CPAR - Attachment 3

Initiating Concept Memorandum

1.         The following is an illustration of the contents of an Initiating Concept Memorandum for a CPAR. The ICM is often prepared following a mission to the country to discuss the scope and participation of the Government and other interested stakeholders in the CPAR.

• Background 
  • Country background
  • Objective of the CPAR
  • Relationship to CAS, lending program, and policy dialogue with the country authority including basis for timing of the CPAR
• Scope
  • Areas to be reviewed
  • Specific issues deserving attention
  • Other relevant sources of available information, and how the CPAR relates to these
• Methodology
• Process
• Role and identity of participants
  • Country authorities and other in-country stakeholders
  • Collaborating development partners
  • Planned contributions by country authorities, other-in-country stakeholders, and partners.
• Relationship to other Bank diagnostic ESW work and any lending operations supporting public sector reform
• Reporting arrangements and timetable
• Team composition and quality assurance arrangements
• Budget

2. The draft ICM should be prepared early in the planning stages for a CPAR, but as a minimum four weeks prior to the scheduled assessment mission.

3. The draft ICM shall be circulated, as a minimum, to the following for review and comment prior to the scheduled review meeting:

Mandatory Reviews:

• Regional Procurement Advisor
• Country Director
• LEGOP
• OPCPR
• Peer Review team (including those external to the World Bank)
• All members of the assessment team

  Other Recommended Reviews (to extent not represented as peer reviewers):

• Other regional staff as may be determined by regional guidelines
• Country lawyer
• Country Economist
• PREM
• Regional Financial Management Advisor
• Government Counterparts

4. A review meeting for the draft ICM shall be scheduled at least three weeks prior to the assessment mission. The review meeting should be chaired by the Country Director or a designated representative. Following the review meeting, information should be provided to those reviewing the draft ICM to indicate changes made as a result of the review process. The draft ICM should be finalized accordingly and distributed.

The CPAR

5. The draft report shall be circulated to the same list of reviewers as the ICM (indicated in paragraph three above). This list indicates the required reviews and should be expanded to include additional participants such as external partners and other donors. The draft report shall be discussed in a review meeting chaired by the Country Director or a designated representative. Following the meeting, a memorandum shall be prepared indicating the changes to be incorporated into the draft report based on the review.

6. The draft report should be shared with the concerned government counterparts as part of the preparation and review of a CPAR. This can be accomplished by seeking comments and government input throughout the process. In some cases, it may be advisable to arrange a separate review meeting with the counterparts if funds are available to organize such a review.

7. Following the completion of the final report, which includes the input from the review process, the CPAR shall be forwarded to the government under an official forwarding letter from the Country Director. The letter shall indicate that the Bank intends to publish and disclose the CPAR in accordance with the Bank's disclosure policy unless the government states its objection.

8. Distribution of the completed CPAR shall be made as a minimum to the same list as indicated in paragraph 3.

Information on Normal Processing Times for a CPAR

9. A CPAR normally takes 6 months or longer to complete. The length of time can vary widely depending upon many factors such as: coordination with other ESW; identification of team members and organization of their participation; identification and coordination with other development partners and interested donors; the size and complexity of the planned CPAR; the need to organize the participation of the government counterparts, to name just a few.

10. Task team leaders should carefully consider the steps leading to the CPAR assessment mission and the time needed to complete the process and deliver a completed product of high quality. The key milestones are to be entered into the SAP system by the task team leader and should be realistic from the beginning. The SAP system is used by the Bank to monitor compliance and to forecast the delivery of products. Regional management is responsible for projecting and reporting on the delivery of ESW products based on the entries into the SAP system.

11. The CPAR is an ESW product and shall be entered into the SAP using appropriate codes based on guidelines which are provided to staff.