Document of
The World Bank Public Disclosure Authorized Report No: ICR00003519
IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION AND RESULTS REPORT
(IDA-H3290)
ON A GRANT Public Disclosure Authorized IN THE AMOUNT OF SDR 11.5 MILLION
(US$ 17.0 MILLION EQUIVALENT)
TO THE
REPUBLIC OF GUINEA
FOR THE
VILLAGE COMMUNITIES SUPPORT PROGRAM (PHASE II OF APL) Public Disclosure Authorized
June 29, 2015
Urban, Rural and Social Development Country Department AFCF2 Africa Region Public Disclosure Authorized
CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS
(Exchange Rate Effective June 2015)
Currency Unit = GNF 1 USD = 7 294 GNF 1 GNF = 0.0001371 USD
FISCAL YEAR January 1 – December 31
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYNMS
AFD Agence Française de Développement ADL Agent de Développement Local (Community Development Agent) AIP Annual Investment Program APL Adjustable Program Loan CAS Country Assistance Strategy CCL Code de Collectivités Local (Local Government Code) CDL Contribution au Développement Local (local development tax) CNC Cellule Nationale de la Coordination (National Coordinating Unit) CPS Country Partnership Strategy CR Commune Rurale (Rural Municipality) DIME Development Impact Evaluation Initiative CRD Commune Rurale de Développement (Rural Development Municipality) DND Direction Nationale de la Décentralisation (National Directorate of Decentralization) ERA Equipe Régionale d’Appui (Regional Support Team) ERR Economic rate of return ESMF Environmental and Social Management Framework EU European Union FM Financial management GDP Gross domestic product GEF Global Environment Facility GoG Government of Guinea IC Ingenieur Conseil (Advising Engineer) IDA International Development Association IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development INS Institut National de Statistique (National Statistics Institute) LDF Local Development Fund LDP Local Development Plan LIF Local Investment Fund
i MATD Ministère de l’Administration du Territoire et de la Décentralisation (Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization) MEF Ministry of Economy and Finance ME Ministry of Education MEEF Ministère de l'Environnement, des Eaux et Forêts (Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests) MoE Ministry of Education MoH Ministry of Health NPV Net present value PACV Programme d’Appui aux Communautés Villageoises (Village Communities Support Program) PAD Project Appraisal Document PDO Project Development Objective PFM Public Financial Management PGCT Projet de Gestion Communautaire des Terres (Community Based Land Mangement Project) PGCMB Projet de Gestion Côtière et Maritime de la Biodiversité (Coastal Marine and Biodiversity Management Project) PRCB Projet de Renforcement des Capacités de Boké (Capacity Building Project, Boké) PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper PRCK Projet de Renforcement des Capacités de Kamsar (Capacity Building Project, Kamsar) PRCS Programme de Renforcement des Capacités de Simandou (Capacity Building Project, Simandou) PSE Programme Sectoriel de l’Education QER Quality Enhancement Review RPF Resettlement Policy Framework SPD Service Préfectoral de Développement (Prefectural Development Service) STD Service Technique de Développement (Technical Development Service) TTL Task Team Leader
Senior Global Practice Director: Ede Jorge Ijjasz-Vasquez Practice Manager: Jorge A. Munoz Project Team Leader: Amadou Alassane ICR Team Leader: Amadou Alassane
ii CONTENTS
Data Sheet A. Basic Information B. Key Dates C. Ratings Summary D. Sector and Theme Codes E. Bank Staff F. Results Framework Analysis G. Ratings of Project Performance in ISRs H. Restructuring I. Disbursement Graph
1. Project Context, Development Objective, and Design ...... 1 2. Key Factors Affecting Implementation and Outcomes ...... 7 3. Assessment of Outcomes ...... 14 4. Assessment of Risk to Development Outcomes ...... 25 5. Assessment of Bank and Borrower Performance ...... 26 6. Lessons Learned ...... 28 7. Comments and Issues Raised by Borrower/Implementing Agencies/Partners ...... 30 Annex 1. Project Costs and Financing ...... 31 Annex 2. Outputs by Component...... 34 Annex 3. Economic and Financial Analysis ...... 39 Annex 4. Bank Lending and Project Support/Supervision Processes ...... 44 Annex 5. Beneficiary/Impact Assessment Survey ...... 46 Annex 6. Summary of Borrower’s ICR and/or Comments on Draft ICR ...... 51 Annex 7. Comments from Co-financiers and Other Partners/Stakeholders ...... 59 Annex 8: Revised intermediate outcome indicators ...... 60 Annex 9: Status of the policy and institutional triggers for the third phase ...... 61 Annex 10. List of Supporting Documents ...... 64 Annex 11. MAP IBRD 33414 ...... 66
iii
A. Basic Information GN-Village Comm Supp Country: Guinea Project Name: Program - Phase 2 COFN-C1330,IDA- Project ID: P065129 L/C/TF Number(s): H3290 ICR Date: 06/29/2015 ICR Type: Core ICR Lending Instrument: APL Borrower: GOVT OF GUINEA Original Total XDR 11.50M Disbursed Amount: XDR 11.33M Commitment: Revised Amount: XDR 11.50M Environmental Category: B Implementing Agencies: DND, MATD Coordination Nationale PACV Cofinanciers and Other External Partners: IFAD AFD
B. Key Dates
Revised / Actual Process Date Process Original Date Date(s) Concept Review: 02/03/2004 Effectiveness: 03/26/2008 03/26/2008 06/22/2012 Appraisal: 12/13/2006 Restructuring(s): 05/29/2013 12/13/2013 Approval: 08/14/2007 Mid-term Review: 10/15/2012 10/08/2012 Closing: 06/30/2012 12/31/2014
C. Ratings Summary
C.1 Performance Rating by ICR Outcomes: Moderately Satisfactory Risk to Development Outcome: Substantial Bank Performance: Satisfactory Borrower Performance: Moderately Satisfactory
iv C.2 Detailed Ratings of Bank and Borrower Performance (by ICR) Bank Ratings Borrower Ratings Quality at Entry: Satisfactory Government: Moderately Satisfactory Implementing Quality of Supervision: Satisfactory Satisfactory Agency/Agencies: Overall Bank Overall Borrower Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory Performance: Performance:
C.3 Quality at Entry and Implementation Performance Indicators Implementation QAG Assessments (if Indicators Rating Performance any) Potential Problem Project Quality at Entry Yes None at any time (Yes/No): (QEA): Problem Project at any Quality of Supervision Yes None time (Yes/No): (QSA): DO rating before Satisfactory Closing/Inactive status:
D. Sector and Theme Codes
Original Actual Sector Code (as % of total Bank financing) Central government administration 16 16 General agriculture, fishing and forestry sector 26 26 General water, sanitation and flood protection sector 13 13 Other social services 13 13 Sub-national government administration 32 32
Theme Code (as % of total Bank financing) Decentralization 33 33 Other rural development 17 17 Participation and civic engagement 33 33 Rural policies and institutions 17 17
E. Bank Staff
Positions At ICR At Approval Vice President: Makhtar Diop Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili
v Country Director: Ousmane Diagana Mats Karlsson Practice Manager/Manager: Jorge A. Munoz Karen Mcconnell Brooks Project Team Leader: Amadou Alassane Jane C. Hopkins ICR Team Leader: Amadou Alassane ICR Primary Author: Kofi Amponsah
F. Results Framework Analysis
Project Development Objectives (from Project Appraisal Document) Local rural governments (s) are enabled to fulfill their mandate by planning and implementing inclusive local development activities, and improving revenue performance to sustain recurrent costs.
Revised Project Development Objectives (as approved by original approving authority)
(a) PDO Indicator(s)
Original Target Actual Value Formally Values (from Achieved at Indicator Baseline Value Revised approval Completion or Target Values documents) Target Years Percentage of citizens in supported CRs who have participated in the local development Indicator 1 : planning process. Value quantitative or 7.3% 55% 27% 30% Qualitative) Date achieved 08/31/2009 06/30/2012 10/26/2012 12/31/2014 Comments The original baseline value of 40% was an estimate. It (and the original target) were (incl. % revised downward based on the results of the baseline survey completed in 2009. The achievement) revised target was 111% achieved. Percentage of citizens who have participated in the planning and consider that their Indicator 2 : opinions have been taken into account. Value quantitative or 12% 60% 32% 33% Qualitative) Date achieved 08/31/2009 06/30/2012 10/26/2012 12/31/2014 Comments The original baseline value of 50% was an estimate. It (and the original target) were (incl. % revised downward based on the results of the baseline survey completed in 2009.The achievement) revised target was 103% achieved. Percentage of CRs which have implemented their annual investment plan (AIP) within Indicator 3 : the timeframe defined by the project implementation manual (6 months from the receipt of funds until the receipt of the AIP). Value quantitative or 0% 50% 50% Qualitative)
vi
Date achieved 10/26/2012 10/26/2012 12/03/2014 Comments (incl. % This PDO indicator was added at the time of the MTR. The target was 100% achieved. achievement) Indicator 4 : Percentage of CRs which have increased their tax and non-tax receipts by at least 10% Value quantitative or 0 50% 52.6% Qualitative) Date achieved 10/26/2012 10/26/2012 12/31/2014 Comments This PDO indicator was added at the time of the MTR, replacing the per capita tax (incl. % collection indicator since per capita tax collection was annulled following the election achievement) of President Condé. The target was 105% achieved. Percentage of CRs with a single Annual Investment Program (AIP) that reflects Indicator 5 : multiple funding sources (sources in addition to PACV, PGCT or PGCMB project resources). Value quantitative or 0% 40% 45% Qualitative) Date achieved 08/14/2007 06/30/2012 12/31/2014 Comments This IO-level indicator was moved to the PDO-level at the time of the MTR. The target (incl. % was 113% achieved. achievement) Number of beneficiaries who have improved access to socio-economic services due to Indicator 6 : infrastructure constructed under the project Value quantitative or 0 2,325,966 Qualitative) Date achieved 08/14/2007 12/31/2014 Comments This core WB indicator was added at the time of the MTR. Given the demand-driven (incl. % nature of the investments, no target value was provided. achievement)
(b) Intermediate Outcome Indicator(s)
Original Target Actual Value Formally Values (from Achieved at Indicator Baseline Value Revised Target approval Completion or Values documents) Target Years Percentage of supported CRs that use various means to inform citizens on financial Indicator 1 : details (budget and AIP) Value (quantitative 67% 70% 87% 100% or Qualitative) Date achieved 08/31/2009 06/30/2012 10/26/2012 12/03/2014 Comments The target was 115% achieved - all the 304 (100%) CRs use various public means to (incl. % inform citizens about budget and AIP details. achievement)
vii Percentage of technical audits of infrastructure financed under the Annual Investment Indicator 2 : Program that conform to technical norms. Value (quantitative 60% 80% 75% 72% or Qualitative) Date achieved 08/14/2007 06/30/2012 10/26/2012 12/31/2014 Comments The wording of this indicator was revised during the MTR to better reflect the intent of (incl. % the indicator. Results of the technical audit conducted in 2013 showed that 72% of achievement) micro-projects are of good quality. The target was 96% achieved. Percentage of CRs that allocate adequate funds (at least 1% of their annual budget) to Indicator 3 : maintenance of infrastructure Value (quantitative 25% 60% 50% 57% or Qualitative) Date achieved 08/14/2009 06/30/2012 10/26/2012 12/31/2014 Comments More precise wording was adopted for this indicator at the time of the MTR and the (incl. % target was also adjusted. This indicator was 114% achieved according to the results of achievement) the survey conducted in 2014 by the National Statistics Institute. Percentage of citizens in the covered CRs who know the content of their annual Indicator 4 : investment program. Value (quantitative 0% 20% 15% or Qualitative) Date achieved 10/26/2012 10/26/2012 12/31/2014 Comments (incl. % This indicator was added at the time of the MTR. The target was 75% achieved. achievement) Indicator 5 : Number of CRs who have a current (new or updated) Local Development Plan. Value (quantitative 159 304 304 or Qualitative) Date achieved 08/14/2007 06/30/2012 12/31/2014 Comments (incl. % This indicator was 100% achieved. achievement) Indicator 6 : Percentage of women on management committees of the CRs. Value (quantitative 15% 30% 26% or Qualitative) Date achieved 08/14/2007 06/30/2012 12/31/2014 Comments This indicator was 87% achieved according to the results of the 2014 survey conducted (incl. % by the Nationals Statistics Institute. achievement) Percentage of Local Development Plans where the sub-prefecture and prefecture sector Indicator 7 : staff have participated in the full project cycle (diagnosis, planning and implementation). Value 30% 50% 60% 100% (quantitative
viii or Qualitative) Date achieved 08/14/2007 06/30/2012 10/26/2012 12/31/2014 Comments This indicator was 167% achieved. Partnership agreements were signed and monitored (incl. % with all 33 prefectures to ensure effective participation of prefecture and sub-prefecture achievement) staff. Indicator 8 : Percentage of infrastructure financed by the project that are staffed on completion Value (quantitative 75% 85% 98% or Qualitative) Date achieved 08/14/2007 06/30/2012 12/31/2014 Comments This PDO-level indicator was moved to the IO-level at the MTR and was 115% (incl. % achieved. achievement) Indicator 9 : Percentage of financial audits that are unqualified (without reserve). Value (quantitative 100% 100% 100% or Qualitative) Date achieved 08/14/2007 06/30/2012 12/31/2014 Comments (incl. % 100% of the financial audits conducted were unqualified. achievement) Indicator 10 : Percentage of procurement activities that are carried out according to guidelines. Value (quantitative 100% 100% 100% or Qualitative) Date achieved 08/14/2007 06/30/2012 12/31/2014 Comments An analysis of the minutes of the local procurement process was conducted in 2013 and (incl. % 2014 by the regional project staff. Results indicated that procurement activities were in achievement) conformity with the procedures in 98% and 100% of the cases respectively. Percentage of quarterly and annual reports from regional teams submitted on time to the Indicator 11 : CNC. Value (quantitative 50% 100% 100% or Qualitative) Date achieved 08/14/2007 06/30/2012 12/31/2014 Comments The wording of this indicator was revised at the MTR to focus on the timely (incl. % transmission of regional reports to the central level. The target was 100% achieved achievement) leading to improved database management. Indicator 12 : Percentage of prefectures that provide the required monitoring data in a timely manner. Value (quantitative 0% 60% 50% 50% or Qualitative) Date achieved 08/14/2007 06/30/2012 10/26/2012 12/31/2014 Comments The revised target was 100% achieved. The M&E database has been installed and staff (incl. % in all 33 prefectures have received equipment and training; 50% of the prefectures achievement) (100% of target) provide monitoring data in timely manner. Indicator 13 : Number of health facilities constructed, renovated and/or equipped (core indicator). Value 118
ix (quantitative or Qualitative) Date achieved 12/31/2014 Comments This core WB indicator was not included in the results framework but was added to the (incl. % ISR reporting to track implementation progress since many other indicators could only achievement) be updated with survey data. Number of additional classrooms built or rehabilitated at the primary level resulting Indicator 14 : from project interventions (core indicator). Value (quantitative 216 or Qualitative) Date achieved 12/31/2014 Comments This core WB indicator was not included in the results framework but was added to the (incl. % ISR reporting to track implementation progress since many other indicators could only achievement) be updated with survey data.
G. Ratings of Project Performance in ISRs
Date ISR Actual Disbursements No. DO IP Archived (USD millions) 1 11/30/2007 Satisfactory Satisfactory 0.00 2 05/28/2008 Satisfactory Satisfactory 0.71 3 12/24/2008 Moderately Satisfactory Satisfactory 3.46 4 06/30/2009 Moderately Unsatisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory 3.46 5 12/23/2009 Moderately Unsatisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory 3.46 6 06/25/2010 Moderately Unsatisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory 3.46 7 07/12/2011 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 4.96 8 03/19/2012 Moderately Satisfactory Satisfactory 8.54 9 04/24/2013 Moderately Satisfactory Satisfactory 14.22 10 11/11/2013 Moderately Satisfactory Satisfactory 17.32 11 07/12/2014 Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 17.85 12 01/07/2015 Moderately Satisfactory Satisfactory 17.85
H. Restructuring (if any)
ISR Ratings at Amount Board Restructuring Restructuring Disbursed at Reason for Restructuring & Key Approved PDO Date(s) Restructuring Changes Made Change DO IP in USD millions Extension of closing date and 06/22/2012 N MS S 9.35 reallocation of proceeds 05/29/2013 MS S 15.37 Extension of closing date Reallocation of proceeds and 12/13/2013 N MS S 17.32 change in financing percentages
x
I. Disbursement Profile
xi 1. Project Context, Development Objective, and Design
1.1 Context at appraisal
1. Although Guinea is rich in natural resources, gross domestic product (GDP) growth had averaged only 2.3 percent over the 2003-2005 period. Real GDP growth was 1.2 percent in 2003 and 2.7 percent in 2004, compared with an annual population growth rate of 3.1 percent. Per capita gross national income fell from US$ 450 in 2000 to US$ 386 in 2004. Overall poverty rose from 49.2 percent in 2002 to 56 percent in 2005. With the exception of gross school enrolment (77 percent), other key social welfare indicators had deteriorated significantly; for example, 35 percent of the population was estimated to be underweight, the country had 9 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants, and only 42 percent of the population had access to portable water in 2005.
2. At appraisal, Guinea’s poor performance was variously attributed to its unevenly distributed growth, which led to highly skewed incomes; a large, highly centralized public sector and widespread corruption, which discouraged investment; limited and inefficient public expenditure; inadequate infrastructure, which contributed to poor social indicators; and a host of external factors, mostly related to instability throughout the sub-region and a high influx of refugees. These challenges were compounded by the effects of decades of weak governance: endemic corruption, weak political institutions, lack of inclusiveness and dialogue, and poor legal and regulatory frameworks.
3. The Government of Guinea’s 2002 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) outlined a plan to address those challenges, based on three pillars: (i) ensure faster economic growth and create employment opportunities, particularly for the rural poor; (ii) improve access to basic services; and (iii) improve governance by strengthening institutional and human capacity. The PRSP identified the government’s policy on decentralization as an entry point for implementing reforms, but reforms were inhibited by several obstacles. There was resistance to change at the central level, coupled with a poor understanding of the benefits of decentralization at the local level. The human, physical, and financial capital to promote and sustain reforms was lacking. Administrative structures at all levels suffered from ineffective coordination and unclear mandates. A particular obstacle was the government’s inability to finance the reforms, especially to meet the recurrent costs of local governments.
