Government of Rwanda UNDESA

Transcription

1 Government of Rwanda UNDESA Ministerial Conference on: Leadership Capacity Building for Decentralized Governance and Poverty Reduction for Sub-Saharan Africa (Kigali, Rwanda, June, 2005.) AIDEMEMOIRE 1

2 Ministerial Conference on: Leadership Capacity Building for Decentralized Governance and Poverty Reduction for Sub-Saharan Africa to be Held in Kigali, Rwanda June 2005 THE BACKGROUND 1: The Millennium Summit of the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Millennium Declaration spelling out (i) the fundamental values of freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature, and shared responsibility that are essential to international relations, and (ii) the key objectives in peace, security and disarmament, development and poverty eradication, environment protection, human rights, democracy, and good governance, protecting the vulnerable, as well as meeting the special needs of Africa. The Declaration provides a vision of a peaceful, secure, prosperous, and just society, and establishes a worldwide consensus on the fundamental values, key objectives, and a commitment to achieve them. 2: Following the Millennium Summit, the Secretary-General of the United Nations prepared a Road Map towards the Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration outlining the potential strategies for action that are designed to meet the goals and commitments made by the Millennium Summit. Drawing on the work of Governments, the entire United Nations System-including the Breton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization, intergovernmental organizations, international organizations, regional organizations, and civil society, the Road Map suggests paths to follow and shares information on best practices that could be tapped to achieve the key objectives and goals of the Millennium Declaration. Highlighting issues, strategies, targets and indicators, the Road Map provides action guidelines for Member States, citizens, communities, regions and international bodies to achieve good governance poverty alleviation and sustainable development 1. 3: One of the strategies in the Road Map towards the Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration specifically mentions local governance. The United Nations assists Governments in strengthening their legal frameworks, policies, mechanisms and institutions for democratic governance through support to democratic governing institutions, such as parliaments, judiciaries and electoral management bodies; building human rights institutions and conflict resolution mechanisms and skills, strengthening local government and civil society participation in decision-making processes; strengthening public sector management, transparency and accountability; combating corruption, enhancing the role of the media; and improving electoral and parliamentary systems. Strategies for moving forward include: 1 See United Nations official Document # A/56/326 of 6 th September 2001: Road map towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration Report of the Secretary-General 2

3 Encouraging States to develop and implement programs that support pluralistic institutions, periodic elections and other democratic processes, in conformity with international human rights standards; Continuing United Nations work to strengthen parliamentary structures and policymaking processes; Providing assistance to government efforts to involve civil society in policy-making decisions; Supporting government efforts to strengthen local governance in urban and rural areas 2. 4: As part of efforts to structure governments to promote the participation of the people in the decision-making processes as well as the development activities as one of the tenets of good governance, the policy of devolution of power and authority to sub-national governments, (i.e. decentralization), is increasingly adopted and applied in African countries. In addition the decentralization trend is being supported by many aid agencies. Decentralization is a gradual process and is expected to enhance the opportunities for participation by placing more power and resources at a closer, more familiar, and more easily influenced level of government. In environments with poor traditions of citizen participation, therefore, decentralization is perceived to be an important first step in creating regular, predictable opportunities for citizen-state interaction. Many see decentralization as a solution not only to the enhancement of the State s capacity to accelerate local development but also as a way to enhance the Poor s voice and power in the fight against poverty 3. 5: Given adequate financial and human resources, there is sufficient reason to believe that service delivery by Local Authorities and their community level partners can be more flexible and responsive to the local needs and conditions than delivery by central government. However, there are a number of pre-requisites for local governments to provide services with more responsiveness. These pre-requisites include: Clear powers, roles and responsibilities and functions for local governments Financial resources including local revenues as well as financial transfers from the central government to local governments Autonomy over human resources management within a clear framework of national Public service human resource management Capacity for pro-poor planning, budgeting, project and resource management Mechanisms of accountability through which local governments must be accountable to the people they serve as well as utilise resources from various partners including central governments responsibly. 2 See United Nations official Document # A/56/326 of 6 th September 2001: Road map towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration Report of the Secretary-General 3 Fifth Africa Governance Forum (AGF-V): "Local Governance for Poverty Reduction in Africa" Maputo, Mozambique, May

