Did you feel the pulse of GPOBA during the month of October? Buzzing with activity, GPOBA hosted two days of knowledge sharing and networking at our 10th Anniversary Conference on October 28 and 29, providing a retrospective of GPOBA’s successes and lessons learned as well as posing new ideas and challenges for the future of output-based aid (OBA). The event allowed the unique opportunity to meet with our Donors, World Bank Group colleagues, other development partners, our Panel of Experts, and other professionals -- all at the same time and place. A fitting conclusion to the Conference was our first “Inn-OBA-tions" Awards Ceremony which highlighted the ten outstanding pilots using OBA/RBF approaches during the past decade. Stay tuned for the post-conference summary on our website. Coinciding with these activities, other notable mentions include: the endorsement of three projects for commitment (Vanuatu electricity, Mali hybrid energy, and the GAMA sanitation facility in Ghana); a front-page story on the World Bank’s Intranet acknowledging our achievements; and the launching of GPOBA’s new website, which also houses the online collaborative platform for our OBA Community of Practice. We look forward to another ten years, as we continue to provide the world's poorest with basic infrastructure and social services, combined with our goal to end extreme poverty and contribute to boosting shared prosperity.

GPOBA's 10th Anniversary Conference

October 28-29, 2013

New GPOBA Website Launched in October 

"InnOBAtions" Awards

Recognizing Ten of the Outstanding Output-Based Aid Projects During GPOBA's First Ten Years

GPOBA hosted this two-day networking and learning event that brought together key individuals who have been instrumental in the development of output-based aid and the evolution of GPOBA. While the first day focused on the history of OBA, its application, challenges and lessons learned in the various sectors, the second day looked at the future of OBA and possible new areas of focus. Among the speakers were GPOBA Donors, Sector Managers and Specialists, Directors from IFC and MIGA, and representatives from other development partners. Also featured at the end of the Conference was the presentation for the "InnOBAtion Awards." (see two columns to the right). GPOBA will soon upload some of the presentations to its website as well as a summary of the discussions. To review the conference booklet, which lists the agenda and speakers' bios, click here.

GPOBA has inaugurated its new website, with a more contemporary look and visually appealing interface. The home page divides information into three streams: Activities (GPOBA projects, including subsidy schemes, technical assistance and dissemination activities), Resources (GPOBA's library, including publications, links to training, data and latest news on OBA) and Funding (Applications for dissemination and technical assistance). This website will also host the Community of Practice where OBA practitioners, clients and donors can particpate in discussions and knowledge sharing. Visit and browse our new website at www.gpoba.org.

At the final event of the GPOBA 10th Anniversary Conference, GPOBA’s Panel of Experts announced their selections for the ten award-winning pilot projects. The projects that best met the following criteria were favored for recognition:

• OBA pioneer (first pilot, new sector, frontier)
• Leveraging partnerships with governments / donors / other development partner
• Enabling private sector participation in the sector / country
• Community / grass roots involvement
• Impact in sectoral policy, scale up or replication effect

Of the ten awards presented, half were for pilots in the water sector, with the remaining sectors (energy, health, transport, education, and solid waste management) having one winner each. For project details, click here.

   project spotlight

World Bank Highlights West Bank Solid Waste Management Project

The West Bank Solid Waste Management project, GPOBA's most recently signed Grant Agreement, (September 1), was featured on the World Bank's external website as the lead story November 8-11, ("Ending the Vicious Cycle of Open Dumps; Improving Waste Pickers' Lives) and will continue to be featured in the World Bank's internal website November 11-15. This report was also translated into Arabic for distribution in MENA, and has been included in GPOBA's website in both languages. The feature describes some unique and positive aspects of this project, such as supporting the waste pickers from the closed dump sites with opportunities to pursue other livelihoods or education, the synergy between many stakeholders, both within and outside of the World Bank Group, an important project in a "new" sector for GPOBA in a still politically volatile region, the establishment of a governing body to manage the project, and ancillary small scale composting and recycling to complement the sanitary landfill. (This project attained "effectiveness" in early October through the signing of a PPP agreement, an on-granting agreement, and subsidiary agreement). To review the original Press Release, click here. .

   PUBLICATIONs & articles

Sector Brief: A Decade of Supporting the Delivery of Basic Services for the Poor.

(GPOBA, 19 pp)

This publication served as a guide to provide the 10th Anniversary Conference participants with a brief but complete overview of GPOBA's activities over the last 10 years. There are pages with more detailed information for each of the top three sectors (water, energy, health) and one in sectors that GPOBA had less experience (solid waste management, sanitation, education, ICT). The sector brief also looks at 10 case studies detailing GPOBA's involvement, demonstrating the application of OBA approaches across sectors and its adaptability to different operating environments. To read, click here.

"At 10, GPOBA is Better Than Ever"

The World Bank's internal home page acknowledged GPOBA's 10th Anniversary with the placement of an article coinciding with its October 28-29 conference. The feature story describes several of the achievements attained over the last ten years in GPOBA implementation and advocacy of OBA. To familiarize readers a bit with GPOBA, the article included a side story on "Ten Things You Didn't Know About GPOBA." To access an archived version of this story, click here.

GPOBA Program Manager Carmen Nonay penned a blog post on "Engage: Discussions about Australia's Aid Program." (AusAID's blog); she explains how OBA can provide incentives to the private sector to reach certain performance standards, as payment is linked to attaining pre-agreed outputs. In addition to OBA's creating a “for-profit” opportunity, it also fosters innovation and efficiency. AusAID is one of GPOBA's Donors and has been supportive of several projects in Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, among other countries. To review the blog post, click here.

  training & mission

GPOBA staff traveled to Canberra to hold a two-day OBA training program for AusAID personnel. These sessions' goal was to assist AusAID in their awareness-raising efforts about OBA as well as support the integration of OBA within their operations. This was also an opportunity to meet with new AusAID staff and provide updates on the pipeline of projects funded out of the AusAID trust fund. In Sydney, GPOBA staff met with World Bank and IFC transaction team leaders who have interest in working on GPOBA sponsored projects, particularly in the Pacific Islands.

There were two meetings of the Panel of Experts during October.

October 15: The Vanuatu Electricity and the Mali Hybrid Energy projects were endorsed for commitment, along with approval of the restructuring of both the Bangladesh Solar Home Systems and Bangladesh Mini-Grid projects (projects to be extended until June 2014).

October 30: The Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Urban Sanitation Facility was endorsed for commitment. Its goal is to increase access to improved sanitation to people living in low income communities in the GAMA by partially subsidizing access to new and sustainable toilet facilities. The Ghana Solar Home Systems project was approved for restructuring (to be extended until June 2014).

 The Bolivian SHS program, for which a US$5.2 million grant agreement was signed in June 2007 (and closed in June 2013), continues to have positive ripple effects. (see September OBA Connections Newsletter). The Luces Para Aprender program, which focuses on providing lighting to schools, listed 34 schools with an Internet connection, and anticipated connecting an additional 25 schools by month's end. Luces Para Aprender is planning to connect another 57 schools to the Internet via solar photovoltaic receivers which power electricity. Credit for these advances was given to GPOBA, along with Eurosolar, OEI and the Bolivian Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons.