Note: OP and BP 8.40 together replace OD 8.40, Technical Assistance, and draw on the Operational Memorandum Disclosure of Factual Technical Documents, 6/20/94.  They are complemented by the Handbook on Technical Assistance, available online.  Questions should be addressed to opmanual@worldbank.org. |
 1. Bank 1 staff assess the country's TA needs and discuss them in the Country Assistance Strategy document.22. Technical assistance (TA) may be provided as a component of a Bank operation or as a freestanding loan or grant.3  TA loans are processed according to the provisions of BP 10.00, Investment Lending: Identification to Board Presentation, but there are some differences in the documentation required (see paras. 7-8). Design
3. During TA design, the Bank and the borrower
(a)Â reach agreement on clear objectives of the TA;
(b)Â assess the capacity of local staff to design and conduct training programs, of local trainees to absorb expertise, and of the borrower's internal organization and procedures to receive and benefit from the TA; (c)Â determine the appropriate mix of TA inputs; (d)Â prepare terms of reference that indicate the expected output and the eventual outcome of the TA; (e)Â define the relative roles of advisers and local personnel and, when appropriate, agree on procedures to replace the former with the latter; (f)Â Â reach agreement on (i) selection procedures and criteria for firms and individual specialists,4Â (ii) the time- table for TA procurement activities and the standardized Letter of Invitation and contract forms, and (iii) selection procedures for trainees; (g)Â build in lessons from past TA experience; (h)Â create a mechanism to evaluate the progress of the TA in relation to agreed monitorable indicators and to intervene to remove any implementation bottlenecks; and (i)Â Â reach agreement on funding responsibilities and, if multiple sources of funding are involved, on timing, availability of funds, and harmonization of procedures.
4. Bank staff also ensure that the borrower designates an agency (and, preferably, a project manager) to be responsible for implementation and gives it a clear mandate and decision-making authority.  If necessary, Bank staff may assist in designing a suitable framework for training programs and identifying key staff to be responsible for training.  They build into the design of the proposed TA any lessons of experience from earlier TA operations.
Appraisal and Documentation
5. At appraisal, Bank staff confirm that appropriate arrangements (outlined in paras. 3-4 above) are in place.
 Documentation  6. In the documentation for TA projects and components, Bank staff present sufficient details to provide an adequate basis for determining whether the TA is, in form and content, the most appropriate and cost-effective method of meeting the borrower's needs.  When it is possible to quantify the benefits of institutional development TA (IDTA) projects or components,5 staff perform cost-benefit analyses.  They also explicitly discuss risks to the project and specific measures to reduce the risks.  7. Except for loans to new borrowers and for complex and multicomponent projects, a Staff Appraisal Report (SAR) is not required for a freestanding TA loan.  Instead, the Memorandum and Recommendation of the President (MOP) serves as the sole loan document,6 and detailed loan information is provided in technical annexes to the MOP.7  Technical annexes are not bound with the MOP but are prepared as a separate document.  8. Disclosure.  The prospective borrowing government is asked to identify during negotiations any portion of the technical annex that is confidential or sensitive or that could adversely affect relations with the Bank.  As appropriate, country department (CD) staff may modify the technical annex to deal with matters of concern to the government.  Once the TA loan is approved by the Board, when an external party requests technical information, the CD director makes the technical annex available to the interested party through the Public Information Center.  If in exceptional cases extensive issues of confidentiality arise, the CD director may restrict release of the technical annex.  The MOP is not made available to the public.  Implementation and Supervision  9. Because supervision offers an opportunity for informal TA, Bank staff must remain aware of the importance of effective supervision to the implementation and ultimate success of the TA.  If foreign advisers are involved in the project, Bank staff may need to facilitate borrower-adviser communication, familiarize the borrower with the work of advisers, and evaluate the success of adviser-counterpart interactions.  During supervision missions, Bank staff encourage the borrower to make the fullest possible use of local personnel but, as necessary, advise the borrower on obtaining the services of suitable expatriate firms or individuals, the United Nations Development Programme, or other UN specialized agencies.  10. During Country Portfolio Performance Reviews,8 Bank staff review countrywide progress in TA.  11. The Human Capital Development (HCD), Financial and Private Sector Development, and Environmentally Sustainable Development vice presidencies: (a) maintain an overview of the Bank's TA initiatives;
(b)Â periodically assess cross-country or cross-Regional experiences with IDTA; (c)Â assist the Regions with IDTA design; and (d)Â participate in appraisal/supervision missions, particularly if they involve generic Bankwide issues.
12. The Operations Policy Department, OPR, is responsible for: (a) formulating the Bank's TA policies; (b) disseminating best practices; (c) up-dating the Technical Assistance Handbook; (d) providing support and advice to staff on operational activities involving UNDP and UN specialized agencies; (e) assembling an advisory team on IDTA; and (f)  working with the Personnel Management Department's Training Division to train Bank staff on IDTA.
 13. Cofinancing and Project Finance Department (CAP), which administers consultant trust funds and TA grants from bilateral donors and maintains institutional relationships with donor country governments and agencies, assists in identifying grant financing for TA from bilateral donors.  CAP also assists in coordinating with regional multilateral development banks for TA financing.
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"Bank" includes IBRD and IDA, and "loans" includes IDA credits and IDA grants. See BP 2.11, Country Assistance Strategies. For grant processing, see OP/BP 14.40, Trust Funds; OP/BP  8.45, Grants; and OP/BP 10.20, Global Environment Facility Operations. For guidance on selecting and hiring consultants, see  OP/BP 11.00, Procurement, and Guidelines: Use of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers and by the World Bank as Executing Agency (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1981). Such projects or components might involve, for example, strengthening tax administration and collection or revamping a customs agency. For the contents of an MOP, see BP 10.00 Annex E, Outline for a Memorandum and Recommendation of the President. Annex A outlines the contents of a technical annex. See OP/BP 13.16, Country Portfolio Performance Reviews.
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