TBILISI, April 2, 2008— Georgia’s Poverty Reduction Support Operation (PRSO) Program won the World Bank’s first annual “Improving the Lives of People in Europe & Central Asia” award yesterday for its outstanding results and impact in the country.
“The Georgian Government has maintained a record of strong growth and macroeconomic stability since early 2004, achieved through an adequate mix of sound fiscal and monetary policies and ambitious structural reforms”, said Roy Southworth, Country Manager for Georgia. ”The four-staged PRSO program has been designed to support implementation of key objectives of the Government reform program. The government has continued to make progress in their reform agenda, with the emphasis on developing a dynamic competitive private sector as the key driver of investment, growth and employment and with a transparent and efficient public sector playing a supporting role by providing basic public services.”
PRSO, a series of four annual programmatic PRSOs started in 2005 in support of the Government of Georgia’s implementation of key policy reforms in the areas of: (i) strengthening public sector accountability, efficiency, and transparency; (ii) improving electricity and gas sector services; (iii) improving the environment for private sector development; and (iv) improving social protection, education and health care services. PRSO IV will be the last of the PRSO series expected to support the government efforts in translating its reform achievements into lasting institutional changes, long-term sustainable growth prospects and reduced poverty. The total amount of the Program is US$ 80 million.
The World Bank event was held Tuesday in Washington and focused on 19 awards selected by the World Bank panel of judges for a total of 22 activities across the Europe and Central Asia Region. The winning entries showcase results and real impact, as well as the project’s dedication to solid work in monitoring and evaluating those results. They illustrate the value of innovation, solid implementation, and sustainability.
“These winning activities from across Europe and Central Asia show the results that client countries and the World Bank can achieve together as partners in supporting countries’ development efforts,” said Shigeo Katsu, Europe and Central Asia Region Vice President, World Bank.
“Increasingly, governments and other stakeholders alike demand evidence to guide policy decisions. They want us to demonstrate that our support to programs and projects improves the outcomes for their citizens, and they want to see that capacity building and knowledge work help them deliver development. The World Bank teams have worked hard to improve results and the ability to measure them and these winning entries show that the effort is paying off for the people in the Region. However, we are also very aware that documenting the impact of capacity building and knowledge work is more difficult than that of traditional lending, so we have only scratched the surface in that area and need to do more.”
The projects reflect the World Bank’s strategic themes laid out by World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick, including:
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Helping overcome poverty and spur sustainable growth in the poorest countries
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Fragile and post-conflict affected countries
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Development solutions for middle income countries
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An active role in regional and global public goods
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Fostering a knowledge and learning agenda
The ECA Results competition will be held annually to celebrate the impact of projects and programs in the Region.
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