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Lesson
It will be essential to find a balance in future TA projects between continuing support for the whole region and having activities and outputs focus on a subset of countries to allow for more granularity in analyses and deeper engagements. This was the first TA for the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) in the field of disaster risk financing (DRF), and as such, was designed to cover all 11 CAREC countries.

Project Number: 53198-001
Project Name: Developing a Disaster Risk Transfer Facility in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region
Report Date:
Lesson
The appointment of TA country focals is critical for sustained coordination and to ensure that TA activities remain relevant and responsive to each of the countries' priorities and needs. But in this case, the nature of TA activities required the involvement of other government agencies in each country, such as the ministries of emergency situations, and in particular, the ministries of finance and the ministries of health. Increased engagement with RMs and national experts will be useful to ensure intersectoral coordination in subsequent TAs in this field.

Project Number: 53198-001
Project Name: Developing a Disaster Risk Transfer Facility in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region
Report Date:
Lesson
English and Russian language TA publications increased the visibility of project activities and this may be replicated in future similar projects. Video tutorials on a CAREC Disaster Risk Modelling Interface (DRMI), an interactive online platform, was particularly helpful in allowing country stakeholders to visualize their risk profiles, perform high-level cost-benefit analyses of implementing disaster risk reduction measures, and quantify risk transfer costs for earthquake and flood parametric insurance structures.

Project Number: 53198-001
Project Name: Developing a Disaster Risk Transfer Facility in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region
Report Date:
Lesson
Greater invovement from resident missions (RMs), e.g., by designating RM staff to regional TA teams, is important to ensure that potential solutions identified through analytical work are translated into tangible projects. Conversely, team members of regional TAs may also be involved in country programming.

Project Number: 53198-001
Project Name: Developing a Disaster Risk Transfer Facility in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region
Report Date:
Lesson
A knowledge-sharing workshop in targeted beneficiary countries of a regional TA project could help strengthen the concept development of future such TA. This interactive approach offers several advantages, including: (i) Enhanced stakeholder engagement. A workshop focusing on the initial research findings would allow representatives from benefiting countries to participate actively from the outset. This would foster a sense of ownership and enhance buy-in for the initiative by ensuring stakeholders feel invested in its success. (ii) Improved needs identification.

Project Number: 54344-001
Project Name: Supporting the Establishment of a CAREC Regional Infrastructure Projects Enabling Facility
Report Date:
Lesson
Political instability and security issues have a significant impact on project implementation and the ability to meet timeframes. These and other external factors need to be considered during the design stage especially to map out more realistic and achievable timeframes. Risk mitigation measures should be agreed upon with participating countries during project appraisal.

Project Number: 52070-001
Project Name: South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Regional Energy Cooperation
Report Date:
Lesson
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.

Project Number: 45389-001, 45389-002, 45389-004
Project Name: Second Road Network Development Investment Program (Multitranche Financing Facility and Tranches 1 and 2)
Report Date:
Lesson
A rational tariff policy is essential for improving the financial viability of a distribution utility. Two tariff revisions (in 2016 and 2021) helped improve the financial viability of Azerishiq's distribution-strengthening projects. Although the upgrade of distribution systems is still not fully financially viable, an improving financial internal rate of return (into positive territory) illustrates the benefits of lifting tariffs toward full cost recovery.

Project Number: 42401-014
Project Name: Power Distribution Enhancement Investment Program (Multitranche Financing Facility)
Report Date:
Lesson
Insufficient up-to-date macroeconomic data on government websites, which could hinder timely and effective planning especially during crisis periods, needs to be rectified. The State Statistical Committee (SSC) has numerous macroeconomic indicators on its website. However, in most cases, very recent data are missing. International organizations such as ADB, the IMF and the World Bank release forecasts of macroeconomic indicators for upcoming years, and SSC should consider following the same approach.

Project Number: 55073-001
Project Name: COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Accessibility of healthcare data in Azerbaijan needs to be improved. Reports from the Ministry of Health Care are not publicly available on its website. In addition, the State Agency for Mandatory Health Insurance considers healthcare information to be highly sensitive. Accordingly, this information is not contained on its website. Information related to daily coronavirus infections and vaccinations was released publicly. It would be useful for the agency to disseminate gender, age, and region-disaggregated information to the public.

Project Number: 55073-001
Project Name: COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Sex-disaggregated data need to be accurate and usable for in-depth analyses to support policy development and program planning and implementation. The government has increased its focus on gender equality and has made significant progress on gender data tracking and transparency. Although there are a few publicly available national resources, they lack qualitative information.

Project Number: 55073-001
Project Name: COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program
Report Date:
Lesson
To achieve higher quality and improved technology, it is crucial that the design, technical specifications, and construction standards are based on national and international best practice.

Project Number: 42401-015
Project Name: Power Distribution Enhancement Investment Program - Tranche 1
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Lesson
Appropriate targeting method and the quality of the fiscal stimulus are crucial in supporting CSF programs.

Project Number: 50145-001
Project Name: Countercyclical Support Facility Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Multilateral and bilateral agreement would be more helpful if undertaken before loan approval as it would indicate buy-in and commitment by participating countries.

Project Number: 40054-013
Project Name: South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Information Highway
Report Date: