A phased approach to efficiency improvement in low-income countries: the case of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation in Fort Portal town, Uganda

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 281-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Mutikanga ◽  
S. Mugisha
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Efficiency Improvement ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private Sector Participation ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Private Management ◽  
National Water

Most water and sewerage utilities are faced with the challenges of improving efficiency and will pass on gains to their customers. The challenges are more in low-income countries especially those in Africa. There has been a lot of on-going debate and studies about approaches and options to water utility efficiency improvement in these countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs). About ten years ago the emphasis was on private sector participation (PSP). Consequently, most development partners propagated this approach and even went to the extent of conditioning PSP implementation to funding. The option delivered varied degrees of successes contingent on the operating contexts in those countries. Attempts to mitigate the wrong contexts and conditions to suit the PSP have proved to be more expensive than potential benefits from the option itself. As a result, many low-income countries have been compelled to be more innovative and widen the scope of solution search. The debate currently is, therefore, about performance improvement other than PSP options. This paper presents a phased approach to efficiency improvement taken by National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) of Uganda in the last seven years. We discuss mechanisms that NWSC has used to achieve significant efficiency gains. Managerial incentives and autonomy are at the centre of the successes registered. We also draw conclusions on how private management principles can be introduced into the public sector to improve efficiency.

Using internal incentive contracts to improve water utility performance: the case of Uganda's NWSC

Water Policy ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silver Mugisha ◽  
Sanford V. Berg ◽  
William T. Muhairwe
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Incentive Contracts ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Framework Design ◽  
Design Competition ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Internal Incentive

The achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 requires significant managerial innovation and creativity, especially in low-income countries where utility inefficiencies are still most prevalent. This paper describes approaches that have been used in Uganda's National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC). We outline the potential for internal incentive contracts in delivering efficiency gains under public–public water management settings. No simple recipe for promoting efficiency exists. However, this paper highlights useful ingredients, including proper contract framework design, competition for managerial responsibility, effective business planning, performance monitoring and the use of managerial incentives. We conclude that these factors require careful consideration during the planning and implementation of incentive contracts.

Teacher Turnover in Rwanda

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Zeitlin
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teacher Turnover ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Early Career Teachers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Teacher Skills ◽  
Nationally Representative

Abstract Despite widely documented shortfalls of teacher skills and effort, there is little systematic evidence of rates of teacher turnover in low-income countries. I investigated the incidence and consequences of teacher turnover in Rwandan public primary schools over the period from 2016 to 2019. I combined the universe of teacher placement records with student enrollment figures and school-average Primary Leaving Exam scores in a nationally representative sample of 259 schools. Results highlight five features of teacher turnover. First, rates of teacher turnover are high: annually, 20% of teachers separate from their jobs, of which 11% exit from the public-sector teaching workforce. Second, the burden of teacher churn is higher in schools with low learning levels and, perhaps surprisingly, in low pupil–teacher-ratio schools. Third, teacher turnover is concentrated among early-career teachers, male teachers and those assigned to teach Math. Fourth, replacing teachers quickly after they exit is a challenge; 23% of exiting teachers are not replaced the following year. And fifth, teacher turnover is associated with subsequent declines in learning outcomes. On average, the loss of a teacher is associated with a reduction in learning levels of 0.05 standard deviations. In addition to class-size increases, a possible mechanism for these learning outcomes is the prevalence of teachers teaching outside of their areas of subject expertise: in any given year, at least 21% of teachers teach in subjects in which they have not been trained. Taken together, these results suggest that the problem of teacher turnover is substantial in magnitude and consequential for learning outcomes in schools.

scholarly journals The Political Economy of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Does Performance on the SDGs Affect Re-Election?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6445
Author(s):  
Christian Kroll ◽  
Vera Zipperer
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Economic Voting ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Agenda 2030 ◽  
Development Goals

While the economic voting hypothesis is a well-researched approach to explain behavior at the ballot box, a broader perspective of economic, social and environmental issues regarding a government’s chances to get re-elected is still missing in the literature. In this context, this paper makes use for the first time of the Agenda 2030 with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the comprehensive policy framework that all 193 UN member states have pledged to achieve. The objective of our study is therefore to examine the relationship between SDGs’ progress and the likelihood of re-election. Our analysis of 124 countries regarding performance on the SDGs over time and voting behavior shows: the chance to get re-elected as a government significantly increases for progress made towards SDG 5 (Gender Equality). Notable differences are also found for high-income vs. low-income countries. The fact that governments are rewarded at the ballot box for successful action towards gender equality is encouraging, while the mechanisms behind other SDG areas deserve more research.

A Review of Some Aspects of the Low-Income Country Debt Sustainability Framework

Policy Papers ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 09 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Income Country ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Preventive Action ◽  
Debt Sustainability ◽  
Low Income Country ◽  
Debt Burden ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Lending Decisions ◽  
Sustainability Framework

The Bank-Fund Debt Sustainability Framework (DSF) is a standardized framework for analyzing debt-related vulnerabilities in low-income countries (LICs). It aims to help countries monitor their debt burden and take early preventive action, to provide guidance to creditors in ensuring their lending decisions are consistent with countries’ development goals, and to improve the Bank and Fund’s assessments and policy advice. The DSF was last reviewed in 2006, and a reconsideration of some aspects of the framework is timely.

scholarly journals Aid to education and sustainable development

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 816-837
Author(s):  
Keith Lewin
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Comparative Education ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Accelerate Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
National Investment

The Sustainable Development Goals commit all countries to make rights to education realities for all children. Most of those out of school, and in school but not learning, are in Low Income Countries. Poor countries allocate 3%-4% of GDP to education. 6% is needed to finance universal primary and secondary school. Aid can help. However, aid to education in poor countries has stagnated since 2010 at USD 12 Billion annually. Aid can accelerate development that is self-sustaining through investment in human capitals and the promotion of public goods. Over the last three decades national investment has helped some countries transform their education systems. In other countries progress has been disappointing. The challenge for old and new donors to education is how should future aid be provided to promote sustainable development aid and how can Comparative Education help?

