Child Poverty in Mozambique. A Situation and Trend ... - Unicef

This has troubling implications for the “accountability balance,” weakening domestic
institutions such as the Parliament.
Figure 2.12: PAP general budget and balance of payment support, 2000-2007
400
25.0
300
20.0
US$ Millions
200
15.0
10.0
% State Budget
100
5.0
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006* 2007*
US$ Millions
% State Budget [RHS]
0.0
Note: *Data for 2006 and 2007 gives commitments only.
Source: PAP Secretariat and CFMP
Finally, capacity development is a key area that has so far been neglected in
harmonisation and alignment reforms. The State has been the subject of radical
reform in the short period since independence, undergoing a particularly rapid
transformation and expansion since 1992, notably in the social services area. This has
left little capacity available to actually manage the new arrangements. The emphasis
on system expansion is increasingly tempered by the need to maintain quality levels,
and improved institutional capacity is central to achieving this aim. Better coordinated
and targeted capacity development is needed in order to address this, promoting
long-term and often intangible outcomes such as improved management, planning
and financial capacity within Government. A recent assessment concluded that donor
provision of capacity development is incoherent and inadequate at present, and may
well be hindered by short-term donor career incentives. In turn, Government also
faces challenging incentive problems and needs to define more clearly its capacity
development priorities and establish a framework through which they can be
supported (Scanteam, 2006).
b. Short and medium term implications
The longer term benefits of these profound reforms in how external development
assistance is delivered worldwide are widely accepted, with 91 countries signing
the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in March 2005. However, the process
of moving from existing bilateral arrangements, with substantial components of
“off budget” and project based funding and the process of developing capacity and
experience in recipient country governments is likely to be long.
There is therefore a short and medium term imperative to ensure that, for children
in poverty, they do not suffer deprivations in their critical childhood years that shape
68 CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE: A SITUATION AND TRENDS ANALYSIS