ANNUAL RESULTS 2014

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OPERATIONAL REVIEW SKL INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL RESULTS 2014 17 Some would say that their [the government’s] principles have pushed Iraq closer to splitting, and becoming three different countries: Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish. decentralisation process has now become the entry point for SKL International’s support in the province. By promoting a dialogue process among key stakeholders in the province, SKL International can help the partners define a strategic approach to the decentralisation of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA). The upside of working with social care related issues in Iraq is that there tends to be more consensus between groups than is the case in other sectors. Protection of vulnerable people is a cross-cutting concern, regardless of political affiliation, tribe or religion. The downside is that MOLSA is a somewhat neglected and weak ministry. Starting with three ministries with long traditions such as health, education and municipalities, seven of the provinces are assisted by the USAID funded Taqadum project with basic inventory of roles and functions, gap analysis and other factfinding types of assistance. As early as August 2015, eight ministries are supposed to be “decentralised” to the provincial level. This decentralisation process is complicated for several reasons. Until now it has not been formulated clearly with regard to model (deconcentration, delegation or devolution?), aspect (administrative, political, fiscal?) or its legal framework (legislation is inconclusive and incomplete). Therefore, stakeholders get insufficient guidance, and there is a tendency to postpone efforts to solve the problems that they ultimately will be confronted with. Furthermore, the roles and responsibilities of the actors are often blurred, overlapping and mixed, which makes it difficult to take action. The key stakeholders/institutions for the dialogue are: ▶▶ ▶▶ ▶▶ The implementing actor, the recently-established General Directorate, that will take over the decentralised functions and responsibilities of MOLSA The budget distributor, the Governor’s Office that will also get the role as a Ministry as regards the reporting line for decentralised responsibilities The oversight body, the Governorate Council, which by law is ”an administrative unit of the central government working alongside the local ministerial department of the federal government”. A number of committees, task forces and working groups have already been established, with the aim to prepare for the imminent decentralisation. But given the plethora of groups and committees created, there may be a risk that the formation of new structures is considered a solution to the problem and not a means. Social care leaders in Iraq During 2013-2014 a leadership development programme was implemented for social care managers of Duhok and Diwaniyah, Iraq. As a reinforcement of the three original training seminars organized, a learning and exchange visit was arranged in May 2014 for managers from Duhok province. The delegation visited social care administration and institutions in Gothenburg and the vicinity of Stockholm. The visit also entailed a number of workshops related to leadership, e.g. one on gender and leadership. Among the learning points mentioned by participants as especially interesting were: • The close and honest collaboration between the administration and the elected council/s • The participation of staff in planning and budgeting – a bottom-up approach to planning • The informal relationship between officials, staff, and beneficiaries • The way private companies and other organizations work with public funding and with maintaining public order”. One of the complexities of Law 21, which may explain the Government’s reluctance to implement it, is that it would also have given the provinces more control over their own money. This would have made some of them a lot richer – as Law 21 would increase the percentage of money that oil-producing provinces get. Signs of change? A gradual decentralisation is now seemingly in preparation for the 15 provinces that are not part of a region (Kurdistan). With regard to the model for decentralisation there are indications that the various functions will be managed through different solutions, and some may not be decentralised at all. Also the aspects will be dealt with in different ways; planning, budgeting, management, political power, resource allocation/tax extraction seem to have been managed only partially by the central authorities. Fertile ground for dialogue prepared in Diwaniyah After working with social care related institutions and leadership in Diwaniyah for close to two years through the “Governance in Social Care” project, the A remarkable substance has already been prepared however, although scattered in bits and pieces, with no one feeling mandated to take the lead in keeping it all together in its entirety. There are efforts, but not concerted, and there are approaches, but not unified. Concerted efforts and unified approaches are urgently needed to be put in place, especially for functions of a ministry like MOLSA. Under the guidance of SKL International staff, the Diwaniyah dialogue is now preparing the province for the upcoming decentralisation of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, to the extent possible given the deadline of August 2015.