4. The government, in line with its priorities and in consideration of the important role decentralization plays in reducing poverty, requested World Bank support to improve local governance and strengthen its decentralized institutions at all levels. The Bank responded with a three-phased Adjustable Program Loan (APL) to help implement the reforms. Phase 1 of the APL, implemented as a pilot project over 1999-2007 period, was remarkably successful. It promoted reforms to support decentralization, including the development of systems (and new budget nomenclature) to transfer financial resources to local governments in rural communities. It helped to establish a new regulatory framework for decentralization, in line with the legal framework that had been developed for local governments (Code des Collectivités Locales, CCL). At the same time, the pilot project undertook to equip Rural Development Communities (Communautés Rurales de Développement, CRDs) with the tools and skills for planning and implementing
1 inclusive local development programs and improving the delivery of services at the local level. To scale up these impressive results nationwide, the Second Village Communities Support Program (Programme d’Appui aux Communautés Villageoises, PACV2) was designed. PACV2 complemented the World Bank’s 2003–06 Country Assistance Strategy (CAS), which focused on providing support to front-line service delivery, institutional capacity building, and policy reforms at the local level.
1.2 Original Program and Development Objectives (PDO) and Key Indicators
5. Program objective. The long-term programmatic objective of the PACV APL series was to strengthen local governance in rural Guinea and promote social and economic empowerment of the rural population, including women, youth, and other marginalized groups. The long-term vision of the program was that, upon completion of its final phase, local communities and their representative local governments would have developed: (i) the capability to identify, prioritize, plan, and manage their own infrastructure and service delivery; (ii) the capacity to mobilize and use transparently the resources necessary to finance the establishment, rehabilitation, and maintenance of basic community infrastructure; (iii) the ability to oversee the implementation, operation, and continued maintenance of community infrastructure, either by contracting private firms or through the support of the de-concentrated government services; and (iv) the capacity to sustain development efforts and enhance good governance practices. The original long-term program objective and vision remained valid for the second phase of PACV.
6. Project Development Objective of PACV Phase 2. The Project Development Objective (PDO) stated in the Project Appraisal Document (PAD) was: “CRD1s are enabled to fulfill their mandate by planning and implementing inclusive local development activities, and improving revenue performance to sustain their recurrent costs” (p. 7). The PDO was stated as follows in the Grant Agreement: “To support the Recipient’s Rural Development Communities in fulfillment of their mandate of planning and implementing inclusive local development activities, and improving their revenue performance to sustain recurrent costs” (p. 5).
7. To achieve this objective, the following key performance indicators were agreed:
Percent of citizens in supported CRDs who participated in the local development planning process. Percent of citizens who consider that their views have been taken into account in the local development planning process. Percent of infrastructure investments financed by the project staffed on completion. Annual head tax (Contribution au Développement Local, CDL) collection rate in supported CRDs.
1 In a revision of the Code des Collectivités Locales (CCL), rural municipalities were placed on the same footing with urban municipalities (Communes Urbaines, CUs) and their name was changed from CRD to CR; the terms are used interchangeably throughout this report.
2
1.3 Revised PDO (as approved by original approving authority) and Key Indicators, and reasons/justification
8. The PDO was not revised, but key performance indicators and their targets, including baseline values, were revised by the midterm review team2 as follows:
The targets for PDO indicators 1 and 2 were revised downward due to a revision in their baseline figures. The original baseline values for these indicators were taken from the PACV1 database which included only the Rural Municipalities (Communes Rurales, CRs)3 that had benefited from PACV1 project activities and were therefore not representative of all CRs (covered under PACV2). This became clear when the new, more detailed information became available from the results of a detailed baseline survey that was completed in 2009 with the support from the Development Impact Evaluation Initiative (DIME).
PDO indicator 3 (Percent of infrastructure investments financed by the project staffed on completion) became an intermediate indicator, because it measured the performance of Component 2 rather than the PDO. It was replaced by a new indicator: Percentage of CRs that have implemented their Annual Investment Program (AIP) within the timeframe defined by the Project Implementation Manual (PIM).
PDO indicator 4 (Annual head tax (contribution au développement local, CDL) collection rate in supported CRDs) was reformulated to take into account the fact that the government canceled the annual head tax in 2011, following the election of President Alpha Condé. The reformulated indicator (Percentage of CRs which have increased their tax and nontax receipts by at least 10%) took into account the overall level of revenues generated by the CRs.
An intermediate outcome indicator - Percentage of CRs with a single Annual Investment Program (AIP) that reflects multiple funding sources (sources in addition to PACV, PGCT or PGCMB project resources)4 - was brought up to the PDO level, as it measured the performance of the CRs in the annual planning process and in mobilizing resources to support their AIPs.
A new indicator (Number of beneficiaries who have improved access to socio-economic services due to infrastructure constructed under the project) was introduced. This core World Bank indicator, which measures the number of project beneficiaries had not been taken into account when the project was designed.
2 Midterm review aide-memoire (pp. 37–39), October 8-26, 2012. 3 In a revision of the CCL, rural municipalities were placed on the same footing with urban municipalities (Communes Urbaines, CUs) and their name was changed from CRD to CR. 4 PGCT is the Projet de Gestion Communauté des Terres (Community Based Land Mangement Project); PGCMB is the Projet de Gestion Côtière et Maritime de la Biodiversité (Coastal Marine and Biodiversity Management Project). 3 1.4 Main beneficiaries
9. The project targeted residents of 304 CRs who, for the most part, had not benefited from investment in essential basic social infrastructure and services. The target population was to benefit directly from construction/rehabilitation of social infrastructure (schools, health facilities, roads and bridges and crossing, etc.). Institutionally, all the 304 local government administrative structures (CRs) and the prefectures, regional administration and National Directorate of Decentralization (DND) were also to benefit from project interventions.
1.5 Original components
10. The project consisted of three components: (i) Local Investment Fund (LIF); (ii) Capacity Building for Decentralized Rural Development; and (iii) Project Management, Monitoring, and Evaluation.
Component 1: Local Investment Fund (LIF) (Appraisal Estimate US$ 8.9 million; Actual US$ 8.6 million)
11. The objective of Component 1 was for CRDs to receive and manage funds transparently to develop and maintain technically sound infrastructure. Through participatory planning, budgeting, and financial management, Component 1 provided an opportunity for local governments to implement their own development plans and activities. Two financing windows were established under the LIF - one for public socio-economic infrastructure and services identified by CRDs in their Local Development Plans (LDPs) and a second to integrate activities aimed at ensuring sustainable management and protection of natural resources. Incremental funding for the second window came from two complementary, geographically limited pilot projects financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) - the Community-Based Land Management Project (Projet de Gestion Communauté des Terres, PGCT ) and Coastal Marine and Biodiversity Management Project (Projet de Gestion Côtière et Maritime de la Biodiversité, PGCMB).5 Resources in the LIF were intended to complement local governments’ investment budgets as a means of improving access to basic socio-economic infrastructure in rural areas. Funds from the LIF were also intended to help local governments leverage additional resources and to support efforts to build local planning, implementation, and resource management capacity.
Component 2: Capacity Building for Decentralized Rural Development (Appraisal Estimate US$ 4.2 million; Actual US$ 4.0 million)
12. The objective of Component 2 was for CRDs to prepare and implement their development and investment programs in an inclusive manner, with adequate support from de-concentrated staff. It also aimed to increase CRDs’ capacity to manage the infrastructure they would finance. To that end, the component would address and improve the technical and fiduciary skills needed at the different decentralized levels to implement local development activities. It would also help to develop a legal framework to support the fiscal and administrative decentralization provisions in the CCL. More specifically, Component 2 had seven aims. First, it would develop CRDs’ capacity to undertake participatory planning and resource allocation based on a simple, results-
5 PGCMB closed on December 31, 2013; PGCT closed at the same time as PACV2 on December 31, 2014. 4
oriented approach, guided by the principles of community empowerment, transparency, and ownership. Second, it would strengthen the capacity of de-concentrated staff and recruit Community Development Agents (Agents de Développement Communautaire, ADCs) to support CRDs in community-level development planning and investment. Third, it would develop CRDs’ capacity to broaden their revenue base, including ensuring accountability and transparency, and (fourth) support activities that would promote transparency and accountability related to the LIF. A fifth aim of Component 2 was to support outreach campaigns conducted by the project to sensitize communities about the CCL and the roles and responsibilities of decentralized institutions. Sixth, Component 2 would help to strengthen the government’s approach to decentralized rural development, including by developing the provisions of the CCL, with a particular focus on fiscal and administrative decentralization. Finally, Component 2 would support legal and regulatory reforms related to decentralization, with a focus on fiscal decentralization.
Component 3: Project Management, Monitoring, and Evaluation (Appraisal Estimate US$ 3.9 million; Actual US$ 4.8 million)
13. The objective of Component 3 was to support the National Coordination Unit (Cellule National de Coordination, CNC) so that it could effectively coordinate, monitor, and evaluate activities under PACV2. The CNC’s project management responsibilities included: harmonizing implementation procedures, preparing and overseeing the implementation of annual work programs, providing support to the Project Steering Committee, organizing field supervision trips, managing the LIF and transferring funds to local governments, and ensuring compliance with project implementation procedures and guidelines. In addition, Component 3 would help CNC to perform its monitoring and evaluation (M&E) functions by focusing on the collection of data to measure the project’s progress and results, inform decisions taken under the project, and evaluate the project’s impacts. Under Component 3, M&E also had a participatory emphasis; the intention was for beneficiaries and the government to become involved in monitoring compliance with technical and fiduciary guidelines as well as social and environmental safeguard policies. The component also financed seven Regional Support Teams (Equipes Régionales d’Appui, ERAs)— one for each administrative region—mandated with coordination, facilitation, mentoring, and skills transfer at the local level.
1.6 Revised components
14. The components were not revised.
1.7 Other significant changes
15. Project restructuring. The project was restructured three times – in June 2012, May 2013 and December 2013.6 In December 2008, the President of the Republic died and the military took over government affairs. In line with the World Bank’s operational policy regarding de facto governments (OP 7.30), the Bank suspended disbursements until April 2011, when elections were completed and a democratically elected government was formed. In early 2009, the annual work plan was scaled back in line with the funds available in the Designated Account. By April 2010, the initial deposit had been fully disbursed and most of the project staff was placed on
6 All were level two restructurings. 5 administrative leave. Following the lifting of OP 7.30 on January 19, 2011, and the payment of arrears in April 2011, the suspension was lifted on April 21, 2011. The project team was reconstituted and put together an ambitious work plan to jumpstart implementation.
16. In letters dated December 2011 and January 2012 the government requested: (i) an increase in the Designated Account ceiling; (ii) a reallocation of fund proceeds; and (iii) a two- year extension of the closing date. A revised Disbursement Letter was issued in December 2011 and the June 2012 restructuring granted a one-year extension of the closing date, pending the outcome of the midterm review planned for October 2012. The Bank also reallocated funds to cover additional operating costs arising from the two-year hiatus in activities and from the need for PACV2 to essentially start all over again and scale up rapidly to reach the expanded number of CRs included in the project’s second phase.
17. A substantial backlog of AIPs accumulated during the hiatus in the project’s activities, and to prevent further delays in implementation, the government requested a one-time exceptional advance payment on April 20, 2012. The aim was to enable the government to quickly disburse funds and clear the backlog. On May 25, 2012, the Bank approved the request and issued an addendum to the Disbursement Letter that allowed an increase in the Designated Account (DA-A) ceiling from US$ 2.5 to US$ 5.5million.
18. In October 2012, the midterm review found that significant implementation progress had been made after the Bank’s re-engagement, particularly under the LIF (Component 1). The disbursement rate had increased from 20 percent in April 2011 to 75 percent at the time of the midterm review. The implementation of Component 2 (capacity building) significantly lagged, however. The team developed an ambitious work plan to speed implementation. The government requested an extension of the closing date from December 31, 2013 to December 31, 2014 to complete the activities in the work plan. The midterm review team also reformulated and simplified some of the intermediate outcome indicators to make them more clear and measurable (see Annex 10 for details). The May 2013 restructuring granted this extension and updated the results framework based on the results of the MTR. The final restructuring was carried out in December 2013 to reallocate proceeds and adjust financing percentages to take into account the addition of AFD funding (see discussion below).
19. Termination of “Cooperating Institution” arrangement between IDA and IFAD. As with the first phase of the PACV, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) co- financed the second phase under a pari passu financing arrangement, with IDA designated as the “Cooperating Institution”.7 The IDA Grant Agreement was signed on September 20, 2007, and the agreement with IFAD signed on October 4, 2007; the financing percentages were 62 percent IDA and 38 percent IFAD. In addition, IDA was appointed the “Cooperating Institution” for IFAD. This arrangement functioned well until OP7.30 went into effect. In June 2009 IFAD communicated its concern to the World Bank over the suspension of disbursements,8 and in December 2009 IFAD terminated its “Cooperating Institution” agreement with the Bank. At the request of the
7Under the terms of the Cooperating Institution agreement, IDA was responsible for supervision activities and in particular the fiduciary supervision. All withdrawal application were submitted to IDA form processing and once approved, instructions were sent to IFAD to disburse on their share. 8 IFAD did not have OP 7.30 and did not stop disbursement until 2010 due to arrears. 6
Government, a modified agreement was reinstated after the Bank’s reengagement to allow the multi-donor pari passu financing to continue.
20. Modification to funding modalities to include AFD. AFD’s contribution to phase II of the PACV was conditional on Guinea reaching the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point. This took longer than expected and AFD’s financial support of € 6 million (US$ 7.5 million) was only confirmed during the midterm review mission, and approved in December 2013. To avoid disruption to project activities, the government requested that AFD financing be done in a joint rather than parallel manner. This required a reallocation of the remaining IDA grant proceeds and a change in the financing percentages to take into account the new three-way pari- passu financing. The IDA financing percentage changed from 62 percent to 18 percent and the new ratios were AFD (70 percent); IDA (18 percent), and IFAD (12 percent).
2. Key Factors Affecting Implementation and Outcomes
2.1 Project Preparation, Design, and Quality at Entry
21. As indicated, the project was prepared as the second phase of a three-phase APL aimed at strengthening local governance in rural areas and promoting social and economic empowerment of the rural population, including women, youth, and other marginalized groups. Preparation fully involved stakeholders from the government and development partners. Key government institutions involved in preparing and designing the project included the Ministry of Planning; Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization (MATD); Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Education (MoE); Ministry of Water and Sanitation (MoWS); and Ministry of the Environment, Water and Forests (MEEF). The World Bank, AFD, and IFAD were the main development partners involved in project preparation and design.
22. The project design was well conceived and very comprehensive. Key design features included:
Sound background analysis. In designing the project, the preparation team built on the findings and recommendations from targeted studies financed from the Project Preparation Facility during the identification and pre-appraisal stages. For example, three studies provided a comprehensive assessment of the state of decentralized institutions; the decentralization process; the availability and quality of legal instruments for decentralization; the relevance of the organizational and institutional framework; effectiveness of regulatory measures; competencies of the implementing agencies; the organization and functioning of the local tax system; the budget and accounting systems of the CRs; weaknesses in the political, institutional, and legal frameworks of the CRs; the absence of clearly delineated roles and responsibilities of the de-concentrated and decentralized units, and other issues (see annex 10 for list of supporting documents).
Use of current Economic and Sector Work (ESW) to inform policy and institutional triggers. The design also benefitted from an ESW on decentralization in Guinea conducted by the Bank’s Public Sector Reform and Capacity Building Unit (AFTPR)
7 and published in 2008. 9 Among the key issues identified in the report are: (i) insufficient revenue levels to allow local governments to assume their assigned role in local development; (ii) non-existence of intergovernmental transfer system; (iii) low precipitate local revenue which stood at 1.7 percent of national revenue, and far below West African levels; (iv) minimal local government spending largely from their own revenues; (v) poor local public financial management (PFM) due to low capacity,(vi) an incomplete legislative framework and marginal public participation in budgeting; (vii) deficient financial reporting and limited external audit of public funds. The author of the report was a member of the project design team and the finding of the report were instrumental in identifying relevant policy and institutional triggers to address some of the binding constraints for moving the decentralization agenda forward (see annex 9 for an overview of the triggers and progress toward meeting them).
Significant government commitment. The government was very committed to project preparation and design. The government put together a project team that worked closely with the three development partners to design the project. The government also demonstrated its commitment by meeting all effectiveness conditions, which allowed the project to start as planned.
A novel design that emphasized learning by doing and public-private partnerships to strengthen the capacity of local governments and communities. The design was novel owing to its emphasis on strengthening the institutional capacity of local governments and communities through learning by doing. Learning occurred throughout the cycle of sensitization, literacy training, participatory diagnosis, local development planning, definition and development of AIPs, mobilization of community contributions, signing of contract with PACV2 for transferring local investment funds, procurement of service providers for civil works, monitoring of construction, reception of works, maintenance of infrastructure, and reporting back to the communities throughout the process.10 For CRs that had completed a previous investment program, the cycle repeated itself from the stage of defining and developing the AIP onwards. These design elements were meant to improve the performance of CRs. The design of PACV2 also envisaged a public-private partnership approach as a new way of mobilizing resources for local development programs. The approach was integrated into the project’s results framework as a key performance indicator to track the mobilization of private sector resources, as follows: Percentage of CRs with a single Annual Investment Program (AIP) that reflects multiple funding sources (sources in addition to PACV, PGCT, or PGCMB project resources). The monitoring and evaluation (M&E) design was innovative in terms of local level data collection and the use of the Service Prefectural de Development (SPD) and Agent de Development Local (ADL) to collect, enter and report of data to central level.
9 “Decentralization in Guinea: Strengthening Accountability for Better Service Delivery”, September 28, 2008, Report No. 38664 –GN. Document of the World Bank. 10 The design envisaged the establishment of special operational committees to carry out these functions (procurement committees, committees to manage the local development fund, transparency committees, sub-prefectural committees, health committees, public hygiene committees, M&E committees, committees for control and reception of works, and monitoring and maintenance committees). 8
Lessons learned. The preparation team incorporated key lessons from PACV1 into the design of phase two. They included: (i) fiscal capabilities were required at the local level to ensure the long-term viability of local governments; (ii) the supply of basic service infrastructure would not necessarily increase communities’ use of services; (iii) extra-budgetary procedures for investment funds undermined sustainable structures; and (iv) the need for more focused M&E Lessons from PACV1 regarding the allocation of project funds to CRs and on community contributions were also incorporated into the design. PACV1 had allocated a uniform amount (US$ 50,000) to CRs regardless of the size of their population or the area they covered. The preparation team for PACV2 integrated a formula-based allocation mechanism into the design. The change to a formula-based approach was innovative; not only did it provide grants that were proportional to the relative needs of the local communities, but it sought to approximate an intergovernmental transfer mechanism that was going to be developed. The team also envisioned graduated and progressive community contribution as the uniformed 5 percent in-cash and 15 percent in-kind contributions instituted under phase 1 proved difficult for communities to contribute.
Design of the implementation arrangements. The design of the implementation arrangements was sound and built on PACV1 implementation arrangements. To ensure relevance and consistency with government policy, the implementation arrangements were aligned with the provisions of the CCL, ratified by Parliament in 2006. The CCL outlined institutional and implementation arrangements for local governments. The PACV2 preparation team designed the project to incorporate activities aimed at strengthening the institutions under the CCL. At the operational level, activities related to Components 1 and 3 were managed by the CNC, and those under Component 2 were managed by DND in MATD. To ensure smooth execution of project funds and activities, as well as coherent reporting and accountability, an autonomous accounting and M&E system was established under DND and linked with the CNC system. The public institutions had a direct role to play in the management and implementation of project activities.
Project risks. Project risks at appraisal were rated substantial.11 The project team identified potential risks to project implementation and outcome and specified mitigation measures where possible. Some of the risks and their mitigation measures were: (i) disruption of project implementation by political instability (this risk was mitigated by exogenous factors) and (ii) centrally appointed administrators at the regional, prefecture, and sub-prefecture levels undermine the effective functioning of CRDs (mitigated by establishing clear “rules of the game” that would transform de- concentrated entities into supporters of local development at the CRD level).
11 PACV2 PAD (pp. 17–18). 9
2.2 Implementation
23. The project was approved on August 14, 2007 and became effective on March 28, 2008. The government met all conditions for effectiveness on time and the project started as planned. However, nine months after effectiveness, as activities on the ground were getting underway, disbursements were suspended due to the political situation (see Section 1.7). Following the general elections in 2010, a democratic government was installed, and the Bank was able to lift the ban on disbursement and re-initiate the project. As noted, the disbursement freeze caused a backlog of unfunded AIPs to accumulate and ended the “cooperating institution” arrangement between the Bank and IFAD.
24. Despite the slow-down, and eventual halt, in implementation due to the 28-month disbursement freeze, the PACV2 was able to get “up and running” quickly, and implement an ambitious work program, once activities resumed. Some of the factors that aided this positive outcome were the following:
The government was strongly committed to the project. Government officials at all levels of the decentralized system were very committed to the success of the project, and this strong demonstration of political will smoothed implementation. At the regional and prefecture level, the majority of governors, prefects, and sub- prefects were heavily involved in day-to-day implementation. A similarly strong sense of ownership made itself felt at the community level, where the mayors and other local elected officials were the linchpin of project activities.
An experienced project management structure was in place. Because PACV2 took advantage of the project implementation and management structure established under PACV1, few new staff needed to be recruited for key positions. The financial management, procurement, and M&E officers were all retained to continue project implementation.
Staff of the project coordination unit (CNC) were highly competent and committed to the project’s success. Having been involved in the implementation of PACV1, the CNC staff had already become accustomed to and conversant with the World Bank’s operational procedures and instruments. They maintained their high level of commitment throughout implementation. Even when the project was suspended, the CNC maintained contact with development partners and key stakeholders. (In addition to managing PACV2, the CNC also managed PGCT and PGCMB to a high standard of excellence).
Effective fiduciary control teams were in place at the community level. At the CR level, the project supported the local authorities to establish 10-member procurement committees charged with ensuring transparent and efficient procurement for the implementation of micro-projects/subprojects. These committees, to a large extent, executed their functions effectively. A technical
10 audit12 conducted to ascertain the quality of infrastructure built with support from the project emphasized the effectiveness of the local procurement committees.
Beneficiary communities exhibited a high level of awareness and ownership of the project’s purpose and activities. In all communities where PACV2 was implemented, awareness of the project was high, and communities demonstrated strong ownership of activities. As discussed, by design the project introduced a learning-by-doing mechanism that involved the communities in implementing project activities. In all CRs, PACV2 is well known and is seen as a project for the people.
A skeleton project staff was maintained while activities were suspended. The skeleton staff, maintained at the project coordination unit level, was tasked with safeguarding the project’s assets and remaining in contact with technical and development partners while disbursement was suspended. This approach helped to keep the project alive to some extent during a long, difficult period.
The midterm review team was pro-active. The relatively long delay in implementation affected a substantial number of the project’s activities. For example, by the midterm review, the implementation of major activities, including the capacity building under Component 2 and the decentralization reforms, had not progressed as expected. The midterm review team developed an action plan to speed the implementation of activities (especially local development planning and the CR-level training programs) and to set up coordination teams (cadres de concertation) at the regional and prefecture level. The midterm review team also revised and reformulated project indicators and targets to ensure that they were simple, measurable, and achievable. These actions significantly improved implementation.
2.3 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Design, Implementation, and Utilization
25. M&E design. M&E was designed to incorporate a baseline survey and midterm and end- of-project evaluations, which would provide information to monitor implementation and ultimately measure the project’s impact on beneficiaries. The M&E design envisaged that a management information system (MIS) would be set up to track and document project results systematically. The design was innovative by using SPDs and ADLs to collect, enter and report of data to the central level. As noted, the baseline (and therefore targets) for some of the project indicators were based on data from PACV1, because the baseline survey for PACV2 had not been completed prior to project approval. This resulted in a number of revisions during the mid-term review (see Section 1.2).
26. M&E implementation. The implementation of M&E was also hindered by the suspension of disbursement. As a result, the midterm review noted that: (i) M&E was functioning in a limited way at the prefecture level; (ii) data collection systems were not integrated at the regional level;
12 Audit Technique des infrastructures réalisées par les CR avec l’appui du Programme de l’Appui aux Communautés Villageoises, PACV-2, July 2013 (page 23). 11
(iii) the establishment of a computerized database was delayed in the prefectures; and (iv) the establishment of a participatory M&E system was delayed in the CRs. The CNC addressed those issues, and by time of the ICR, the project had established an M&E system in all regions, prefectures, and CRs; data collection tools had been developed and made available to all implementing agencies, including the installation of a database in every region and the M&E manual had been internalized by the key actors. Personnel at each level were provided with significant training to manage the database. To further strengthen the M&E system, a participatory M&E approach, which took into account institutional changes at all levels of the decentralized system, was developed and established in 21 CRs. These actions improved data collection and overall M&E implementation. The M&E performance was in part measured by intermediate outcome indicator 12: Percentage of prefectures that provide the required monitoring data in a timely manner. At baseline none of the prefectures were able to provide the required monitoring data (see Section F), whereas by the end of the project, 50 percent of prefectures (the target) provided monitoring data in a timely manner.
27. During the midterm review the results framework was reviewed in detail. Changes were made to a number of indicators to provide more clarity and allow for more consistent measurement. In addition, several targets were revised (both downward and upward) based on the results of the baseline survey that was delayed due to the political situation, but completed (thanks to AFD funding) in 2009 during suspension period. The aim of the revisions was to make them measurable and achievable over the remaining life of the project. These actions helped improve data collection at all levels of the M&E system.
28. The baseline survey was conducted in 2009 (and its results used to revise the baseline indicators, as mentioned), a midterm evaluation survey was not conducted because disbursement had been suspended. Two end-of-project surveys were conducted, however, to obtain data to measure the achievement of the outcome indicators and otherwise assess the project’s impacts and outcomes.
29. M&E utilization. M&E data informed decision making at all levels. Regular supervision reports, which focused on progress in implementing agreed actions and recommendations, were the main instruments used to inform decision making. These reports were extensively discussed at the end of each supervision mission. In addition, the impact evaluations were widely disseminated through stakeholder workshops. Workshops were also organized to train key actors and disseminate the participatory M&E procedures manual.
2.4 Safeguard and Fiduciary Compliance
30. Safeguards. The project was classified as category B and triggered two safeguard policies: Environmental Assessment (OP 4.01) and Involuntary Resettlement (OP 4.12). An Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) and a Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) were prepared at the project’s inception to mitigate any potential issues related to land acquisition or loss of economic activity on the part of individuals or groups of individuals in the project’s intervention areas. These frameworks were updated to take into account the institutional and legislative requirements of the country. Various safeguard reports during the implementation of the frameworks showed no significant environmental and social impacts associated with the implementation of the subprojects.
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31. Financial management. Overall, the project operated a sound financial management (FM) system, focused on the decentralized financing of interventions. PAVC2 complied fully with the Bank’s operational policies on financial management (OP/BP 10.02). At the time of the ICR, all Interim Financial Reports had been submitted on time, and the previous year’s audit reports had been received and issued with an unqualified audit opinion. The target for financial audit performance was fully achieved - namely, that at the end of the project, 100 percent of financial audits were unqualified. In addition, all withdrawal applications had been completed. The last FM supervision mission found that the FM system established by the project was acceptable. These achievements reflect, among other things, the steps taken to resolve four FM issues identified at midterm, which led the Bank’s FM team to issue a moderately satisfactory rating. First, the lack of an internal auditor made it challenging to ensure that adequate internal controls were in place; second, the voluminous FM procedures manual made it difficult for the CRs to comprehend the steps they needed to take in order to carry out their FM responsibilities; third, the financial accounting software did not automatically consolidate financial data; and fourth, the capacity of fiduciary staff in the ERAs (operating at the regional level) and at the local level needed strengthening. The midterm review mission discussed these issues with the project team and made recommendations for improvement, which the project team diligently implemented. FM performance improved significantly and subsequent FM supervision missions rated FM performance as satisfactory.
32. Procurement. The project team ensured compliance with the Bank’s procurement policies (OP/BP 11.00). At the beginning of implementation, an 18-month procurement plan was prepared. This plan was regularly updated to reflect increased activities undertaken under the different components. Most procurement activities occurred at the local level, as the project established local procurement committees in all of the beneficiary CRs. However, the disbursement freeze resulted in some delays. For example, the acquisition of solar panels and computer equipment for prefectures were not procured on time leading to delays in getting the decentralized M&E system in place. The intermediate outcome indicator used to measure procurement performance was Percentage of procurement activities that are carried out according to guidelines; at the end of the project, 100 percent of procurement activities were carried out according to procurement guidelines. The target was 100 percent.
33. Disbursement. Overall disbursement was satisfactory. At the time of the ICR, project funds were fully disbursed (see Annex 1 for details on project costs and financing).
2.5 Post-completion Operation/Next Phase
34. A number of measures have been put in place to consolidate the gains under the project. For example, a local tax revenue generation strategy has been developed, validated, and is being implemented. Its implementation includes the assignment of Community Receivers (Receveurs Communautaires) 13 to all the beneficiary CRs to strengthen local expenditure and revenue generation capacity. At the project’s inception, there were no Receveurs Communautaires; their
13 The functions of Receveurs Communautaires are to: (i) maintain accounts of the CRs; (ii) execute tax collection and recovery tasks authorized by the President of the CR; (iii) keep money and assets of the CR; (iv) verify the regularity of any task given to him/her by the President of the CR; (v) establish end-of-year account management. 13
functions were performed by administrative assistants who lacked competencies in managing funds and collecting revenue. A mechanism for intergovernmental fiscal transfer of recurrent expenditures to the CRs has also been established and is functional. Since 2011, the government has regularly allocated an operating/recurrent budget to the CRs. Although the allocation is not proportional to the needs of the CRs, the size of the allocation progressively increased from GNF 5 million in 2011 to GNF 45 million in 2014.
35. To boost local resources, a new mining code that dedicates 15 percent of mining revenues to finance local government has been developed. Systems for managing fiscal transfers from the central government to local governments have improved significantly, and a budget nomenclature that takes local revenues and expenditures into account has been developed. A legislation that defines the roles and responsibilities of the deconcentrated territorial administration and technical staff in specific sectors has been reviewed and harmonized with the provisions in the CCL. The implementation of the CCL would bring about major changes in the roles and responsibilities of government institutions, financing arrangements, staffing, and accountability mechanisms.
36. Effective measures are being implemented to ensure sustainable maintenance of infrastructure constructed and renovated under the project. At present 57.1 percent of CRs allocate at least 1 percent of their budget to maintaining infrastructure. Citizens of CRs have been mobilized to undertake regular maintenance activities; the data available show that over the past 12 months, 87.7 percent of districts have mobilized citizens to maintain health centers or health posts; 67.5 percent have mobilized citizens to maintain public buildings; and 87.7 percent have mobilized them to maintain roads. Despite these efforts, finding personnel to run local facilities, particularly education and health facilities, is a challenge. Some CRs have taken the initiative on their own to hire teachers and health workers.
37. Follow-on activities. The envisioned third phase of the PACV will consolidate the gains from the PACV2, as well as integrate and scale-up pilot activities initiated under the PGCT. AFD has already committed € 15million for the third phase and preparation activities are underway. The Bank has recently confirmed US$ 10 million in support of the third phase; preparation is expected to start in fiscal year 2016.
3. Assessment of Outcomes
3.1 Relevance of Objectives, Design, and Implementation
38. Relevance of objectives. The relevance of objectives is rated high. The project objectives remain highly relevant and are consistent with the government’s development priorities, as emphasized in PRSP2 (2011–12) and PRSP3 (2012–15).14 Chapter three of PRSP2 outlined the key actions needed to improve the population’s access to social services (for example, improve access to quality education for all, and improve the population’s access to health and nutrition services, particularly for the rural poor). In PRSP3, subchapter 2.2.1.3 discusses the key strategic pillar of strengthening decentralization and local governance, promoting local development, and
14 République de Guinée, Ministère de l’Economie et des Finances, Document de la Stratégie de Réduction de la Pauvreté (2011– 2012). 14
reducing regional imbalances. As mentioned, when the project was being designed, the overall poverty rate in Guinea had increased and social indicators had worsened, including indicators for nutrition, health, and access to potable water. By providing health centers and health posts, water, schools, market infrastructure, public latrines, and other types of infrastructure and services to the rural population, PACV2 buttressed the government’s policy objective of improving social services and reducing poverty in the rural areas. The PDO is also relevant to the government’s policy paper on decentralization, Lettre de Politique Nationale de Décentralisation et de Développement Rural, and CCL, which outlines key strategies for ensuring territorial development, strengthening institutions involved in decentralization and de-concentration, strengthening the capacity of all stakeholders involved in the decentralization process, improving the financing of decentralization, and improving the decentralization and local development process.15
39. The project is also consistent with the Bank’s Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) FY 2014–17, which has three strategic focal areas: (i) improving governance and service delivery; (ii) stimulating growth and economic diversification; and (iii) strengthening human capital. By strengthening the local government systems and providing social infrastructure in rural areas, PACV2 directly supports the first strategic focal area of improving governance and service delivery. It also contributes to stimulating growth and economic diversification at the local level due to the decentralized procurement of small and medium-sized local enterprises for construction of infrastructure.
40. Relevance of design. The relevance of design is rated high. The design was relevant to the achievement of the PDO, and the results framework was logical and relevant. The menu of activities stated in the PAD was logically linked to the PDO, which was to support CRDs in planning and implementing inclusive local development activities and to improve their revenue performance to sustain recurrent costs. For example, Component 1 transferred resources from the Local Investment Fund (LIF) to allow CRDs to develop and maintain social infrastructure through a participatory planning, budgeting, and financial management process based on Local Development Plans (LDPs). Component 2 provided the capacity building necessary to allow CRDs to prepare and implement their own local development plans and annual investment programs in an inclusive manner. It included targeted capacity-building interventions (such as training in administration and in financial, accounting, and procurement management for the CRs) to improve the management of expenditures and broaden the revenue base of CRs. It also supported the implementation of awareness campaigns to broaden communities’ understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the decentralized actors. APL financing – targeting institutional change through a “learning-by-doing” approach - was an appropriate instrument/approach for addressing the government’s goal of strengthening decentralized structures throughout the country.
3.2 Achievements of Project Development Objectives
41. PACV2 has substantially achieved its development objectives. The PDO was to support the Recipient’s Rural Development Communities in fulfillment of their mandate of planning and implementing inclusive local development activities, and improving their revenue performance to
15 Ministère de la Décentralisation et du Développement Local, Lettre de Politique Nationale de Décentralisation et de Développement Rural, 25 juin 2011. 15
sustain recurrent costs. The PDO encompassed three objectives: (i) to support CRDs to fulfil their mandate of planning inclusive local development activities; (ii) to support the CRDs to fulfil their mandate of implementing inclusive local development activities; and (iii) to improve local development communities’ revenue performance to sustain recurrent costs.
42. The first objective (support CRDs to fulfil their mandate of planning inclusive local development activities) has been achieved, and all targets for its three key performance indicators have been met. PDO indicator 1: Percentage of citizens in supported CRs who have taken part in the local development planning process was fully achieved and its target surpassed. An end-of- project impact assessment16 conducted by the National Statistics Institute (Institut National de Statistique, INS) to measure the achievement of this indicator and project impacts showed that 30 percent of citizens participated in the local development planning process of their CRs, exceeding the 27 percent project target by 11 percentage points. At baseline only 7.3 percent of citizens had participated in the development of their LDP.
43. Achievement of the first objective is also measured by PDO indicator 2: Percentage of citizens who have participated in the planning and consider that their opinion has been taken into account. The target for this indicator was fully achieved and surpassed. At the end of the project, 33 percent of citizens (against a target of 32 percent) who had participated in the local development planning process considered that their opinions had been taken into account. At baseline, only 12 percent of citizens who participated in the local development planning process considered that their opinions had been taken into account in developing their LDPs. Major interventions that contributed to the achievement of the first objective were the targeted capacity-building and sensitization programs conducted by the project through the ERAs under Component 2. Key activities included information dissemination, awareness creation, support to develop and update the LDPs, and especially training, which was provided to more than 232 de-concentrated and decentralized staff, 137 local development agents (ADLs) and for 55 local elected officials (who received training in local development planning and project management techniques). Intermediate outcome indicator 5: Number of CRs who have a current (new or updated) Local Development Plan increased from 159 at baseline to 304. At the end of the project, all 304 CRs (100 percent) had current and updated LDPs that are subject to annual reviews during the process of developing their AIP. The project initiated a review of planning guidelines to further improve quality and take into account all the strategic areas of socio-economic development at the local level. The participatory and inclusive planning process, coupled with targeted training in development planning, were the key drivers behind the achievement of the first objective. The inclusive planning process translated into improved capacity of the CRs in development planning.
44. Objective 1 was also measured by PDO Indicator 5: Percentage of CRs with a single Annual Investment Program (AIP) that reflects multiple funding sources (sources in addition to PACV, PGCT, or PGCMB project resources). The target for this indicator was fully achieved and surpassed. At the end of the project, 45 percent of CRs had AIPs that reflected multiple funding sources (against a target of 40 percent). Based on the information available, a significant number of CRs leveraged PACV2 funding for their AIPs with financing from other sources. For example, in Kouakan CR in Macenta Prefecture, GNF 725,036,375 of the 2013 AIP of was jointly financed
16 Ministère du Plan, Institut National de la Statistique, Deuxième enquête pour l’évaluation des indicateurs de résultats (ODP et intermédiaires) et des indicateurs SYGRI du PACV2. 16
by PACV2 and the Programme de Renforcement des Capacités de Simandou (PRCS), which is funded by Rio Tinto-Simfer (a mining company based in Belya in N'Zérékoré Region). As shown in Table 1, the CNC mobilized US$ 10,511,425 from sources outside of PACV2 to support the development and implementation of communities’ LDPs. Through local authorities, the project reached out to companies operating in the CRs through its sensitization activities and policy dialogues. PACV is considered a flagship project for harmonizing the interventions decentralized and local development projects. To that end, the project supported all local initiatives within the framework of participatory local development, including providing support to some mining companies to strengthen capacity in the local communities that were directly affected by the companies’ activities. The CNC also obtained financing for an education project to test the community approach in the context of a decentralization policy in the education sector. The achievement of objective 1 is rated high.
Table 1: Resources mobilized from non‐PAVC2 projects. Project Donor Amount (US$) Projet de Renforcement des Capacités de Boké (PRCB) Rio Tinto‐Alcan, AFD 781,200 Projet de Renforcement des Capacités de Simandou (PRCS) Rio Tinto‐Simfer, AFD 1,422,545 Programme Sectoriel de l’Education (PSE) IDA, AFD 7,960,623 Projet de Renforcement des Capacités de Kamsar (PRCK‐ 1 & 2) Rio Tinto‐Alcoa 269,059 Projet de Renforcement des Capacités de Kamsar (PRCK‐3) Rio Tinto‐Alcoa 77,998 TOTAL 10,511,425
45. The second objective (support CRDs to fulfil their mandate of implementing inclusive local development activities) was measured by PDO indicator 3: Percentage of CRs which have implemented their Annual Investment Program (AIP) within the timeframe defined by the Project Implementation Manual (6 months from the receipt of funds until the receipt of the AIP). The target for this indicator was fully achieved and surpassed. At the end of the project, 75 percent of CRs (against a target of 50 percent) had implemented their AIPs within the timeframe stipulated in the Project Implementation Manual, exceeding the target by 25 percentage points. The project financed the development and implementation of 358 AIPs which included 510 micro-projects (see Annex 2). AIP implementation was strongly supported by targeted capacity-building interventions implemented under Component 2. At the end of the project 7,870 people (of whom 354 were women) had received training in implementing AIPs. Specifically, the project strengthened the capacity of staff in the beneficiary communities, including ADLs and local elected officials, in: (i) the environmental and social safeguard policy; (ii) project management and procurement procedures; (iii) financial management; (iv) procedures for LIF; (v) the participatory M&E process; (vi) project M&E procedures; (vii) community procurement procedures and techniques; and (viii) local planning techniques and local development management (see Annex 2 for details). The achievement of objective 2 is rated high.
46. Achievement of the planning as well as the implementation mandates was buttressed by intermediate outcome indicator 6: Percent of local development plans in which the sub-prefecture and prefecture sector staff have participated in the full project cycle (diagnosis, planning, and implementation) (baseline 30%, target 60%, actual 100%). At the end of the project, 100 percent
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of the local development plans had been implemented with the participation of sub-prefecture and prefecture staff during the whole process.
47. The third objective (improve the local development communities’ revenue performance to sustain recurrent costs) was also achieved. Achievement of objective 3 was measured by PDO indicator 4: Percentage of CRs which have increased their tax and nontax receipts by at least 10%. The economic impact assessment shows that the target for this indicator was surpassed. At the end of the project, 52.6 percent of CRs (against a target of 50 percent) increased their tax and nontax revenues by at least 10 percent, mainly because the resource mobilization capacity of CRs improved as a result of project interventions. At baseline, only 25 percent of CRs had increased their tax and nontax revenues. The project (i) strengthened the CRs’ capacity in local resource mobilization techniques and budgeting, (ii) helped to develop new local community budget nomenclature as well as administrative, financial, accounting, and procurement management procedures, (iii) provided an introduction to using computers, (iv) developed a guide in the fundamentals of community public accounting, and (v) developed participatory budgeting procedures. The project also introduced innovative participatory budgeting and M&E tools in 21 CRs lent impetus to project activities at the local level; as a result, financial management and accounting practices improved at the CR level. More than 4,323 people benefited from these targeted training initiatives to improve local resource mobilization (see Annex 2 for details).
48. The project also helped develop a strategy for the deployment of the Receveurs Communautaires who were public servants recruited by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) to work in the communities to support local budget management, accounting, and tax collection, as well as the custodianship of royalties from mining companies operating in the mining areas. The project also provided them with the requisite training that would enable them to effectively carry out their duties. At the project’s inception, this role was performed by community secretaries, who were not trained in financial management and accounting. The training and placement of Receveurs Communautaires was one of the triggers for the third phase of PACV (see Annex 9 for a full description of the triggers and level of attainment) and significantly improved transparent management and mobilization of local resources.
49. Improved revenue performance was also due to the financial transparency exhibited by the CRs, which was measured by Intermediate outcome indicator 1: Percentage of supported CRs that use some means to inform citizens on financial details. At the end of the project, all the supported CRs (100 percent, against the target of 87 percent and the baseline of 50 percent) used some means of informing citizens about financial activity (through posters displayed at administrative buildings and other public places, as well as in mosques, churches, and village meetings). The INS survey also found that 100 percent of the sampled CRs published their financial information. The achievement of objective 3 is rated high.
50. PDO indicator 6: Number of beneficiaries who have improved access to socio-economic services due to infrastructure constructed/rehabilitated under the project17 measured the well- being of rural citizens as a result of local authorities’ ability to fulfil their mandate of inclusive planning and implementation of local development projects. Through the implementation of Component 1 (LIF), the project increased access to basic social infrastructure and equipment for
17 This core indicator was added at MTR but no target was set due to the demand-driven nature of project activities. 18 an estimated 2,325,966 direct beneficiaries (about 20 percent of the population of Guinea). By the end of the project, over 510 micro-projects were completed including the construction or rehabilitation of 216 schools (393 additional classrooms), 118 health posts, 49 bridges/crossing, 40 market structures, 30 administrative buildings, 26 youth/cultural centers, 17 water points and 10 public latrines (see Annex 2 for details).
51. According to the results of the INS survey, the construction/rehabilitation of this basic infrastructure significantly improved beneficiaries’ access to basic social services. Over 72 percent of respondents indicated that it took them 15 minutes or less to get to a water point, versus 0.5 percent of respondents who reported needing more than 2 hours to reach a water point. To reach a primary school, 40.9 percent of respondents needed 15 minutes or less, compared to 7.8 percent who needed more than 2 hours. In contrast, 24 percent of respondents still needed more than 2 hours to reach a health post, compared to 18.2 percent of respondents who could reach one in 15 minutes or less. Findings from the economic impact assessment also showed that beneficiaries’ access to portable water and education increased significantly. The average time for a beneficiary to walk to the nearest water point decreased from 37 minutes in 2009 to 21 minutes in 2014. Similarly, the average time for a beneficiary to walk to the nearest primary school decreased from 52 minutes in 2009 to 49 minutes in 2014. The survey also showed that the beneficiaries’ access to access to public transport, as a result of the construction and rehabilitation of bridges and crossings, had increased significantly. The average time for a beneficiary to reach the nearest place to get public transport decreased from 120 minutes in 2009 to 91 minutes in 2014 (see Annex 6).
52. Table 2 present a summary of the achievement of the PDO indicators.
Table 2: Achievement of key performance indicators No. Indicator Baseline Target Actual 1. Percentage of citizens in supported CRs who have taken 7.3% 27% 30% part in the local development planning process. 2. Percentage of citizens who have participated in the 12% 32% 33% planning and consider that their opinions have been taken into account. 3. Percentage of CRs which have implemented their annual 0% 50% 50% investment program (AIP) within the timeframe defined by the Project Implementation Manual. 4. Percentage of CRs which have increased their tax and 25% 50% 52.6% nontax receipts by at least 10%. 5. Percentage of CRs with a single Annual Investment 0% 40% 45% Program (AIP) that reflects multiple funding sources (sources in addition to PACV, PGCT or PGCMB project resources). 6. Number of beneficiaries who have improved access to ‐ ‐ 2,325,966 socio‐economic services due to infrastructure constructed under the project Source: CNCs’ monitoring and evaluation database.
53. The project also contributed significantly to the long-term objective of the PACV APL - to strengthen local governance in rural Guinea and promote social and economic empowerment
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of the rural population, including women, youth, and other marginalized groups. The vision of the program was that, upon completion of the final phase (Phase 3), local communities and their representative local governments will have developed:
The capability to identify, prioritize, plan, and manage their own infrastructure and service delivery. The capacity to mobilize and use transparently the resources necessary to finance the establishment, rehabilitation, and maintenance of basic community infrastructure. The ability to oversee the implementation, operation, and continued maintenance of community infrastructure, either by contracting private firms or through the support of the de-concentrated government services. The capacity to sustain the development efforts and to enhance good governance practices.
54. Although no specific indicators are associated with this vision, the INS survey and independent economic impact assessment provide evidence of PACV2’s contribution to each vision statement as described below.
55. Vision statement 1: The capability to identify, prioritize, plan, and manage their own infrastructure and service delivery. The INS household survey and independent economic impact assessment of subprojects show that local communities and their representatives significantly improved their ability to identity, prioritize, plan, and manage their infrastructure and service delivery, which in turn has translated into the capacity of CRs to maintain their infrastructure. Results of the INS survey at the community level show, for example, that the majority of districts18 that benefited from social infrastructure (67 percent) maintain their infrastructure. At the more disaggregated level, the survey shows that three-quarters of the districts in the regions of Mamou (78.3 percent), Kankan (78 percent), and N’Zérékoré (74.5 percent) repair their infrastructure, owing to the communities’ ability to mobilize citizens for the maintenance. Citizens renovated or maintained health centers or health posts in 35.2 percent of districts; public buildings in 67.5 percent of districts; and rural roads in 87.7 percent of districts over the past 12 months. More than three-quarters of districts in the regions of Boké (87.5 percent), Labé (86.2 percent) and Faranah (76.9 percent) mobilized citizens to renovate or maintain school buildings over the same period.
56. Vision statement 2: The capacity to mobilize and use transparently the resources necessary to finance the establishment, rehabilitation, and maintenance of basic community infrastructure. CRs significantly improved their capacity to mobilize and use resources in a transparent manner. Throughout project implementation, the CRs’ capacity to mobilize revenues improved. The INS survey shows that average tax revenue of CRs increased consistently between 2011 and 2014, growing from GNF 22.1 million in 2011 to 23.2 in 2012 and then steadily increasing to reach GNF 36.2 million in 2014 (Figure 1).
18 A CR encompasses a group of districts. 20
Figure 1: Trend in average local revenues collected by CRs, 2011–14 (GNF millions)
40 35 36.2 30 30.4 25 22.1 23.2 20 15 10 5 0 2011 2012 2013 2014 Source: Based on data from Deuxième Enquête pour l’Evaluations des indicateurs de résultats (ODP et intermédiaires) et des indicateurs SYGRI du PACV2.
57. The CRs have also shown that they can manage their resources transparently. The economic impact assessment survey shows that in compliance with Article 530, subparagraph 3 of the CCL, which requires the public disclosure of AIPs 15 days after their adoption by the council (“Un exemplaire du programme annuel d’investissement est déposé dans chaque bâtiment administratif de la collectivité, où il demeure à la disposition du public, dans les quinze (15) jours suivant son adoption par le Conseil”), the dissemination of budget information is on the rise in many CRs. Table 3 indicates that the use of posters in office buildings increased from 35 percent in 2009 to 63 percent in 2014. Beyond this legal requirement, other channels of information dissemination improved over 2009–14. Posters in public places in the city center of the CRs rose from 10 percent to 29 percent, public disclosure in the marketplace increased from 21 percent to 22 percent, public notices in villages went from 4 percent to 7 percent, and radio announcements increased from 17 percent to 23 percent. Nonetheless, other means of information dissemination, including village meetings and public notices in mosques and churches, decreased. Results of the INS survey also confirm that 7 of 10 CRs published their accounts in the last 12 months preceding the survey; 74.4 percent of the CRs in Mamou and 75 percent in Labé Regions published their accounts.
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Table 3: Percentage of CRs using different means of sharing information to notify citizens of the last budget / AIP of the CR. No. Means of information 2009 2014 1. Posters on the administrative buildings of the CR 35 63 2. Posters in public places in the city center of the CR 10 29 3. Public opinion at marketplace 21 22 4. Public notices in mosques and churches 59 29 5. Public opinion in the district head offices 57 51 6. Public notices in the villages 4 7 7. Village meetings 89 41 8. Pamphlets 1 1 9. Radio 17 23 10. On request from CR or district officials 66 48
Source: Etude de l’impact des microprojets réalises par les communes rurales avec l’appui de PACV2.
58. Vision statement 3: The ability to oversee the implementation, operation, and continued maintenance of community infrastructure either by contracting private firms or through the support of the de-concentrated government services. The project considerably strengthened the capacity of the local communities and their representatives to oversee local development projects. The establishment of various local committees—for procurement, transparency, M&E, control and reception of works, and monitoring and maintenance—has proven a particularly effective means for CRs to manage and oversee implementation of their development projects on daily basis. The ICR team’s investigation with prefects and sub-prefects also found that they provided substantial oversight of development projects implemented in the CRs under their jurisdiction by working collaboratively with local authorities to ensure that development projects are on course and implemented according to plan.
59. Vision statement 4: The capacity to sustain the development efforts and to enhance good governance practices. Governance at the CR level has improved considerably, as shown by results of the INS survey on the archiving and availability of documents in the CRs, the composition of management structures, and general information on the communities. CR offices have archived information on LDPs (99.1 percent), AIPs (99.1 percent), CR budgets (98.3 percent), vouchers (97.4 percent), and registry meetings (97.4 percent). Further analysis by administrative region shows that all (100 percent) of the CRs in Kankan region, 99.4 percent in Labé region, and 91 percent in N’Zérékoré region have properly archived their records. Procurement documents exist and are well archived in 84 percent of CRs. Most CRs keep minutes of commune council meetings, and 88 percent have the board’s letter of invitation in their archives.
3.3 Efficiency
60. The financial and economic analysis done at appraisal was largely qualitative. A cost- benefit analysis based on calculations of the project’s economic rate of return (ERR) and net present value (NPV) was not done. The reason stated was that the demand-driven nature of project activities did not lend itself to standard cost-benefit analysis, thus alternative means of analyzing
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efficiency were used. Based on the analysis summarized below, project resources appear to have been used efficiently. However, given the lack of a cost-benefit analysis, efficiency is rated modest.
61. Analysis of the quality of infrastructure constructed or rehabilitated under PACV2. A technical audit of a sample of subprojects at the CR level showed that the infrastructure constructed and/or rehabilitated under the project was generally of good quality. Over 78 percent of subprojects were satisfactory, mainly due to the effective and transparent procurement system established in all CRs. The procurement capacity of the CRs were significantly strengthened and translated into transparent procurement processes, including contract management. In most CRs, bidding documents are filed appropriately. Procurement documents from the CRs show that cost estimates and quotations are all realistic and overall below planned expenditures in the AIPs. In fact, the project saw net gains of GNF 126.7 million in the cost of implementing micro-projects because the total contract costs of works executed was less than the planned expenditures indicated in the AIPs (see Annex 3 for a details). The strong procurement capacity of the beneficiary CRs is also evident in the findings of the economic impact assessment conducted as part of project closure. The competencies of a sample of 120 CRs participating in PACV2 were compared with those of projects supported by other donors in the sector. The CRs supported through PACV2 were more competent in carrying out procurement activities to recruit a firm than projects supported by other donors. Overall, the building or renovation of 67 percent of schools under PACV2 was done through competitive bidding compared to 54 percent of projects implemented by other donors. Similarly, 70 percent of health posts were built through a competitive bidding process, compared with 50 percent of those built under projects supported by other donors (see Annex 3 for details). As noted in Section 2.4, evidence of improved procurement capacity is seen in the achievement of intermediate outcome indicator 10: Percentage of procurement activities that are carried out according to guidelines (baseline 0, target 100%, actual 100%).
62. Comparison of unit costs of PACV2 infrastructure with non-PACV2 infrastructure. An analysis of the unit costs of PACV2 social infrastructure revealed that PACV2 interventions are cost effective compared to non-PACV2 projects. The ICR team analyzed unit costs of health and education infrastructure (schools, health posts, and health centers) built or renovated under PACV2 and unit costs of similar infrastructure built by government ministries (MATD, MoH, and MoE). Despite the difficult environment in which PACV2 operated, the unit costs of the project’s physical outputs for which comparable data were available compared favorably with those of other projects. Under PACV2, a fully equipped health center was completed at a unit cost of GNF 277,289,437, compared with GNF 365,000,000 for a health center constructed by MATD and GNF 346,697,431 for a health center constructed by MoH. In addition, a fully equipped health post completed under PAVC2 cost GNF 277,289,437, compared with GNF 275,000,000 for a post completed by MATD and GNF 227,146,573 for one built by MH. A fully equipped primary school constructed under PACV2 cost GNF 328,788,612, compared with GNF 350,000,000 for a school built by MATD and GNF 450,000,000 for one built by MoE.
23 3.4 Justification of Overall Outcome Rating
Rating: Moderately Satisfactory
63. The overall outcome rating is moderately satisfactory. The relevance of the objectives and design were high and the development objectives were substantially achieved, however efficiency was rated modest given the lack of a cost-benefit analysis.