2013 Low-Income Countries Global Risks and Vulnerabilities Report

Policy Papers ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (75) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Millennium Development Goals ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
External Shocks ◽  
International Financial Institutions ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Per Capita

An assessment of vulnerabilities and risks in LICs remains important both for LICs themselves and for the international community. There are currently 74 LICs, eligible for concessional financing from the Fund. This group of countries has a total population of about 1.3 billion, with an average per capita income of around $850. They typically face the steepest challenges in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and are increasingly the focus of global development assistance to assist them in this endeavor. This report serves several purposes. It provides a cross-cutting analysis of the economic vulnerabilities of LICs, yielding some general policy conclusions and messages aimed at strengthening their resilience to external shocks. It delivers a richer coverage of developments in LICs than is typically contained in the major IMF multilateral surveillance reports, where analysis is focused primarily on developments in the advanced and emerging market economies. The report serves as an effective outreach tool to country authorities and the wider public. Finally, it provides useful information to other international financial institutions (IFIs) and donors that provide financial resources to LICs on the potential financing needs of these countries under varying global scenarios.

Water supply governance in Accra: “authentic” or “symbolic”

Water Policy ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Suleiman ◽  
Göran Cars
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
The Public ◽  
Company Limited ◽  
Process Outcomes ◽  
Private Sector Participation ◽  
Legal Constraints ◽  
Management Contract

This paper uses a governance theory framework to analyse the introductory process for the private sector managing and operating the public water utility Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). The analysis was performed from three standpoints: process inputs, process conduct and process outcomes. The consultation process on involvement of the private sector was hostile and resulted in a “light” form of private sector participation in the form of a management contract that can be considered a de facto compromise, although not deliberate, by stakeholders. The challenges in improving the water sector performance and water supply services are profound. Because of continuing institutional, social, political and legal constraints, the involvement of the private sector per se is not the solution to providing long-term improvement in water services. The article concludes that it is misleading to leapfrog from government to governance, calling for the transmission of a governance “recipe”, as conceptualised in the Western context, and to assume that it can work in an unaccommodating institutional context.

scholarly journals The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e004275
Author(s):  
Caitlin M Pley ◽  
Anna L McNaughton ◽  
Philippa C Matthews ◽  
José Lourenço
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Hepatitis B Virus ◽  
Hepatitis B ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Diagnosis And Treatment ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
The Public ◽  
B Virus ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has resulted in a myriad of interventions with the urgent aim of reducing the public health impact of this virus. However, a wealth of evidence both from high-income and low-income countries is accruing on the broader consequences of such interventions on economic and public health inequalities, as well as on pre-existing programmes targeting endemic pathogens. We provide an overview of the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on hepatitis B virus (HBV) programmes globally, focusing on the possible consequences for prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Ongoing disruptions to infrastructure, supply chains, services and interventions for HBV are likely to contribute disproportionately to the short-term incidence of chronic hepatitis B, providing a long-term source of onward transmission to future generations that threatens progress towards the 2030 elimination goals.

scholarly journals Between a hygiene rock and a hygienic hard place: Avoiding SARS-CoV-2 while needing environmental exposures for immunity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Parker ◽  
Joshua T Sarafian ◽  
Sherryl A Broverman ◽  
Jon D Laman
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Complete Removal ◽  
High Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Persistent Problem ◽  
The Public ◽  
Treatment Facilities

Abstract Suboptimal understanding of concepts related to hygiene by the general public, clinicians, and researchers is a persistent problem in health and medicine. Although hygiene is necessary to slow or prevent deadly pandemics of infectious disease such as COVID-19, hygiene can have unwanted effects. In particular, some aspects of hygiene cause a loss of biodiversity from the human body, characterized by the almost complete removal of intestinal worms (helminths) and protists. Research spanning more than half a century documents that this loss of biodiversity results in an increased propensity for autoimmune disease, allergic disorders, probably neuropsychiatric problems, and adverse reactions to infectious agents. The differences in immune function between communities with and communities without helminths have become so pronounced that the reduced lethality of SARS-CoV-2 in low-income countries compared to high-income countries was predicted early in the COVID-19 pandemic. This prediction, based on the maladaptive immune responses observed in many cases of COVID-19 in high-income countries, is now supported by emerging data from low-income countries. Herein, hygiene is subdivided into components involving personal choice versus components instituted by community wide systems such as sewage treatment facilities and water treatment plants. The different effects of personal hygiene and systems hygiene are described, and appropriate measures to alleviate the adverse effects of hygiene without losing the benefits of hygiene are discussed. Finally, text boxes summarizing this information are provided to function as stand-alone, public-domain handouts with the goal of informing the public about hygiene and suggesting solutions for biomedical researchers and policy makers.

scholarly journals Organized Crime and Development in Low and Middle-Income Countries

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Kelshaw
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
The Public ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Criminal Organizations ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Empirical Tests ◽  
Low And Middle Income

The presence of organized crime is common across all income levels, but the effects of organized crime differ between low-income and middle-income countries. Institutionally, socially, and economically, criminal organizations make contributions which affect the states they are in. This paper theorizes that the contributions made by organized crime help development in low-income countries, then later harms development in middle-income countries. Empirical tests find that the direct effects of organized crime are not significant in low and middle-income countries. The indirect effects of organized crime - corruption in the public sector — have a negative effect on development.

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