Presenters:
Stefano Paternostro, Lead Economist, AFTH3, World Bank
Philip B. O'Keefe, Lead Social Protection Specialist, SASHD, World Bank
Ian Campbell, ET Consultant, AFTH3, World Bank
Giuseppe Zampaglione, Sr. Operations Officer, AFTH2, World Bank

Chair:
Carlo del Ninno, Sr. Economist, HDNSP, World Bank

Given the exposure to sever covariate shocks (seasonal lack of work, droughts, floods, and macro crises) that occur from time to time, one would have expected public works programs to play a more dominant role in the overall safety net framework of many countries.  However, evidence suggests that they are not used systematically and, when used, end up not infrequently with disappointing results.  This session will explore recent experiences and lessons from Africa and South Asia to understand their role, limitations, effectiveness, and possible measures to make them more effective than at present.
 
India has decades of experience with a number of different public works programs; her most famous program being the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee scheme.  A few years ago the government introduced a new nationwide program with a guarantee element that ensured at least 100 hundred days of employment to anybody that requested it.  Public works were used in Ethiopia as part of relief programs for many years, but were not very efficiently organized.  In the past few years the Government, with the support of the World Bank and a large consortium of donors, has been able to restructure the set up and implementation of public works programs.  High labor intensive public works programs have been one of the most common safety net programs to address poverty and vulnerability in Madagascar.  However, until a recent study, the details of their operation were not well documented, and their effectiveness unknown.  Liberia is in the process of designing and implementing a public works program in a post conflict and food crises setting.  It faces challenges of low capacity and urgency of speed.

This session reviewed the experiences of the above countries to:

• Provide insights on what works and what does not, what explains successes and failures;
• Draw lessons on how to improve the effectiveness of public works programs under different circumstances.

Presentations

"Public Workfare: What We Do Know, What We Do Not Know and How We are Going to Learn About It"  (57kb pdf)
by Carlo del Ninno

"High Labour Intensive (HIMO) Public Works in Madagascar: Issues and Policy Options" (371kb pdf)
by Stefano Paternostro

"Public Works in India: The National Rural Employment Guarantee"  (35kb pdf)
by Puja Vasudeva Dutta and Philip O’Keefe

"Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Public Works Program: Planning for Success and Lessons Learned" (2.9mb pdf)
by Ian Campbell

"Liberia Cash for Work Temporary Employment Project"  (1mb pdf)
by Giuseppe Zampaglione