08-Jan-2019 Date:______________ H.E. Mutaz Musa Abdallah Salim Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Khartoum, Republic of Sudan Re TFSCB Grant No. TF0A9400 Improving Household Surveys and Administrative Data in Sudan Statistical Capacity Building Letter Agreement Excellency: In response to the request for financial assistance made on behalf of the Republic of Sudan (“Recipient”), I am pleased to inform you that the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association (collectively, the “World Bank”), acting as administrator of grant funds provided by donors (“Donors” under the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building III), proposes to extend to the Recipient a grant in an amount not to exceed five hundred thousand United States Dollars (USD 500,000) (“Grant”) on the terms and conditions set forth or referred to in this letter agreement (“Agreement”), which includes the attached Annex, to assist in the financing of the project described in the Annex (“Project”). This Grant is funded out of the abovementioned trust fund for which the World Bank receives periodic contributions from the Donors. In accordance with Section 3.02 of the Standard Conditions (as defined in the Annex to this Agreement), the World Bank’s payment obligations in connection with this Agreement are limited to the amount of funds made available to it by the Donors under the abovementioned trust fund, and the Recipient’s right to withdraw the Grant proceeds is subject to the availability of such funds. The Recipient represents, by confirming its agreement below, that it is authorized to enter into this Agreement and to carry out the Project in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth or referred to in this Agreement. 1818 H Street NW  Washington, DC 20433 USA -2- Please confirm the Recipient’s agreement to the foregoing by having an authorized official of the Recipient sign and date the enclosed copy of this Agreement, and returning it to the World Bank. Very truly yours, INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION By__________________________/s1/ Carolyn Turk Country Director for Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan Africa Region AGREED: REPUBLIC OF SUDAN By __________________________/s2/ Authorized Representative Mutaz Mosa Abdalla Salim Name __________________________/n2/ Mr Title __________________________/t2/ 31-Jan-2019 Date __________________________/d2/ Enclosures: (1) Standard Conditions for Grants Made by the World Bank Out of Various Funds, dated February 15, 2012 (2) Disbursement Letter of the same date as this Agreement, together with the “Disbursement Guidelines for Investment Project Financing”, dated February 2017 -3- TFSCB Grant No. TF0A9400 ANNEX Article I Standard Conditions; Definitions 1.01. Standard Conditions. The Standard Conditions for Grants Made by the World Bank out of Various Funds dated February 15, 2012 (“Standard Conditions”) constitute an integral part of this Agreement. Article II Project Execution 2.01. Project Objectives and Description. The objective of the Project is to strengthen the capacity of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) to improve the quality of household poverty survey data, and to improve the availability and quality of existing administrative data in the education and health sectors. The Project consists of the following parts: Part 1: Household survey design Provide support to strengthen CBS’ capacity to prepare and implement the survey in a more cost- effective manner through a series of technical assistance engagement. The following areas of support have been identified: (1) Poverty survey and measurement methodology. Carry out discussions with CBS and agree on the methodology for collecting poverty (consumption) data and measuring poverty in Sudan. The agreed methodology will be documented and will be used for the next household survey, serving as a benchmark going forward. (2) Training on multi-topic household survey design. Provision of training on the entire process of conducting a survey, from preparation through implementation to dissemination. The project will support CBS to design of a new survey that will be a benchmark survey going forward, following recommended international best practices. (3) Training on sampling design: Providing technical assistance to improve the sampling design and representation at geographical levels. (4) Survey modernization using Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI). Introduction of CAPI to significantly reduce the time lag between data collection and data analysis, improve data quality and reduce survey cots. The proposed support on CAPI consists of: (a) training and workshops; (b) working with the IT staff from CBS on setting up the survey system infrastructure (c) helping in the design and testing of the CAPI household survey instruments - including real-time consistency checks, supervisor and enumerator supervision, and new ways to deal with measures and standards; (d) supervision in conducting survey pilot; (e) purchase of tablets; and (f) training on Geographic Information System. (5) Pilot survey: Carry out a pilot survey based on the new (benchmark) methodology to ensure that CBS staff put into