1. BBL – Regional Initiatives for Improving Governance in Francophone Africa -
Governance and anti-corruption Initiatives and operations
Washington DC, May 22, 2007

2. Country background
Post conflict countries (e.g. Burundi, Congo, DRC and Rwanda)
In most of the cases, the roots of the conflict are related to poor governance
In most of the cases, all stakeholders recognized the negative impact of poor governance and corruption on the country’s development as well as the need to embark effectively on tackling these issues (e.g. GAC) and expressed in the I-PRSP (e.g. Congo), PRSP (e.g. DRC, Burundi) although the level of ownership by the country varies: from fully owned by the gov. (e.g. DRC, Rwanda) or driven from outside (CSO, dev. Partners) (e.g. Congo)

3. What did you learn through the implementation of our CAS/TSS/GAC
The after conflict in a country provides window of opportunity for change and if seized could yield results even on very complex agenda such as governance (e.g. Rwanda). Unless peace dividend materialize, the conflict can easily resurge.
The level of impact depends on the level of ownership by the country. It does not matter how many “conditionality “/ triggers that you can build in a program, what makes the difference is the level of commitment/ownership
The civil society can be instrumental in moving forward the reform program but their effectiveness depends by and large on the level of maneuver they have. In successful cases, their role has moved from “criticism” to partnership with the authorities (through a lot of bumps on the roads) (e.g. forestry sector in DRC)

4. How did we adjust our CAS/ISN and operations
Governance and anti-corruption is prominent in the WB’s agenda (e.g. Africa Action Plan)
Governance is a key pillar of our new CAS/ISN (e.g. DRC, Congo). In some cases, it is almost the only pillar when our effectiveness only depends how the governance can move ahead (e.g. Congo)
Governance and anti-corruption measures are part of the HIPC completion triggers (e.g. Congo)
Our new operations include heightened governance components (e.g. DRC)

5. How did we adjust our CAS/ISN and operations?
Some of TA/capacity building/development programs financed by the Bank aimed at building the capacity to carry on the governance agenda , including addressing the weak capacity of the civil society (to make it more effective and credible vis-à-vis the authorities)
Strong participation in the in-country anti-corruption institutions is a requirement for Bank support (e.g. EITI, anti-corruption observatory in Congo)
Dissemination of such stories through promote south-south exchanges