Programme description

Title: Programme for Decentralisation (PPFD)
Commissioned by: Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ)
Country: Mozambique
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Planning and Development (MPD)
Overall term: January 2004 to December 2006

Context

A major barrier to Mozambique’s development is the centralist structure of the state with its weak administrative organisation and insufficiently developed democratic structures and procedures. In passing the decentralisation law in 1994, the Mozambican government laid the foundations for strengthening the regional and municipal levels, to which not only new competences but also financial resources are to be transferred. The public institutions face major challenges: efficient financial management, stronger orientation to citizens and to service and the improvement and extension of local public services. The lack of transparency and efficiency in the management of public funds needs to be overcome through fundamental reforms.

Objective

The economic and social potential of Inhambane, Manica and Sofala Provinces is being used in a pro-poor way with the cooperation of the population.

Approach

This is a cooperative project involving the KfW development bank and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ, until December 2010 GTZ and DED). It has its basis in the cooperation of the Mozambican government with various international donors to implement the National Strategy for Decentralised Planning and Financing. As well as promoting decentralisation, the programme also cooperates with other actors in developing new procedures and instruments of donor alignment and harmonisation within the meaning of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005).

The GIZ is responsible for specialist and technical advisory services, with a focal area being in three pilot provinces. The advisory services mainly involve implementing approaches to decentral district planning and financing. The strengthening of the districts is an important part of the process in which the national government devolves functions and competences to lower levels. The topics of the advisory service are to be both new procedures for more civic participation and for strengthening civil society and the nation-wide distribution of tailored technologies in housing construction. Existing local economic potential is to be tapped, whereby new forms of cooperation between the private economy, the public sector and civil society are to be tested. An important aspect of strengthening local and regional administrative units is the effective and transparent use of the funds made available in the wake of the decentralisation of government funding. This mainly involves integrated investment budgets and the district development fund (FINDER), which is supported by the KfW development bank in Inhambane.

Results achieved so far

First changes within the administration and the administrative structure have been completed. Advisory bodies for dialogue between the government and society in many regions and a number of districts have been created or the necessary capacities for this have been created. Cross-sectoral planning units have been set up, decisions taken on local strategic development plans and in some areas planning procedures introduced with the population’s involvement. Through the development of cost effective construction techniques and agricultural technologies, local resources can be used efficiently and local economic development promoted. A model for including the combating of HIV/AIDS in all decisions and processes of the district planning process (mainstreaming) has been developed and tested in Manica Province.