 08

25. Royal Danish Embassy

Mr. Jan Moller Hansen Counsellor 14 Jan, 08

26. UNDP Ms.Shireen Kamal Sayeed

Assistant Country Director

14 Jan 08

27. Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany

Mr. Hans- Hinrich Sehnelle

First Secretary Head of Development Cooperation

14 , 17 Jan, 08 and Feb, 08

28. Embassy of Sweden

Ms. Britt F Hagstorm Ambassador 15 Jan, 08


Mr. Ola Hallgren Counsellor 15 Jan, 08


Mr. Reazul Islam Senior Officer 15 Jan, 08

31. WB Dr. M. Khaliquzzaman Environment Specialist 16 Jan, 08

32. JICA Mr. Seiichi Suzuki Power Sector Advisor 17 Jan, 08

33. World Bank Mr. Md. Iqbal Senior Energy Advisor 17 Jan, 08

34. Royal Norwegian Embassy

Mr. Arne Haug First Secretary 17 Jan, 08


Mr. Arup K. Biswas Senior Assistant (Development Affairs)

17 Jan, 08

36. ADB Mr. Arun Kumar Saha Project Implementation Officer

20 Jan, 08

37. JICA Mr. Yasumasa Nagaoka Advisor (Primary Edu.) 21 Jan, 08

38. JBIC Mr. Shamsur Rahman Senior Economist 27 Jan, 08


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NRP Page 65

Sl. No.


39. Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Mr. Fritz Meijndert Head of Development Co-operation and Economic Affairs

4 Feb, 08

40. JICA Ms. Akiko Bushimata, Deputy Resident Representative

5 Feb, 08

41. EU Mr. Koen Duchateau

First Secretary 6 Feb, 08

42. Kfw Mr. Christoph Isenmann Director 08 Feb 08

43. gtz Mr. Erich Otto Gomm Programme Coordinator

08 Feb 08


Ms. Ingrid Turkerud Haug

First Secretary 10 Feb, 2008


Mr. Arne Wiig Consultant 10 Feb, 2008

46. Swiss Agency for Dev. and Cooperation SDC

Mr. Bhuiyan Muhammad Imran

Senior Programme Officer

12 Feb, 08

47. Swiss Agency For Dev. and Cooperation SDC

Mr. Joseph Guntern Head of Cooperation 12 Feb, 08

48. European Union Mr. Francoise Collet First Counsellor 13 Feb, 08

49. Norwegian Embassy

Mr. Arne Haug First Secretary (Dev.) 14 Feb 08

50. NORAD Mr. Arup Biswas Advisor 14 Feb 08

51. ADB Mr. Brojesh Panth Program Manager PEDP - II

21 Feb, 08

52. CIDA Mr. Jacob Thoppil First Secretary (Development)

6 Mar, 08

53. CIDA Ms. Sylvia Islam Senior Development Advisor

6 Mar, 08

54. Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Mr. Bea Mten Tusscher Ambassador 12 Mar, 08

Civil Society Organizations and Resource Persons

1. Resource Person Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud

Former Finance Advisor 23 Dec, 07

2. Resource Person Mr. M A Mazid Chairman, NBR 23 Dec, 07

3. IUCN Dr. Ainun Nishat Country Representative 31 Dec, 07

4. IUCN Mr. Monowar Islam Project Manager, National Capacity Self Assessment Project

31 Dec, 07


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NRP Page 66

Sl. No.


5. LCG Environmental Sub- Group

Mahiuddin Ahmed Senior Environmental Specialist, BCAS

15 Jan, 08

6. Resource Person Dr. S.M Imamul Huq Chairman, Dept. Of Soil, Water and Environment

28 Jan, 08

7. BRAC Mr. Fazle Hassan Abed Chairman 6 Feb, 08

8. Resource Person Mr. A. N. M. Rejwan Former Chairman, PDB 8 Feb, 08

9. Resource Person Dr. Akbar Ali Khan Chairman BRRC and Former Finance Adviser

14 Feb, 08

10. Bangladesh Economic Association

Dr. Khaliquzzaman President, Bangladesh Economic Association

15 Feb, 08

11. FBCCI Mr. Monjur Elahi Administrator 16 Feb, 08

12. Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)

Dr. Mustafijur Rahman Executive Director 16 Feb, 08

13. Resource Person Mahmood Hasan Chairman, Department of Fisheries

17 Feb, 08


BANGLADESH

NRP Page 67

Annex 3

List of participants attended in Workshop on Preliminary Findings

The Evaluation of the Implementation of the Paris Declaration at Country Level Bangladesh

Venue: NEC-2 ERD, Dhaka Date: 24 January 2008

Sl.

