Strengthening the Ministerio Publico in Minas Gerais Strong and well functioning country systems and practices are essential for improving the quality of public expenditure and assuring effective and efficient provision of public services. A broader and more systematic approach to strengthening legal and institutional frameworks has an important role to play in improving all government expenditures and their development impact. The Public Ministry of Minas Gerais (PMoMG) has a unique institutional role in areas that greatly affect the quality of life of society. The PMoMG has requested support from the Bank to modernize and strengthen their procedures and practices so as to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their work and to augment their development impact. The objective of this proposed IDF, jointly sponsored by the Brazil PREM-SD-LEGEN teams, is to strengthen the the Public Ministry of the State of Minas Gerais's institutional capacity. It aims to support diagnostic work assessing the institution's strategy, processes, resources and information systems in order to design a comprehensive plan for institutional strengthening. In addition, the proposed IDF will focus on the important role of the Public Ministry in the environmental management system and on specific measures to improve its efforts in this area.  One of the main concerns of the PMoMG at present is how to allocate its resources as to respond to the society's demands and needs in a more effective and efficient manner. Despite some efforts to carry out a strategic planning and develop managerial tools and performance indicators that could inform decisions on how to allocate resources and assign personnel (offices, administrative and specialist staff, equipments, etc.), the PMoMG has not been able to effectively implement such modernizing actions.In order to properly assess the PMoMG needs and develop a realistic and well planned institutional development plan, the first component will comprise diagnostic studies of the: (i)   internal organization and regional distribution; (ii)   strategic and operational planning procedures and mechanisms (including guidelines for case allocation and case flow); (iii)   human resources (criteria for hiring prosecutors and their assignments, criteria for hiring administrative and specialist staff and their assignments, etc.); (iv)   business procedures; and (v)   information management and knowledge systems (as well as linkages with other relevant organizations systems) and hardware needs. The second component will focus on the activities of the PMoMG related to the environment with the purpose of laying the foundations for improved internal procedures and defining a coordination strategy with other institutions of the environmental management system of Minas Gerais. Given the recent reforms and modernization undertaken by the Executive and its environmental agencies, this component will review the environmental information available from other institutions and determine whether and how this information may be used to inform the activities of the PMoMG. 8/4/10. Code locked by Mark Higgins until FY11 funding agreement is finalized. sponsored by the Brazil PREM-SD-LEGEN teams, is to strengthen the Public Ministry of the State of Minas Gerais' institutional capacity. It aims to assess the institution's strategy, processes, resources and information systems in order to design a comprehensive plan for institutional strengthening. In addition, the proposed IDF will focus on the important role of the Public Ministry in the environmental management system and on specific measures to improve its efforts in this area.