3.5 Overarching Themes, Other Outcomes, and Impacts
(a) Poverty Impacts, Gender Aspects, and Social Development 64. Impact on employment. Through the construction and renovation of subprojects, the project created significant employment in the beneficiary CRs. Available data in PACV2’s geographic information system database shows that a total of 7,912 quarterly employment (31,648 per year) were created by the project as shown in table 4 below, education and health infrastructure projects created more employment compared to other sectors, together creating 5,931 jobs (education-3,871 and health-2,060) of the total employment created.
Table 4. Employment created by the project (2011–14)
2011 2012 2013 2014 Total No. of subprojects financed 90 224 89 76 479 No. of jobs (quarterly) 1,361 3,877 1,478 1,196 7,912 No. of jobs (yearly) 5,444 15,508 5,912 4,784 31,648
Source: Etude de l’impact des microprojets réalisés par les communes rurales avec l’appui de PACV2, Décembre 2014.
65. Impact on gender. Gender impacts were not discernible from the project documents or the end-of-project impact assessment done by INS, but some data on gender impacts were provided in the economic impact assessment survey. That survey showed encouraging findings on women’s participation in development planning and management of public institutions: 20.4 percent of women participated in development planning for their CRs compared to 35 percent of men. Of the women who participated in the development planning process for their CRs, 14 percent considered that their opinions had been taken into account, compared to 26.3 percent of men. Only 23.6 percent of women are in management positions in their CRs. (b) Institutional Change/Strengthening
66. Major impacts on institutional development occurred at the national and subnational levels. At the national level, the project strengthened the DND’s capacity for overall project management. By virtue of housing the M&E activities under Component 2, as well as establishing an autonomous financial accounting unit, staff of MATD had the opportunity to be actively involved in their national development. DND staff benefited from various capacity-building interventions supported through the project, and the department was also equipped with the tools required to perform their functions effectively.
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67. At the subnational level, the project strengthened the ability of the prefectural offices to improve their operational capacity. In addition to renovating the prefectures’ administrative buildings, the project equipped the Prefectural Development Services (Services Préfectoral de Développement, SPDs) and Technical Development Services (Services Techniques de Development, STDs) with office equipment such as computers, solar kits, and bicycles. To improve the capacity of these services to participate in local development, the project supported: (i) development of their operational plans; (ii) establishment of cadres de concertation at regional and prefecture levels; (iii) the development of guidelines for local communities for public accounting; (iv) the revision of budget nomenclature for local communities; and (v) the updating of administrative, financial, accounting, and procurement manuals. At the community level, all 304 CRs have now developed or updated their respective LDPs. To strengthen local governance, the project helped establish operational committees, such as committees to manage LDFs; sub- prefectural committees, health committees, public hygiene committees, transparency committees, and procurement committees.
3.6 Summary of Findings of Beneficiary Survey
68. The methodologies and findings of the end-of-project beneficiary survey and the economic impact assessment are presented in Annex 5. The end-of-project beneficiary survey had a sample size of 160 beneficiaries (CRs), whose citizens and authorities generally expressed favorable views on the project. The sample for the economic impact assessment was 120 beneficiaries (CRs). These were the two key studies conducted to gauge the project’s development impacts.
4. Assessment of Risk to Development Outcomes
69. The PAD outlined risks to development outcomes and mitigation measures at the national, sectoral, and operational level. Project-specific risks, which were related to technical and design issues, implementation and institutional issues, and fiduciary issues were identified and mitigated. The capacity building interventions supported by the project helped strengthen the public institutions at all level, government ownership at national and local level has improved as it has been supportive to further strengthening the relevant institutions. For example, a National Commission is in place for the development of draft decrees that establish the FNDL and EPA. Government and rural citizens are also committed to the maintenance of the infrastructure supported by the project as noted in section 2.5 above. Capacity building interventions support by the project has provided the rural communities with the skills and tools for championing their own development agenda. Despite these efforts, the likelihood that development outcomes may not be maintained is substantial. The previously identified political risk, which materialized and stalled implementation for two years remains significant at project closure. The current political atmosphere is somewhat volatile. General elections are expected to take place soon, and the opposition and government are not in agreement over whether local elections should be conducted before the general elections. The opposition believes that local elections should precede general elections (a tacit deal agreed upon in 2013 between the ruling party and the opposition); the government has a different view. Although there is an ongoing discussion between the government and the opposition to better resolve the issue, this may affect development outcomes. In addition, some of the social infrastructure constructed under the project has no accompanying facilities. For example, during a visit to some youth centers in Labé district, the ICR team noted that the centers
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lacked water points, which hinders full use of the facilities. The functionality of some facilities is a major concern as well, because no personnel are available to run them, a particular problem in education and health facilities.
5. Assessment of Bank and Borrower Performance
5.1 Bank Performance
(a) Bank Performance in Ensuring Quality at Entry
Rating: Satisfactory
70. Bank performance in ensuring quality at entry is rated satisfactory. The Bank team worked closely with the government team to design the project. The design benefited from a sound sector analysis, undertaken through targeted studies funded from the Project Preparation Facility. In addition an ESW on decentralization in Guinea was particularly useful in identifying relevant triggers for the third phase of the APL. The design was aligned with the government’s Lettre de politique de la decentralization, Code des collectivités locales and PRSP as well as the World Bank CAS/CPS. The team incorporated valuable lessons from PACV1 in the design and with slight modifications maintained the implementation arrangements established under PACV1. The design was novel in supporting established local government systems, with strong control mechanisms at the CR level, to implement the project’s interventions. Prominent control mechanisms included local procurement committees, which were tasked with managing procurement activities and contracts. A training of trainer’s approach was implemented whereby CNC and DND staff were trained to build capacity in the fiduciary teams established at the regional level. These teams in turn provided training to CRs and supervised their activities. This arrangement supported transparency immensely at all levels of implementation. The World Bank and government teams effectively coordinated preparatory activities. The Bank also liaised effectively with IFAD and AFD to establish a basket funding mechanism to finance project interventions.
71. To ensure smooth implementation of activities, the World Bank worked with the project team to develop a comprehensive list of risks and identified mitigation measures to incorporate into the project design. The Bank and the team also developed a sound results framework, which captured PDO outcome and intermediate outcome indicators, including putting in place an affective M&E system. The PDO and key performance indicators and intermediate outcome indicators were largely linked. Although data was available from the PACV1, the baseline survey for the PACV2 (which placed a greater emphasis on behavioral changes at the CR-level) was not completed prior to project approval. Therefore the targets of several indicators had to be revised once the baseline survey results were available – these changes were incorporated at the time of the mid-term review (see Annex 9).
(b) Quality of supervision
Rating: Satisfactory
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72. Bank performance during project supervision is rated satisfactory. The Bank organized two missions per annum to provide implementation support to the government. The mission team included technical specialists who provided hands-on solutions to key implementation issues, including transferring knowledge to their government counterparts. The Bank maintained good working relation with government officials throughout implementation.
73. With its key fiduciary staff based in the country, the Bank worked closely with the government team to discuss and resolve fiduciary issues. The team kept management informed of implementation progress through systematic reporting in aide-memoires, back-to-office reports, and ISRs. Regular and timely supervision with an appropriate mix of skills contributed significantly to improve project implementation. One task team leader (TTL) who knew the project very well remained with it for six years, building and maintaining strong relations with the project’s staff.
74. The Bank was very proactive during the suspension. It held regularly video and audio conferences to maintain some momentum and worked with the project team to retain a skeleton staff responsible for maintaining contact with key stakeholders and safeguarding the project’s assets. When implementation resumed, the Bank responded positively to the government’s request to reallocate funds and extend the closing date to scale up implementation. To improve operational effectiveness, the Bank, with IFAD and AFD, organized a joint midterm review mission from October 8–26, 2012 to review progress toward the achievement of the PDO. The midterm review team fine-tuned and revised indicators considered unmeasurable and unachievable; in particular, it revised baseline figures in light of results from the 2009 baseline survey, which had not been available at preparation. Given that the suspension of activities lasted for two years, the midterm review team also set more realistic targets for the indicators. New indicators were introduced, and others moved between the PDO and intermediate outcome levels. The revisions to the indicators clarified the project team’s understanding of the indicators and how they would be measured against their targets.
(c) Justification for Rating Overall Bank Performance
Rating: Satisfactory
75. Taking into account the Bank’s efforts in ensuring quality at entry and quality of supervision, the overall performance of the World Bank is rated satisfactory. The design was comprehensive and took into account the lessons from the first phase and finding of an extensive ESW on decentralization in Guinea. Although some indicators could have been formulated with greater precision, the team was proactive is addressing this issue during the mid-term review. While OP7.30 was in effect in Guinea, Bank maintained steady contact with the project team, which helped the project to resume more rapidly than it could otherwise have done.
5.2 Borrower performance
(a) Government Performance
Rating: Moderately satisfactory
27 76. Government performance is rated moderately satisfactory. The government was committed to achieving the project objectives, facilitated preparation and design, and met all conditions for effectiveness. The government’s inability to maintain a stable socio-political atmosphere significantly affected implementation, however. The move to military rule following the President’s death led the Bank to suspend disbursement and delayed project implementation for two years. After activities resumed, the new government showed a renewed commitment to the project’s success. MATD (a department of DND) participated heavily in implementation and worked collaboratively with CNC to implement activities under Component 2. The government demonstrated its renewed commitment at the regional, prefecture, and CR levels, where regional governors, prefects, sub-prefects, and mayors of CRs showed a real sense of ownership of the project.
(b) Implementing Agency or Agencies Performance
Rating: Satisfactory
77. The implementing agency’s performance is rated satisfactory. During implementation, the CNC (directly responsible for the implementation of Components 1 and 3, plus overall project coordination) worked collaboratively with line ministries, the Bank, IFAD, and AFD to coordinate all stakeholder-related activities. Benefitting from the experience and lessons of PACV1, the CNC performed remarkably well. During implementation, the CNC maintained good relations with line ministries and all technical and financial partners, working closely with each of them to address implementation challenges. The CNC exhibited high reporting standards and promptly responded to all queries. The ICR team’s discussion with IFAD and AFD revealed that the project’s success was largely a result of the CNC’s diligence. Perhaps the most commendable effort of the CNC was the fact that it continued to work with stakeholders during the difficult period when disbursements were suspended. The skeleton staff ensured that the project’s assets were maintained and kept in touch with the TTL, mainly through video and audio conferences. The DND’s performance in implementing Component 2, with support from the CNC, improved over time, allowing the project to largely achieve its objectives under the component.
(c) Justification for Rating Overall Borrower Performance
Rating: Moderately satisfactory
78. The overall borrower performance is rated moderately satisfactory. The government was committed to the project’s success, although socio-political upheaval rendered the project inactive for a considerable amount of time, which delayed implementation.
6. Lessons Learned
79. Several key lessons were learned during the implementation of PAVC2.
Empowering communities by introducing a participatory M&E mechanism ensures real ownership of community development. PACV2 provided rural communities with the opportunity to identify, prioritize, plan, and manage their own infrastructure and
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service delivery through a participatory, learning-by-doing approach. When communities are empowered and given the requisite tools, they can address their own development issues.
The involvement of decentralized institutions in planning and implementing community activities does not necessarily mean that a decentralization policy will be adopted in the various sectors. The success of decentralization is tightly linked to the effective transfer of knowledge, skills, and competencies to local authorities. It would be inaccurate, however, to conclude that transferring skills to local authorities would lead to central government institutions to withdraw from their responsibilities. Rather, the transfer of knowledge and competencies provides a new framework for central government and local government institutions to partner and share responsibilities in delivering public services. The process of decentralization depends on recognizing all players involved and taking into account their objectives and their approaches to carrying out those missions. To that end, a good practice is to define, develop, and implement - in a progressive and participatory manner - a sector-by-sector decentralization and devolution action plan that results in an integrated and coherent strategy for transferring skills and competencies. Such an effort could focus on education, health, water, urban planning, and environment sectors as the main priorities.
Increasing the tax revenues available to the CRs is not simply the result of establishing market infrastructure or implementing income-generating activities; it also depends on the development of civil society and good governance at the local level. Good governance mechanisms introduced by the project at the local level raised the level of trust between citizens and local institutions. The implementation of LIF is currently building on that foundation to develop a new mode of governance. Through planning and implementing inclusive, transparent community action plans, citizens have become more involved in and committed to local tax and nontax resource mobilization.
The regular transfer of financial resources to communities is essential to improve local competencies and ensure that local institutions are sustainable. Aside from mayors’ allowances and recurrent expenditures, local institutions receive no other state budget dedicated to development activities. Revisions to the tax system, however, have provided CRs with variety of taxes and local tax benefits. Several factors affect mobilization of local taxes, including difficulty in collecting taxes, the shared tax management system (between the state and the CRs), and the complexity of the overall tax system. With increased demand for a variety of local services, and the increase in recurrent costs associated with local development, a consistent government allocation (based on an equalization system that reflects real needs) is essential for CRs to remain viable.
Participatory budgeting and M&E are key project management tools that should be made available to local stakeholders to effectively drive the local development process. One of the goals of decentralization is for the government and its institutions
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to operate where they are closer to citizens and their needs, respecting the principle of subsidiarity and be responsible for responding to needs and executing tasks at the lowest possible decentralized level. The results of the introduction of participatory budgeting and M&E tools in 21 local CRs show that when the local authorities are well- equipped and resourced, planning is better, and they can implement their own development plans.
Ensuring inclusive local planning and development with a focus on gender and the marginalized groups will contribute to the full achievement of program goals. PACV2’s objective was to ensure inclusive local development, but data for its performance indicators were not disaggregated by gender and marginalized group, obscuring PACV2’s impacts on these groups. Future projects should be designed to ensure that information on gender and marginalized groups is disaggregated in project performance indicators.
7. Comments and Issues Raised by Borrower/Implementing Agencies/Partners
80. No specific comments.
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Annex 1. Project Costs and Financing
(a) Project costs by component (in USD million equivalent)
Appraisal Actual/Latest Estimate Percentage of Components Estimate (USD Appraisal* (USD millions) millions) 1. Local Investment Fund 8.9 8.6 96.6 2. Capacity Building for Decentralized Rural 4.2 4.0 95.2 Development 3. Project Management, Monitoring and 3.9 4.8 123.1 Evaluation Baseline cost 17.0 17.4 102.4 Price contingencies 0.00 0.00 0.00 Physical contingencies 0.00 0.00 0.00
Total Project Costs 17.0 17.4 102.1
Note: The 0.4millon excess over the total project cost was due to the exchange rate fluctuations (from SDR to US dollars).
(b) Co-financing
Type of financing Original Actual/Latest Percentage Source of Funding amount Estimate of Appraisal (USD millions) (USD millions)
IDA Grant 17.0 17.4 102.4 IFAD Grant 10.0 9.6 96.0 AFD Grant 12.0 7.5 N/A19 GEF * Grant 10.0 10.0 100 Borrower 1.5 0.0 0.0 Local government Cash and in‐kind and community 5.5 1.8 32.7 contributions contribution Total Financing 56.0 46.3 82.7
Note: Community contribution: GNF 13,308,759,726 = US$ 1,806,630; exchange rate US$ 1=GNF 7,400.
19 The AFD appraisal amount was indicative; the actual amount was not committed until the mid-term review.
31 1. Project cost, financing, and disbursement. At appraisal the estimated total project cost amounted to US$ 56 million, of which IDA was to finance US$ 17 million, IFAD US$ 10 million (pari passu financing), GEF US$ 10 million, and US$ 12 million was expected from other sources, including AFD. The government’s counterpart contribution was estimated at US$ 1.5 million, and local communities’ contribution was estimated at US$ 5.5 million. The GEF financing was used instead to prepare a complementary environment project (PGCT), which was implemented and closed together with PACV2 on December 31, 2014. Table (c) provides appraisal cost estimates.
(c) Appraisal estimates for project financing
Local Central government Component Total IDA IFAD GEF AFD government (beneficiaries) 1. Local Investment Fund 33.7 8.9 6.4 5.0 7.9 0.0 5.5 2. Capacity Building for 13.7 4.2 2.3 3.5 2.8 0.9 0.0 Decentralized Rural Development 3. Project Management, 8.6 3.9 1.3 1.5 1.3 0.6 0.0 Monitoring, and Evaluation Total Project Costs 56.0 17.0 10.0 10.0 12.0 1.5 5.5 Source: PACV‐2 PAD. Note: GEF was incremental and limited to specific geographic areas of intervention
2. Various financing sources are discussed below:
Project costs. IDA project costs by component are shown in Table (a). Total estimated amount was US$ 17.0 million, of which US$ 17.4 million (102.1%) was spent. Component 3 was the only component that disbursed over and above the estimated amount (by 23%, or US$ 900,000), due to a reallocation of funds proceeds in favor of operating expenses on two occasions.
Donor financing. Total estimated IDA financing was US$ 17.0 million, of which US$ 17.4 million (102.1%) was spent. Total FAD financing was estimated at US$ 10.0 million, of which US$ 9.6million (96.0%) was spent, and total estimated AFD financing amounted to US$ 7.5 million, of which US$ 7.5 million (100.0%) was spent.
Borrower financing. Due to the macroeconomic and fiscal challenges facing the government as result of the socio-economic crises, the estimated government counterpart funding contribution of US$ 1.5 million was waived as the donors absorbed the entire project costs.
Local government financing. The actual amount of community contribution was lower than expected (US$1.8) because the capitation tax for communities was abolished; and as a results the 15% community contribution was revised downward to 10% (8% in-kind and 2% in cash). The actual community contribution of US$1.8 million, represented 32.7% of the appraisal estimate of US$ 5.5 million.
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Expenditure categories. US$ 241,630.36 in the Designated Accounts A was reimbursed by IFAD, and the amount has already been returned to the Bank. US$ 431,347.20, which was refinanced by AFD, fully utilized and justified. The project team is now in discussion with the loan department in Nairobi to close the account.
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Annex 2. Outputs by Component
Component 1: Local Investment Fund (LIF) (Planned US$ 8.9 million vs. Actual US$ 8.6 million)
1. This component financed socio-economic infrastructure and services identified by the CRs in their LDPs, which increased local communities’ access to basic social infrastructure in rural areas. Specifically, the component financed rehabilitation, construction, and equipment of basic social infrastructure. To track and measure implementation progress, two core indicators of intermediate outcomes were used: number of health facilities constructed, renovated, and/or equipped and number of additional classrooms built or rehabilitated at the primary level resulting from project interventions; At the end of the project, 118 health facilities were constructed, renovated, and equipped, and 393 additional primary school classrooms were built/rehabilitated.
