DESIGN FEATURES OF MASAF 3: UPDATE FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION

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DESIGN FEATURES OF MASAF 3 UPDATE FORM FOLLOWS
FUNCTION

• IMPROVING THE QUALITY IN SOCIAL FUNDS (SF) AS
  OPERATIONS WITH A COMMUNITY DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
  (CDD) APPROACH APRIL 11, 2005
• N. Mungai Lenneiye, Sr Social Protection
  Specialist, AFTH1

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Presentation outline

• Beyond words
• 1. Development challenges in Malawi
• 2. Management and skills structure of PMU
• 3. Implementation arrangements
• 4. Institutional linkages
• 5. Preparation
• 6. Sustainability
• 7. Wrap-up key lessons/challenges

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Beyond words approach

• Approach kind of filters that can be used to
  view a project or program.
• Primary Health Care (PHC) approach had 8
  elements not a single project had them all.
• CDD approach in the Africa region has five
  features and not a single project has all 5.
• Framework a guide to action? e.g. Local
  Development (LD) Framework, Social Risk
  Management (SRM) Framework, etc.

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Beyond words core focus
CDD Approach SFs LG Projects LD Framework
Empower communities Empower LGs Align the centre Capacity building Accountability Empower communities Empower Local Governments Empowerment Local Governance Local service provision Private sector growth
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Beyond wordsempowerment

• Information access
• Participation and inclusion
• Accountability
• Local organizational capacity
• Plug these elements whenever empowerment appears
  in the approaches and frameworks. Are there
  operational implications?

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Underlying theme

• I have the yam, and I have the knife
• (an African saying on power relations)
• Making community empowerment a cornerstone of
  decentralization keep the yam, give
  them the knife!
• Background materials
• Findings no. 233
• Paper on Who has the yam, and who has the knife?

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1. Development Challenges

• First generation SFs stimulate/use social
  capital.
• Physical infrastructure is built by communities
• Access (health, education, water, etc.) is
  increased.
• Sectoral failures noted (staffing, OM, technical
  backstopping, low ownership, etc.).
• Little demonstrated evidence of improved
  outcomes
• New policies (PRSP/MTEF, Decentralization, MDGs,
  etc.)

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Issues development challenges

• How should SF respond to the MDGs?
• What impact do MDGs have on sector-led planning
  and the CDD approach?
• How does SF respond to Local Government Projects

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Design responses

• Selected MDG indicators for community action
• (from 8 MDGs, 18 targets, and 48 indicator
  targets)
• Contentious selection of lending instrument.
• Bank unhappy about APL, Government very keen.
• Need to stimulate community savings and
  investments
• (Use of IDA funds for savings mobilization
  communitys own resources for lending)

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2. Management skills structure

• Management through components creates silos.
• Direct funding takes place even without Local
  Governments (LGs).
• Building on success of development communication
  is urgent and necessary.
• Need to extend community accountability upwards.
• Monitoring Evaluation is slow to evolve.
• Sectors are not too keen on direct financing.

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Issues management

• What kind of institution is needed?
• Are PMU experiences relevant to Government
  management systems?

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Design responsesmanagement

• Operational requirements (deliverable
  sub-projects, Fiduciary requirements)
• External demands (research, training, norms)
• Internal needs (monitoring, learning)
• Getting the KISS right (Knowledge Information
  Sharing System)
• Local Government concerns (staff, grants, etc.)
• Performance management culture experience mainly
  from private sector

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3. Implementation Arrangements
Approval Authority Implementation and technical Planning and appraisal
Village Elected Cttees. Extension staff
District Committees of elected LGs Sector specialists Teams of experts
National Steering Committees Management Units in Presidents Office Sector Experts Team/Advisory Committee
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Issuesimplementation

• How can the roles of District Local Governments
  be expanded?
• Can can issues of technical quality be better
  dealt with?
• How can PMCs be made more accountable to elected
  Local structures and to communities?

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Design responsesimplementation

• Delivery benchmarks were developed (CSPC)
• Roles of PMCs, LGs, CBOs/CBOs re-defined
• Graduation criteria for LGs were defined
• Measurement of inputs, outputs, and outcomes
• Community to community (C2C) learning
• Community Monitoring and Statistics Days,
  Community Score Cards, Citizens Report Cards, and
  annual poverty reports introduced.

