Hope all of you had a wonderful holiday break. Happy New Year to everyone!
As we begin the new year, we wish to reflect upon what we as a CDD Global Solutions Group have accomplished during the past 6 months and plans for the rest of the FY. At the same time, it's worth taking a hard-nosed look at the areas where we can do better. In particular, we wish to thank all of you for your continued commitment to partnering with poor communities globally to improve their lives, and for supporting your fellow practitioners. Many of you have generously given your time to share knowledge and advise on a host of important issues, and we are grateful for your support in making the CDD GSG a vibrant community.
CDD GSG Semi-Annual Report
January 6, 2016
1.Accomplishments over the past 6 months:
CDD GSG Membership Drive – The CDD GSG is composed of 330 members; approximately half are GPSURR staff and the rest are from other GPs/CCSAs. In addition, we serve as the secretariat for the larger CDD Community of Practice with 970 members, of which 584 are Bank staff/consultants and 386 are external members (primarily government counterparts, international development partners and academics). Our membership has grown significantly over the past 8 months.
CDD GSG Strategy Note – Earlier this year, after several rounds of consultations with internal and external actors, the CDD GSG finalized a Strategy Note (CDD Strategy Note and presentation) which summarizes the current state of thinking on CDD and articulates the way forward for the GSG. The Strategy over the next 3 years will focus upon 4 pillars: improving the quantity and quality of operations; (ii) pursuing an innovative analytical agenda; (iii) improving skills and talent management; and (iv) knowledge sharing and learning through the GSG.
Just-in-time Support/ Helpdesk/ Peer Reviews – Just-in time advice and peer reviews proved to be a popular function of the CDD secretariat with approximately 190 unique inquiries and requests or an average of 8 requests per week during the first half of FY16. Inquiries included requests for document reviews, consultants, TORs, examples and analysis of thematic issues, exchange visits, etc. This "help desk" function is consistent with results from the membership survey in July requesting support to help task teams deliver more effectively and for just-in time technical advice. Again, many community members contributed to answering requests from colleagues and we are grateful for their contributions.
Meetings & presentations – The GSG secretariat presented its strategy and workprogram in for a in LCR, EAP, ECA, MENA, and the GPSURR Townhall. We held 2 GSG-wide meetings in October.
Knowledge Sharing Events – In October, the GSG sponsored a CDD Core Course with 28 participants in order to develop the CDD talent pool within the Bank. The three-day workshop helped sensitize participants to CDD considerations and build the unique technical and operational skills needed for CDD through a combination of presentations, case studies, and exercises, as well as through interaction with several senior staff members who lead CDD operations worldwide. Topics included key design considerations, community mobilization and the sub-project cycle, social accountability, fiduciary principles and considerations, supervising CDD projects, monitoring and evaluation, and emerging issues in CDD. Participants rated the course highly, scoring the overall course an average of 6.6 out of a maximum of 7 points in a daily evaluation. Special thanks go to the course resource persons: Ingo Wiederhofer, Donald Herrings Mphande, Richard Olowo, Varalakshmi Vemuru, Leanne Bayer, Janmejay Singh, John Van Dyck, David Tuchschneider, Rumana Huque, Nikolas Myint, and the course facilitator, Colum Garrity.
Operations & Portfolio Management –New CDD operations were approved in Bolivia, Cameroon, Gabon, Liberia and Sri Lanka during the first half of FY16. The GSG Secretariat provided strategic cross-support to 15 operations in EAP, SAR, MENA, AFR, and LCR. As for portfolio management,the CDD database was reviewed and updated to include all CDD projects through mid-year FY16. As of Dec. 2015,there are 178 active projectsin 72 countriestotaling US$17.1 billion of Bank funding, of which 70% are IDA or IDA/blend. An additional US$10.6 billion was provided by borrowers (US$8.5 billion) and other donors (US$2.1 billion), mostly in EAP and SAR.
Communications – We continued issuing our popular monthly CDD newsletter "What's Happening" to CDD CoP and GSG. We also published several blogs on how CDD is impacting development in Myanmar and Laos, the institutionalization of community participation in Mongolia, how focusing on the community empowers social change and may help find a path out from conflict in the Philippines, and the empowerment of women through CDD in Bolivia. At the request of some GSG members, we have also completed a first draft CDD brochure and powerpoint for use by task teams to introduce government clients and other development partners to CDD approaches.
2. Upcoming activities over the next 6 months: Over the next few months, we are steaming ahead with:
CDD Blog Series with Task Team Leaders
Monthly seminars and learning events featuring innovations and relevant case studies
CDD and Urban seminars
Launching a mentoring program for junior staff
3. Our New Year's Resolution and Things to Do Better for the Remainder of FY2016. January is a good time to take stock of what we can do better during the remaining half of FY2016 and areas where we need to prioritize our time and energy. Here are the things we will strive to improve:
Refining the CDD analytical agenda – we are currently drafting a CDD analytical piece to identify gaps in our knowledge and a forward research agenda.
Collaboration with AGR GP on economic growth/value chain work – we've had preliminary discussion with partners on this critical work area. A concept note is to be drafted in Jan-Feb.
More communication amongst GSG members
Updating and improving the database of operational resources (TORs, consultant CVs, reference documents, etc.)
Finalizing the transition of our internal knowledge platform website, and establishing a parallel site accessible to external audiences
Improving the tracking and quality assurance support to new operations
Reaching out to organizations involved in CDD or community-led development outside of the WB
As always we welcome any inputs and suggestions you may have to work more effectively as a true Global Solutions Group. We look forward to collaborating with you in 2016!
Blog » New Years Reading CDD GSG Semi Annual Report
New Years Reading CDD GSG Semi Annual Report
Sent by Susan Wong, Global Lead for CDD
Dear CDD GSGers:
Hope all of you had a wonderful holiday break. Happy New Year to everyone!
As we begin the new year, we wish to reflect upon what we as a CDD Global Solutions Group have accomplished during the past 6 months and plans for the rest of the FY. At the same time, it's worth taking a hard-nosed look at the areas where we can do better. In particular, we wish to thank all of you for your continued commitment to partnering with poor communities globally to improve their lives, and for supporting your fellow practitioners. Many of you have generously given your time to share knowledge and advise on a host of important issues, and we are grateful for your support in making the CDD GSG a vibrant community.
CDD GSG Semi-Annual Report
January 6, 2016
1. Accomplishments over the past 6 months:
In addition, 4 BBLs/learning seminars were held on CDD and the Myanmar program, disaster risk management, procurement, and indigenous people. The average number of participants for the 4 events was 37.
2. Upcoming activities over the next 6 months: Over the next few months, we are steaming ahead with:
3. Our New Year's Resolution and Things to Do Better for the Remainder of FY2016. January is a good time to take stock of what we can do better during the remaining half of FY2016 and areas where we need to prioritize our time and energy. Here are the things we will strive to improve:
As always we welcome any inputs and suggestions you may have to work more effectively as a true Global Solutions Group. We look forward to collaborating with you in 2016!
All the best,
Susan, Sean, Kaori, Myrtle, Galen and Adelaide