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EmailFebruary 2, 2010 – GPOBA’s Annual Report 2009 says that output-based aid (OBA) can help improve delivery of basic infrastructure and social services to the poor, and is an approach that is “maturing” and proving to have a meaningful role both in the World Bank Group (WBG) and the wider development community.
GPOBA, a global partnership program administered by the World Bank, broadened its activities in fiscal year 2009 to include a new knowledge and learning program on OBA [3], the report says.
GPOBA’s increased focus on training and dissemination of best practices is part of the program’s transition into a Center of Expertise on OBA.
It goes hand-in-hand with GPOBA’s efforts to encourage mainstreaming of OBA within the World Bank and with the development partners.
GPOBA’s portfolio of OBA subsidy schemes increased to US$109.3 million in fiscal 2009, with nine new grant agreements signed, expected to benefit around 3 million poor people.
The majority of the new funding will support schemes in Sub-Saharan Africa and in the energy and health sectors. The new projects will provide, for example:
- Clean, affordable energy for rural households in Ethiopia and Ghana, and safe electricity connections for Indian slum dwellers
- Improved access to healthcare services for low-income families in Lesotho and Nigeria
- Access to telecommunications services for rural poor in Cambodia
- Safe water for low-income households in Indonesia
The report also records progress in GPOBA’s pilot projects. Sixteen are now delivering outputs and eleven have disbursed against independently verified outputs, benefiting over 491,000 people so far. The outputs include:
- Natural gas connections for over 204,800 members of poor households in Colombia
- UV water purification systems providing public access to clean water for 45,000 people in rural communities in India
- Biogas plants for rural Nepalese households, benefiting over 33,600 people
- Public water points and water yard taps for over 31,700 inhabitants of Kampala, Uganda
Read the full report [4] [PDF 3.05 MB]