Uganda Hosts First OBA Training Workshop in the Field

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The World Bank’s office in Kampala, Uganda hosted an introductory training workshop on output-based aid (OBA) for World Bank staff and donors on June 18, 2009.

Around 18 people took part in the one-day workshop.  They included World Bank staff and representatives of three donors:  the European Union, the African Development Bank, and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The course was taught by subject matter experts from the World Bank and from two GPOBA project partners in Uganda:  Marie Stopes International and the Department of Water Development at the Ugandan Ministry of Water and Environment.

The course covered the following:

• an introduction to OBA and its core concepts,
• things to consider when designing an OBA scheme,
• case studies putting the participants in the position of having to propose or evaluate an OBA scheme,
• a review of the fiduciary implications of OBA in the World Bank context, and
• initial lessons learned from OBA experiences and brainstorming about scaling-up.

The discussions were lively and the participants visibly enjoyed the case studies, which were based on real projects.

The donors also showed great interest in the OBA approach and in applying it in their own projects.

While OBA approaches are not applicable in every situation, they can represent an efficient and demand-driven way to promote access to basic service for poor populations.

Uganda was a natural choice for GPOBA’s first field-based training event as it is the country where GPOBA has developed the most OBA activities:

• three active subsidy schemes, two in the water sector and one in health
• two completed technical assistance activities in the energy and health sectors

 
There is also an ongoing OBA scheme to bring communication services to rural areas of Uganda [3] and an OBA project is under consideration for the electricity sector.

Learn more about GPOBA activities [4]in Uganda

Learn more about GPOBA’s training program [5]on OBA for World Bank Group staff and development partners.