practice the skills acquired from trainings received on the various aspects of survey design and implementation using CAPI. The pilot survey will include comprehensive testing of all questionnaires using CAPI on (i) household budget survey – multi-topic; (ii) community survey; and (iii) market price survey. -4- Part 2: Data analysis, reporting writing and dissemination (1) Provide training on Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint to CBS’ new recruits, existing CBS staff and staff from Ministry of Defense. (2) Basic data analysis and reporting. Provide training in cleaning and compiling the survey data which will include preparation of a standard approach for data cleaning and quality assurance and the production of a fully documented and replicable procedure for data verification, error checking and correction. This activity will require acquisition of statistical software and relevant equipment including computers. (3) Poverty measurement. Provide training to CBS staff in poverty estimation methodology, including the estimation of the consumption aggregates, price indicators, and poverty line. (4) Data Dissemination: Provide support in the development of data access and information policies and dissemination practices, especially the dissemination of micro-data by financing: (i) the formulation and adoption of data dissemination of micro-data access policies and calendar; (ii) the maintenance of CBS website to include a micro-data portal access in line with open-data principles; (iii) technical assistance and training on micro-data anonymization; (iv) improvement and maintenance of CBS website and (v) training on Structured Query Language (SQL) for mastering the basics of querying databases (5) Advanced English course for CBS staff. Carry out this course to help improve the writing skills of CBS staff as well as facilitate work on World Bank projects, particularly for staff using World Bank procurement and finance systems (Systematic Tracking of Exchanges in Procurement (STEP) and Client Connection). Part 3: Improving the availability and quality of administrative data in the education and health sectors Provide technical assistance to CBS and ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to improve the availability and use of administrative data on selected sectors and indicators. The main activities include: (i) Focus on 2 sectors of priority namely, education and health to allow to achieve some benefits quickly in the short term. Lessons learned from this project could later be used to scale up this activity to include administrative data in other sectors. (ii) Identify related public programs and associated indicators of interest. For example, indicators (based on administrative data) that would allow to monitor progress towards achieving targets of the poverty reduction strategy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). -5- (iii) Asses the availability and quality of existing administrative data (for selected indicators), and develop a plan for improvement. (iv) Document and disseminate administrative data. Selected administrative records will be improved through application of Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) standards for data documentation, geographic reference and merging with other administrative records when feasible. Basic monitoring tools will be developed and a workshop will be organized to share lessons learned from this activity with stakeholders. (v) Training for capacity building to assess the quality of administrative data and indicator and define improvements plans. Staff in selected Ministries (and local consultants) will be trained to support this work. (vi) A User satisfaction assessment will be undertaken, if possible, by conducting a user satisfaction survey at the beginning and at the end of the project. Individual interviews such as paper questionnaires or online interviews wand focus group discussions will be considered. (vii) Develop a strategy to scale up improvement in administrative data in the middle to long term. Although this activity will focus on selected programs and/or public services, an expansion to other public interventions may be done by the client through the development of specific guidelines, didactic material, and trained civil servants. Part 4: Project management This will include activities related to project management. This component will also finance operational costs related to project implementation (including the use of local consultants as necessary). 