4 Committed leadership at local and national levels that can sustain ethical, transparent, and accountable management of local governance systems and resources focusing on effective and responsive service delivery and socio-economic development. The above pre-requisites seem to point to the critical fact that for decentralization to promote local governance and enhance service delivery, the process must take place within the context of good governance (i.e. the exercise of authority with the interest and participation of the governed as the driving force) 4 driven by capable and committed leadership. Justification 6: The continuing momentum of democratic decentralization and far-reaching economic reforms has substantially transformed the challenges of leadership in Sub-Saharan Africa. Increasingly, citizens have the right to democratically determine how they want to be governed and to make choices regarding the type and quality of public services they want. In an increasing number of African countries, Citizens are now empowered to elect on a periodic basis persons whom they think can deliver, 5 respect their human rights, and the rule of law. Citizens are demanding to play a more visible role in decision making especially in those areas that directly affect their livelihood. Civic organizations are demanding to play an active role in planning, budgeting, and setting priorities for their localities if they are to pay taxes voluntarily. They have the means to hold those responsible accountable for their failures. Responding to all these and more demands requires adequate and effective leadership at national and local governance levels to work together in a harmonious and strategic effort targeting poverty reduction and the well being of the local people. Improving governance at national level is crucial, but strengthening governance at local level is critical for championing efforts of poverty reduction. The capacities that need to be strengthened for initiating, promoting, and sustaining effective local governance include leadership capacity at both national and local levels. 7: At the just ended Conference on Decentralization: the New Dimension of Peace, Democracy, and Development organized, jointly by the Regional Assembly of Tuscany, the Conference of European Regional Assemblies (CALRE) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), an African participant posed a question as to why poverty in Africa is seemingly on the increase despite the huge investments by donors and national government? He drew the attention of the participants to the fact that it is now well known that the poor are not a homogeneous category of social group either. Even within a poor household, for instance, men, women, the youth, and the elderly do not necessarily share common positions, and that it is therefore necessary for leadership to be capable to discern the different types of poor in their communities and take appropriate action accordingly. It was pointed out that leadership must recognize that the poor also have rights the right to descent accommodation, to clean 4 See: John-Mary Kauzya: Local Governance Capacity Building for Full Range Participation: Concepts, frameworks, and Experiences in Africa, background papers for the 4 th Global Forum on Re-inventing Government, Marrakech, Morocco, Martin Onyach-Olaa The challenges of implementing decentralisation: recent experiences in Uganda, Public Administration and Development Volume 24, Issue 4, Pages

5 drinking water, to sell their products for a good price, rather than leaving them to rot. The conference which was one of UNDESA s efforts to mobilize partners to focus on the issues of strengthening local governance for poverty reduction made the following conclusions: decentralization, when supported by clear political will and if effectively managed, is an instrument of democratization, reconciliation, social integration, as well as a tool to promote sustainable human development and good governance; and it is also instrumental in reducing poverty and achieving the millennium development goals; participation of local communities and all citizens in the decision making process at the regional and local level is essential for the identification of local development goals; Women play a crucial role in making decentralization successful; at the same time, decentralization represents an opportunity to strengthen women s participation and representation and to foster gender promotion; decentralization is instrumental in protecting and promoting cultural diversity which, in turn, enriches participatory democracy; decentralization can improve service delivery, especially in the field of health and education, therefore representing an important tool in the fight against HIV-AIDS; forms and modalities of cooperation and partnerships in institutional and capacity building, in training and sharing of experiences should be given serious consideration. 8: In the final declaration the participants in the conference made 20 recommendations the following of which are directly pertinent to the proposed Ministerial conference: make every effort to initiate decentralization processes and real transfer of responsibilities to the regional and local level with a view to establishing a credible and effective regional and local self-government system; prioritise capacity building of regional and local authorities as to enable them to carry out their responsibilities effectively; guarantee sufficient financial resources to local authorities for fulfilling their responsibility; establish effective coordination and consultative mechanisms among the various levels of government, taking into consideration their respective responsibilities and the principle of subsidiarity; recognize the fundamental function of regional and local authorities in the process of decentralization. actively pursue partnerships with the central government and other regional and local authorities, also by strengthening the role of national local government associations. strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and local authorities and their associations in the framework of national development strategies and plans; make available increasing level of resources for decentralized cooperation with the purpose of fostering social inclusion and participatory development; support institutional capacity building and training to allow regional and local authorities to better perform their functions; 5

