Case stories on capacity development and sustainable results

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34 Capacity: ResultsSIERRA LEONE – The improvementof service delivery throughdecentralization and capacity buildingContextWith the 2004 Local Government Act, theGovernment of Sierra Leone embarked ona nationwide decentralization reform programme.Its goal was to improve the deliveryof basic services and increase participationin decision making processes.The programme was critical in addressingthe country’s longstanding issues of ahighly centralized governance structure,which excluded the majority of the populationand was a key cause of the country’sdrawn-out conflict that ended in 2002.ResultsService delivery improved significantly acrosssectors:Health - Public satisfaction with health servicesrose from 81 percent to more than 90 percentbetween 2005 and 2006.Education - Household surveys show improvedrural access to primary education. The percentageof households within 30 minutes’ walking distanceof a school grew from 68 percent in 2005 to 74percent in 2008.Regular meetings with citizens have beeninstitutionalised by local councils, participatorydevelopment planning has taken root, accountsare completed on time and regularly audited, andfinancial information is disclosed to the public.Development resultsSierra Leone has achieved notable success inreestablishing local government in a fragilepost-conflict environment. Developmentresults include significant improvementsin service delivery. In health, for instance,clinic infrastructure, availability of drugs,and numbers of staff have all increased,and public satisfaction with health servicesrose from 81 percent to more than 90 percentbetween 2005 and 2006. Householdsurveys also show improved rural accessto primary education, and the percentageof households within 30 minutes’ walkingdistance of a school grew from 68 percentin 2005 to 74 percent in 2008.Enhanced performanceThese results are related to the improvementin local councils’ capacity to superviseservice delivery and performadministrative functions. Local governmentsare now in a position to contributeto service and infrastructure, such as waterand sanitation, feeder roads, and offgridpower. Local councils hold regularmeetings and produce minutes, citizensparticipate in meetings, participatory developmentplanning has taken root (althoughscope remains for improvement),accounts are completed on time and regularlyaudited, and financial informationis disclosed.
sierra leone35The strategy also sought to orient, sensitize,and educate all key stakeholders onthe new local government system, and theroles and responsibilities, functional relationships,and accountabilities of variousagencies. The stakeholders targeted weregovernment ministries, departments, andagencies, local councils, training institutions,civil society, media, NGOs, and theprivate sector.Surveys of trust in public institutionshave been encouraging. They suggest thatpublic confidence in local councillors hasincreased over time, with local councilsmaking the largest gains among politicalinstitutions between 2007 and 2008.These improvements would have not beenpossible without the Local GovernmentAct that created a framework for fiscal decentralizationthrough tied grants to localcouncils to carry out the responsibilitiesdevolved to them and to meet their administrativecosts. Budgeted transfers tolocal councils increased from Le19 billionin 2005 to Le34 billion in 2009, an increaseof 44 percent. With the exception of 2007,when there were national elections, actualtransfers increased during the same periodby 150 percent, reflecting an increasein budgeted transfers from about 70 percentin 2005 to about 98 percent in 2009.The provisional figures for 2010 indicatethat the budgeted amount for that yearwas more than 50 percent higher than for2009 and that the actual transfers werehigher than the budgeted amounts. Thisis a remarkable achievement for a countrywith a history of centralization.Support to the capacitydevelopment processNational investmentsThe process of decentralization, stronglyadvocated by the Decentralization Secretariatand the Local Government FinanceDepartment, was made possible by investmentsin capacity development at theinstitutional, organizational, and individuallevels. In particular, the legislativeframework provided by the reestablishmentof local governments, and the associatedregulations for political, fiscal, andadministrative decentralization provided(with some exceptions) a robust foundationfor decentralization by devolving keyfunctions from the central government tolocal councils.Investment in capacity development focusedon strengthening local governancethrough a rapid results approach and actionlearning on prioritization of developmentissues, using development projectfunding, participatory planning process-Capacity development investmentsThe decentralization process was made possibleby investing in the capacity development ofinstitutions, organizations, and individuals.The legislative framework, including regulationsfor political, fiscal, and administrativedecentralization, provided the enablingenvironment for the reestablishment of the localgovernments system.The approach involved a conscious effort toenable local councils to enhance their abilitiesto identify and sustainably address developmentchallenges.Action learning on prioritization of developmentissues, participatory planning processes, coachingfor senior officers, and technical and managerialtraining.Introduction of a competition-based incentivesystem for strengthening local councilsadministrative performance.The strategy sought to orient, sensitize, andeducate all key stakeholders on the newlocal government system, including roles andresponsibilities, functional relationships, andaccountabilities of various agencies.
Page 1 and 2: Casestorie
Page 3 and 4: CAPACITY ð RESULTSCase</st
Page 5 and 6: iiiForewordAbout the publicationAck
Page 7 and 8: vthe necessarily long-haul efforts
Page 9 and 10: viiin turn, have contributed to bet
Page 11 and 12: nard Conilh de Beyssac, Jan Ubels,
Page 13 and 14: xi►► Results focus is critical
Page 15 and 16: 1ALBANIA - Strengthening localgover
Page 17 and 18: albania3the chairmanship of the Kuk
Page 19 and 20: ASIA AND THE PACIFIC5training parti
Page 21 and 22: hutan7BHUTAN - Building capacitiest
Page 23 and 24: hutan9Between 2001 and 2006, the Go
Page 25 and 26: ETHIOPIA11and view profiles of indi
Page 27 and 28: guinea-bissau13GUINEA-BISSAU - Supp
Page 29 and 30: guinea-bissau15dialogue with the se
Page 31 and 32: kenya17Some major results include t
Page 33 and 34: LAO PDR19LAO PDR - Entrepreneursdri
Page 35 and 36: LAO PDR21selected to participate in
Page 37 and 38: NIGERIA23Its improved organizationa
Page 39 and 40: PAPUA NEW GUINEA25PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Page 41 and 42: PAPUA NEW GUINEA27cial and Local Go
Page 43 and 44: PARAGUAY29Firstly, the Ministry of
Page 45 and 46: São Tomé e Príncipe31São Tomé
Page 47: São Tomé e Príncipe33technology.
Page 51 and 52: UGANDA37UGANDA - Using multi-stakeh
Page 53 and 54: UGANDA39Support to the capacitydeve
Page 55 and 56: ZAMBIA41The experience of successfu
Page 57 and 58: 43ZAMBIA - Building capacity of sma
Page 59: 45bers in Business Associations aff

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