2. To ensure quality and functionality of the infrastructure constructed/rehabilitated, two indicators were used: percentage of technical audits of infrastructure financed under the Annual Investment Program that conform to technical norms and percentage of infrastructure financed by the project that are staffed on completion. At the end of the project, 75% of technical audits of infrastructure found that it conformed to standard technical norms, compared to 60% at baseline. An analysis of technical reports from missions monitoring technical services shows that on average, 75% of completed facilities and equipment were considered to conform to technical standards. A technical audit conducted as part of project closure further supports these results. The results of the technical audit showed that 78.2% of micro-projects are found to be of good quality. The main drivers of the good quality of the infrastructure built under the project were the local implementation committees established by the project, which diligently carried out their tasks.
3. The functionality of the infrastructure was measured by two indicators. The first one was the percentage of infrastructure financed by the project that are staffed on completion (baseline 75%, target 85%, actual 98%). At completion, 98% of the infrastructure financed by the project, particularly education and health infrastructure, was staff, against the target of 85%. At baseline 75% of the infrastructure was staffed. The second one was the percentage of CRs that allocate adequate funds (at least 1% of their annual budget) to maintenance of infrastructure (baseline 28%, target 50%, actual-57%). The results of the survey conducted in 2014 by the INS also showed that 57.1% of CRs increased funding for maintaining infrastructure and community facilities by more than 10%. The contractual agreement on maintenance, coupled with improvements in CRs’ revenue-generating capacity, led to the achievement of this indicator. A key feature of the project’s design was that a standard contract had to be singed to transfer LIF from PACV2 to the CRs. Article 6 of the contract required CRs to commit to allocating sufficient funds in their annual budgets for the regular maintenance of infrastructure on a sustainable basis. Component 2: Capacity Building for Decentralized Rural Development (Planned US$ 4.2 million vs. Actual US$ 4.0 million)
4. This component financed activities aimed at empowering CRs to prepare and implement their development and investment plans in an inclusive manner, with adequate support from de- concentrated staff. For example, the project helped to establish: (i) procurement committees; (ii) transparency committees (iii) M&E committees; (iv) committees for control and reception of civil
34 works; and (v) monitoring and maintenance committees. Through the capacity-building interventions, the project increased the knowledge and skills of the members of the committees in all aspects of project implementation and management, including project management and procurement, procedures for managing local investment funds, participatory M&E procedures, project M&E procedures, procedures and techniques of community procurement, and so on. A total of 7,870 people benefited from the capacity-building intervention. Of this number 5,479 (69.6%) were de-concentrated and decentralized staff.
5. Achievements under this component were measured in part by the percentage of supported CRs that use some means to inform citizens on financial details (baseline 50%, target 87%, actual 100%). This indicator measured the CRs’ ability to demonstrate financial transparency. At the end of the project, all 304 CRs (100%) used some means (publication of financial information, for example) to inform citizens about commune financing. According to the results of the survey conducted by the INS, all CRs (100%) use various means to disseminate information on local finances.
6. Through the training in program planning, the CRs’ capacity in development planning was significantly strengthened, as measured by the number of CRs who have a current (new or updated) Local Development Plan (baseline 159, target 304, actual 304). The target was fully achieved. At the end of the project, all 304 CRs (100%) had current and updated LDPs, which are subject to annual reviews during the process of developing their AIPs. At baseline, only 159 CRs had current and updated LDPs. The project initiated a review of planning guidance to further improve quality and take into account all the strategic areas of socio-economic development at the local level. Women’s participation was also enhanced in local planning and management; the percentage of women on management committees of the CRs was estimated at 26% in the survey conducted by the INS in 2014. Although the target was 30%, at baseline only 15% of management committees had women members. Sub-prefecture and prefecture staff also participated in planning and implementation of the local development activities. Their participation was measured as the percent of local development plans in which the sub-prefecture and prefecture sector staff have participated in the full project cycle (diagnosis, planning and implementation) (baseline-30%, target 60%, actual 100%). At the end of the project, all (100) sub-prefectures and prefectures participated in the planning of local development activities. The project entered into partnership agreements with the 33 SPDs, and 100% of subprojects financed through the AIPs of CRs led to the participation of prefecture and sub-prefecture staff in subproject planning and implementation.
7. The attainment of policy-related and institutional results has been impressive: In collaboration with the CNC, the DND reviewed the CCL, translated of different codes, established the cadre de concertation and conducted various studies, including study tours for sustainable local development financing mechanisms to inform decentralization reforms. Component 3: Project Management, Monitoring, and Evaluation (Planned US$ 3.9 million vs. Actual US$ 4.8 million)
8. This component financed two main activities: (i) support to the CNC to enable it to carry out project coordination activities and (ii) support the CNC to carry out M&E of project interventions.
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9. Support to the CNC to enable it to carry out project coordination activities. Achievement of this activity was measured by project management performance—in other words, evidence of effective implementation of the project’s fiduciary (procurement and financial management) responsibilities. Key intermediate outcome performance indicators include: percentage of financial audits that are unqualified (without reserve). The target of 100% was fully met. At the end of the project, 100% of financial audits were unqualified. At the initial stages of project implementation (before the midterm review), significant FM issues existed, including: (i) lack of an internal auditor to ensure adequate internal controls were in place; (ii) long and complex financial management procedures manual, which made it difficult for the CRs to comprehend the steps in financial activities; (iii) the financial accounting software did not allow for automatic consolidation of financial data; and (iv) lack of capacity of fiduciary staff at ERAs and local levels. The issues were discussed at the midterm review and recommendations to improve FM performance were advanced. The project team implemented the recommendations and enhanced FM performance.
10. Project management performance was also measured by the performance of procurement activities. The key intermediate outcome performance indicator that measured project procurement management performance was: percentage of procurement activities that are carried out according to guidelines. The 100% target for this indicator was also fully met The improved performance of the various procurement committees established in the CRs, coupled with regular revision and updates (five times) of the project procurement plan (PPM) by CNC led to the achievement of this indicator. In 2013 and 2014 the ERAs conducted a review of reports on procurement activities conducted by the procurement committees at CRs level. The results of the review showed that procurement activities conformed to acceptable procedures and guidelines (by 98% and 100% in 2013 and 2014, respectively). A total of 716 procurement meetings were conducted at the local level (358 for works and 358 for services, such as meeting to select Consulting Engineers). This was reinforced by training of over 3,500 local actors in community procurement procedures.
11. Support the CNC to enable it carry out monitoring and evaluation of project interventions. Monitoring and evaluation of project interventions was measured in two ways. The first was the percentage of quarterly annual reports from regional teams submitted on time to the CNC (baseline-50%, target 100%, actual 100%). At the end of the project, 100% of periodic technical reports from the regional teams (ERAs) were submitted to CNC on time. This led to improved database management, which increased from 90% in 2013 to 100% in 2014. The second measurement of M&E performance was the percentage of prefectures that provide the required monitoring data in a timely manner (baseline 0%, target 50%, actual 50%). At the end of the project, 50% of prefectures provided the required monitoring data in a timely manner. Major drivers of M&E performance was installation of an M&E system (management information system) in all seven ERAs. The ERA staffs capacity in M&E was strengthened through training in database management. At the prefecture and regional level all data collected from the CRs were regularly consolidated. M&E performance was also enhanced by providing computers to the staff of 33 SPDs and training them in their use. The participatory M&E system was installed in 21 pilot CRs in three administrative regions. The system was supported by a manual that takes into account institutional changes in the area of decentralization during the last two years of project implementation.
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12. Table A2.1 summarizes major outputs by component.
Table A2.1: Key outputs of the project No. Intervention Output Component 1: Local Investment Fund (LIF) 1. Schools 216 schools constructed/rehabilitated 2. Additional classrooms 393 additional classrooms constructed. 3. Health facilities 118 health posts constructed/rehabilitated 4. Bridges and crossings 49 bridges and crossings constructed /rehabilitated 5. Market infrastructure 40 market centers constructed/rehabilitated 6. Administrative buildings 30 administrative buildings constructed/rehabilitated 7. Sports and cultural center 25 sports and cultural center constructed/rehabilitated 8. Water points 17 water points constructed/rehabilitated 9. Salt production 2 salt production centers built/rehabilitated 10. Environment 2 environment facilities constructed/rehabilitated. Component 2:Capacity Building for Decentralized Rural Development 11. Environmental and social safeguard 515 de‐concentrated and decentralized staff trained policy 36 ADL/APL trained 12. Project management and 88 de‐concentrated and decentralized staff trained procurement 23 ADL/APL trained 163 local elected officials trained 133 civil society members trained 13. Procedures for management of local 515 de‐concentrated and decentralized staff trained investment fund (LIF) 157 ADL/APL trained 14. Participatory M&E procedures 28 de‐concentrated and decentralized staff trained 28 ADL/APL trained 15. Project M&E procedures 819 de‐concentrated and decentralized staff trained 203 ADL/APL trained 16. Procedures and techniques of 93 de‐concentrated and decentralized staff trained community procurement 143 civil society members trained 55 local elected officials trained 17. Local planning and project 232 de‐concentrated and decentralized staff trained management techniques 137 ADL/APL trained 55 local elected officials trained 18. Local financial resource mobilization 424 de‐concentrated and decentralized staff trained and budgeting techniques 153 ADL/APL trained 19. New local community budget 424 de‐concentrated and decentralized staff trained nomenclature 153 ADL/APL trained 20. Administrative, financial, accounting, 591 de‐concentrated and decentralized staff trained and procurement management 157 ADL/APL trained procedures of the CR 289 local elected officials trained 21. Introduction to computers 99 de‐concentrated and decentralized staff trained 36 ADL/APL trained 22. Participatory budgeting procedures 759 de‐concentrated and decentralized staff trained 124 ADL/APL trained 60 local elected officials trained Component 3. Project Management, Monitoring, and Evaluation 24. Recruitment of ADL 125 ADL recruited 25. Safeguard policy 930 field personnel trained in environmental safeguard and hygiene 26. Procurement 716 procurement meetings (358 for works and 358 for services) held 3,500 local actors trained in procurement 100% of the procurement activities considered as following good procurement practice 27. Monitoring and evaluation Participatory M&E system is established in 21 CRs with 3 in each region 28. Project‐related studies 12 studies were conducted
37 13. Tables A2.2 and A2.3 provides details on the microprojects financed under component 1 and capacity building activities provided under component 2.
Table A2.2: Number of subprojects by sector
Number of subprojects Percentage N° Sector Midterm review End of the project Midterm review End of the project 1 Education 116 216 43% 42% 2 Health 69 118 25% 23% 3 Bridges/crossings 26 49 10% 10% 4 Market infrastructure 11 40 4% 8% 5 Administration 18 30 7% 6% 6 Sports and culture 15 26 6% 5% 7 Water 8 17 3% 3% 8 Salt production 0 2 0% 0% 9 Environment 2 2 1% 0% 9 Public latrine 6 10 2% 2% TOTAL 271 510 100% 100%
Table A2.3: Summary of capacity‐building activities conducted
De‐concentrated Members Elected and Topic Total Men Women of civil ADLs officials decentralized society staff Environmental and social safeguard 651 633 18 0 0 515 136 policy Project management and procurement 407 336 71 163 133 88 23 Procedures for management of local 672 651 21 0 0 515 157 investment fund (FIL) Participatory monitoring and 80 67 13 0 24 28 28 evaluation procedures Project M&E procedures 1,022 962 60 0 0 819 203 Procedures and techniques of 291 286 5 55 143 93 0 community procurement Local planning and project 424 422 2 55 0 232 137 management techniques Local financial resource mobilization 577 574 3 0 0 424 153 and budgeting techniques New local community budget 577 574 3 0 424 153 nomenclature Administrative, financial, accounting 1,037 1,027 10 289 591 157 and procurement management procedures of the CR Introduction to computers 135 125 10 99 36
Fundamental guide for community 943 824 119 60 759 124 public accounting Participatory budgeting procedures 1,054 1,035 19 24 15 892 123
TOTAL 7,870 7,516 354 646 315 5479 1,430
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Annex 3. Economic and Financial Analysis
1. No cost-benefit analysis was done at appraisal to calculate the projects ERR and NPV. The appraisal team’s analysis was largely qualitative and based on the argument that the project did not lend itself to standard quantitative economic analysis. Thus, the ICR team looked at other aspects of project implementation that contributed to efficiency.
2. One key aspect of the project examined by the ICR team to ascertain efficiency gains was the technical quality of the infrastructure constructed/rehabilitated by the project. As part of the project closure, a technical audit was conducted. The team used the audit report20 as the main source of information on the quality of infrastructure constructed/rehabilitated.
3. Methodology and sampling techniques. The methodology for the technical audit included:
Desk review of project documents. The audit team reviewed a significant number of project documents, including the aide-memoire of the October 2012 midterm review, the report of the technical audit of PACV1 conducted in 2007, the CCL, decentralization and local development policy paper, and several others. Consultations with stakeholders at national and subnational levels. The team had intensive consultations with the project coordination unit (CNC) and the technical units of MATD involved in implementing PACV2, including the DND and DNDL. At the regional, prefectural, and local level, the team had discussions with the ERAs, SPDs, ADLs, the Ingenieur Conseil (IC), and the specialized technical services involved in the monitoring and supervision of subprojects. Led by the ERA, the team also visited a significant number of CRs and prefectures where implementation took place. The audit team was divided into two teams; and each was led by a consultant. For the fieldwork, the first team covered the administrative regions of Kankan, N'Zérékoré, Faranah, Mamou, and Labé, and the second team covered Boké and Kindia Regions. To maximize time and cover many more subprojects, three senior consultants were added to the team. Interview with local elected officers. A plenary interview was organized and attended by local elected officials, secretaries general, subprefects, members of local procurement committees, monitoring and maintenance committees, civil society organizations, and entrepreneurs and other citizens. The meeting focused on identification of subprojects, procurement, monitoring and supervision of works completed, and functionality and maintenance of the infrastructure built. Analysis of technical studies. The team carried out an analysis of technical studies to assess compliance with sector-specific policies and standards for different types of infrastructure (schools, health, water, administrative and cultural buildings, and so on). Quality control of works. The team also inspected the quality of works based on physical observations of the infrastructure as well as inspections of the work plans and other documents (PV construction, construction specifications, and others).
20 Audit technique des infrastructures réalisées par les CR avec l’appui du Programme D’appui aux Communautés Villageoises PACV-2, Juillet 2013. 39
Verification of safeguards policy compliance. The team investigated compliance with safeguard policies to ascertain whether any negative impacts on the environment had resulted from implementing subprojects.
4. Sampling technique. A total of 32 subprojects in 26 CRs were sampled. The criteria for the sampling included: (i) geographical distribution of subprojects and (ii) type of infrastructure to be audited (schools, health posts, youth centers, administrative buildings, drillings, crossings, and others). The CRs were chosen regardless of the success or failure of their subprojects. This approach made it possible to assess the involvement of stakeholders and beneficiaries, evaluate the extent to which the infrastructure was functional and used, and assess stakeholders’ and beneficiaries’ understanding and ownership of the local planning and development process. The sample covered 100% of the administrative regions (7 of 7), 58% of prefectures (19 of 33), 8.6% of the CRs (26 of 304), and 11.81% (32 of 271) of subprojects completed between 2011 and 2012.
5. Table A3.1 provides detailed on the infrastructure that was sampled and audited. As shown in the table, the 26 CRs in the sample are sufficiently representative of the CRs covered by the project, and were selected independently from the microprojects and their design and implementation processes.
Table A3.1: Sample of infrastructure audited
Administrative Number of N° Prefecture Commune Rurale Types of infrastructure Region microprojects Kolaboui, Water and market 2 Boké Sangarédji Health and water 2 1 Boké Fria Banguigny Education 1 Gaoual Kakoni Education 1 Faranah Songoyah Education and health 2 2 Faranah Kissidougou Gbangbadou Education 1 Kankan Karfamoriah Education 1 Cisséla Market 1 Kouroussa Sanguiana Education 1 3 Kankan Koumana Cultural center 1 Mandiana Faralako Health 1 Kérouané Soromayah Bridge 1 Bangouyah Education 1 Kindia Molota Water 1 4 Kindia Wonkifong Health 1 Coyah Manéah Education 1 Lélouma Diountou Education 1 5 Labé Tougué Fatako Health 1 Koubia Missira Education 1 Dalaba Kankalabé Education (Library) 1 6 Mamou Leymiro Health 1 Pita Sangaréah Education 1 Lola Tounkarata Education and administration 2 N’Zérékoré N’Zérékoré Palé Water 1 7 Yomou Péla Education and health 2 Bignamou Education and water 2 Total 7 19 26 32
6. Results. The technical audit showed that overall the infrastructure constructed and/or rehabilitated was of good quality (over 78.2% of the construction was satisfactory). This result was mainly due to an effective and transparent procurement system established in all CRs. The project helped establish 10-person procurement committees at the CR level. The capacity of the
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members was significantly strengthened through targeted procurement training, which translated into transparent procurement processes, including contract management. In addition to skills and knowledge acquired by the members, classification of procurement documents also improved in the offices of the CRs. In most CRs, bidding documents are organized well and properly filed. An examination of procurements of the CRs shows that cost estimates and quotations are all realistic and overall below planned expenditures in the AIP. In fact, there were net gains of GNF 126.7 million in the cost of implementation of the subprojects as the total contract costs of works executed were below the planned expenditures indicated in the CRs’ AIPs.
7. Table A3.2 shows the execution of procurement activities by the CRs.
Table A3.2: Subprojects/Micro‐projects contract management.