2.02. Project Execution Generally. The Recipient declares its commitment to the objectives of the Project. To this end, the Recipient shall carry out the Project through the Central Bureau of Statistics in accordance with the provisions of: (a) Article II of the Standard Conditions; (b) the “Guidelines on Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption in Projects Financed by IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants”, dated October 15, 2006 and revised in January 2011 and as of July 1, 2016 (“Anti-Corruption Guidelines”); and (c) this Article II. 2.03. Project Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation. (a) The Recipient shall monitor and evaluate the progress of the Project and prepare Project Reports in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.06 of the Standard Conditions and on the basis of indicators acceptable to the World Bank. Each Project Report shall cover the period of one calendar semester, and shall be furnished to the World Bank not later than one month after the end of the period covered by such report. (b) The Recipient shall prepare the Completion Report in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.06 of the Standard Conditions. The Completion Report shall be furnished to the World Bank not later than six months after the Closing Date. -6- 2.04. Financial Management. (a) The Recipient shall ensure that a financial management system is maintained in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.07 of the Standard Conditions. (b) The Recipient shall ensure that interim unaudited financial reports for the Project are prepared and furnished to the World Bank as part of the Project Report not later than forty-five days after the end of each calendar quarter, covering the quarter, in form and substance satisfactory to the World Bank. (c) The Recipient shall, upon the World Bank’s request, have its Financial Statements audited in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.07 (b) of the Standard Conditions. Such audit of the Financial Statements shall cover the period of one fiscal year of the Recipient The audited Financial Statements for such period shall be furnished to the World Bank not later than six months after the end of such period. 2.05. Procurement All goods, non-consulting services and consulting services required for the Project and to be financed out of the proceeds of the Grant shall be procured in accordance with the requirements set forth or referred to in the “World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” dated July 2016, revised November 2017 and August 2018 (“Procurement Regulations”), and the provisions of the Recipient’s procurement plan for the Project (“Procurement Plan”) dated December 4, 2018 provided for under Section IV of the Procurement Regulations, as the same may be updated from time to time in agreement with the World Bank. Article III Withdrawal of Grant Proceeds 3.01. Eligible Expenditures. The Recipient may withdraw the proceeds of the Grant in accordance with the provisions of: (a) the Standard Conditions; (b) this Section; and (c) such additional instructions as the World Bank may specify by notice to the Recipient (including the “Disbursement Guidelines for Investment Project Financing”, dated February 2017, as revised from time to time by the World Bank and as made applicable to this Agreement pursuant to such instructions), to finance Eligible Expenditures as set forth in the following table. The table specifies the categories of Eligible Expenditures that may be financed out of the proceeds of the Grant (“Category”), the allocations of the amounts of the Grant to each Category, and the percentage of expenditures to be financed for Eligible Expenditures in each Category: -7- Category Amount of the Grant Percentage of Allocated Expenditures to be (expressed in USD) Financed (inclusive of Taxes) (1) Goods, non-consulting 500,000 100% services and consulting services, Incremental Operating Costs, Training and Workshops TOTAL AMOUNT 500,000 For the purposes of this paragraph, the terms: (a) “Incremental Operating Costs” means the reasonable expenses incurred by the Recipient for travel, as well as any other reasonable expenditures agreed to by the World Bank, which are directly associated with the implementation of the Project, but excluding salaries of officials of the Recipient’s and staff. (b) “Training and Workshops” (other than those for consultant’s services) incurred by the Recipient to finance the reasonable travel costs (i.e. accommodation, transportation, travel insurance and per diem, inter alia) of trainees and trainers (if applicable), training registration fees, catering, rental of training facilities and equipment, logistics and printing services, as well as training materials, all for the purposes of, and directly related to, the training activities described in the Project. 3.02. Withdrawal Conditions. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 3.01 of this Agreement, no withdrawal shall be made for payments made prior to the date of this Agreement. 3.03. Withdrawal Period. The Closing Date referred to in Section 3.06 (c) of the Standard Conditions is June 30, 2020. -8- Article IV Recipient’s Representative; Addresses 4.01. Recipient’s Representative. The Recipient’s Representative referred to in Section 7.02 of the Standard Conditions is the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. 4.02. Recipient’s Address. The Recipient’s Address referred to in Section 7.01 of the Standard Conditions is Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Khartoum, Republic of Sudan Telex: 00249183730330 4.03. World Bank’s Address. The World Bank’s Address referred to in Section 7.01 of the Standard Conditions is: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development International Development Association 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433 United States of America Telex: Facsimile: 248423 (MCI) or 1-202-477-6391 64145 (MCI)