Country Assistance Strategy

What is a Country Assistance Strategy ?                     

The Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) is the World Bank’s work plan that guides its operations in a country, usually for a period of three years. It describes the country's economic and social performance, its main development challenges, and a summary of the government's development strategy.

Within this context, it outlines the World Bank's proposed package of assistance to the country for the period covered by the CAS. This includes all the Bank's planned operations in the country -  lending, analytical work, and technical assistance. The World Bank's proposed assistance reflects its mandate as an international development institution and what it is most capable of contributing to the country's growth.

The CAS is prepared in a participatory way; its key elements are discussed with the government and broad segments of civil society. However, the CAS is not a negotiated document. Any differences between the country's own development agenda and the strategy advocated by the World Bank are highlighted in the CAS document.

The CAS is publicly available after the World Bank's Board of Directors in Washington has given its approval, and the borrowing country has consented to its public disclosure.

World Bank's Country Partnership Strategy for Tajikistan for 2006 - 2009

The current strategy called Country Partnership Strategy covers the four-year period of fiscal years 2006-09. It was approved by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on July 27, 2005.

The new strategy seeks to achieve concrete results in assisting the Government reduce poverty by supporting growth through improving economic opportunities and building stronger human capital. Specifically it focuses on:

• Improving business opportunities in rural and urban areas through strengthening the financial sector, reducing the cost of doing business, supporting the measures to improve the access to agricultural land and reducing rent seeking in the cotton sector.

• Enhancing and preserving the quality of human capital. The World Bank will help improve the system of resource allocation to education and health, create conditions for better teaching and primary school attendance, increase utilization of primary healthcare, and  increase supply of safe water in selected areas. 

• Exploiting the country’s hydropower potential. The World Bank intends to support efforts to increase efficiency of the domestic energy sector through improved cost recovery, and assist the government in attracting foreign investment in the hydropower sector. 

In support of the above strategic objectives, the Bank will work with the Government to improve government capacity and efficiency, and reduce corruption by giving special emphasis to measures that increase transparency of resource use, reduce excessive controls and encourage the participation of users in the provision of services.

The indicative level of the funding for the next 4 years is about USD 120 million. Funding for new projects approved in fiscal year 2006 will be allocated on a 100% grant basis.

Download:

Country Partnership Strategy

World Bank Board Chairman's Concluding Remarks

Earlier Country Assistance Strategies

World Bank’s three previous assistance strategies for Tajikistan were intended to provide support for meeting Tajikistan’s immediate post-conflict needs and economic recovery.

World Bank assistance, in the form of soft loans has helped the country rebuild the infrastructure destroyed during the civil war and has supported economic reforms. These reforms, along with the peace agreement, have helped Tajikistan achieve a turnaround in economic growth.

Given the importance of agriculture to the livelihoods of more than half the country’s population, the World Bank has helped the country restructure collective farms on some one third of the country’s arable land. Pilot poverty-alleviation projects have also improved the lives of over one-half million people in the poorest areas of Tajikistan, reduced the number of school dropouts, and improved the quality of primary healthcare services in the selected districts of Tajikistan. Support was also provided to the central government to build and strengthen institutions needed for the country’s longer term development.

To date, the Bank has supported projects and carried out non-lending activities aimed at structural adjustment, agriculture and rural development, health, education, social security, energy, water resources, infrastructure rehabilitation, and disaster management.