Project description

Title: Promotion of Local Governance in Mali
Commissioned by: Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ)
Country: Mali
Lead executing agency: Ministère de l'Administration Territoriale et des Collectivités Locales
Overall term: January 2002 to 2013 (planned)

Context

Its economy is weak and prone to crisis, its administrative structures are underdeveloped, social institutions are absent, and its people have little voice in the nation’s affairs. The Government of Mali is seeking a lasting solution to these problems through political and administrative decentralisation. GTZ, acting on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), supports this process through advisory services and promotes policy dialogue, offering support for the establishment and restructuring of municipal and national authorities. In this effort, GTZ cooperates with the German Development Service (DED) and KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW development bank). 

Objective

In Malian municipalities, there is improvement in administrative and basic social services. The people participate increasingly in policymaking and pay greater attention to ecologically sound economic development that makes better use of the country’s sparse natural resources.

Approach

Municipalities are the prime locus of political participation on the part of the Malian people today. At the same time, the municipalities back their elected officials in their political discourse with central government. Local developments can in this way have an impact on the reform process across the entire country. GTZ advises the citizens, the authorities, associations and private enterprises in the municipalities, and together they work out solutions to their problems. The municipalities get help in operating local weekly markets, in financial management, in their individual registration system, and in waste management. To regulate land law and the use of natural resources, GTZ mediates among the various stakeholders.

The lessons learned are applied in municipal development planning. A plan of this nature is required for the municipalities to obtain state subsidies from national funds for municipal investment. GTZ advises the municipalities technically on this and on setting up their own organisational structures and backs them up in carrying out measures. Mutual learning processes in the municipalities help people formulate their own interests vis-à-vis policymakers and administration, encourage transparent decisions and foster a local culture of debate. In order for developments in the municipalities to become permanently integrated into the country’s political culture, they must be perceived and accepted by the central government. Hence the programme engages in a policy dialogue with the government and with other international organisations. In this way, GTZ shapes the legal and formal conditions for decentralisation. These approaches to development in Mali are being applied today by many other (national and international) organisations, reaching around two-thirds of Mali’s municipalities. National administrative and sectoral authority staff are involved in the implementation of activities and the monitoring and evaluation of the results.

Results achieved so far

Besides supplying advisory services and technical support, GTZ’s work has already had a positive influence on the daily routine in many Malian municipalities. GTZ, for example, devised an operator scheme for municipal weekly markets. The organisation of waste collection services and the provision and cleaning of public toilets have improved the environmental quality of the heavily polluted market grounds. The merchants pay higher site fees, which bolsters the municipal budget and guarantees stable revenues. The management of the markets has improved as a result of GTZ’s advising. New jobs were created, for instance, in the area of market supervision and street cleaning.

As a result, the citizens in the municipalities notice the success of the development measures, which increases their acceptance and effectiveness. Now more than 80 percent of the citizens pay their taxes, as compared to 30 percent previously. The GTZ market operation scheme is regarded in Mali today as a model to be followed and is much in demand by other municipalities and international organisations.

Further information

• Programme National d'Appui aux Collectivités territoriales
  Local website
  www.pact-mali.org