AIP Contract Sub‐ Project Contract Variance amount Region CR Districts amount projects amount (GNF) amount (GNF) (% of (% of total) (GNF) total)
Labé Fatako Korbonya Health Post 329,965,638 333,384,824 (3,419,186) 5.8 6.0 Kankalabé Mamou Kankalabé Library 62,577,041 63,951,800 (1,374,759) 1.1 1.2 centre Axe Palé‐ Dalot (PK N'Zérékoré Palé 53,633,418 54,531,355 (897,937) 1.0 1.0 Gbonoma 2+900) Axe Palé‐ N'Zérékoré Palé Dalot 53,728,044 54,531,355 (803,311) 1.0 1.0 Gbonoma N'Zérékoré Péla Péla centre Health Post 188,949,523 206,570,010 (17,620,487) 3.4 3.7 N'Zérékoré Péla Yonon Health Post 131,306,268 124,242,405 7,063,863 2.3 2.3 Primary N'Zérékoré Tounkarata Gban 191,127,850 197,146,034 (6,018,184) 3.4 3.6 School Bignamou Primary N'Zérékoré Bignamou 285,524,012 290,688,168 (5,164,156) 5.1 5.3 centre School N'Zérékoré Bignamou Koïma Well 50,085,149 51,173,000 (1,087,851) 0.9 1.0 Farabah Songoyah Sonkonyah Health Post 63,715,018 63,056,800 658,218 1.1 1.1 Primary Farabah Gbangbadou Bassikoro 259,213,252 243,778,480 15,434,772 4.6 4.4 School Primary Kankan Karifamloriah Sofonko 322,963,783 311,558,670 11,405,113 5.7 5.7 School Kankan Cisséla Kouroukoro Kiost (5) 115,679,009 112,493,400 3,185,609 2.1 2.0 Sanguiana Kankan Sanguiana High School 316,366,919 310,946,215 5,420,704 5.6 5.6 centre Koromando Kankan Faralako Health Post 332,116,745 294,089,768 38,026,977 5.9 5.3 u Primary Boké Kakoni Gallé Dara 329,821,520 307,596,990 22,224,530 5.8 5.6 School Primary Kindia Bangouyah Boussoura 297,328,900 308,350,000 (11,021,100) 5.3 5.6 School Water Kindia Molota Yembering 168,549,161 186,683,155 (18,133,994) 3.0 3.4 Point Manéah Primary Kindia Manéah 107,019,275 112,755,925 (5,736,650) 1.9 2.0 centre School Wonkifong Health Kindia Wonkifong 332,000,000 306,055,594 25,944,406 5.9 5.6 centre Center Boké Banguigny Sodioré College 313,332,782 321,332,935 (8,000,153) 5.6 5.8 Boké Sangaredi Silidara Health Post 271,264,194 298,881,513 (27,617,319) 4.8 5.4
41 AIP Contract Sub‐ Project Contract Variance amount Region CR Districts amount projects amount (GNF) amount (GNF) (% of (% of total) (GNF) total)
Kolaboui Boké Kolaboui Abattoir 111,113,735 113,196,076 (2,082,341) 2.0 2.1 centre Mamou Ley miro Fétowel Health Post 330,440,090 234,169,050 96,271,040 5.9 4.2 Sangaréyah Mamou Sanguaréyah College 328,430,738 325,168,478 3,262,260 5.8 5.9 centre Axe‐ Kankan Soromaya Bridge 299,601,942 292,784,500 6,817,442 5.3 5.3 Menincelia Total 5,645,854,006 5,519,116,500 126,737,506 100 100 Source: Author’s calculation with data from PACV2 infrastructure audit report, 2014.
8. The strong procurement capacity of the beneficiary CRs is also evident by the findings of the economic impact assessment survey conducted as part of project closure. In a sample of 120 CRs, the study compared the level of competencies of the beneficiary CRs with other donors’ projects in the sector (Table A3.3). The study showed that PACV2 CRs are more competent in carrying out procurement activities for the recruitment of a firm than those of other donors. Overall 67% of constructed and renovated schools underwent competitive bidding for the recruitment of a firm compared with 54% of projects implemented by other donors. Similarly, the construction of 70% of health posts was managed through competitive bidding to recruit a firm, compared with 50% for other donors.
Table A3.3: Procurement competencies of the CRs compared with other donors’ projects
Type of subproject PACV Other donors School (Construction/Renovation) 67% (64) 54% (41) Health Post (Construction/Renovation) 74% (38) 50% (6) Construction of administrative buildings 94% (16) 63% (8) Construction of community centers 89% (9) 0% (8) Construction of culverts/bridges 90% (10) 50% (2) Construction des improved drillings/wells 100% (4) 75% (8) Agriculture development 100% (11) 89% (9) Note: Figures in parenthesis are number of subprojects financed in the 120 sampled CRs; the percentages show the proportion of subprojects that have undergone competitive bidding for recruitment of a firm.
9. Comparison of unit costs of PACV2 infrastructure with non-PACV2 infrastructure. In order to ascertain whether PACV2 interventions are cost-efficient, the ICR team analyzed unit costs of PACV2 social infrastructure (health and education) compared to with similar projects implemented by government ministries (MATD, MoH, and MoE). The team found that despite the difficult environment within which the project was implemented, unit costs of the project’s physical outputs (constructed/renovated schools, health posts, health centers) for which comparable data were available compared favorably with outputs of projects implemented by the government in the country. Under PACV, a fully equipped health center was completed at a unit cost of GNF 277,289,437, compared with GNF 365,000,000 for health centers constructed by MATD and GNF 346,697,431 for health centers constructed by MoH. In addition, the unit cost of a fully equipped health post completed under PAVC2 amounted to GNF 277,289,437, compared with GNF 275,000,000 by MATD and 227,146,573 by MoH. Similarly, the unit cost of
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a fully equipped primary school constructed under PACV2 amounted to GNF 328,788,612, compared with GNF 350,000,000 for MATD and GNF 450,000,000 for MoE. Table A3.4 compares unit costs of PACV2 education and health infrastructure with those of other government ministries.
Table A3.4: Comparison of unit cost of PACV2 infrastructure with non‐PACV2 infrastructure Non‐PACV2 PACV2 MATD Ministry of Education Ministry of Health Infrastructure (GNF) (GNF) (GNF) (GNF) Health center 277,289,437 365,000,000 ‐ 346,697,431 Health post 251,753,787 275,000,000 ‐ 227,146,573 Primary School 328,788,612 350,000,000 450,000,000 ‐ Secondary School 321,332,935 400,000,000 ‐ ‐ Source: CNC, MATD, MOE, and MOH database.
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Annex 4. Bank Lending and Project Support/Supervision Processes
(a) Task Team members
Responsibility/ Names Title Unit Specialty Lending Jane C. Hopkins Senior Agricultural Economist GFADR Task Team Leader Daniel Murphy Local Development Specialist, Consultant Dirk N. Prevoo Senior Operations Officer Stefanie Teggemann Special Assistant to the Vice President BPSVP Public Sector Specialist Abdoulaye Touré Senior Rural Development Specialist GFADR Amadou Oury Diallo Ag. Services Specialist, Consultant Julien Labonne Impact Evaluation Specialist, Consultant Maria Teresa Mendizabal M&E Specialist, Consultant Zie I. Coulibaly Senior Infrastructure Specialist GSURR Joseph A. Ellong Language Program Assistant Bella L. Diallo Senior Financial Management Specialist Mathieu G. Meguhe Procurement Analyst Henri Aka Procurement Specialist Renée Desclaux Finance Officer Sameena Dost Senior Legal Counsel LEGAM Amadou Konaré Senior Environmental Specialist Yvette Laure Djachechi Senior Social Development Specialist Mohamed Arbi Ben‐Achour Senior Social Scientist Kadidiatou Bah Team Assistant AFMGN Racky Dia Camara Team Assistant AFMGN
Supervision/ICR Jane C. Hopkins Senior Agricultural Economist GFADR Task Team Leader Amadou Alassane Senior Agricultural Specialist GFADR Task Team Leader Abdoulaye Touré Lead Agriculture Economist GFADR Amadou Oury Diallo Ag. Services Specialist, Consultant, FAO Rodrique Djhalin Local Development Specialist, Consultant Maman‐Sani Issa Senior Environmental Specialist GENDR Thierno Hamidou Diallo Disbursement Assistant AFMGN Enagnon Ernest Eric Adda Financial Management Specialist GGODR Kolie Ousmane Maurice Megnan Senior Financial Management Specialist GGODR Celestin Adjalou Niamien Senior Financial Management Specialist GGODR Marie‐Claudine Fundi Team Assistant GFADR Salimatou Drame‐Bah Team Assistant AFMGN Alpha Mamoudou Bah Senior Procurement Specialist GGODR Anthony Molle Senior Counsel LEGSO Siobhan McInerney‐Lankford Senior Counsel LEGAM Kofi Amponsah Consultant, ICR GFADR
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(b) Staff time and cost
Staff Time and Cost (Bank Budget Only) Stage of Project Cycle USD Thousands (including travel No. of staff weeks and consultant costs) Lending FY04 6.26 64.42 FY05 17.05 105.47 FY06 10.36 53.10 FY07 30.60 162.20 FY08 1.67 10.10 Total: 65.94 395.29 Supervision/ICR FY08 22.66 115.32 FY09 21.71 102.71 FY10 7.75 35.67 FY11 10.56 53.68 FY12 10.03 53.21 FY13 17.71 105.86 FY14 21.00 102.85 FY15 16.36 73.10 Total: 127.78 642.40
45 Annex 5. Beneficiary/Impact Assessment Survey
1. A key aspect of the project’s M&E design was an impact assessment survey to measure the project’s impacts on beneficiaries and to track key performance indicators. To this end, two impact assessment surveys/studies (Deuxième Enquête pour l’Evaluation des Indicateurs de Résultats (ODP et intermédiaires) et des Indicateurs SYGRI du PACV2 and Economic Impact of the Subprojects’ Infrastructure on Local Communities) were conducted at the end of the project. These assessments show that the project contributed significantly to improving the well-being of beneficiaries. The methodology and results of the assessments are summarized as follows:
Deuxieme Enquete pour l’Evaluation des Indicateurs de Résultats (ODP et intermédiaires) et des indicateurs SYGRI du PACV2 (National Institute of Statistics)
2. Methodology and sample size. The methodology was based on (i) data collection and (ii) data entry and treatment; and (iii) data analysis. Data analysis focused on population characteristics and indicators; beneficiaries’ capacity to plan and resolve problems; social inclusion of the population, including the vulnerable population; discussions with local elected officials; and their relationship with the local administrative institutions. A total of 120 randomly sampled CRs were selected for the analysis. The sample size was compared with the 2009 baseline survey, which had a sample of 160. The analysis covered seven administrative regions of the country. Table A5.1 shows the sample size.
Table A5.1: Survey sample size Administrative Region CR‐sample 2009 CR‐sample 2014 Percentage Boké 15 12 80% Faranah 24 18 75% Kankan 19 14 74% Kindia 20 15 75% Labé 27 20 74% Mamou 19 14 74% N'zérékoré 36 27 75% Total 160 120 75% Source: INS survey.
3. Results. The points that follow summarize the survey results.
Average tax revenues increased consistently in CRs from 2011 to 2014. Average tax revenues in CRs increased from GNF 22.1 million in 2011 to GNF 23.2 million in 2012, and then from GNF 30.4 million in 2013 to GNF36.2 million in 2014. Improved capacity of local administration management. The survey probed into the level of capacity of CRs in terms of: (i) availability of documents in the archives of CR; (ii) composition of the existing management structures; and (iii) general information. The results of the survey showed improved availability of documents in the archives of CR offices: 99.1% of LDPs and AIPs, 98.3 % of budget documents, 97.4% of vouchers, and 97.4% of meeting registries were all available in the files. An analysis by administrative region showed that 100% of the CRs in Kankan and 99.4% in Labé Regions respectively archived documents. In addition, 91% of CRs in N’Zérékoré Region have their documents archived, and 84% of their procurement
46 documents are archived. Also the CR has minutes for 88% of municipal council meetings and the Board's letter of invitation. Improved local planning. Local planning has significantly improved as indicated by the availability of reference documents used by the CRs.. According to the communal council, LDPs (28.9%) and AIPs (25.9%) are the main reference documents used by the CRs for local planning and development management. Improved transparency in the management of local funds. The survey shows that the local authorities are able to verify local administrative and financial account information; 97.7% of elected officials declared that the higher authorities are able to verify administrative accounts, and 91.2% said the higher authorities verify the CRs’ financial status. Increased communal works on operation and maintenance of facilities. Data were gathered on whether citizens had been mobilized to renovate or maintain a school building, health post or health center, or road over the last two years. In the previous 12 months, 35.2% of districts had mobilized citizens to work on health centers, 67.5% on public buildings, and 87.7% on roads. Increased accessibility to social services. The survey measured households’ access to basic social services as result of project interventions. Specifically, the survey measured the time needed for beneficiaries to access potable water, health, school, and other facilities. Overall, 72% of respondents indicated that it took less 15 minutes to get to a water point compared to 0.1% who mentioned that it took more than 2 hours. It took 40.9% of respondents less than 15 to reach a primary school, compared to 7.8% who needed more than 2 hours. In addition, 18.2 % of respondents stated that it took them less than 15 minutes to reach a health post compared to 24% who indicated that it took them more than 2 hours to reach a health post.
Etude de l’impact économique des microprojets réalisées avec l’appui de PACV2
4. Methodology and sample size. The methodology used was: (i) study design and organization of questions and (ii) formation of the treatment and comparison groups.
5. Sample size. Table A5.2 shows the sample size.
Table A5.2: Sample size Number of Number of districts Number of villages Number of households CRs 2009 2014 2009 2014 2009 2014 Boké 12 41 17 82 33 408 171 Faranah 18 52 40 99 75 519 408 Kankan 14 32 20 60 37 315 201 Kindia 15 50 27 100 52 485 270 Labé 20 53 29 106 60 519 291 Mamou 14 42 24 84 45 417 239 N’Zérékoré 27 97 55 185 103 958 550 Total 120 367 212 716 405 3 621 2 130
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6. Results. The main results are shown in the following series of tables and include:
Contribution of infrastructure funded by PACV 2 to budget of the CRs. The CRs mobilized about GNF 2.8 billion as counterpart funding between 2011 and 2014. Table A5.3 summarizes CRs’ contributions to the implementation of subprojects and microprojects. Increased tax revenues and savings. The average tax revenues per annum are shown in Table A5.4. Average savings are shown in Table A5.5. Social infrastructure impacts. The impact of education infrastructure on tax revenues is shown in Table A5.6, and the impact of health infrastructure on tax revenues is shown in Table A5.7. Improved capacity to plan activities and resolve problems. As shown in Table A5.8, improvement in the planning capacity of the CRs is manifested by improvement of key budget, revenue, and social welfare indicators. Increased allocation to maintenance of infrastructure by sector is shown in Table A5.9. Gender impact. Women’s participation in development planning is encouraging, as shown in Table A5.10. Impact on employment. Significant employment has been created by the subproject implementation, as shown in Table A5.11.
Table A5.3: CRs contribution to subprojects’ implementation
Contribution of CRs Year Number projects co‐financed (GNF millions, current prices) 2011 89 342 2012 224 1,555 2013 89 542 2014 78 426 2011‐2014 480 2,866
Table A5.4: Tax revenue performance Average tax revenues by CR Average tax revenues by CR (GNF millions) (GNF millions) Year Year Current Constant Current prices Constant prices prices prices (2010) (2010) 2009 30,37 35,06 2014 36,24 21,11 2008 30,45 36,80 2013 30,43 19,45 2007 33,91 48,52 2012 23,19 16,58 2006 30,70 53,97 2011 22,15 18,25
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Table A5.5: Impact of education infrastructure on tax revenues Baseline (2009) Final (2014) Difference of Difference Variance Control Intervention Control Intervention difference (base) (base) Simple 34,6 28,8 ‐5,9 32,9 18,3 ‐14,9 ‐9,0 average Matching 34,5 29,2 ‐5,3 32,8 18,5 ‐14,3 ‐9,0 average
Table A5.6: Impact of health infrastructure on tax revenues Baseline (2009) Final (2014) Difference of Difference Variance Difference Intervention Control Intervention difference (base) (base) (finale) Simple 31,2 34,8 3,6 25,3 30,0 4,7 1,1 average Matching 36,6 26,7 ‐9,9 30,7 21,9 ‐8,8 1,1 average
Table A5.7: Budget, revenues, and social welfare indicators Indicator 2009 2014 Pourcentage des CR qui allouent des fonds suffisants (au moins 1% du budget annuel) à 38.3% 36.7% l’entretien des infrastructures Pourcentage des CR ayant augmenté leurs recettes fiscales annuelles d’au moins 10% sur les 25% 52.5% quatre dernières années Temps moyen (en minute) mis à pied par les ménages pour atteindre le lieu le plus poroche 37 21 d’eau potable Temps moyen (en minute) mis à pied par les ménages pour atteindre l’école primaire la plus 52 49 proche Temps moyen (en minute) mis à pied par les ménages pour atteindre le lieu le plus proche de 120 91 transport public
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Table A5.7: Allocations to maintenance of infrastructure
Baseline ( 2009) Final ( 2014) Difference of Difference Variance Difference Intervention Control Intervention difference (base) (base) (finale) Education 33,3 45,1 11,8 39,1 33,3 ‐5,8 ‐17,6 Santé 40,2 33,3 ‐6,9 35,6 39,4 3,8 10,7 Administration 39,1 30,0 ‐9,1 36,4 40,0 3,6 12,7 Ouvrage de 41,8 0,0 ‐41,8 34,5 60,0 25,5 67,3 franchissement Hydraulique 39,5 16,7 ‐22,8 37,7 16,7 ‐21,0 1,8 Maison des jeunes 38,7 33,3 ‐5,4 36,0 44,4 8,4 13,8
Table A5.9: Gender impact Men Women Alll Percentage of citizens in supported CRs who have taken part in the local development planning process 35.0% 20.4% 29.4%
Percentage of citizens who have participated in the planning and consider that 26.3% 14.0% 21.7% their opinions have been taken into account. Percentage of women on management committees of the CRs. ‐23.8% 23.8%
Table A5.10: Employment impact
Number of projects Year Personnel used co‐financed 2011 90 1,361 2012 224 3,877 2013 89 1,478 2014 78 1,196 2011‐2014 481 7,912
50 Annex 6. Summary of Borrower’s ICR and/or Comments on Draft ICR
Summary of achievements 1. Strengthening the CRs’ capacity and financial support to implement their AIPs have helped lay a solid foundation for responsible management and a concerted local development process. The infrastructure built under the project has had a significant impact on the well-being of the beneficiaries. Indeed, access to primary education, health care, and potable water have greatly improved thanks to the project’s interventions. In addition, the construction of market infrastructure led to an expansion of communities’ tax base. Strengthening the capacity of the CRs resulted in the improement of administrative services. For example, an end-of-project survey carried out by INS indicated that overall, the CRs now have established and maintain archives, especially for LDPs (99.1%), AIPs (99.1%), the CR budget (98.3%), vouchers (97.4%), and registry meetings (97.4%). From the point of view of accountability, 98.7% of advisors were satisfied with relationships with district presidents in the implementation of decisions. The survey results showed that at least 7 out of 10 CRs issued information on administrative/financial accounts during the past 12 months.