OPERATIONAL REVIEW SKL INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL RESULTS 2014 19 Jasmine revolution opening up for decentralisation in Tunisia The popular uprising in Tunisia of January 2011 was followed by a democratic transition process. It initially focused on the election of a National Assembly whose task was to decide over a new Constitution. The Constitutional dialogue prompted discussions around a new set of aspirations for democracy and social inclusion, with decentralisation in primary focus. Despite lofty aspirations, there was still a lack of clarity among policymakers concerning a number of key questions on decentralisation: What forms of local democracy should Tunisia consider? What forms of territorial organisation are feasible? What would be the most appropriate functional assignment between different levels of government? Which financing model will enable subnational governments to assume their assigned functions? The Tunisia Local Governance Pilot Project (TLG2P) was developed to respond to these questions through the provision of high quality, evidence-based policy analysis. It was to contribute directly to Tunisia’s democratic transition process by supporting capacity development of concerned stakeholders and encouraging the adoption of an inclusive multi-stakeholder consultation process. Mr Ryan Knox, project manager for TLG2P, has initiated and managed the project from the SKL International regional office in Amman together with local colleagues based in Tunis. This has been done against a backdrop of political and institutional instability following two political assassinations in 2013 and the closure of the National Assembly for nearly two months. In addition, 2014 saw the introduction of a second caretaker Government within the project implementation period. When asked to summarise the core achievements of the project, Ryan Knox says; “The project has delivered a number of important outputs, including a proposal for a National Decentralisation Mechanism, at the request of the Ministry of Interior. Policy analysis was carried out on a range of topics including territorial reform, human resources, local finance and competences such as local economic development, solid waste management and primary education. We have held regional consultations with 148 municipalities on territorial-administrative reform, human resource development and the transfer of competences, in addition to a national workshop on inter-governmental finance. To allow for the inclusion of a wider range of perspectives, other stakeholders from the central government, regional authorities and civil society were engaged in the process.” A core objective of the project has been to mobilise the National Federation of Tunisian Cities (FNVT) so that it could begin to familiarise itself with a new role in national policy advocacy. Consequently, an FNVT Working Group was mobilised as the ‘institutional home’ for a large share of project activities. Despite its relatively short lifespan, the project has managed to leave a clear mark in the development towards FNTV truly representing the voice of municipalities in Tunisia. This is confirmed by Mr Saber Houchati, Executive Director of FNTV: “TLG2P has played an essential role in helping us to reinvent FNVT. At the start of the project, we were an organisation with limited capacity and there were questions about our legitimacy among the municipalities and central government. This has now changed, thanks in no small part to the support we received on TLG2P. We now know more about our role, the needs of our members and we have even begun to take on a role in challenging the central government in a constructive and meaningful way. In the last few months, we have been involved in a several cases of reactive and proactive lobbying, and will soon submit a position paper on decentralisation to the new Government. Our Swedish partners always tried to contextualise their advice within the Tunisian reality, and the process was primarily aimed at supporting capacity development, of our own Association, our members and the central government.” FNVT’s Position Paper on Decentralisation included a set of demands to the central government, articulated over the short-, medium- and long-term, concerning powers, finances, human resources and territorial reform. It represents the first experience in FNVT’s history where it will proactively articulate a comprehensive position for Tunisian decentralisation to the central government. For Ryan Knox the TLG2P experience has been unique; “TLG2P was in many ways the most challenging project I have managed. We were presented with a very short timeframe within which we not only had to acquaint ourselves with a completely new set of partners, context and country, but we also had to learn how to adjust to the Despite its relatively short lifespan, the project has managed to leave a clear mark in the development towards FNTV truly representing the voice of municipalities in Tunisia Photo: ©iStock.com/numbeos →
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ANNUAL RESULTS 2014

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