| Grant Profile: |
| Project Title: |
Capacity Building for Development in Post-conflict Sudan |
| PCF/LICUS/SPF: |
LICUS |
Status: |
Closed |
| File Number: |
17
| Region: |
AFR |
| Sector: |
Law and justice and public administration |
Country: |
Sudan |
| FY approved: |
2005 |
Grant Theme : |
Public sector governance |
| Keyword(s): |
Administrative and civil service reform;Multi-Donor Trust Funds;Peace negotiations;Public expenditure, financial management and procurement |
Approved Amount: |
$4,913,200.00 |
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Grant Recipient:
Bank-executed |
Grant Purpose:
The purpose of this project is to provide a package of technical assistance and institutional capacity support. Over the short-term, the grant will help to build basic capacity to effectively manage, absorb and utilize the expected inflows of humanitarian and development assistance and government's own resources, and to build the capacity to manage policy and program formulation and implementation.
The focus in the south will be on building capacity in the areas of public sector management (financial management, procurement and civil service), aid management, policy formulation, project implementation, and the design of the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) part of which is the current grant. In the north, the project includes support to the national institutions such as the National Reconstruction Fund and the Fiscal Financial Allocation and Monitoring Commission (FFAMC), designing of the MDTF, and strengthening financial management capacity in the states.
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Grant Activities:
This grant draws on the findings of various World Bank and joint World Bank-UN missions to both north and south Sudan between March-June 2004. The project recognizes the differences in the needs of the south and the north and is, therefore, divided into two main components - one each for the north and south, and a third component for joint activities. Within the two main components, a number of sub-components have been developed around the common theme of capacity building and institutional development for sustained development. The third component supports activities designed to operationalize the various protocols and agreements.
Component 1: South Sudan: Capacity Building for Core Government Functions and Service Delivery
The purpose of the set of activities included in this project is to provide a package of capacity support to the the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) to become better placed for addressing urgent reconstruction to begin sustaining the peace. The grant will help to build basic capacity for core functions of GOSS in policy formulation and delivery of services and infrastructure through:
(i) providing support for training and development of public sector management systems;
(ii) by supporting and strengthening institutional capacity for policy formulation, aid management, fiduciary oversight and project management.
Activities under this component include:
(1) Development of a Policy Unit
(2) Establishment of a Project Management/Implementation Unit
(3) Establishing of a Capacity Building Unit
(4) Capacity building activities in public financial management and civil service
(5) Establishment of structures and procedures for aid planning, management and execution in support of regional reconstruction activities
Component 2 North Sudan: Strengthening government capacity for Service Delivery and Growth
This component focuses on three key areas:
(i) Ensuring equitable and efficient use of the Government of Sudan (GOS) resources, in particular those available under the National Reconstruction and Development Fund (NRF) and the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF).
(ii) Supporting the Fiscal and Financial Monitoring Commission (FFAMC) to be established under the Wealth Sharing Agreement with responsibility for transparency and equity in the allocation of national resources to states and the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) and forthe Comprehensive Equalization Criteria (CEC).
(iii) Supporting capacity building activities in the areas of financial management and service delivery, particularly at the sub-national level where most expenditures are likely to be made.
More specifically, the project will support the following activities:
(1) Support to the design and establishment of the National Reconstruction Fund, the Multi-Donor Trust Fund, and related reconstruction and development funds.
(2) Support to the Fiscal and Financial Allocation and Monitoring Commissions (FFAMC) in developing a mechanism for inter-governmental fiscal transfers of funds, which will balance the transfer of resources to "wealthier" areas and thus ensure equality in the distribution of resources, and prevent marginalization of poorer and peripheral areas of the country.
(3) Capacity building: developing a civil service framework, capacity building in public financial management.
Component 3: North-South Joint Activities: New Institutions, Study tours, Special assessments/studies:
(1) Development of a national strategy for poverty eradication: development of a full national Poverty Eradication Strategy to be presented for approval by the government of national unity, technical analysis to underpin policy discussions, and workshops and exchanges of relevant regional experiences, in particular from post conflict countries.
(2) Building and sustaining the peace through improve consultations and information: financing translation and popularization of the peace protocols and agreeements, as well as town-hall type meetings and consultations around the country.
(3) Support to work on implementation modalities of peace negotiations, including targeted technical advice and workshops.
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Lessons Learned:
The purpose of the project is to provide a package of technical assistance and institutional capacity support, with the objectives to help build basic capacity to effectively manage, absorb and utilize inflows of humanitarian and development assistance and government's own resources, and to build the capacity to manage policy and program formulation and implementation. Recognizing the differences in the needs of the South and the North of Sudan, the project has been divided into two main components - one each for the North and South, and a third component for joint activities.
The focus in the South has been placed on capacity building for core government functions in the areas of public sector management (financial management, procurement and civil service), aid management, policy formulation, and project implementation. In the North, the project has aimed to strengthen government capacity for service delivery and growth through support to national institutions such as the National Reconstruction Fund and the Fiscal Financial Allocation and Monitoring Commission (FFAMC), and strengthening financial management capacity in the states. In both the North and the South, the project has aimed to increase government capacity for a Multi-Donor Trust Fund.
Consistent with the objectives of the LICUS Trust Fund, the grant has aimed at supporting implementation of early policy and institutional reforms, predominantly in Southern Sudan. The project assisted the formation of the Government of South Sudan in Juba and training of ministry staff in procurement, budget management, accounting, and public expenditure management. In addition, the grant financed procurement and delivery of communications equipment, computers, and vehicles, which has provided the necessary operating infrastructure and enabled the recipient ministries to begin focusing on building basic capacity for core functions of the Government of South Sudan. The grant also financed placement of full-time international financial management and procurement advisers in key ministries, who have provided support and technical advice to the Government, building Government capacity for policy formulation and development of public sector management systems.
Support to community-driven development has been a major project activity in North Sudan, culminating in the establishment of the Community Development Fund. The grant financed staff salaries, office equipment, financial management training, and several important studies on community-based organizations, NGOs, and local governance. Another major accomplishment of the project included building capacity of the Ministry of Finance and National Economy to coordinate and monitor the Multi-Donor Trust Fund. Funds were allocated for delivering IT equipment to the MDTF unit in the Ministry and training for Ministry staff in project management, procurement, strategic planning, budgeting, and management of the project cycle. The Ministry of International Cooperation – the aid coordination and management unit of the Government of Sudan in the North, in Khartoum – also received computers and training in the project management cycle and monitoring and evaluation.
Designing and carrying out a national census, the creation of a national currency, as well as the establishment of the Fiscal Financial Accountability and Monitoring Commission, represented other major achievement of the project, implemented under the joint activities of the third component of the grant. Moreover, the grant provided much-needed technical assistance, equipment, and funding, to assist the design and preparation of a number of Multi-Donor Trust Fund projects, both in the North and the South.
Major lessons learned from the project included the need to ensure sufficient staff on the ground to support the project, including resource management and operations support, as well as sufficient number of advisers to the ministries to provide needed, timely advice. Ensuring balance in monitoring in the South and the North of Sudan as a comprehensive evaluation tool has also emerged as a key conclusion of the project. Another conclusion of project implementation points out to the need for a proactive communication strategy working in high risk/high reward environments such as the one in Sudan, for purposes of ensuring that all project objectives are well understood among stakeholders.
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