Case stories on capacity development and sustainable results

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.