No. Name Designation Organization

1. Mr. Md. Aminul Islam Bhuiyan Secretary Economic Relations Division,

2. Mr. Md. Munirul Hoque Joint Chief Economic Relations Division,

3. Mr. Monowar Ahmed Deputy Secretary Economic Relations Division

4. Mr. Rafique Ahmed Siddique Senior Assistant Chief ERD

5. H.E Masayuki Inoue Ambassador Embassy of Japan

6. Mr. Hans Sehnelle Representative German Embassy

7. Ms. Ayshanie Medagangoda - Labe

Aid / Donor Coordinator Adviser

UNDP

8. Ms. Sabrina Ahmed Representative UNRCO

9. Ms. Fariha Haque Representative UNRCO

10. Ms. Nargis Islam Deputy Team Leader Natural Resources Planners (NRP) Ltd

11. Mr. Siddiqur Rahman Choudhury

Team Leader NRP

12. Mr. Faridul Islam Khan Director NRP

13. Mr. Md. Abdul Malek Consultant (Energy and Power), PD

NRP

14. Mr. A.K.M. Shamsuddin Consultant (Primary Education)

NRP

15. Ms. Kaniz Aklima Sultana Consultant (Environment) NRP

16. Mr. Manoj Basnyat Country Director UNDP

17. Mr. Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid

Deputy Chief Ministry of Shipping

18. Mr. Md. Abdul Hamid Deputy Secretary Ministry of Science and ICT


BANGLADESH

NRP Page 68

Sl. No. Name Designation Organization

19. Ms. Nasrin Sultana Joint Chief Planning commission

20. Mr. Bo Sundstrom Head of Corporate Business

DFID

21. Ms. Julie Chen Deputy Dir/Program USAID

22. Mr. Tamazer Ahmed Project Development Specialist, Program Office

USAID

23. Mr. A. K. M. Anisur Rahman Assistant Chief, Programming Division

Planning Commission

24. Ms. Tahsinah Ahmed Senior Program Officer SDC

25. Mr. Md. Reazul Islam Counselor, Dev. Cooperation

Embassy of Sweden

26. Mr. Rahman Murshed Project Implementation Officer

Asian Development Bank

27. Mr. M. M. Zillur Rahman Financial Management Officer


28. Mr. Pulakesh Mondal Assistant Chief Ministry of Environment

29. Mr. Fritz Mejndert Head of Dev. Cooperation Netherlands Embassy

30. Mr. Abdus Sobur Mina Assistant Secretary Ministry of Law, Justice and P.A

31. Ms. Zuena Aziz D. S. (UN-1) Economic Relations Division

32. Mr. Golam Sarwar Hawlader Assistant Chief Economic Relations Division

33. Mr. Abu Sayeed Deputy Director Economic Relations Division

34. Mr. Mohammad Shamsul Alam

Deputy Secretary. Economic Relations Division

35. Mr. A.M. Badrudduja Joint Secretary Economic Relations Division

36. Mr. A. M. Moktar Hossain Representative Economic Relations Division

37. Mr. Delwar Hossain Assistant Chief Economic Relations Division

38. Ms. Monowara Begum Joint Secretary Economic Relations Division

39. Ms. Munira Begum Assistant Chief Economic Relation Division

40. Mr. Md. Mostafizur Rahman Senior Assistant Secretary ERD


BANGLADESH

NRP Page 69


41. Mr. M. Mejbahuddin Additional Secretary Economic Relations Division

42. Ms. Shamima Akhter Deputy Chief, ADB (2) Economic Relations Division

43. Mr. Aslam Iqbal Joint Secretary Economic Relations Division

44. Mr. Md. Shamsul Karim Buiyan Deputy Chief LGD

45. Mr. M. A. Muktadir Mazumder Donor Relations Officer WFD

46. Mr. Satoko Nadamoto Coordinator Office of UN Resident

47. Mr. Arup R. Biswas Junior Advisor Royal Norwegian Embassy

48. Mr. Arne Haug First Secretary Royal Norwegian Embassy

49. Mr. Nawshad Ahmed Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

UNICEF

50. Mr. James Jennings Education Adviser AusAID

51. Mr. Yasuo Fujita Chief Representative JBIC

52. Mr. Franscoise Collet Collector EC Delegation

53. Mr. Jau Moller Hansen Counselor Embassy of Denmark

54. Mr. Niaz Md. Chow. Program Officer Embassy of Denmark

55. Mr. Hashibul Alam IFAD

56. Ms. Sonia Ahmed WB

57. Dr. Mohammad Mohiuddin Abdullah

Deputy Chief Ministry of Communications

58. H E Doya Rapold Ambassador Embassy of Switzerland

59. Mr. Ola Hallgren Head of Devt. Embassy of Sweden

60. Mr. Leo Vander Tang First Secretary Netherlands Embassy

61. Dr. Md. Delawar Hossain Deputy Secretary Planning Division

62. Mr. Mosleh Uddin Deputy Secretary EMRD

63. Mr. Md. Mosharaf Hossain Sr. Asstt. Chief, Agriculture Division

Planning Commission

64. Mr. Md. Kamal Anwar Additional Deputy C &AG

65. Mr. S. Rahman - JBIC


BANGLADESH

NRP Page 70


66. Mr. Md. Shafiq Anwar Deputy Secretary Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment

67. Ms. Dilruba Begum Joint Chief MOPT

68. Mr. Q. Md. Habibul Senior Dev. Officer Planning Commission

69. Mr. Omar Farooq Khan Senior Dev. Officer Canadian High Commission

70. Mr. Tanzim Anwar Staff Reporter BSS

71. Mr. M. S Khan Director/DS/RD IMED, Planning Commission

72. Mr. Mohammad Shah Alam Member Planning Commission

73. Kazi Asif Ahmed Director (MEA) MoFA

74. Mr. Touhid Alam UNFPA

75. Mr. Shafiqul Islam Khan Co-ordinator NRP

76. Mr. Md. Sohel Sardar Power and Energy Study Assistant (Paris Declaration Evaluation Study)

NRP

77. Ms. Shanzida Mozumder Education Study Assistant, (Paris Declaration Evaluation Study)

NRP

78. Ms. Shakila Sharmin Environment Study Assistant, (Paris Declaration Evaluation Study)

NRP

79. Mr. Miraz Ahmed Assistant to the team Leader

NRP


BANGLADESH

NRP Page 71

Annex 4

List of participants attended in the Workshop on PEDP II

Evaluation of the Implementation of the Paris Declaration at Country Level Bangladesh

