Getting it Right from the Start - Oxfam New Zealand

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‘There’s a school, but thereare no real teachers. Thereare two volunteer teachers –they don’t receive a salary.Even if there is a school andthere are students, you stillneed teachers there to givethem knowledge. We’reworried that the teachers willget fed up and leave.’Male community member, Jamamcounty, Upper Nile, May 2011.Box 2: The non-payment of teacher salariesFunds for county government salaries and operational costs are transferredas „conditional grants‟ from the GoSS to state governments each month.The MoFEP has directed that upon receipt, the funds should be transferredimmediately from state to county treasuries and reflected in county budgets.But this is resisted by some states, and in these cases, the funds areretained in state government treasuries.Where conditional grants for county governments are retained by the state,salaries for county government staff should be transferred on a monthlybasis from states to counties. In some cases salaries are transferred tocounty bank accounts; but where this is not possible (due to countyauthorities not having bank accounts), the cash is sent by road to thecounty. Information is then passed to civil servants – if possible by phone,but where this is not possible, then „manually‟ – that salaries are ready forcollection at the county headquarters. Civil servants then have a limitedperiod to collect their salaries.Teachers earn, on average, around 250 Sudanese pounds ($94) eachmonth. For teachers located in, say, the border areas of Eastern Equatoria,travelling to county headquarters will likely cost around 150 Sudanesepounds ($56), plus one or two days away from families. Even where salariesdo make it from state to county headquarters (often difficult in the rainyseason), and even if the information does then reach the teacher, in manycases it is simply not feasible for staff to travel the distance to collect theirsalaries. 63Attracting staff to the counties and professionalising the payroll systemare critical issues – but an even deeper and more difficult problem is thescarcity of qualified staff throughout the country. As explained by oneJuba-based NGO staff, „some donors (and UN and NGOs) seem tothink that if a project or activity is short of staff, then the answer is tohire additional educated people and provide a bit of role-specifictraining. But there simply aren‟t enough qualified people around andany such hiring is a zero-sum game. If an NGO hires someone good,then that person isn‟t available for the government, or if a stategovernment hires someone good, then they‟re probably depriving acounty government of that person, and so on.‟ 64 It is a fundamentalchallenge that has not yet been adequately addressed by government,donors or implementing agencies.Recommendations• Support the GoSS in its commitment to decentralising development,service delivery and governance. This should include: moresubstantial capacity building for state and county authorities; supportfor the GoSS to develop systems for ensuring that state governmentsare held accountable for funds received, and that county departmentsreceive sufficient resources to carry out their assigned responsibilitiesas well as control over (and training to manage) their own budgets;and support for the development of safeguards to ensure equitabledistribution to the states and counties.24
• Provide more targeted support for initiatives aimed at addressing keycapacity gaps at the county level. This should include: training,mentoring and technical support; provision of funds; provision oftransport, office space and communications equipment; and supportfor the development of business management systems includinghuman resources and payroll. Donors should adopt a harmonised,inter-agency approach, and the priorities, roles and responsibilities ofdifferent actors engaged in capacity building should be clearlydefined.• Continue to explore innovative solutions for increasing the number ofqualified staff throughout the country. Possible initiatives couldinclude: programs aimed at harnessing the skills of the diaspora;specialised internships; student or professional exchange programswithin the region; and enhanced support for (and coordination of)technical and vocational education and training programs in SouthSudanese institutions.25
Page 1: Joint Briefing Paper 06 September 2
Page 4 and 5: Recommendations1. Balance developme
Page 6 and 7: IntroductionOn 9 July, millions of
Page 8 and 9: esponding to a worst case scenario
Page 10 and 11: persons displaced. All this took pl
Page 12 and 13: anecdotal evidence suggests that in
Page 14 and 15: 4 Ensure an equitable distribution
Page 16 and 17: 5 Prioritise the most vulnerable an
Page 18 and 19: • Targeting strategies must be ba
Page 20 and 21: 6 Support pro-poor, sustainablelive
Page 22 and 23: interventions must support, not exc
Page 26 and 27: 8 Allow sufficient time for transit
Page 28 and 29: 9 Provide timely, predictable funds
Page 30 and 31: pooled funds managed by private con
Page 32 and 33: comes up. We should have a good fiv
Page 34 and 35: ConclusionFollowing substantial sum
Page 36 and 37: 1516171819sufficient farming commun
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Getting it Right from the Start - Oxfam New Zealand

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