Argentina - Integrated Drug Prevention Pilot Project (LIL)

Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No.: 22500 PROJECT COMPLETION NOTE REPUBLIC OF ARGENTINA INTEGRATED DRUG PREVENTION PILOT PROJECT (LIL) [Ln. 44720-AR] June 17, 2002 Country Management Unit for Argentina, Chile and Uruguay Human Development Sector Management Unit Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.  Currency Equivalent Current Unit = Argentine Peso US$1.00 = 1 peso FISCAL YEAR January 1- December 31 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS GoA Government of Argentina PCN Project Completion Note PIU Project Implementation Unit Vice President: David de Ferranti Country Unit Director: Myma Alexander Country Sector Leader: Ariel Fiszbein Task Manager: Hideki Mori  FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY PROJECT COMPLETION NOTE REPUBLIC OF ARGENTINA INTEGRATED DRUG PREVENTION PILOT PROJECT (LIL: LOAN 4472-AR) 1. This is the Project Completion Note for the Argentina Integrated Drug Prevention Pilot Project (LIEL: Loan 4472-AR). The Project was approved by the Regional Vice President of the Latin America and the Caribbean Region on April 30, 1999. The Loan was cancelled at the request of the Government of Argentina as of December 14, 2000. This note is in lieu of an Implementation Completion Report reflecting the fact that the cancellation took place before meaningful project implementation. 2. Total project costs were estimated at US$6.85 million, including US$4.75 million to be financed by the Loan. Except for the 1% front-end-fee (US$47,500), no disbursement was made from the Loan. 3. The main objective of the project was to test the applicability of a multisectoral drug prevention strategy in the Argentine context. As the nature and degree of drug abuse in Argentina did not appear to be as serious as in other countries, the Government's primary interests were to: (i) obtain a more accurate picture of drug use in Argentina; and (ii) prevent its citizens from becoming drug users. In addition, the project was expected to help the Government determine the need and the framework for a larger drug-prevention project. 4. The Project would have consisted of two main components: (i) Participatory Approaches to Drug Prevention which had been designed to: (a) promote local solutions to drug use in selected municipalities on a pilot basis via training local community members and sector professionals; (b) train youth leaders; and (c) finance the implementation of the municipal plans for drug prevention; and (ii) Information Systems, Monitoring and Evaluation, which had been designed to: (a) establish the network that would facilitate generation and exchange of information relevant to drug prevention, as well as carry out the monitoring and evaluation of the project itself via a survey-based epidemiological study to obtain information on drug consumption patterns; (b) develop prevention methods and training modules that would be disseminated via national, regional, and provincial workshops; (c) create a network of monitoring centers to strengthen existing institutions focused on drug prevention; and (d) monitor and evaluate overall project implementation processes. 5. Due to the Govemment's delay in issuing the Presidential Decree 455/99 required for loan signing, the Loan became effective in February 2000, nine months after the approval by the Bank. A presidential election, which took place during this period, left the Federal budget discussion for the Govemment's Fiscal Year 2000 incomplete, seriously affecting a number of  activities including this project. The new Administration no longer considered this project a priority, replaced the initial PIU in March 2000, and did not assemble the successor until the end of April 2000. Furthermore, it took the new Administration a few additional months to familiarize itself with the Bank portfolio. As a result, project launch was delayed by over a year. 6. A Bank mission visited Argentina during the week of June 19-23, 2000. During the visit, the Government and the mission reviewed the budget situation for the years 2000 and 2001, reconfirmed the project objectives, and agreed on a revised project implementation framework as well as an action plan for the following six month period. 7. Following the mission, the PIU proceeded with the implementation of the action plan. Unfortunately, however, the Government later came to a decision to cancel the project and submitted the Bank a request for Loan cancellation. The primary reasons for the cancellation request were budgetary constraints due to the ongoing fiscal crisis and the shifting of priorities by the new Administration. This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.   r- IMAGING- -- -- Report No.: 22500 Type: PCN