Venue: Hotel Sheraton, Dhaka Date: 13 February 2008

Name and Designation Organization

Government officials

1. Mr. Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, Secretary

Ministry of Primary & Mass Education (MOPME)

2. Mr. Zakir Hossain Akand, Deputy Chief


3. Ms. Qurratul Ayen Safder, Senior Assistant Chief


4. Ms. Sakeun Nahar Begum Sr. Assistant Secretary


5. Mr. Khandakar M. Asaduzzaman, Director General

Directorate of Primary Education

6. Mr. Chowdhury Mufad Ahmed JPD/PEDP – II


7. Mr. MD. Abdur Rouf Director(Administration)


8. Md. Shamsul Alam, Director (Training), PEDP-II


9. Mr. M. Amzad Hossain Director/Policy & Operation


10. Mr. Md. Khairul Islam , Director (Finance)


11. Mr.A S Shameem Ahmed, Joint Secretary

Ministry of Primary and Mass Education

12. Mr. Abul Kashem Bhuiyan Director(Planning)


13. Mr. Munirul Haque Joint Chief, PRS – HAP CELL, ERD,

14. Mr. Monowar Ahmed Deputy Secretary, PRS – HAP CELL, ERD,

15. Mr. Rafique Ahmed Siddique Senior Assistant Chief, PRS – HAP CELL, ERD,


BANGLADESH

NRP Page 72


Development Partners

16. Ms. Hua Du Country Director, ADB


17. Mr. Brajesh Panth Program Manager, PEDP II, ADB-BRM


18. Mr. Nurul Huda Asian Development Bank

19. Mr. James Jennings Regional Education Advisor

AUSAID

20. Dr. Stefan Lock Chair, PEDPII Consortium & Second Secretary/Education Specialist

European Commission

21. Mr. Yasumasa Nagaoka Primary Education Advisor

JICA

22. Ms. Mitsuru Kayama JICA

23. Mr. Leo Van Der Tang First Secretary

Royal Netherlands Embassy

24. Ingrid Turkerud Haug First Secretary

Royal Norwegian Embassy

25. Ms. Monica Malakar Sr. Program Officer

SIDA

26. Mr. Nabendra Dahl UNICEF

27. Ms. Fariha Haque Research and Coordination Assistance

UNRCO

Local consulting Firm

28. Mr. Faridul Islam Khan, Director

Natural Resources Planners ltd.

29. Mr. Siddiqur Rahman Choudhury, Team Leader , Paris Declaration Evaluation Study


30. Ms. Nargis Islam, Deputy Team Leader, Paris Declaration Evaluation Study


31. Mr. A K M Shamsuddin,

Education Consultant, Paris Declaration Evaluation Study


32. Mr. Md. Abdul Malek, Consultant (Power and Energy ), Paris Declaration Evaluation Study



BANGLADESH

NRP Page 73


33. Ms. Kaniz Aklima Sultana, Consultant (Environment), Paris Declaration Evaluation Study


34. Mr. Md. Shamsur Rahman Khan, Sr. Consultant



BANGLADESH

NRP Page 74

Annex 5

List of participants attended in Workshop on Draft Final Report

The Evaluation of the Implementation of the Paris Declaration at Country Level Bangladesh

Venue: NEC-2 ERD, Dhaka Date: 13 March 2008

Sl.

No. Name Designation Organization

1 Mr. Md. Aminul Islam Bhuiyan

Secretary Economic Relations Division,

2 H.E Masayuki Inoue Ambassador Embassy of Japan

3 AHM Mustain Billah Joint Secretary (UN-I) ERD

4 Mr. Md. Munirul Hoque Joint Chief Economic Relations Division,

5 Mr. Md. Shahabuddin Patwary

Additional Deputy, CAG

CAG Office, Kakrail

6 Mr. Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan

Additional Secretary ERD

7 Ms. Dilruba Begum Joint Chief Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication

8 Mr. Md Mofazzal Hossain Joint Chief, Programming Division

9 Mr. Monowar Ahmed Deputy Secretary Economic Relations Division

10 Mr. Md. Abdul Kashem Joint Director Foreign Exchange Policy Dept., Bangladesh Bank

11 Mr. Md. Abdul Malek Consultant, Energy & Power

Natural Resources Planners (NRP) Ltd .

