Argentina - Social Sector Management Technical Assistance Project

 Social sector management technical assistance project Report No: ; Type: Report/Evaluation Memorandum ; Country: Argentina; Region: Latin America And Caribbean; Sector: Education Adjustment; Major Sector: Education; ProjectID: P005991 June 30, 1995 Argentina: Social Sector Management Technical Assistance Project (Loan 2984-AR) The Implementation Completion Report (ICR) on the Argentina Social Sector Management Technical Assistance project (Loan 2984-AR, approved in FY89) was prepared by the Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office. Comments by the Borrower are included in Appendix 2. The main objective of the project was to facilitate the preparation and execution of reforms in key social sectors. This was to be accomplished through the provision of technical assistance to provide the analytic base for policy reform in health care, education, social security, social welfare, labor, justice, and in national and provincial statistical capacity. The project was implemented by a National project Director and a Project Coordination Unit which became the de facto coordinating point for social policies implemented by five separate ministries. The project's ambitious and complex design, combined with a period of volatile political change, resulted in significant delays during the first three years of implementation. The project was extended twice to enable completion. However, the broad scope of the project, and a successful effort to restructure the original design to overcome initially weak administrative arrangements and focus on high priority reforms, enabled the Government to fully utilize project resources and to initiate major policy and institutional reforms. Especially significant achievements include the design and establishment of a self-financing national pension system, which has produced major savings in the social security system, the design and enactment of a national labor law and collective bargaining system, the establishment of a new system of program budgeting for the social sectors, and important health policy reforms. Continuity of task management in the Bank as well as highly responsive project supervision contributed to project success. The outcome of the project is rated as highly satisfactory. Although the flaws in the initial project design caused some inefficiencies, the borrower and Bank took effective steps to overcome these, and the project produced far-reaching changes in social sector policy. The sustainability of the project is rated as likely: the reforms designed through the project have already been enacted, savings have been generated, and the Government remains highly committed to their implementation. Institutional development is rated as substantial, reflecting the breadth and depth of the policy and institutional changes generated by the project. Borrower and Bank performance are rated as satisfactory; appropriate and timely steps were taken to restructure the project once initial constraints were recognized. These ratings are consistent with those in the ICR. The ICR provides a thoughtful, thorough review of project performance in a clear format. The project included, following restructuring, the preparation of follow-on investments which will further strengthen the reforms in health and education policy, and extend core reforms country-wide. The ICR appropriately recommends that the impact of the policy changes on sectoral performance be assessed in 3 to 5 years. An audit is planned.