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4. Institutional Linkages

• Resource allocation (to districts) to facilitate
  predictable planning.
• Role of Local Government Ministries (with NLGFC,
  LGAs Administration) strengthened
• Place of NGOs, CBOs, and private sector expanded.
• Linking with MOF and MoLG over recurrent costs
  and MTEF (NTAC and SET)
• Fostering broader partnership (NACCEA)

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Issuesinstitutional linkages

• Can the adoption of indicative district resource
  allocation formulae retain the CDD approach?
• Does a SF weaken decentralization or prepare the
  ground for deepening decentralization?
• Are PRA tools used in SF more than planning
  black boxes left to LGs?

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Design responsesinstitutional

• Global IPFs done (whole project)
• Intra-district resource targeting, NOT
  allocation, done.
• Open-ended PRAs adopted to strengthen
  district-level planning
• Support of communities with extended PRAs
• Planning black boxes still in place, unpacking
  has started (see Safeguards Toolkit)

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5. Preparation

• Human Development sectors (health and education)
  not fully mobilized.
• Other key sectors (water roads) mobilized
• Getting MFI expertise on Board (clinics held).
• Quality at Entry reviews done inside the Bank,
  but more looking back and less forward-looking.
• Strong Government team with outstanding
  leadership

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Issuespreparation

• How would you recruit a multi-sectoral team in a
  sector-dominated culture (IDA and Borrower)?
• How do you respond to strong government ownership
  (e.g. on MFI issues).

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Design responses preparation

• Strong government team with clear mandates.
• Collegial IDA-Borrower team members.
• Getting responsive fiduciary expertise.
• Integrating safeguards into CSPC.
• Cost-effectiveness vs. economic rates of return
  utilized.
• Flexibility retained (e.g. LGSP and LG MIS)

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6. Sustainability

• Malawi health sector losing staff facilities
  with 30-35 staffing levels.
• Government revenues are dropping, poverty levels
  are on the increase in Malawi.
• Malawi decentralization program moving slowly
  even by standards of its designers.
• Spheres and not levels of Government legally
  recognized in Tanzania (Village, Local
  Government, and Central)

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Issues sustainability

• Can capacity building be made demand-driven?
• Are projects a sustainable way to provide
  resources to poor countries?
• Can Village Governments be put on equal footing
  with other levels of government?

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Design responses sustainability

• Need to close service gaps for the poor
• Responding to the needs of the vulnerable
  (market- and group-mediated income support)
• Better linkage between investments and recurrent
  funding (NTAC and SET)
• Institutionalized impact monitoring of community
  investments (NACCEA, the press, and MOF Quarterly
  PRSP reviews)
• Single National Village Fund with CE

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7. Wrap-up key lessons

• Social Funds as instruments for community
  empowerment (for improved governance).
• Social Funds are not suitable tools to tackle
  decentralization (fiscal, HRD, fiduciary)
• A strong government team is an asset, Bank staff
  need to be responsive.
• Social Funds need to remain flexible and
  responsive to new policy/program challenges (e.g.
  MDGs)

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Lessons cont

• Cross-country learning possible (Malawi to
  Tanzania, to Uganda, to Malawi, to Tanzania).
• Inter-country exchange of experiences useful
• Consistency in team membership helps
• Banks readiness to document and disseminate its
  learning from implementation experiences
• Putting political commitment to good use (avoid
  danger of project being called politicized)

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Key challenges existing SFs

• Integration of development communication into
  general accountability mechanisms
• Keeping SFs as Funds and not turn them into
  technical agencies.
• Move from Social Capital for closing service
  gaps to Economic Capital for sustainability
• Deal with operational implications of Bank
  approaches and frameworks?
• Is the future of SFs in Bank portfolio certain?

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Key challenges new SFs

• Ring-fencing the most recent tool for SFs-
• Central ministry/LG gets funds for capacity
  building
• Dedicated sector funds given to SF
• DfID for Improving Livelihoods
• IDA in Malawi for Community Land Reform
• IDA in Tanzania for
• Marine and Coastal communities
• Forest resource utilization
• Community AIDS-related treatment in Zanzibar

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SFs give the poor a chance

• To be participants,
• not spectators,
• in the alleviation of their own poverty