| Grant Profile: |
| Project Title: |
Support to the Comorian Transition Grant |
| PCF/LICUS/SPF: |
LICUS |
Status: |
Closed |
| File Number: |
2-b
| Region: |
AFR |
| Sector: |
Law and justice and public administration |
Country: |
Comoros |
| FY approved: |
2005 |
Grant Theme : |
Public sector governance |
| Keyword(s): |
Multi-Donor Trust Funds;Public expenditure, financial management and procurement;Capacity building |
Approved Amount: |
$418,100.00 |
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Grant Recipient:
Ministry of Finance |
Grant Purpose:
The overreaching objective of the proposed grant is to ensure that Comoros is able to put public finances back on a sound footing and restore the credibility of its economic management. This grant will contribute to strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of Finance at the Union and Island levels to function efficiently in the new decentralized set-up and conduct its budgetary and fiscal policies.
The grant will, in particular, help the Union and Island finance administrations to:
(i) Formulate and execute budgetary and fiscal policies;
(ii) Identify the practical organizational implications of the new decentralized setting;
(iii) Design and implement a retraining and capacity building program fore core staff.
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Grant Activities:
This proposed operation will have two components:
Component 1: In-house technical assistance to the Ministry of Finance of the Union.
This component will finance:
(1) Establishment of monitoring and reporting mechanisms to ensure timely and effective decisions in the conduct of fiscal and budgetary policies;
(2) Assistance to the core Ministry of Finance of the Union team in its interactions with external donors;
(3) Assessment of the functioning of the different finance administrations at the Union and Islands levels and development of a re-organization plan congruent with the roles and responsibilities of each administration under the new institutional setting;
(4) Support to the implementation and follow-up of the agreed-upon reorganization plan.
Component 2: A retraining and capacity building program for core staff.
The grant will finance a training program for core staff in the Union and Island finance administrations. Activities under this component will include an identification mission and three training events. The content of the trainings will be tailored in congruence with the re-organization plan developed under Component 1, and will combine on-site training as well as team building and cooperative components.
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Lessons Learned:
The objective of the project entitled “Support to the Comorian Transition Grant” was to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Finance at the Union and Island levels to function efficiently in the new decentralized system, and support implementation of the Ministry’s budgetary and fiscal policies. The project provided in-house technical assistance to the Ministry of Finance of the Union and a capacity building program for civil servants in the finance administrations. In June 2007, the grant was extended, to incorporate support to carrying out of the budgetary committee meetings, as well as the design and delivery of training of public finance inspectors.
The technical assistance to the Ministry of Finance included accounting procedures training of all relevant staff in the four administrations, implementation of the new accounting procedures, and “on the job” training. A vocational training program for civil servants was launched in March 2007, with an identification mission conducted by a team from the National School for Public Administration of Madagascar with the participation of the University of Comoros. The resurgence of political tensions in the run-up and after the Island Presidential elections, however, obstructed the training.
Despite the challenges faced by the vocational training component, the project marked success in supporting periodic budgetary committee meetings. The meetings were chaired by the Finance General Secretary for the Union and attended by the Treasurers and Customs and Budget Directors of four entities. These meetings proved key mechanisms for ensuring the implementation of the budgetary arrangement in the country and fostering transparency in public finance management, as well as interisland cooperation and mutual trust.
A major lesson learned from the project includes the notion that, in a state characterized by a dysfunctional administration, development practitioners have no other option but to rely on a handful of individuals (“champions”) to support project activities. Getting other people progressively involved is, however, critical for ensuring sustainability of the effort. In the case of the Support to the Comorian Transition Grant, this was difficult for various reasons, including a change of administration at the Union level and the islands (which obstructed the process of ensuring continuity of the activities), the need for building capacity at the intermediate levels of the administration, and the reluctance to delegate responsibilities.
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