6 recommend the creation of a permanent observatory of European and African regional and local assemblies in order to continue the dialogue on a regular basis; 9: Finally the Ministerial conference on Leadership Capacity Building for Decentralized Governance and Poverty Reduction in Eastern and Southern Africa, is a direct follow-up to not only the above mentioned conference held in Florence (Italy) in 2005, but also to the numerous meetings and efforts that have been on-going among Ministers of Local Governments in Sub- Saharan Africa to strengthen local governance on the continent for examples: the Victoria Falls conference in 1999, the Windhoek Africities Summit, the Yaoundé Africities 2003 Summit, the Mombassa Conference, and the Nairobi Consultative Meeting). In addition the proposed Ministerial conference is a direct response to the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) which is an African-owned development driven program for eradicating poverty and getting on the path of sustainable development on the continent. The NEPAD has among its cardinal components, strengthening good governance which has also a sub-program on leadership capacity development. Through this Ministerial conference UNDESA, UNCDF, MDP Harare, and the Government of Rwanda have come together to contribute to the efforts of strengthening leadership for good governance especially at local level. Overall Objective The principal objective of the conference is to give opportunity to ministers in charge of local governance, high level managers of public institutions and/or programs related to decentralized governance as well as national, continental, and international Associations of local Authorities, to review and exchange experiences of leadership in Africa with respect to capacity-building for decentralized governance and poverty reduction. The exchange of knowledge, information and experiences will contribute to the enhancement of the leadership capacity of the participants to initiate, promote, and manage local governance systems Specific Objectives The specific objectives of the conference are to: Examine the socio-economic and political context within which leadership is exercised with a view to understanding the different styles, traits, and methods of leadership and how they relate to decentralized governance and poverty reduction; Share experiences of improving the delivery of services within the context of difficult local level situations such as, HIV and AIDS, unemployment, decaying infrastructure, corruption etc Provide a platform that can be used for systematic analysis of issues that impact on the performance of leaders at local governance level in Sub-Saharan Africa Provide opportunity to make focused recommendations to various stakeholders and actors in local governance on how to strengthen the various capacities of local governance in order to contribute to the fight against poverty in the region. 6

7 Follow-up on the recommendations made by the conference in Florence and strengthen the coordination among central government leadership (especially Ministers and Senior Civil servants in charge of local governments), local authorities associations as well as other partners to reinforce efforts of capacity building for local governance. Topics: Developing the capacity of leadership for effective local governance is not an end in itself. Leadership is supposed to be developed in order to accomplish a purpose. Currently the biggest purpose any leadership development effort should pursue in Africa is related to the reduction of poverty on the continent. Overall ten papers all tied together by the core theme of leadership (including the concept paper) will be written and presented on the following topics which will guide the discussion during the conference: i. Local governance and leadership capacity building ii. Strengthening leadership integrity, ethics, transparency and accountability in local governance: the role of local authorities Association iii. The role of local level leadership in improving the delivery of services at community level with focus on: Primary health care Primary education Improving agricultural outputs and marketing Combating HIV/AIDS Developing physical infrastructure Provision of shelter in urban areas iv. Coordinating local and central government leadership for strengthening local governance v. The role of civil society and private leadership in strengthening local governance Local governance and leadership capacity building Many countries in Africa are promoting decentralized governance as a measure for democratization, people empowerment and poverty reduction. However, efforts in this regard are not moving at the same pace, with the same political conviction, using equally competent capacities, and with the same success in all countries. Some countries have gone beyond political hesitation and put in place policies of decentralization but lack capacities for the implementation. Others are still politically hesitant not sure of the role of decentralized governance in democratization, people empowerment, and poverty reduction. Others have moved a long way forward in implementing decentralization but still need the requisite capacities for sustaining it. One of the capacities that need to be further developed in this regard concerns leadership both at local and central government levels to strengthen further decentralized governance. 7

