Establishing a Land Administration System in Liberia Liberia is at a critical stage in its peace building and development process, given the multiple challenges the country is facing. One of the key challenges is insecure tenure and the absence of a functioning land administration system. Secure tenure is a prerequisite for increased productivity, dispute resolution, strengthened business…

Strengthening Procurement Audit and Inspection of Public Investment Projects in Vietnam In the light of rapid economic growth and increasing investments, the Inspectorate Department of Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPII) faced challenges arising from an increased workload as well as integrity issues including fraud and corruption. Vietnam requested support from the World Bank in strengthening their procurement…

Strengthening Community Justice Systems in Melanesia Effective and transparent dispute resolution systems are prerequisites to the inclusive development of the South Pacific countries of Vanuatu and Solomon Islands. Besides formal courts, these countries support community justice systems, which blend state and non-state processes and integrate customary law and lay persons as decision-makers.…

Improving Public Expenditure Management in Mongolia and Lao PDR With the continued economic growth of East Asian and Pacific (EAP) developing countries, public concern has increased about the appropriateness of and transparency around public expenditures.  Recent corporate collapses and increased corruption cases focused attention once again on auditors’ roles and performance, since government auditing plays a…

Strengthening Land Administration in Honduras   Challenges in land administration, such as weak property rights and unequal distribution, have threatened the pace of economic growth in Honduras. The Government has prioritized improving land administration services, which included adopting a unified cadaster and land registration system. Through the Second Phase of its Land Administration…

Improving Transparency in Extractive Industries in Ethiopia, and Tanzania Ethiopia and Tanzania are rich in natural resources, but both face questions on how to best govern the mining industry to ensure economic transparency and growth. The Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) helps address the development and governance challenges facing these and other resource-rich nations. The knowledge exchange with…

Strengthening Management of State-Owned Enterprises in Bolivia What was the objective of the South-South exchange? : The Bolivian Government sought to improve the management and regulation of state-owned enter­prises (SOE), which provide services in key sectors such as energy, transport, and communication. Boliv­ian officials approved in 2013 a Public Corporation Law establishing a legal framework for state-…

Accelerating Economic Development through Improved Land Administration in Nicaragua Strong property rights crucial Uncertainty over land tenure can have several negative conse­quences. It hampers potential investments and land market transactions; generates conflict; and disproportionately affects poor rural farmers, indigenous communities, and especially poor women. Recognizing the importance of land tenure issues in…

Improving Performance Audit Capacity in Indonesia: Toward a More Effective and Efficient Government Indonesia sought to improve performance audit capacity of its Supreme Audit Institution (BPK) by sharpening staff skills, revamping training modules, and building relationships with more developed auditing institutions. Indonesian delegates visited with counterparts in South Africa to discuss policies, guidelines, and training curricula; and…

Strengthening Service Delivery by State-Owned Enterprises in Paraguay Paraguay undertook an exchange program with Chile and Peru to enhance the knowledge and skills of its decision-makers and technical staff to serve as input to develop an efficient state-owned enterprises (SOE) oversight system. Having learned from two of the most advanced oversight units of the SOE sector in Latin America, Paraguay is currently…

Learning to Ease “Doing Business” Regulations in Cape Verde Despite impressive economic gains over 25 years, the government of the African island nation of Cape Verde felt that unnecessary regulation was limiting job creation and private sector growth. Seeing that Mauritius---a similar island nation with a large tourism industry---had achieved successful business environment reforms and developed a strong…

Promoting Accountable and Inclusive Institutions in Paraguay: Learning from Access to Information in Brazil, Chile and Uruguay With Paraguay’s Access to Information (ATI) Law recently approved, coordination of its implementation fell under the responsibility of the ATI Directorate of Paraguay. In order to address capacity gaps, this knowledge exchange with agencies from Brazil, Chile and Uruguay enabled the ATI Directorate to learn good practices. As a result, a strategic…

Strengthening the Public Internal Control System and the Internal Audit Function in Brazil The economic recession in 2015 in Brazil was exacerbated by a weak public sector internal control system (PIC), which was not strong enough to curb corruption. Brazil, whose democratic constitution stemmed only from 1988, needed to learn to how to approach strengthening PIC. In response to Brazil’s request for assistance, the World Bank organized…