Servacius B. Likwelile EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) Dar es Salaam, TANZANIA October 1-5, 2007

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1 INFORMATION FLOW, TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY AT THE DISTRICT AND COMMUNITY LEVEL IN TANZANIA FOR EFFECTIVE DELIVERY OF HIV/AIDS SUPPORT: THE TASAF EXPERIENCE Servacius B. Likwelile EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) Dar es Salaam, TANZANIA October 1-5,

2 Scope 1. Introduction 2. Financing modalities of TASAF support 3. Capacity Building under TASAF 4. Support to HIV/AIDS Initiatives: Implementation Arrangements 4.1 Reaching out to communities: information sharing strategy 4.2 Roles and Responsibilities of Key Players 4.3 Transparency and Accountability System 5. Conclusion and Lessons learnt 2

3 1. Introduction The Tanzania Government established Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) in the year 2000 with the aim to put in place the right mechanism to deliver tangible benefits to communities while the government was engaged in a programme to reform the economy to bring about long-term benefits. TASAF is now in its second phase. The main objective of the first phase (TASAF I, ), which covered 42 operational areas, was to increase and enhance the capacity of communities and stakeholders to prioritize, implement, and manage sustainable development initiatives and, in the process, improve socio-economic services and opportunities and ultimately reduce poverty. 3

4 1. Introduction The main objective of the second phase (TASAF II, ), which covers the entire country with 123 operational areas, is to empower communities to access opportunities so that they can request, implement and monitor sub projects that contribute to improved livelihoods linked to MDGs indicator targets as stipulated in the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (MKUKUTA). The expected outputs of TASAF: community subprojects; safety-net sub-projects, sub-projects identified and implemented for vulnerable groups; a functioning monitoring and evaluation system; better informed stakeholders; and improved capacity for facilitation. 4

5 1. Introduction To achieve its objectives TASAF was designed with a view to contribute to, among others: local decision-making with direct funding, implementation and planning processes, harmonized planning procedures, resource allocation and targeting criteria, integrated service provision, adherence to established sector norms and standards, work in harmony with Local Government Authorities, contribute to easy access to information, promotion of community ownership and organization, and strengthened downward accountability. 5

6 1. Introduction Box I: The TASAF Approach facilitates the following: Direct transfer of resources to beneficiaries Focus on poor communities Transparency and enhanced downward accountability Inclusiveness and legitimacy of decisions through participatory planning Sustainability of solutions through broad participation Benefiting from every community member s ideas and experiences Empowered, motivated and engaged community Strengthened capacities of stakeholders Micro-macro linkages Governance linkages: Village/Mtaa-LGA-Central government Community monitoring Broad-based ownership Information sharing for effective delivery 6

7 2. Financing modalities of TASAF support One of the components under TASAF I for implementation of sub projects was the Community Development Initiatives (CDI) (the other being the Public Works Program (PWP) components). These supported communities to have access to some basic services in health, education, water supply, community infrastructure, irrigation schemes, etc. CDI supported demand-driven community initiatives in the socio-economic sectors that improved the accessibility to, and delivery of social and economic services and enhance the capacity of communities and local development partners. 7

8 2. Financing modalities of TASAF support The Social Support Program (SSP) window was created under the CDI to respond to the needs of vulnerable and marginalised persons by channelling resources to the beneficiaries and foster families through intermediary organisations (NGOs, CBOs). TASAF II operates through the National Village Fund (NVF) as the main instrument to respond to community requests for investments that will assist specified beneficiary groups (poor communities and households, as well as vulnerable individuals) to take advantage of opportunities that can lead to improved livelihoods. For the NVF, a community is need-defined and could cover part, all, or several geographical villages. Support to HIV/AIDS infected/affected is done through the Vulnerable Groups (VG) beneficiary group. 8

9 2. Financing modalities of TASAF support The NVF principal target groups are: (i) communities who lack access to basic social services; (ii) food insecure households with able-bodied individuals with limited employment opportunities (a cash-transfer mechanism); and (iii) households with vulnerable individuals (i.e. orphaned, people with disabilities, elderly, affected/infected by HIV/AIDS, etc) for income-generating interventions. 9

10 3. Capacity Building under TASAF A major objective of the TASAF approach is the creation of lasting capacities of stakeholders, especially at the community level; TASAF becoming therefore a learning and knowledge sharing organization for effective and quality program delivery. Information flow, transparency and accountability are critical in the process. They require though having in place measured capacity at all levels, more so at the community level. Thus TASAF I had an Institutional Development (ID) component set to provide the day to day operational support needed for the LGAs to respond to the community demand-driven requests emanating from the participatory planning process. 10

