| Grant Profile: |
| Project Title: |
Country Social Analysis: Management of Iraqi Social Development Knowledge Network |
| PCF/LICUS/SPF: |
PCF |
Status: |
Closed |
| File Number: |
340
| Region: |
MENA |
| Sector: |
Health and other social services |
Country: |
Iraq |
| FY approved: |
2007 |
Grant Theme : |
Social dev/gender/inclusion |
| Keyword(s): |
Poverty strategy, analysis and monitoring |
Approved Amount: |
$264,140.00 |
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Grant Recipient:
CHF International |
Grant Purpose:
The purpose of the grant is to develop a network of Iraqi social development experts who will contribute to the Country Social Analysis (CSA) undertaken by the World Bank. Successful completion of the CSA will require the involvement of such network of Iraqi social development experts who will contribute to the Bank’s knowledge of social diversity, asset allocation, service delivery, livelihoods, and the distribution of power within the country.
Most specifically, the project will fund an “incubator organization” to manage a team of local Iraqis who will: (i) follow on from the launch workshop in training network participants, and refining the design and field testing of the research tools; (ii) provide oversight of research to be conducted in two or three pilot areas; (iii) provide a synthesis of findings; (iv) produce a generic framework for use across Iraq where conditions permit.
In addition, this project aims to achieve the secondary objective of examining the implications for external assistance, which include opportunities and modalities to implement "grass-roots" programs that allow for the direct participation of beneficiaries in project design within a volatile operational environment.
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Grant Activities:
The objectives of the project will be accomplished through the following components:
Component 1: Finalizing the preparation phase of field research
The research tools to be used will be finalized in consultation with the "incubator" organization and the Iraqi-based network managers. Key geographic locations for the piloting of this phase of social assessment, as well as, relevant stakeholders will be identified.
Component 2: Collecting and (and summarizing) of information using various instruments
Research will begin in selected key locations. The incubator organization will support two Iraq-based network managers as they advise and provide quality-control in the data-gathering process.
Component 3: Compiling and refining information into deliverables
Raw data will be forwarded to Amman, where it will be analyzed and compiled into deliverable formats in conjunction with Iraq managers. Results will, in turn, be forwarded to the Bank.
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Results:
The Iraq Social Analysis project was developed with the objective to gather reliable information on ground conditions for locally driven development, governance, service delivery, and the social dynamics that affect the ability of the government to rebuild and deliver effective services in Iraq. Despite the difficulties inherent in collecting data in a volatile conflict environment, the project provided key insights on the social context for Iraq’s reconstruction. It became the first, pilot initiative for conducting this type of data collection and analysis in Iraq.
The project created and trained a network of indigenous researchers in four communities within Iraq. The researchers conducted 1,720 interviews within these communities. Research locations included Sadr City and Mansur, predominantly Shia and Sunni neighborhoods, respectively in Baghdad, as well as Amara, a Shia city in southeast Iraq, and Erbil, a northern city in Kurdistan.
The findings of the interviews held across Iraq present a snapshot of citizen perceptions on the role of institutions, trust in various levels of government, local perceptions about government effectiveness, influence, corruption and equity, and insights into whether and why governance and service delivery may be ineffective. By focusing on an analysis of these trends in perceptions of key services and institutions, the findings of the project below provide a useful roadmap for development practitioners seeking to gain a first-hand perspective on the social context for Iraqi reconstruction:
Critical issues across all four regions that participated in the project include:
• Unemployment is the most prevalent community issue on average, particularly in Shia regions
• Security is the most important issue across all regions except Erbil
• Corruption is a critical community issue across all regions studied by the project
• Sectarianism is a problem in the neighborhoods of Baghdad
Other major findings include:
• The data points to the importance of informal local organizations – primarily militias – in service delivery.
• Also important is the role of the private sector in the delivery of services. The most visible example comes from the competitive communications sector which offers good mobile phone service across Iraq.
• Communications and education are considered to have the highest quality of service in the studied regions, while electricity and fuel and oil services are the worse.
• Local government has the highest influence when comparing all institutions across all studied regions.
• Schools are perceived as the most influential institutions in the delivery of services.
• National government is predominantly influential in Baghdad and Mansur, while regional government is the most influential in Erbil.
• Courts are the most trusted institutions across all regions.
• Iraqi military is more trusted than other security institutions (militias, foreign military, police), especially in Sadr City, Amara and Mansur.
• Schools are considered to be the fairest social institutions across regions, followed by courts.
• Iraqi military is viewed as the fairest and least corrupt security institution.
• Within the government, tax authorities are perceived as the most corrupt and least fair.
• Family, friends and hospitals are the places people most often turn to for help when dealing with crises.
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Lessons Learned:
The lessons learned from the project are based on the implementation of the project as well as on the findings and analysis of research and include:
• The grant proved that ground-level social analysis could be carried out in Iraq even in an unstable context. Such work was however labor-intensive, expensive (involving considerable training) and potentially dangerous (field researchers had to be careful of whom, what and where they were addressing).
• Corruption hampers effective delivery of services. Therefore, the most significant message from the research findings points to the need to create better governance around service delivery.
• Devolving service delivery into smaller, more manageable units could be an effective strategy to address governance, corruption and service delivery issues more effectively.
• The widespread perception in Iraq that the tax collection agencies are corrupt indicates that there is a high demand for more accountability in the use of resources, and points to the need for a more manageable, localized mechanism to build effective oversight of local budgeting and service provision.
• The trend that some non-governmental organizations are achieving high levels of citizen satisfaction as they provide services or mediate disputes points to the potential for a growing and effective role for local non-governmental mechanisms in service delivery.
• The most successful privately delivered service in Iraq is considered to be communications. Service delivery could be much improved in other sectors if, just like private sector service companies in competitive markets, other Iraqi service providers could be managed locally and given incentives to find ways of efficient communication with the market.
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