http://info.worldbank.org/etools/bspan/ B-SPAN is a webcasting service that presents World Bank seminars, workshops, and conferences on a variety of sustainable development and poverty reduction issues via streaming video. en-us 2007 The World Bank Group, All Rights Reserved. bspan@worldbank.org bspan@worldbank.org http://info.worldbank.org/etools/BSPAN/PresentationView.asp?PID=2098&EID=53 Is it possible for people to voluntarily give up their power? No one gives up their power easily, and yet this is one of the main questions behind decentralization. In his address to the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Seminar Series on decentralization, held at the World Bank Washington offices on May 10th 2007, Richard Bird, Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto talks about decentralization, power and the advantages of local input. He raises the possibility that decentralizations benefits and downfalls might just be two sides of the same coin. B-SPAN Decentralization Friday, June 01, 2007 Friday, June 01, 2007 http://info.worldbank.org/etools/BSPAN/PresentationView.asp?PID=2098&EID=53 http://info.worldbank.org/etools/BSPAN/PresentationView.asp?PID=2052&EID=943 Many of the World Banks 185 member nations are decentralizing their government services in an effort to be more effective, efficient, and accountable to their citizens. But the process of decentralization is fraught with controversy, and critical arguments of the process abound. In this event at the World Banks Washington headquarters on May 8, 2007, the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) Network invited two eminent panelists to discuss the benefits and detriments of decentralization. B-SPAN Decentralization Thursday, May 10, 2007 Thursday, May 10, 2007 http://info.worldbank.org/etools/BSPAN/PresentationView.asp?PID=2052&EID=943 http://info.worldbank.org/etools/BSPAN/PresentationView.asp?PID=1811&EID=857 Decentralization promises to increase efficiency in service delivery by moving governments closer to the people. SubSaharan Francophone African countries, that share a common state legacy, display some of the poorest decentralization achievements in the world. Assuming that state tradition impacts the kind and degree of decentralization reform a country engages in, how have past decentralization efforts proceeded in the subregion, and what can we learn from them? In a May 1, 2006 presentation for the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) Learning Week, panelists examined The Power of Institutional Legacies Decentralization in Francophone Africa. B-SPAN Decentralization Monday, May 01, 2006 Monday, May 01, 2006 http://info.worldbank.org/etools/BSPAN/PresentationView.asp?PID=1811&EID=857 http://info.worldbank.org/etools/BSPAN/PresentationView.asp?PID=1571&EID=759 Over the past two decades, subnational governments in East Asia have taken on core responsibilities for raising and spending public money and for providing critical services and infrastructure. This decentralization has unleashed local initiative and energy, providing new ways to deliver services to people. With great potential for continued improvement and innovation, says a new World Bank report, it is essential that decentralization be carried out correctly. The report, East Asia Decentralizes—Making Local Government Work, was launched during a policy seminar on Decentralization in East Asia and the Philippines on June 14, 2005, at the Edsa ShangriLa Hotel in Mandaluyong City, Philippines. The event was organized by the Center for Local and Regional Governance at the University of the Philippines and the World Bank, in partnership with the Philippine Department of Interior and Local Government. B-SPAN Decentralization Tuesday, June 14, 2005 Tuesday, June 14, 2005 http://info.worldbank.org/etools/BSPAN/PresentationView.asp?PID=1571&EID=759 http://info.worldbank.org/etools/BSPAN/PresentationView.asp?PID=1554&EID=759 Over the past two decades, subnational governments in East Asia have taken on core responsibilities for raising and spending public money and for providing critical services and infrastructure. This decentralization has unleashed local initiative and energy, providing new ways to deliver services to people. With great potential for continued improvement and innovation, says a new World Bank report, it is essential that decentralization be carried out correctly. The report, East Asia Decentralizes—Making Local Government Work, was launched during a policy seminar on Decentralization in East Asia and the Philippines on June 14, 2005, at the Edsa ShangriLa Hotel in Mandaluyong City, Philippines. The event was organized by the Center for Local and Regional Governance at the University of the Philippines and the World Bank, in partnership with the Philippine Department of Interior and Local Government. B-SPAN Decentralization Tuesday, June 14, 2005 Tuesday, June 14, 2005 http://info.worldbank.org/etools/BSPAN/PresentationView.asp?PID=1554&EID=759