12 Ms. Kaniz Aklima Sultana Consultant, Environment (Cross Cutting)

Paris Declaration Evaluation, NRP

13 Mr. Dr. M. Harunur Rashid Dept. of Accounting, Dhaka University (Consultant)

ERD

14 Mr. Quazi Sarwar Imatiaz Hashim

Deputy Director (P & D) Department of Environment

15 Ms. Zuena Aziz Deputy Secretary (UN-1)

ERD

16 Mr. Khandaker Nuruzzaman

Deputy Chief EMRD

17 Mr. Md. Zakir Hossain Deputy Chief MOPME

18 Mr. Sirajul Haque Talukder Deputy Chief Economic Relation Division

19 Mr. Md. Shamsul Karim Bhuiyan

Deputy Chief LGED


BANGLADESH

NRP Page 75


20 Dr. Shahjahan Ali khandaker

Deputy Chief Rural Development And Cooperative Division

21 Mr. Swapon Kumar Ghosh Deputy Chief ERD

22 Dr. Moazzem Hossain Deputy Chief General Economics Division

23 Ms. Sharmin Akhter Deputy Chief , ADB ERD

24 Mr. Md. Abu Sayeed Deputy Director ERD

25 Mr. Madhusudan Banik Deputy Director Bangladesh Bank (FRTMD)

26 Mr. Haider Deputy Secretary ERD

27 Ms. Shamima Nargis Deputy Secretary ERD

28 Mr. Md. Shafiqul Islam Laskar

Deputy Secretary ERD

29 Mr. Mohammad Shamsul Alam

Deputy Secretary ERD

30 Mr. Md. Shamshul Kobra Deputy Secretary (Co-ordination-II )

ERD

31 Mrs. Nargis Islam Deputy Team Leader NRP Ltd.

32 Mr. Abdul Awwal Sarker DGM (Research) Bangladesh Bank

33 Mr. Kazi Asif Ahmed Director MOFA

34 Ms. Mahmuda Begum Director (FABI) ERD

35 Mr. Md. Arzel Hossain Khan

Director (Planning) WARPO

36 Mr. Md. Shahidul Alam Director, Programme Planning

REB

37 Mr. Mohammad Mehdi Hasan

Assistant Chief ERD

38 Mr. Md. Taibur Rahman Assistant Chief Economic Relations Division (ERD)

39 Ms. Zakia Afroz Assistant Chief , Power Division

Ministry of Power Energy and Mineral Resources

40 Mr. Albert Costa Associate Executive Director, HEED

HEED, Bangladesh

41 Mr. A. M. Mokter Hossain Asst. Chief ERD

42 Ms. Munira Begum Asst. Chief, ERD ERD

43 Mr. Mohammad Yasin Audit and Accounts Officer

Foreign Aided Projects Audit Directorate

44 Mr. M. A. Muktadir Majumder

Donor Relation Officer WPP

45 Mr. Md. Iqbal General Manager DESA

46 Ms. Fatema Rashid Hasan Governance Advisor CIDA

47 Dr. Selina Amin Health Advisor Plan Bangladesh

48 Mr. Shafiqul Islam khan Manager NRP Ltd.


BANGLADESH

NRP Page 76


49 Mr. M. M. Talukder Managing Director GTCL

50 Mr. Monjur Morshed Talukder

Managing Director GTC

51 Mr. Tauhid Alam NPO strategic Development

UNFPA

52 Mr. Md. Sohel Sardar Power and Energy Study Assistant

Natural Resources Planners (NRP) Ltd.

53 Mr. Mohammad Kamruzzaman Palash

Primary Education Study Assistant

NRP ltd.

54 Ms. Mitsuni Kayama Project Formulation Advisor

JICA

55 Ms. Fariha Haque Research Assistant ( Coordination)

UNRCO

56 Mr. Md. Khadem Hossain Research Officer, FABA Economic Relations Division (ERD)

57 Dr. Mohammad Khairul Hossain

Senior Asistant Chief ERD

58 Mr. Rafique Ahmed Siddique

Senior Assistant Chief ERD

59 Mr. Md. Liakot Ali Senior Assistant Chief ERD

60 Mr. Md. Nazir Senior Assistant Chief Planning Commission

61 Ms. Monira Begum Senior Assistant Secretary

ERD

62 Mr. Md. Mahbubul Alam Senior Assistant Secretary (Co-ordination-V)

ERD

63 Mr. Mohammad Alfaz-Ul-Alam

Senior Asstt.Seceratary Finance Division, MDF

64 Mr. Shamsur Rahman Senior Economist JBIC

65 Mr. Md. Mafidul Islam Sr. Assistant Chief, ERD

66 Mr. Ahmed Joy Mowla Sr. Program Officer Ko/Ca

67 Mr. Siddiqur Rahman Choudhury

Team Leader NRP Ltd.

68 Mr. Qazi H. Rahman Trustee Dhaka Community Hospital

69 Mr. Syed Abul Hasan Assistant Chief GED, Planning Commission

70 Mr. M. A Chowdhury Embassy of Japan

71 Mr. Hasibul Alam IFAD


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NRP Page 77

Annex 6

Review of Aid Effectiveness in Energy and power Sector projects.

(Figures are in million taka)

Sl. No.

Name of he project Sub Sector

Agency Major Components Physical progress upto

June, 07

Financial Progress upto

June, 07

Donor Comments

1. Development of Electricity Distribution in 10 Town (2004-2008) TC:6536.00 PA:3080.00

Power PDB Construction of 33 kv line 120 km (new) 38 kv line renovation 102 km, 11 kv (new) construction 215 km, 11 kv line renovation 150 km, 11/0.4 kv line new 182 mm, 11.04 kv line renovation 147 km, 0.4 kv line (new) 219 km, 0.4 kv line renovation 227 km 12 nos 33/11 kv substation/extension/ renovation, One number 132/33 kv sub-station extension/renovation, 3 nos. 33/11 kv new substation, 8 nos 33/11 kv new substation

41% 45% ADB NORAD

NDF

ADB and NORAD undertake joint missions, local ADB office is delegated by the headquarters for their part of this project, no mission comes from ADB headquarters, concurrence to tender documents valued upto 10 million us dollar in given by the local office of ADB, NORAD credit is a mixed credit. Local office of NORAD is delegated by their headquarter for their part of the project. ADB follows their own guidelines in case of procurement through ICBs; NORAD, NDF follow GOB procurement procedures. NDF aid is tied to Scandinavian countries.


BANGLADESH

NRP Page 78

Sl. No.



June, 07


June, 07

Donor Comments

2. Greater Dhaka Power Distribution Project, Phase-4 (1997-2008) TC:15687.6 million taka, PA: 8074 million

Power DESA 132/33 kv sub station-8, 33/11 kv sub-station-18, 11 kv switching station 34, 132 kv overhead line 60 km, 33 overhead line 100 km

98% 89% ADB Chinese Suppliers

credit.