11 3. Capacity Building under TASAF Under TASAF II there is a Capacity Enhancement (CE) component that supports activities geared towards enhancing capacities of communities and sectors. The CE target groups comprise of (a) agencies (public and private) that support communities to make the best use of resources made available under the NVF, and (b) poor individuals participating in groups savings and taking advantage of investment opportunities created by various private-public partnerships. 11

12 4. Support to HIV/AIDS: Implementation Arrangements Critical to the TASAF approach is the direct involvement of beneficiaries in the entire projectcycle; around the Community-driven Development (CDD) approach. Support under Social Support Project (SSP) was channelled through agencies such as NGOs, CBOs and similar organisations and the interventions implemented in a participatory, equitable and sustainable manner. This was to be achieved by providing financial grants and technical resources for programmes targeting this group and supporting the networking of Project Implementation Agencies (PIAs), that is, NGOs and CBOs working in this field. 12

13 4. Support to HIV/AIDS: Implementation Arrangements The aim is to contribute to poverty reduction and reduce suffering among the infected/affected communities. Support under Vulnerable Group (VG) goes straight to those infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. Beneficiaries can as well link up with NGOs, and CBOs to implement a sub-project. Eligible activities for support include income generation activities, home-based care, skills training, and education for prevention purposes. 13

14 4.1 Reaching out to communities: information sharing strategy With respect to transparency, the TASAF experience reinforces the view that information symmetry is a strong element in improved governance and accountability. The idea is to intensify, integrate and innovate development communication activities in an inclusive manner, involving all stakeholders. This is done through, among others, the following: i. Awareness raising: An IEC strategy for disseminating information through Members of Parliament, LGA staff, Councillors, NGOs, CBOs and religious organizations to inform communities about the support and opportunities. This involves also formation of IEC teams in each LGA, wide dissemination of materials, and production of periodic Newsletters (for LGA and national coverage) and radio and television programmes. 14

15 4.1 Reaching out to communities: information sharing strategy ii. NGOs/CBOs Database: A list of all NGOs and CBOs that exist in the LGAs is prepared, with a brief description of the activities of each. iii. Sensitization: Workshops are carried out to sensitize the LGA leaders to equip them to take a leading role in sensitizing communities and other stakeholders and supervise implementation of projects. iv. Guiding Documents: LGAs and Village governments are provided with key guiding documents to facilitate implementation, including: project operation manual, procurement manual (national and community), a list of possible community interventions and service guidelines on community participation. 15

16 4.2 Roles and Responsibilities of Key Players To ensure transparency and accountability roles and responsibilities are distributed between the (a) community, (b) village government, (c) LGAs and at (d) the national level. Most of the activities are carried out at the community level where TASAF support is provided. The Community: A community is need-defined; a group of direct beneficiaries; or a group of caregivers (e.g. foster households) of the beneficiaries who meet the funding criteria. Each community establishes a Community Management Committee (CMC) which is responsible for implementing the subprojects and linked to a local service provider (LSP) for technical support and prepare quarterly progress reports for presentation to Village Council (VC) meetings. Thus communities are the main actors and beneficiaries of TASAF support. CMC are better equipped, through training, to ensure that they play their roles in assisting communities. Community interests to implement a project are expressed through filling in a sub-project interest form (SPIF). 16

17 4.2 Roles and Responsibilities of Key Players Effective community participation at all stages of the project cycle is a key feature in order to enhance ownership and sustainability. The benefiting community members have a role of participating fully in: Needs identification and prioritisation through consultative meetings, Democratically electing a gender sensitive CMC (from sub-project beneficiaries); Agreeing on any self-help contributions and providing the same; Attending the field appraisal sessions to confirm their commitment Attending the launch ceremony to reconfirm their understanding, clarify roles, implementation modalities and sign Financial Agreement Attending periodic community project meetings and monitor the work for transparency and accountability requirements; and Monitoring sustainable utilization of assets created. 17

18 4.2 Roles and Responsibilities of Key Players Village Government: This is where community interests are endorsed; officials participate in sensitisation campaigns, and supervise implementation. Every village/mtaa/shehia has established a Village Fund through which community projects are financed. TASAF resources are made available to strengthen the implementation of accountability measures over the use of resources. LGA: Approves projects, carries out through the sub-project cycle: (i) Extended Participatory Rural Appraisal (E-PRA), appraisal, (ii) technical assistance in the field and (iii) supervise implementation. National: (i) National Steering Committee (NSC) has overall oversight, including endorsement of disbursements, (ii) Sector Experts Team (SET) to ensure adherence to sector norms and standards, and (iii) TASAF Management Unit (TMU) for day to day operation of the facility including oversight over demand-driven capacity enhancement activities. 18