8 At policy level countries that have decentralized have done so in various ways in terms of the process through which the policies were formulated, debated and agreed, the structures that were put in place, the sharing of functions and resources (especially financial) between central governments and decentralized units as well as in the way devolution, deconcentration, and delegation were balanced. Some countries have decentralized by establishing federal systems, some have established decentralized systems with strong dozes of devolution, and there are many whose decentralization is mostly dominated by deconcentration. What is observed generally is that the process of consolidating decentralized governance is still on-going and needs strong support not only because governments and people are preferring decentralization as a politicoadministrative structural arrangement for their empowerment, but also because it promises a lot on the fronts of democratization, people empowerment, and poverty reduction which are goals that are pertinent with the United Nations General Assembly s Millennium Declaration. Which ever way decentralization is looked at, when it is implemented it puts in place structures both at central and local government levels that provide layers of leadership thus providing a field for leadership development in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, networks, systems, institutions, and values. Decentralization and leadership development are therefore symbiotic in the sense that for effective decentralized governance to take place, it requires a commitment of leadership at central and local government levels, a leadership that trusts in the power of the people at local level. At the same time local governance structures provide a training ground through which leaders are identified and trained through a hands-on process of managing local governments in all aspects (problem identification, policy and strategy design and decisionmaking including bye laws, ensuring transparency and accountability, and in general managing resources). The paper and discussion on local governance and leadership capacity development will examine the issues related to the symbiotic linkage between local governance and the development of leaders at national and local levels. To what existent has the decentralization drive in Africa helped countries to identify leaders and build their capacities for local and national level sociopolitico-economic development? What are the types of decentralization governance (devolution, deconcentration, delegation, and delocalization) that best promote identification and development of leadership talent at local level and in spreading leadership capacity across the whole spectrum of the society up to grass-roots level? What specific measures can be taken by central government authorities to harness decentralized governance and develop the various leadership capacities at local level for effective grass-roots development. Strengthening leadership integrity, ethics, transparency and accountability in local governance: the role of local authorities Association One of the issues that are directly linked to local governance leadership and poverty reduction concerns the ethics, integrity, transparency and accountability of leaders at central and local government levels in the management of public affairs. For example, the issue of corruption in public officers has figured prominently in the debate on public governance in Africa. In as far as decentralized governance is concerned some people believe that decentralization will bring governance and leadership closer to the scrutiny of the people and in the delivery of services and 8