No joint mission, individual mission for each DPs, Local ADB is delegated by the head quarters for their part of the project, no mission comes from headquarters, concurrence to tender documents valued upto 10 million us dollar is given by the local office of ADB, ADB follows their own guidelines in ease of procurement through ICBs, Chinese suppliers credit is tied to their country. China follows their own procurement guidelines.

3. Khulna-Ishwardi-Bogra-Barapukuria 230 KV Transmission Line Project (2001-2008) TC: Tk. 8912 million, PA: 5464 million taka

Power PGCB 230 kv transmission line, 132 kv transmission line, New 230/132 kv substation at Khulna, Bogra, Barapukuria, Extension of Syedpur & Rangpur 132/33 kv substation

82% 76% Suppliers credit ADB, SIDA, KfW, NDF

No joint mission, individual mission for each DPs, ADB follows their own guidelines in procurement (ICBs), tender documents valued over 10 m us dollar are sent to ADB headquarters for concurrence, chenese suppliers credit is tied to their country, they follow their procurement procedures,


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Donor Comments

SIDA follow GOB procurement procedures, kfw follow GOB procurement procedures to the extent they are consistent with their guidelines, NDF aid is tied to Scandinavian countries.

4. Construction of New Grid Sub-Station and Expansion with Transmission Facilities (2005-2009) TC: Tk. 5989 million, PA: 3676.00 million taka.

Power PGCB 132 kv transmission line, 132/33 kv sub-station, Extension of 232/132 kv sub-station, Extension of 132/33 kv sub station

25% 15% ADB, JBIC No joint mission, separate DP mission for each DP. However, they consult each other locally when any DP’s mission is fielded. ADB uses their own guidelines in procurement through ICBs. JBIC uses GOB procurement procedures in ICBs to the extent they are consistent with their own guideless, limited financial delegation for each of the DPs. Both of them follow GOB PFM system.

5. Intensification and Expansion of Distribution System of 18 Rural Electrification Cooperatives (2nd Phase)

Power REB Constriction of 14.200 km distribution line, sub-station–23, consumer connection 5,11,200

99% 82% ADB, IDA No joint mission. Separate DP mission for each DP. Both ADB and IDA use their own guideless in procurement through ICBs. They follow


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Donor Comments

(1999-2008) TC: Tk. 8939 million, PA: 3636 million taka

GOB procurement procedures in respect of LCBs. Both have limited financial delegation. Tenders valued more than delegated limit are sent to headquarters for concurrence.

6. Intensification and Expansion of Distribution System of 67 Rural Electrification Cooperatives (2003-2008) TC: Tk. 9527 million, PA: 358.00 million taka

Power REB 13,000 km Distribution line, Sub-station – 10, consumer connection 4,68,000

88% 66% DFID US AID

(Consultant)

Joint mission with USAID, (the consultant) once a year. DFID uses GOB procurement procedures in both ICBs and LCBs. They also follow GOB PFM system. They have reduced PIUs from 2 to 1 in 2007. Tender documents valued upto 15 million pound are approved by DFID country Representative.

7. Siddhirganj 2x120 mw Picking Power Plant. Total cost 11330 million taka, PA 7914.6 million.

Power EG CB 2x120 MW gas turbo generator including auxiliaries and accessories, gas booster compressor, emergency diesel generator, transformer, 132 kv X LPE cable for Sub-station, central Control

42% 11% ADB Local ADB office is delegated by their headquarters for this project. The local office undertakes mission for this project. No mission comes from headquarters. Consultants for this project


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Donor Comments

metering and protection panel, battery and battery charger, DCS machine show equipment and tools, mandatory spare parts.

have been recruited through ICBs. ADB follows their own guidelines in case of procurement through ICBs. They follow GOB PFM system.

8. Technical Assistance for Implementation of Bangladesh Power Sector Reforms (2003-2009) TC: Tk. 1110 million, PA: 832 million taka

Power Power Cell,

Power Division

Power sector policy making and enterprise structuring, energy sector regulatory framework, power companies management strengthening, focused training institution strengthening, interface metre, ICT development.

50% by Dec, 2007

23% IDA

Number of missions increased. Took long time to fulfil conditionalities/cross conditionalities. Consultants appointed through ICBs took long time. GOB procurement procedures in ICBs not followed, Limited financial delegation, Disbursement in the past three years has been about 20% as against projected 80%.

9. Construction of Dhanua-Savar High Pressure Gas Transmission Pipeline under Dhaka Clean Fuel Project (GTCL Part.) (2002-2008) TC: Tk. 2446.13 Million

Energy Petrobangla

Construction of 60 km 20’ gas transmission line, 2 city gate station at Ashulia and Amin Bazar

95% 91% ADB

Number of missions has deceased in 2007. ADB follows its guidelines for procurement through ICBs. GOB procurement procedures are followed in LCBs. Tender documents valued more than US$ 10 million are sent to ADB


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Donor Comments

headquarters for approval. ADB follows GOB PFM system.

10. Construction of Monohordi-Dhanua-Elenga-JB East Bank Gas Transmission line and Establishment of Compressor Station at Ashugong and Elenga, 2006-2009, TC: Tk. 8346.00 Million

Energy Petrobangla

Construction of 51 km 30’ gas Transmission pipeline, Two compressor installation, Metering and Regulating stations

36% (weighted) upto Jan.

2008

13% ADB Three missions fielded from July, 2007, ADB follows its guidelines for procurement through ICBs. GOB procurement procedures followed in LCBs. Tender documents valued more than US$ 10 million are sent to ADB headquarters for approval. ADB follows GOB PFM system.