19 4.2 Roles and Responsibilities of Key Players Box II: TASAF Support to HIV/AIDS Initiatives: TASAF I supported implementation of: a) 15 sub projects for 1,262 orphans, including those caused by HIV/AIDS b) 27 sub projects for 875 widows, including those resulting from HIV/AIDS c) 10 sub projects groups of those infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. d) A total of 30,015 persons were reached with HIV/AIDS prevention support TASAF II: To-date sub projects supported are as follows: a) 5 sub projects on HIV/AIDS education and sensitization. b) 48 income generating activities (IGAs) sub projects for the vulnerable groups of those infected/affected by HIV/AIDS and 18 are education related for prevention purposes. c) A total of 76,059 people have so far benefited: women - 40,761 and men - 35,

20 4.3 Transparency and Accountability System Arrangements that ensure accountability in the use of resources include: Approval process: community applications are endorsed by VC, verified and approved by LGA (finance Committee), reviewed to ensure completeness and quality assurance by TMU, checked to ensure adherence to sector norms and standards by SET and endorsed for funding by NSC. Fiduciary Management: LGA Directors are accounting officers. The largest amounts of the NVF resources are disbursed to the CMC who report to the VC, who in turn report to the LGA. A Financing Agreement is signed between a Community and TMU. Community projects with value of up to US$10,000 are approved by the Village Council (VC); LGA endorses projects approved by VC and approves projects with NVF contribution of US$10,001 30,000. SET recommends funding and NSC endorses disbursement of funds as approved by LGA and VC and reviewed by TMU. 20

21 4.3 Transparency and Accountability System Management Information System (MIS): The objective is for the TASAF MIS to interface with that of LGAs. The MIS operates at three different levels and include the following sub-systems: Community level (paper-based): assists communities improve management of sub projects and facilitate linkage between community project implementation actions with LGA supervision support to handle: planning, implementation and monitoring, contracting processes, and accounting processes. Uptake from this level feed into that at the of LGA level. LGA level (computerised): This has four modules, namely (i) planning, implementation and monitoring for tracking projects activities, (ii) Standard Operational Bills of Quantities (OBoQs) for community service packages, (iii) procurement module, and (iv) Financial Management System. National level (TMU - computerised): This is mainly for consolidation of TASAF information from the VCs and LGAs. Performs comparative analysis and produces monitoring and financial reports for consumption of all stakeholders. It has one module, i.e., Project Tracking System (PTS), an information consolidating system maintaining both physical and financial data. 21

22 4.3 Transparency and Accountability System Monitoring and Evaluation The monitoring and evaluation system is community-based. The main objective is to ensure better planning and targeting through efficient and reliable feedback of implementation and outcome information to relevant stakeholders for timely decision making in order to ensure efficiency. The M&E has a results matrix and uses Key Performance Indicators, and it has the following sub-components: Computerized Project Management Information System: Accommodates basic information relating to project inputs, outputs, and expenditure while capturing certain types of baseline information about beneficiary groups, beneficiary households, facilities and services. Studies, Surveys & Evaluation: Conducting baseline studies, special studies (if needed), mid-term evaluation and a final impact assessment at the end of the project. Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation: A participatory approach with qualitative indicators to promote accountability of service providers using Community Score Card and Citizen Report Card as tools. Quarterly reports at community, LGA, regional and National levels. 22

23 5. Conclusion and Lessons learnt Lessons for building a robust system include: Information symmetry is a strong element in improved governance, transparency and accountability There is need to intensify, integrate and innovate development communication activities in an inclusive manner, involving all stakeholders There need to develop an IEC strategy for disseminating information, including formation of IEC teams representative of key stakeholders in each LGA, wide dissemination of materials, and production of periodic Newsletters, radio and television programmes. A list of possible community interventions and service guidelines on community participation should be widely shared so people are aware of the opportunities and what it takes to benefit from them 23

24 5. Conclusion and Lessons learnt Clear delineation of roles and responsibilities between the community, village government, LGAs and local service providers Communities are the main actors and beneficiaries. They have therefore to be better equipped, through training, to ensure that they play their roles accordingly Effective community participation at all stages of the project cycle is a key feature in order to enhance ownership, transparency and sustainability The largest amounts of the programme resources should go to the beneficiaries and a reporting mechanism be instituted to ensure judicious use Information flow should build from the community upwards, with feedback from above to lower levels; important for ensuring transparency and accountability. 24

25 . Thank you for your attention 25