Analysis of Donor Support to Public Sector Reform in Africa

Transcription

1 4 th Pan Africa Meeting of Ministers of Public Service 4-6 May 2003 Analysis of Donor Support to Public Sector Reform in Africa Centre for Public Service Innovation

2 Introduction Analysis of Donor Support to Public Sector Reform in Africa Terms of reference Development of knowledge base of donor supported initiatives in Africa over the last 30 years / next ten years / gaps and areas of commonality Development of interactive database Finalisation of analytical reports Conceptual framework Strategic value of the study

3 Client and Executing Agency Client Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA South Africa) Executing agency Centre for Public Service and Innovation (CPSI) Section 21 Company established in September 2001 by the Minister for Public Service and Administration to identify, support and nurture innovation in public services Vision: Innovative services for growth and development Mission: Promote and support innovation by demonstrating practice, facilitating partnerships, rewarding initiative and sharing knowledge Role: CPSI functions as an enabler, facilitator and champion for innovative ideas

4 Partnership with the African Governance Inventory (AGI) AGI The Africa Governance Inventory (AGI) is a database containing financial and descriptive information on governance initiatives implemented in sub-saharan Africa covering 24 countries Executed by the Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (UNDESA) Responded to the need for a database as expressed by participants in the First Africa Governance Forum (AGF), held in Addis Ababa in 1997 Strategic partnership with the AGI Possible collaboration for the future

5 Overview of presentation Status of study Key findings Interactive database Recommendations

6 STATUS OF STUDY Current - database containing data of at least 36 of the 53 countries - a number of sources accessed - ten countries visited - academic workshops (South Africa and Morocco) By end of May validation of data and data gaps - Donors conference in Tanzania - Finalisation of interactive database - Finalisation of all deliverables and packaging -Handover

7 KEY ELEMENTS OF THE STUDY Governance components - Public Administration - Decentralisation - Rule of law and human rights - Electoral system - Parliamentary system The range of governance and public sector reform initiatives and components Branches of the State - Judiciary - Legislature - Executive - Oversight bodies Paradigms/ trends/ past and future Public sector reform Key institutional forms operative in the public sector Functional areas - Policy development and regulation - Systems and process design - Institutional restructuring and development - Cross cutting themes such as gender and HIV / AIDS - Monitoring and evaluation Key functional and institutional interventions underpinned by capacity building as the generic value add Regional, sub regional and national perspectives At the country and sub region structure levels

8 Key findings - overview Key findings divided into: Overall finding 11 specific findings Constraints: General difficulty in accessing data Outputs and impacts not reflected Interim findings (data gaps) Data reflected over the last years

9 Overall finding Donor support to Public Sector Reform has not yielded long-term sustainability of reform or capacity development in most African countries Technical Assistance Foreign best practice Mechanisms of engagement Corruption Lack of political legitimacy Strife and internal conflicts

10 Specific findings Dependence on Donor

11 Spend per component of governance

12 Country Spend on Public Administration

13 Key donors active in Public Sector Reform

14 Government contribution to Public Sector Reform The sampling of countries demonstrates the trend that government contribution to PS is insignificant relative to donor spend Contributions in kind have not bee quantified but suggest that government contributions are more significant than reflected

15 Spend by lending institutions The World Bank remains a significant supporter of PSR but in the context of Structural Adjustment Programmes and loans

16 Total spend on PSR per NEPAD Sub regions

17 Sub regional structures Including: - COMESA -SADC - ECCAS -ECOWAS have currently no clearly defined interventions and processes related to PSR in their member countries

18 Donor Coordination Lack of Donor coordination at the country and sub-regional levels resulting in: duplication and wastage over-funding Lack of response to country priorities Indicative of fad based approach to funding

19 Direct and indirect contributions by donors Many Donors contribute to countries directly (through bi-lateral funding) and indirectly (through their contributions to multi-lateral institutions) Bilateral Aid by type 1999 ($ millions) Technical co-operation Developmental food aid Emergency & distress relief $13 033m Debt forgiveness $18 517m Administrative costs $1 045m $4 365m Bilateral loans Contributions to multilateral institutions $3 951m $3 049m $2 277m

20 Technical assistance and capacity development Technical Assistance and capacity building is more supply than demand driven tend to meet short term results but no evidence of long term and sustainable impact Foreign best practice has reinforced international perspectives and experience at the expense of indigenous knowledge, contextual conditions and cultural sensitivities

21 Interactive database Has been designed with development tools and software that makes it accessible across the region Will currently be packaged on CD ROM but can be web enabled for the future (internet access) Will migrate to a relevant institutional form within the African Union as a regional resource and monitoring instrument Recommend that it be temporarily housed and maintained by the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) in South Africa - in the interim Will be fully interactive by the end of May 2003

22 Snapshots of database

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26 Recommendations Framework of Action Public Sector Reform Donor Support Pan Africa Ministers meetings - every two years

27 Public Sector Reform Common understanding of definitions (Public Administration, Public Sector, Civil Service, Governance) Share African success stories and lessons learnt reflecting the African experience for Africa s development Manage a dialogue and network platform that cuts across language divides (exploits the IT revolution and emphasis on knowledge societies) Engage and actively mobilise African expertise and academic resources for PSR development in the region regional register of experts and specialists Engage existing regional and sub regional institutions to mobilise efforts in addressing PSR challenges in the region Encourage the development of PSR indicators and the setting up of a regional monitor

28 Donor Support Call donor conferences at Regional and sub-regional levels to critically reflect / plan Set and respond to priorities and trends with reference to Donor support to PSR Review and advocate more empowering governance arrangements and mechanisms of control Advocate Donors to use African expertise and best practices in their TA and capacity development processes - reducing foreign best practice Monitor donor spend, outputs and impacts on PSR Provide a platform for Donor critical reflections of challenges and successes that mitigate or enhance the impacts of their PSR efforts Call for greater sensitivity towards language, culture, indigenous knowledge and African best practice Advocate donors to align their funding interests with country or regional priorities

29 Pan Africa Meeting of Ministers of Public Service Ensure currency of database on PSR Review decisions and plans with reference to donor support to Public Sector Reform Commission evaluation studies, research and academic papers on PSR Reflect on and determine regional and sub regional priorities in PSR Call for comprehensive regional reports on donor support to PSR

30 Sources of data Publications Websites, such as: - Donor sites - Country sites Project documents: - country specific documents Interviews of key resource persons in embassies, government and donor agencies Meetings and seminars Databases Journals Books Country visits - Donor representatives - Government representatives

31 Thank you