Policy and reform

Labor market activation programs, while effective in addressing specific constraints, are not a substitute for sound education policy, quality primary and secondary education, and tertiary education that is both relevant and effective. It is much more difficult to develop, standardize, launch, and institutionalize labor market activation programs as compared to improving the existing education system which already has a nationwide capacity and reach.

Coordinated use of TA is essential to support policy based lending, as this modality on its own is not well positioned to develop or deploy needed capacity. The TA grants funded by the Government of Canada provided the hands-on support necessary to develop policy and operating systems, which was followed by the program to provide the leverage to support the actual rollout of the JobStart Philippines Program (JSP).

The success of the government anti-crisis plan in terms of maintaining economic growth and protecting vulnerable groups validated the effectiveness of the government’s approach. The reforms it promoted proved successful in achieving the government’s goals of protecting vulnerable citizens, ensuring food security, and maintaining employment levels while promoting gender equality and climate and disaster resilience.

Deep diagnostic work, extensive technical assistance (TA), and evidence-based policy dialogue benefit the design and implementation of public sector management reform program. ADB has ensured continuity in policy reform efforts through programmatic policy-based lending (PBL) modality. Through this and other PBL programs, it has been very effective in engaging in high-level dialogue for upstream and mid-term support. PBLs are even more important now at other partners (such as the World Bank) are no longer providing general budget support.

Focusing on downstream engagement in select areas through sector development programs and project investments could help unlock structural bottlenecks in service delivery at the local level. This would require follow-on collaboration with various sector teams, such as in agriculture, trade, information technology, health, education, energy, urban, and climate solutions. In other words, building on policies, laws, and institutional capacity to improve service delivery and overall client experience.

Public sector management reform programs have the potential and can be designed to support the government in staying on the reform course despite challenges. A lack of fiscal buffers and effective social protection systems exacerbated the economy’s vulnerability to the COVID-19 pandemic.This program has successfully supported the government in hanging on to the reform process despite these challenges.

The crisis presented an opportunity for promoting and institutionalizing gender equality, which the program has successfully harnessed.The program featured strong gender equality actions that helped significantly to promote gender empowerment and ensure its formalization in the government’s policy agenda. These actions include improving the policy, legal, and institutional environment for gender equality, supporting women’s entrepreneurship and access to finance, and strengthening protection from gender-based violence during the pandemic.

ADB has been at the forefront of social welfare reform in Mongolia. Continued engagement at the country level is key to further strengthening the system through improved targeting, consolidation of benefits, and improved financial sustainability. Although not the aim of the emergency assistance loan, the project highlighted the need for further reforming the system.

The government’s internal approval processes need to be carefully considered when designing and implementing a policy reform program. In Viet Nam, the consensus-building approach to policymaking requires significant time and coordination, particularly for policies that would entail changes to the legal framework. The process for amending laws is a significant constraint, as the lawmaking cycle usually takes 5 years. Inadequate consideration of these features of policymaking and lawmaking in Viet Nam could lead to unrealistic program schedules.

Proposing reforms during crises requires careful risks assessments, including in particular the likelihood of reforms being sustained, and well-prepared mitigation measures. It also requires an in-depth knowledge of the sector in the country through previous successful involvement and will demand intensive policy dialogue to be pursued after the crisis. These conditions, which were met by ADB for this overall project, were essential for the success of the project. Social protection and social assistance programs are politically sensitive.