Commitment and leadership

A clear sector assessment and plan can strategically enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of sector investments. The sustained government plan of the Prime Minister’s Rural Road Program (PMGSY) provided a strong foundation for the sector to have a clear set of subprojects and financing commitments from the government. In addition, its priority to operate and manage these roads sustainably led to a more relevant design focused on the non-physical component of investments—road management, road audit, and road safety.

Active support of relevant government agencies and strong ownership of the project management units contribute significantly to project success. In developing member countries where institutional capacity is weak, it is critical that concerned agencies are both capacitated and committed in achieving the intended results.

Strong government commitment and ownership are crucial to the quality of project preparation and sustainability. Specifically, establishing a clear institutional arrangement (such as, which agency performs the routine and periodic maintenance, among other things) and sound operation and maintenance strengthens the funding mechanisms of the project after completion. In this project, the government showed a high degree of ownership in ensuring that adequate budgetary sources are in place to ensure the financing of routine road maintenance.

Strong leadership by high-level authorities is required to carry out in-depth and timely policy discussions across a range of government and other development agencies and stakeholders involved in social protection. To meet the country's significant financial needs in a timely manner, the program needed to be prepared under time pressure. Therefore, strong leadership by high-level government authorities in the government was imperative.

SME policy reforms require strong ongoing political commitment by key government agencies. The Second Private Sector and Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Program (PSME2) supported government agencies on this agenda to improve the regulatory business environment, the effectiveness of business enterprise processes, access, capacity, and responsiveness.

Lack of capacity in governmen to continue reforms without external support puts the sustainability of reform projects' outputs at risk. Reforming the sector requires strong ownership and commitment in terms of providing sufficient financing and policy changes to support the reform. Some project outputs—including the textbook rental scheme and textbook provision, online training modules and attestation for teachers, curricula review system, and financing of innovative schools' additional functions—are incomplete as the government still has not implemented them countrywide.

Strong government ownership is critical to achieving results. The Cabinet of Ministers, the and other project agencies had to coordinate closely among themselves to ensure that changes in law, decrees, regulatory changes, and board resolutions were implemented in a timely manner. If any intermediate step had been delayed, this would have resulted in a knock-on effect on other outcomes and resulted in delays in the project timetable. The Ministry of Finance negotiated concurrently for budget support from several development partners.

Assessment of potential political risks such as a change in government and identifying mitigation measures could help ensure the continuity of planned project activities, specifically when there is strong support, ownership, and commitment of an agency. In particular, it is important to consider the speed and direction of change in the policy regime. For example, a shift in the government priorities could trigger resource allocation that could potentially affect how a project could deliver its intended development results.

Proper execution of project administration activities relies on the capacity and commitment of borrowers and agencies involved. It is crucial that executing and implementing agencies are well informed of ADB operational procedures and requirements, especially with respect to financial management. This allows a concerned agency to carry out the project activities appropriately and ensure timeliness.

To ensure project success, the commitment, ownership, and accountability of an executing agency are critical factors when designing a project and formulating its implementation plan. These need to be supported by adequate expertise and capacity of the agency in managing project implementation and complying with ADB safeguard requirements and loan covenants.