11. Technical Assistance for capacity Building of Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Petrobangla and its companies (2006-2009), TC: Tk. 154.5 million

Energy Petrobangla

Focused training for technical and managerial capacity building of the officials of Energy & power Division, Petrobangla and its organizations, strengthening BPI, computerization and establishment of LAN.

5% (weighted)

ADB Consultants are in the process of appointment. So far two missions have been fielded. ADB follows their own guidelines for procurement through ICBs GOB procurement procedures are however followed in LCBs.


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Annex 7

Questionnaire on the Evaluation of the Implementation of the Paris Declaration Country Level – Bangladesh

(Part I)

A Questionnaire on the PD: Clarity, Relevance and Coherence.

Clarity

1. A brief comment on the PD commitments and its indicators. Are we doing the right things? Do we do the things right? If not, why not?

2. Any concern on the clarity of the PD.

Relevance

3. What are critical aid issues in Bangladesh?

4. Are all those addressed by the PD principles?

5. Anything not addressed?

6. Do you think the PD commitments and indicators are synchronized with Bangladesh aid architecture? Are they contributing to aid effectiveness in Bangladesh?

7. Are all the 12 indicators adequate to measure the progress of the implementation of the PD commitments?

Coherence

8. Do you think the PD commitments are coherent to each other?

9. Are any of the commitments and indicators and/or derived implications found to be contradictory?


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B Questionnaire on DPs’ Commitments, Capacity, and incentives

Commitments

1. How your commitments to implement the PD have been demonstrated? Do you have any action plan or a similar instrument?

2. How significant is the use of the PD in formulating your country assistance strategy, programmes and policies?

3. Do your HQ and field office align evenly to the PD commitments?

4. Do your staffs across sectors and themes address the PD commitments evenly?

5. Do you support GOB’s PRS and act coherently with GOB to achieve development goals?

6. Do you rely on GOB’s procedures and system relating to aid management? If not why?

7. Have you taken any initiative or is there any upcoming initiative for aligning your procedures further with the GOB’s procurement, system and procedures on financial management including aid predictability.

8. Comment on the commitments of GOB in implementing the PD.

9. What is your assessment on Bangladesh’s ownership on foreign aided projects/programmes? Please specify.

10. Is GOB in the driving seat in setting priorities and managing the aid? Please elaborate.

Capacity

11. How do you assess the capacity of your officials (financial, technical, and administrative) to implement the PD commitments?

12. Are you adequately staffed for handling the implementation of commitments as well as coordination?

13. Is turnover of staff a problem?


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Incentives

14. Comment on your incentive system.

15. Is there any current initiative to motivate the field staff to fulfill the PD commitments by bringing any new element in your incentive system?


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C

Questionnaire on GOB and other Bangladesh stake holders commitment, ownership, capacity and incentives

Commitment and ownership

1. Please comment on GOBs ‘ownership’ in respect of aided projects.

2. Who are the key claimants to “ownership”?

3. In project designing and implementation how much is the participation of GOB? Who takes the major decision, PD or Donor?

4. Has the implementation of the PD principles had an impact on the level of ownership inclusiveness in regard to civil society, marginalized groups and other national bodies?

5. How do PRS goals and objectives align with the PD commitments?

6. How are internal alignment conflicts resolved?

7. Do you think that the GOB is in the driving seat in the matters of aid policy, management and co-ordination? Is there any change after the PD?

Capacity

8. What is your assessment of the capacity of GOB to manage development and aid policies? What are areas of deficiency (e.g. procurement, financial management)? Whether GOB’s leadership in relation to aid management is respected by the DPs?

9. How has it influenced DP- GOB relationship in Bangladesh? If conflictual, how was it resolved?

10. What is your suggestion for improving the capacity of GOB to manage aid?


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11. How emerging donors like China, Korea etc are attuned to Bangladesh needs in respect of their assistance?

Incentives

12. What is you comment on incentive systems of GOB?

13. Is there any additional/special incentive to motivate the staff of aided projects?

14. Do you have suggestions for improvement?


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D

Questionnaire on Emerging results A. Process

Ownership 1. Please give a brief comment on how do you see

the trends in ownership issue in respect of national development and aid management.

2. Is there any evidence of changes? Please also mention if there is any negative fall out as a result of change.

3. How these changes influence the development cooperation, priority setting and implementation of development goals?

4. What is your assessment on the ownership of PRS? To what extent PRS is linked to Medium Term Expenditure Framework and annual budget.

5. Do you think after the PD is there any change in assuming leadership by GOB in decision making and priority setting? Any example?

Alignment 6. Is there any change after the PD in the degree of

alignment of DPs’ procedures to GOB’s procedures and systems, particularly in the area of procurement and financial management?

7. Have you experienced any negative impact due to alignment? Please specify.

8. What are the constraints to achieve higher degree of alignment?

Harmonization 9. Please make a brief comment on the progress of

harmonization of aid efforts in Bangladesh.

10. Is there any participation of your organization in harmonization process?

11. What is your assessment about harmonization? 12. What results harmonization efforts have produced? 13. Is there any negative fallout?


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14. What are the constraints to achieve harmonization?

Managing for results 15. Do you see any progress towards managing for

results in Bangladesh?

16. How do you think this concept can be further strengthened in Bangladesh?

Mutual accountability 17. Is there any evidence of improvement of mutual

accountability in respect of aid delivery and management of aid in Bangladesh?

18. Is there any initiative taken by your organization to improve mutual accountability?

19. What is your suggestion to improve mutual accountability?

20. Do you think in Bangladesh a greater degree of harmonization, alignment, managing for results and mutual accountability have contributed to reduction of cost?

