Please note that Operational Policy/Bank Procedures OP/BP 14.40 and Trust Fund Handbook apply to all Trust Funds including the PHRD program. For additional information, see PHRD FY08 Annual Policy Document.  Q1. Do I as a task team leader need to be trust fund accredited to manage a PHRD grant?
A. Yes. PHRD Task Team Leaders (TTL) must be Trust Fund Learning & Accreditation Program TLAP) accredited. A TTL must be Bank staff (regular or fixed term).
Q2. What do PHRD Technical Assistance grants fund?
A. PHRD provides grants to support preparation and implementation of World Bank Loans, IDA Credits and IDA grants. There are five categories of PHRD TA grant: - Project Preparation grants. These grants, of up to US$1 million, are provided to World Bank member countries to assist in the preparation of Bank-financed operations;
- Project Cofinancing grants are provided to Recipient countries to cofinance capacity building components of Bank-supported operations;
- Project Implementation grants, are provided to Recipient countries to assist where an operation has encountered unexpected implementation constraints and additional capacity building support is needed;
- Climate Change grants, supporting Bank, GEF and Carbon Fund activities related to climate change; and
- Enhancing aid coordination grants are provided to recipient countries to strengthen their aid coordination capacity for effective and efficient use of donor funds.
Q3. When and how can one apply for a PHRD grant?
A. PHRD grant proposals can be submitted in three rounds each year (around October, February, and May). Concessional Finance & Global Partnerships (CFP) sends the invitation for submission of proposals and the guidelines for each round to the Regions. The invitation and guidelines convey the criteria agreed with the donor (Government of Japan) for the round and the amount available. The funding proposal is submitted in the PHRD Lotus Notes database. (A link to the PHRD database is provided in the invitation for submission of proposals.)
Q4. What is the maximum amount that can be requested for PHRD grant?
A. The project preparation, implementation, and climate change grants may not exceed US$1 million. The project cofinancing grants may be up to $5 million provided that at least 25% of the project TA components are financed either by the IDA Credit or from other sources.
Q5. Can the PRHD grant be used for the preparation of Development Policy Lending (DPL) operations?
A. Yes. Each phase of DPL must be listed in the current Country Assistance Strategy and should have a PO number to qualify for a preparation grant. Each DPL phase would require a separate funding application.
Q6. Can agencies other than government be recipient of the grant funds?
A: No. The grant funds recipient agency must be a government entity.
Q7. Can UN Agencies or other Multi-Donors Agencies be implementing agencies of the grants?
A. No. The grants should be implemented by government agencies. However, UN or other donor agencies may be contracted to carry out grant activities in accordance with the Bank’s procurement guidelines.
Q8. Can PHRD Technical Assistance grants fund Bank work?
A. PHRD TA grants cannot fund Bank work. For example, economic and sector work or other Bank work including appraisal, supervision, preparation of Project Concept Documents/Project Appraisal Documents cannot be funded under PHRD TA grants.
Q9. Can a PHRD grant be used to fund study tours, foreign training, workshops or local training, and operating costs?
A. Study tours, foreign training and freestanding workshops, seminars, and conferences not directly linked to a TA component are not eligible under PHRD grants. Workshops or local training and operating costs may be included in the funding proposal if they are clearly essential for project preparation and their costs are kept to less than 10% of the total grant.
Q10. When is a formal request to revise the content of the technical assistance under a grant required and what are the steps to initiate such a request?
A. TTLs can clear the changes in the grant components and expenditure categories without the PHRD Unit's clearance as long as there are no changes to project development objectives and non-consultant costs are less than 10% (excluding climate change grants) of total grant. Changes to the project development objectives or project ID number would require prior clearance from the PHRD Unit.
Q11. Can PHRD project preparation grants be used after the Board has approved the project?
A. Normally, PHRD grants for project preparation should be completed by the Board date of the follow-on project. The closing date can be extended, in consultation with the PHRD Unit, to Credit/Loan effectiveness or by a maximum of six months, whichever comes first, in those cases where additional time is required to complete the on-going contracts under implementation at the time of the Board date.
Q12. What is the procedure for an extension of the closing date?
A. A written request has to be submitted to the PHRD Unit if an extension beyond the Board date is needed. The request should include a list of contracts to be completed after the Board approval date. The Legal and LOA must clear the draft communication to the Government informing them of the new closing date.
Q13. What is the procedure for retroactive extension of the closing date?
A. Retroactive extension now requires approval from the Regional Vice President (RVP). The project preparation grants can be retroactively extended to the expected project Board date provided the new closing date falls within four years of grant approval date. Once approved by RVP, the memo as well as letter to the government informing them of the new closing date should be forwarded to the PHRD Unit and Trust Funds Accounting Clearance Team (TACT). No clearance is required from PHRD.
Q14. Is there a grace period after the grant closing date to process the payments?
A. There is a four-month grace period after the closing date to process all payments for work completed before the closing date.
Q15. What is the maximum term for PHRD grant?
A. The maximum term of project preparation, implementation, and climate change grants is four year from the date of approval by the Government of Japan. The term of a project cofinancing grant must coincide with that of the Bank financed project.
Q16. Are progress reports required throughout the life of the PHRD grant?
A. Yes. Annual status reports are required for all approved grants. The reports are submitted through the Grant Reporting and Monitoring (GRM) system and should provide qualitative reports on the progress and results of grant-funded activities during the reporting period July 1 – June 30. The task team leader will receive an email reminder when the reports are due. The recently released version of the GRM is SAP-based. A web-based version of the GRM application, including Implementation Completion Memoranda (ICM), was implemented in FY06.
Q17. Is Implementation Completion Memorandum (ICM) required for PHRD grants?
A. Yes. The task manager must prepare an ICM immediately after the closing date for all PHRD TA grants. The ICM should describe the outcome of the PHRD grant, based on the objectives and expected outcomes indicated in the original request, as well as lessons learned. It should also include information on final disbursements and cancelled amounts. The template for the ICM can be found in the GRM template. |
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