9 use of resources the people will be able to closely monitor the performance of their leaders and demand accountability. But there is also another side of the issue to the effect that decentralization in a situation where there is rampant corruption and dis-empowered local populations tantamount to decentralizing corruption. To what extent has the current decentralization drive in Africa improved leadership integrity, ethics, transparency, and accountability in local authorities? How can the Local Authorities associations at national, continental and global levels contribute to the strengthening of leadership in terms of integrity, ethics, transparency and accountability in the management of public affairs and provision of public services at local level? What are some of the successful cases where Local Authorities Associations have caused or facilitated the improvement of leadership ethics, integrity, transparency and accountability in decentralized governance? The role of local level leadership in improving the delivery of services at community level Decentralized governance is worthwhile if it contributes to the improvement of the delivery of services at local level (i.e. if it provides comparative advantages over the delivery of the same services using central government agencies). In the same way local level leadership should be developed with the view of making leaders facilitators and movers of local level service delivery for poverty reduction. What exactly is the role of local governments and local level leadership in the delivery of services such as primary healthcare, primary education, agricultural extension, combating HIV/AIDS, urban services such as shelter as well as in developing physical infrastructure. What are the experiences in Africa or else where that illustrate the effectiveness of local government and local level leadership in the improvement of service delivery? How can the capacity of this level of leadership be developed to further support and facilitate improved service delivery? Coordinating local and central government leadership for strengthening local governance In strengthening local governance, leaders at central and local government levels need to work in harmony rather than in conflict. Decentralized governance should be a partnership. However, often the two levels of leadership conflict on resource allocation, monitoring, supervision and evaluation of local level development activities, policy and strategies, interpretation of local government statutes and regulations. What are the major issues and challenges that need to be addressed in coordinating central and local government leadership? What are the mechanisms and institutional arrangements that best strengthen coordination and harmony between local and central government leadership to strengthen local governance? What are some of the successful cases in Africa and elsewhere that best illustrate how coordination between local and central government leadership can be coordinated successfully to benefit improvement of local governance? The role of civil society and private sector leadership in strengthening local governance Local governance does not make reference to local government or local populations alone. It refers to any governance actor e.g. an international or local NGO, a central government institution, a local government agency, a community organization, or a private sector enterprise. 9

10 Therefore the strengthening of local governance for poverty reduction is not only a burden of local and central government leadership. Governance at local level will be strong and effective when all leadership in all sectors is mobilized to expend efforts, time, and resources for the purpose. However, there are challenges and issues in harmonizing the action of central government leadership, local government leadership with the action of civil society and private sector leadership to cause improvement in the governance situation at community level. What is expected to be the role of the leadership in civil society and private sector in strengthening governance at community level? What are the best approaches and strategic actions for promoting the role of civil society and private sector leadership in strengthening local governance? What are the successful cases in Africa or elsewhere that illustrate how the roles of civil society and private sector leadership can be promoted to strengthen local governance for poverty reduction? Target participants Twenty eight Sub-Saharan countries from Southern, eastern, central and western Africa will be invited to participate in the conference. The conference is intended for Ministers in charge of decentralization and Local government. Each Minister will be accompanied with not more than four high level officials. It is proposed that the delegation accompanying each Minister would comprise: the Permanent Secretary, a Mayor, a Chairperson and Secretary General of National Associations of local authorities. Delegations will be invited from: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, The Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal, and Ghana. A total of about 150 participants are expected to attend the conference. Other participants will be invited from Development Agencies such as UNDP, ECA and other Agencies of the United Nations System, the World Bank, the Africa Union, NEPAD, the East African Community, the Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC), the United Cities and Local Government of Africa, (UCLGA), ) and the European Union will be invited. Resource Persons Resource persons will be drawn from African experts on the subjects of leadership and local governance capacity building. They will be identified by the MDP in consultation with UNDESA. The resource persons will include Conference facilitator Paper writers and presenters (Consultants/Experts) Conference rapporteur Session Chair persons Timing, Location, and Organization Venue dates and duration: The conference will be held in Kigali (Rwanda) for three days from Monday 06 th to Wednesday 08 th June,

11 Funding and Organizational arrangement The conference will be organized by the Municipal Development Partnership Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, funded by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). It will be hosted by the Ministry of Local Government, Good Governance, Community development and Social Affairs of the Republic of Rwanda. Other UN Agencies such as UNHABITAT working at country level in Africa in the related field will be contacted to contribution and participate so as to maximize synergy. Contact Persons Honorable Protais Musoni Minister of Local Government, Rural Development, & Social Affairs Kigali - Rwanda Tel: Fax: pmusoni@gov.rw Mr. George Matovu Regional Director Municipal Development Partnership for Eastern and Southern Africa Tel: /6 Fax: gmatovu@mdpafrica.org.zw Dr. John-Mary Kauzya Chief of Governance and Public Administration Branch Division for Public Administration and Development Management Department of Economic and Social Affairs United Nations DC 2 Room 1742 Two UN PLAZA, NY, 10017, New York, USA Phone: Fax: Kauzya@un.org Website: 11

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