B. Output 21. Do you think that the transaction cost in the aid

delivery is reducing? Or is it in the opposite direction? Please specify.

22. Has the number of visits of various types of missions in respect of your organization reduced in 2007 compared to previous years?

23. Have the number of parallel PIUs reduced in 2007 compared to 2006?

24. Do you have any suggestion for reduction of transaction cost?


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Questionnaire-I on

PEDP-II

1. Could there be simplified financing arrangement for PEDP-II? At present the financing are coming from

a. Co-financing by development partners-Pooled funding

b. Non-pooled bilateral funding and

c. Parallel financing

2. Can the management of fund/accounts be made more simple? For PEDP-II three separate US Dollar accounts are held for

a. ADB loan

b. ADB managed Co-financing grant funds for other donors and

c. IDA Funds

3. At present five separate procurement processes are followed. How to minimize these processes?

The five processes are:

a. All local procurement financed by pool funding follow PPR 2003 of GoB

b. ICB goods are mostly financed by IDA following IDA procurement guidelines

c. ICB goods procurement financed by other donors follow ADB guidelines

d. International consultants funded by ADB are recruited under ADB guidelines

e. Other consultants are recruited following respective donor’s guideline.

4. How to ensure sustainability of the achievements of PEDP-II given the existing organization of DPE is overstressed with regular work. ?

5. The Paris Declaration (PD) discourages the establishment/continuation of parallel PIUs. Given this situation what is going to be the practical solution for a setup like Project Liaison Unit (PLU) of the donors?


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Questionnaire -II on PEDP-II

1. Initial delay of PEDP-II

What happened and did not happen in the first two years of PEDP-II.

What were the problems encountered?

2. What was the main reason of delay of procurement of consultancy service in the initial stage as this is mentioned as one of the major reason of delay of PEDP-II?

3. Ownership

GOB demonstrated ownership in official documents. However please give your opinion from individual stake holder’s point of view.

4. Harmonization

Country director of ADB mentioned that most difficult part of MTR was harmonization among DPs in one reception during MTR. In trying to focus the fact please give your opinion about what really happened during MTR.

5. Coordination

Coordination issue was discussed always as biggest problem in PEDP-II. Please give your opinion regarding coordination between

a. GOB and DPs

b. Among GOB entities such as DPE-NCTB-NAPE-MOPME

c. Among DPE entities such as PLU-PMU-PCU-TSTs etc

What about creation of working groups for more effective co-ordination?

6. Capacity Building

Your opinion about recommended solutions like

a. Creation of Primary Education cadre

b. Reducing the number of officials from administrative cadre filling the posts of DPE

7. Do you have any concern regarding aid policy of the development partners? If any please elaborate.


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Questionnaire on Power and Energy Sector

Development partners (DPs) Behaviour:

Commitments:

1. Would you please comment on the Paris Declaration (PD) commitments and its indicators?

2. How your commitments to implement the PD have been demonstrated in energy and power sector? Any evidence, e.g. support to GOB’s energy policy.

3. Do your HQ and field office align evenly?

4. Have you taken any initiative or is there any upcoming initiative for aligning your procedures further with the GOB’s procurement system and procedures on financial management?

5. Comment on the commitments of GOB in implementing the PD.

6. What is your assessment on GOB’s ownership on foreign aided projects/programmes in energy and power?

7. What are critical aid effectiveness issues in energy and power sector of Bangladesh? Are all those addressed by the PD principles?

8. Are all the 12 indicators adequate to measure the progress of implementation of the PD commitments in energy/ power sector ?

9. Is GOB in the driving seat in setting priorities and managing the aid in this sector?

10. Has your aid flow to Bangladesh increased after the PD? What was the amount of ODA and TA in energy and power sector during 2006 and 2007?

Capacity:

11. How do you assess the capacity of your officials (financial, technical and administrative) to implement the PD commitments?

12. Do you have sufficient delegation for your HQ to take field level discussions?

13. Are you adequately staffed? How frequent is the staff turn over?

14. Is turnover of staff a problem? If yes, how would you address it?


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Incentives:

15. Comment on your incentive system.

16. Is there any initiative to motivate the field staff to fulfill the PD commitments by bringing any new element in your incentive system?

Questionnaire on GOB and other Stakeholders Behaviour:

Ownership:

1. Would you please comment on the Paris Declaration (PD) commitments and its indicators?

2. What are critical aid effectiveness issues in energy and power sector of Bangladesh? Are all those addressed by the PD principles?

3. Are all the 12 indicators adequate to measure the progress of implementation of the PD commitments in energy/ power sector ?

4. Do you have energy policy/strategy and power development policy/strategy? If yes, how they are integrated with PRS?

5. Were the energy policy/strategy and power development policy/strategy GOB-driven? If yes, how the DPs were involved?

6. Which way GOB owns energy policy & strategy and power development policy and strategy?

7. How do PRS goals and objectives align with the PD commitments in this sector?

8. Do you think that the GOB is in the driving seat in the matters of aid policy, management and co-ordination in this sector? Is there any change after the PD?

9. Do DPs accept GOB’s leadership in making decisions on matters of aid policy, management and coordination and programme implementation?

10. Do the DP headquarters and field offices align with PD commitments with respect to projects/programmes of energy and power sector?

11. Do the DPs support GOB’s plan, PRS etc. with respect to projects of energy and power sector and act coherently to achieve objectives?


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Capacity:

12. What is your assessment of the capacity of GOB to formulate and manage development policies and aid policies? Does energy and power sector do have adequate and skilled staff to implement development programme? If no, what step is being taken?

13. Is staff turnover a problem?

14. Has there been any conflict between GOB and DPs on matters of aid? If yes, how was that resolved?

15. What is your suggestion for improving the capacity of GOB to manage aid in this sector?

Incentives:

16. What is your comment on incentive systems of GOB in general and energy and power sector in particular? Does this incentive system motivate your staff to work sincerely?

17. Is there any additional/special incentive to motivate the staff of aided projects of this sector? Do all donor aided projects have uniform salary structure and other incentives like per diem, salary supplements etc? How seriously it effects the staff efficiency?

18. Do you have suggestions for improvement?

Questionnaire on Emerging results

A. Process

Ownership:

1. Please give a brief comment on how do you see the trends in ownership issue in respect of national development and aid management.

2. Is there any evidence of changes? Please also mention if there is any negative fall out as a result of change.

3. How these changes influence the development cooperation, priority setting and implementation of development goals?


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Alignment:

4. Is there any change after the PD in the degree of alignment of DPs’ procedures to GOB’s procedures and systems, particularly in the area of procurement and financial management?

5. Have you experienced any negative impact in this sector due to alignment? Please specify.

6. What are the constraints to achieve higher degree of alignment?

Harmonization:

7. Please make a brief comment on the progress of harmonization of aid efforts in energy and power sector?

8. Is there any participation of your organization in harmonization process?

9. What results harmonization efforts have produced in this sector?

10. Is there any negative fallout?

11. What are the constraints to achieve harmonization?

Managing for results:

12. Do you see any progress towards managing for results in energy and power sector? If yes, please specify.

13. How do you think this concept can be further strengthened in this sector?

Mutual accountability:

14. Is there any evidence of improvement of mutual accountability in respect of aid delivery and management of aid in Bangladesh?

15. Is there any initiative taken by your organization to improve mutual accountability?

16. What is your suggestion to improve mutual accountability?


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B. Output:

17. Do you think a greater degree of harmonization, alignment, managing for results and mutual accountability have contributed to reduction of cost in energy/ power sector?

18. Do you think that the transaction cost in aid delivery is reducing? Or is it in the opposite direction? Please specify.

19. Has the number of visits of various types of missions in respect of your organization reduced in 2007 compared to previous years?

20. Have the number of parallel PIUs reduced in 2007 compared to 2006?

21. Do you have any suggestion for reduction of transaction cost?


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Questionnaire on

Cross-Cutting Issue: Environment

Questionnaire on the PD: Clarity and Relevance

Clarity:

1. A brief comment on the PD commitments and its indicators on cross cutting - environment.

Relevance:

2. Do you think the implementation of the PD in terms of environment as a cross cutting issue can be

addressed by the existing indicators? Or do they need further clarifications?

Questionnaire on DPs’ Commitments and Capacity

Commitments:

1. How do you deal with environmental issues in implementing the PD? Please explain with

examples.

2. Do you rely on GOB’s procedures and criteria of checking EIA? If not, why you do not rely on?

3. Have you taken any initiative or is there any upcoming initiative for aligning your EIA guideline with

the GOB’s guideline?

Capacity:

4. Do you have division of labour in implementing EIA and other works of development

project/program?

5. Do the development partners have demonstrated interest to further develop their capacities to

ensure environmental sustainability?


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Questionnaire on GOB and other Bangladesh stakeholders’ commitment, ownership and capacity

Commitment and ownership:

1. Are the cross-cutting issues only a governmental technical planning exercise? Or Parliamentary

and politically given the necessary space.

2. Does GoB have its own EIA guideline? How and for which sectors they were produced? Does it

be applied equally to both foreign financed and domestically financed investments?

3. Do the donors acknowledge country’s leadership in implementing EIA?

4. How do you organize the process of integrating environment as a cross cutting issue to fulfill the

commitments of the PD?

Capacity:

6 Do you have division of labour in implementing EIA and other works of development

project/program?

Questionnaire on Emerging results

Ownership

1 What kind of donor involvement is observed in elaborating and implementing EIA?

2 Do the donors play a supportive role for “Integrating Environmental Programme”?

3 How the cross-cutting government bodies organize the process of environmental integration into

national development strategies?

4 Are there any institutional safeguards to address potential negative impacts of the donor-aided

programme? How does it work?

5 Is GoB concerned about their international commitments in relation to global environmental issues

along with national legislation?

Alignment:

6 Are the aids transparent and predictable for environment as a cross cutting issue?

7 Do the donors share information effectively with government on current and future activities?

8 Do the donors align their support to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and/or GOB’s

EIA procedure instead of addressing it on the specific project basis? (e.g. transport, energy,

health, water supply etc.)


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Harmonization:

9 Do the donors share the same EIA results for the same types of projects implemented in various

parts of the country? (for example, sewerage sub-projects under nationwide sewerage

development program)

10 What process should be followed to harmonize donors procedures aiming reduction of

administrative cost for the cross cutting issue-environment?

11 Whether the donor or GoB recognizes the need to deepen project-level EIA procedures to

programme –level approach to take account of global environmental issues such as climate,

desertification and biodiversity loss.

12 Are there any joint approaches to measure and mitigate the environmental negative impacts in

public works such as rural road construction, soil and water conservation, water supply etc.?

Managing for results:

13 What role does GoB play in influencing donors around Aid Effectiveness for environmental

sustainability?

14 What are the efforts made both by the GoB and the DPs to monitor and enforce the items pointed

out in the EIA which necessitate "monitoring and enforcement".

Mutual accountability:

15 Does any mechanism of mutual accountability exist between donors and government on aid

Effectiveness in environment as cross cutting issue?

16 Has a mutual assessment of progress in implementing agreed commitments been conducted in

Bangladesh?

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