2. To ensure coverage of all CRs in Guinea, the project supported participatory local planning initiated during the first phase in 145 new CRs. Thus, 351 AIPs were developed following this process and co-financed by the resources of the LIF, which supported the implementation of socio-economic infrastructure and capacity-building activities. The capacity of decentralized services/units was also strengthened. Furthermore, available data on mobilizing citizens for renovation or maintenance of district infrastructure over the last 12 months showed that overall, 35.2% of districts mobilized their citizens for renovation of health posts, 67.5% for public buildings, and 87. 7% for roads. The CRs’ average tax revenues also increased from GNF 22.1 million in 2011 to GNF 36.2 million in 2014. The survey also showed that at least 85% of local authorities held from three to five sessions/meetings during in 2013. Achievements by component 3. A few months after the launch of the project, the technical and financial partners withdrew their support due to a military takeover in the wake of the Head of State’s death in December 2008. This situation had a significant impact on project implementation. Although some CNC staff were kept to stay in touch with stakeholders, activities could not be implemented as planned. Upon resumption of activities, the project started activities previously undertaken in difficult conditions.
4. Component A: Local Investment Fund (LIF). This component was severely affected by the suspension of the project. The suspension of project came at the time when the project was supporting the CRs to update their LDPs and introduced the development and financing of their AIP. Therefore, financing of the AIP only started after resumption of activities in 2011.
5. Financing of Annual Investment Program (AIP). Since the resumption of activities, the project, through the LIF, financed 358 AIPs, through which 510 subprojects were
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implemented under the management of the CRs. Total amount disbursed amounted to GNF 117,066,001,413 (US$ 16,723,000). Overall, all the 304 CRs benefited from financing of their AIPs with 100% coverage. Available data shows that 276 of the CRs benefited from financing of their AIPs. Through the implementation of the AIP, the CRs have been able to manage their own local development. To date, 75% of the CRs have executed their AIPs within a six-month period. Table A6.1 summarizes the number of AIPs and subprojects financed per year.
Table A6.1: Number of AIP and subprojects financed (2011‐2014)
Number of AIP Number of Total Subvention Total beneficiary Year financed subprojects financed PACV2 in GNF contribution in GNF 2011 51 90 17,505,781,548 1,704,366,986 2012 151 224 50,055,336,458 6,234,740,463 2013 71 89 22,343,221,153 2,419,252,976 2014 85 107 27,161,662,254 2,885,704,389 TOTAL 358 510 117,066,001,413 13,244,064,814
6. The education sector took the lion’s share of the subproject funds, accounting for 42% of the total, followed by the health sector (23%), bridge crossings (10%), market infrastructure (8%), local government (6%), and village water points (3%). There is an increase in demand for market infrastructure from 3% in 2012 to 8% in 2014.
7. Mobilization of resource for financing of AIPS by the CRs. In accordance with agreement signed between the project and the CRs, the CRs contributed 10% (8% in kind and 2% in cash) of total allocation. Total amount mobilized by the CRs to finance the 358 AIPs amounted to GNF 13.3 billion (US$ 1.9 million). The establishment of management of LIF procedures and huge involvement of citizens in the CRs’ budget decision making enabled transparency in the management of local resources. On average, 74% of citizens declared that their suggestions were taken into account by the local officials during meetings, according to INS survey. The CRs affected by commercial mining received additional resources dedicated mainly to local investment. Although this contribution is still being formalized through the elaboration of the mining code, it allowed those CRs to obtain additional resources for LIF as well as other community subprojects. Thanks to this contribution, the CRs have been able to finance about 20–60% of their investment budget. Furthermore, other CRs received external support through decentralized cooperation. Thus, the CRs in Kindia and Boffa Regions have received support from an NGO Guinea 44 (Loire Atlantique) and Charentte Maritime Cooperation. Also, PAVC2 collaborated with other projects and programs in the same geographical areas to finance subprojects from the same AIP. In particular, the project signed partnership agreement with PDGL, PSE, and Plan Guinea. In areas such as Popodra (Labé) and Kobhe, citizens co-financed water project with PACV2 in the capital of the CRs.
8. These contributions combined with outreach and training efforts have led 46% of CRs to develop and implement their AIPs with multiple funding sources. Despite these results, stakeholders, including sectors and some mining companies, still continue to carry out community development outside of the investment framework developed by communities and recognized by law. The harmonization of the various interventions is 52
still a major challenge to consolidate the process of decentralization and local development.
9. Functionality of the infrastructure developed. The functionality of infrastructure developed as part of the implementation of PACV2 gradually improved from 69% in 2011 to 99% in the last quarter of 2014. The question of maintenance of community infrastructure and equipment is not yet resolved in a sustainable manner, even though, CRs have implemented certain initiatives which include budget allocation, the establishment of management committees and maintenance, and recruitment of contract staff. For its part, the state has regularly allocated operating grants to local authorities since 2011. This allocation, which is still not on the basis of an equalization system that takes into account real needs, has however been growing gradually from GNF 5 million in 2011 to about GNF 45 million.
10. Access to basic social services. Access to basic social services has significantly improved the living standards of rural households. The survey indeed revealed that the population's access to basic social services has improved significantly compared to the project baseline data in 2009. For example, access to safe drinking water, primary school, and health center was 92.3%, 59%, and 28.7%, respectively. The survey respondents said they had less than half an hour walk to these basic facilities. The implementation of subprojects has also allowed access to new infrastructure such as youth centers, libraries, sports grounds, and shelters. Bridges and crossings built on rural roads have also improved the population’s mobility and exchanges. Finally, through advocacy and sensitization, the environmental dimensions of priority infrastructure have been considered in the implementation of the AIPs. Component A is rated satisfactory.
11. Component B: Capacity Building for Decentralized Rural Development. This component covered all the 304 CRs in the country. Through the technical intermediaries such as the ADLs, services techniques, and ERAs, the project implemented several activities such as information, sensitization, training, advisory support on development and updating LDPs, and development and implementation of AIPs. The following sections list key achievements under this component.
12. Local planning process led by the CR. At the start of PACV2, a harmonized planning guide which would allow the communities to take into account all aspects of their local development needs was developed. The application of this guide showed deficiencies, especially with respect to certain crucial aspects of local development such as environmental management, local capacity building, development of market infrastructure, support groups, youth employment, promotion of female leadership, and so on. To address these issues, the project supported the National Directorate of Local Development to develop a new, second-generation local planning guide. This guide, promoted by key actors and widely distributed at the local and prefectural levels, became a reference tool for conducting a participatory planning process. It allowed the update of 99 LDPs while broadening the consultation level of the beneficiaries (from the district to sector level). In this regard, according to the survey results, 30% of citizens interviewed said they had participated in the process, and 26% of which reported that their concerns
53 have been taken into account during the planning process. To date, with the use of these first- and second-generation planning guides, all 304 CRs have updated their LDPs. This process has been fully supported by the SPD.
13. Capacity building of local decentralization actors. Since the start of the project, a series of training sessions for key local actors of decentralization, aimed at building the operational capacity of the communities, has been organized. Major areas of focus were: (i) planning and management of local development; (ii) legislation relating to the CCL; (iii) local governance; (iv) exercise of local contracting; (v) administrative, financial, and accounting procedures; (vi) local taxation; (vii) participatory M&E; and (vii) participatory budgeting and information technology (IT). In total, 7,870 persons, including 354 women (elected officials, members of civil society, and technical, prefectural, regional, and central personnel) have been trained.
14. Strengthening operational capacity building of local institutions and provide technical support to local communities. In terms of operationalization of local structures and accompanying technical services, the project, after renovating administrative buildings for prefectures, equipped these structures and the technical services (SPD and STD management, forestry officers, agricultural extension officers) with computers, solar kits, and motorbikes. It also financed: (i) operational action plans for these services in order to create better conditions for participation in the community development process; (ii) establishment and operationalization of the framework for regional and prefectural level; (iii) the development of a basic guide for public accounting for local authorities; (iv) the review of the budget nomenclature for local authorities; (v) the development of participatory budgeting manuals and participatory M&E; and (vi) the updating of the administrative management, financial, accounting, and procurement manuals. At the end of the project, all 304 CRs have new LDPs or updated LDPs, 98% of the education and health infrastructure that was completed is staffed, subprefecture sector staff and prefecture staff participated in the cycle (diagnosis, planning, and implementation) of all subprojects (100%) financed by the project from the LDP, 89% of local management structures (LIF management committee, subcommittee of the prefectural APEAE, health and sanitation committee, transparency committee, the procurement commission, and others) have at least one female member, and 26% of the members of the local management structures are women.
15. Mobilization of local tax revenues. The percentage of CRs that have increased their revenues by at least 10% increased from 47.2% between 2011 and 2012 to 55.1% between 2012 and 2013. This substantial increase in the level of tax revenues of rural municipalities is mainly due to three (3) factors: the payment of royalties by mining companies; improving the management of financial resources by allocating Community Tax Collectors; and actual completion of infrastructure reassured taxpayers. Tax revenues reduced by 46.1% between 2013 and 2014. This was mainly due to the reduction of economic activities following the outbreak of the Ebola disease.
16. Support to decentralization and institutional reform process. The project has supported policy and institutional reforms aimed at deepening decentralization. As the
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government’s primary tool is participatory and decentralized local development, PACV2 provided technical and financial support in the following areas: (i) the development and validation of the Letter of National Policy on Decentralization and Local Development; (ii) participation in efforts and concepts for the establishment of a sustainable mechanism for financing local authorities; (iii ) the establishment and operationalization of cadres de concertation at the regional and prefectural levels; (iv) revision of the budgetary nomenclature of local communities; (v) the review of administrative management, financial, and accounting manuals; (vi) the revision of the harmonized guide for local planning; (vii) the revision of the CCL and development of implementing legislation; and (viii) piloting a 2D approach (de-concentration - decentralization) in health and education in the CU Kindia. This component is rated satisfactory.
17. Component C: Project Coordination, Management, and Monitoring and Evaluation. The CNC coordinated activities and project management. Meetings of the Technical Implementation Committee (CTE) were regularly held in order to inform the various technical services partners to resolve implementation difficulties. Also, the annual work program and budget and the annual activity reports were submitted to the Steering Committee for review and approval. Overall, the project has made considerable progress in the implementation and management of activities. The cumulative budget execution as at December 31, 2014 is US$ 33,467,207, or 96.6%, of which 100% for IDA, 97.3% for IFAD, and 94.4% for AFD.
18. Capacity building for stakeholders supporting the decentralization process in partnership with other stakeholders (private and public), and the financing of AIPs and operationalization of the M&E system were the key areas in which the project devoted significant efforts to coordination. The project team consists of 69 people, divided between the CNC (26), ERAs (36), and DND (7). This staff has a renewable contract of one year. During PACV2, administration was marked by the recruitment of an internal auditor. 19. Separation and implementation of disengagement strategy. In general, the different strategies adopted by the project are essentially based on the progressive implementation of effective measures of institutionalization or sustainability of the achievements of decentralization, based on lessons learned from the procedures implemented by PACV and support mechanisms for CRs. The project has gradually reduced its role in annual support strategies, giving a greater role to the permanent institutions of the administration. Thus, the number of ADLs recruited by the project decreased from 165 to 125 with more than half placed at the prefectural level.
20. Safeguards. To carry out the environmental and social management of the project, funds were reserved by the project each year in the annual work program and budget to mitigate any environmental impacts. Also, forms for environmental screening of microprojects were made available to field workers to facilitate the identification of these potential adverse impacts. These forms are integral parts of the AIPs. As part of the ESMF developed in December 2006 became obsolete in view of institutional and legislative changes, the framework was updated in an interdepartmental workshop and disseminated widely to all stakeholders and development partners involved in the local
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development process. A total of 930 field staff were trained in the safeguard policy and environmental safeguards. They have familiarized themselves with the new and simplified form and Environmental and Social Management Plan. Land security measures have been taken within the allocation domains with community infrastructure in the ground plan and transfer certificate duly signed by the Mayors of the Communes. Also, generic environmental and social clauses for microprojects infrastructure have been introduced in various tender documents and monitored by the ERAs. These environmental clauses and screening forms were introduced in the LIF implementation manual. Periodic reports on the implementation of environmental safeguard policies were developed and regularly shared with the World Bank and the Office of Guinean Study and Environmental Assessment (Bureau Guinéen des Etudes et Évaluation Environnemental) of the Ministry of the Environment.
21. Audit and procurement. The financial statements as at 31 December 2011, 2012 and 2013 have been audited and certified without qualification. The audit reports were sent to donors by June 30 of each year. The different reports of internal control sometimes noted some weaknesses in the management of rural communities’ finances, which were gradually corrected. Since the beginning of the second phase of the project, procurement activities at the local level have involved the selection of Consulting Engineers and offices for technical studies and supervision of works on community infrastructure. A total of 716 procurement meetings were conducted at the local level in 358 markets, and 358 works in intellectual services (selection of Consulting Engineers). Overall, remarkable progress has been made in terms of CR compliance with procurement procedures. Over 3,500 local actors were trained in community procurement procedures. To date 100% of procurement activities comply with procurement procedures. Providers currently use legal means of redress for violations of procedures. The PACV2 Procurement Plan was regularly updated according to activities by component. The plan was revised five (5) times with the latest on March 13, 2014. The status of PPM execution is as follows:
Supplies. The 25 markets planned for construction at an estimated cost of US$ 2,145,660 have all been completed for an actual cost of US$ 1,509,180. Works. The two (2) contracts planned at an estimated cost of US$ 98,000 have been completed at an actual cost of US$ 89,013. Consultants. Of 32 markets planned at an estimated cost of US$ 1,005,850, 25 contracts were executed at a cost of US$ 802,270, and 7 were canceled for lack of resources.
22. Monitoring and evaluation. The M&E system implemented in the ERAs, prefectures, and CRs was reinforced by the organization of regional workshops on the project M&E manual. Data collection and consolidation tools were made available for all actors involved in implementing the M&E system. A new database was installed in all regional offices and their staff received training. A participatory M&E manual that takes into account institutional changes related to decentralization during the last two years of project implementation has also been developed. Workshops were conducted on the participatory M&E procedures manual. The participatory M&E system has been installed in 21 pilot CRs in three administrative regions. Looking ahead to the third phase of PACV,
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the M&E Unit has developed a questionnaire and conducted a field survey to establish a typology of CRs to adapt services to the needs of the community and streamline interventions.
23. Communication and visibility. During the first phase, PACV established a communication strategy to promote better visibility of program results. Experience has shown that many communication efforts were made, focusing mainly on the dissemination of information and technical advice. In addition to consolidating decentralization strategies and participation, the CRs were mandated to place special emphasis on transferring competencies to the communities in accordance with the CCL. A new communication strategy was developed in 2011 with the support of a consultant. During the second phase, the communication component was mainly devoted to the implementation of this new strategy, which involved the distribution of small items (key rings, pens), calendars, and custom calendars available to stakeholders (politicians, civil society, service technicians) and authorities involved in the implementation of decentralization and local development policy. A documentary on the achievements of PACV2 and two (2) television debates on the impact of PACV2 on the process of decentralization in Guinea (émission Grands Dossiers) was also produced in 2013.
24. A national assessment workshop, preceded by regional review workshops and summaries of local budget workshops in the region, was held in December 2014 in Conakry under the aegis of the Government of Guinea and the Office of the Prime Minister. This meeting between elected officials (77 mayors) and the highest representatives of the administration provided the opportunity for the stakeholders to evaluate the activities implemented. Finally, the project financed the production of a short film about the program's philosophy and achievements. Conclusion
25. PACV2 was one of the best projects implemented in Guinea as part of the government’s decentralization and local development program. By empowering communities, civil society, and local technical services the project has brought changes to the design and execution of joint activities at the local level and thus contributed significantly to the promotion of democracy and good governance in Guinea. The implementation of PACV2 took place in a global context of consolidating the achievements of the program and mobilizing sufficient resources from technical and financial partners to address the needs of rural communities. Specifically, the activities focused on the implementation of the project management strategy, which consists of: the institutional organization and adaptation of the major tools for local authorities to different provisions of the community code [CCL], including the coverage of all rural communities in the country; support to the decentralized and participatory development in the CRs; the definition and implementation of a system of effective M&E; and conservation and preservation of natural resources and development of public-private partnership with other stakeholders at the local level. Through grants, the program succeeded in introducing autonomous and transparent management of the operations of the CRs. It also used a participatory approach to stimulate the effective involvement of all social groups,
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including young people and women, and the state's technical services in the local development process. All these achievements contribute to local people’s ownership of the decentralization process. More community empowerment is needed to improve relations between administrators and the people to ensure success. It would be desirable for all stakeholders in the program to undertake efforts to institutionalize this approach in the third and final phase of PACV.
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Annex 7. Comments from Co-financiers and Other Partners/Stakeholders
1. The following are comments from government and development partners.
2. Borrower. We have read the PACV2 ICR. We confirm that the report has evaluated project implementation performance and we agree with the conclusions.
3. Agence Française de Développement (AFD). AFD agrees with the content of the report. Our commitment in the third phase shows the confidence we have in the PACV2 implementation team, which shows that local-level competencies could effectively be improved and that funds transferred directly to the communities have had real impacts on poverty reduction. The establishment of an institution in charge of local support and the financing of the CRs is one of the challenges of the third phase for which we hope the World Bank would collaborate with us and the government to ensure sustainability of project outcomes during the final phase.
4. International Fund for Agricultural development (IFAD). IFAD agrees with the content of the report, which touches all the essential issues discussed during the ICR mission. For IFAD, PACV2 is a successful project. However, the functionality of some infrastructure must be strengthened. Also during the last supervision mission it was proposed that agricultural areas developed under PACV2 be transferred to PNAAFA (Projet d’Appui aux Filières Agricoles), which would continue to support the beneficiary groups and communities in agricultural production in local areas. We expect a proposal for an official meeting between PNAAFA and PACV.
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Annex 8: Revised intermediate outcome indicators
Table A8.1: Revised intermediate outcome indicators
No. Original indicator Revised indicator Remarks 1. Percent of technical audits at CRD Percentage of technical audits of The reformulation of the indicator level that are satisfactory. infrastructure financed under the provided clarification to facilitate its Annual Investment Program that measurement. conform to technical norms. 2. Percent of CRDs which allocate Percentage of CRs that allocate The reformulation of the indicator adequate funds for maintenance. adequate funds to maintenance of provided clarification to facilitate its infrastructure (at least 1% of their measurement. annual budget) to maintenance of infrastructure). 3. Percentage of citizens in the covered This new indicator was added to CRs who know the content of their measure the level of knowledge annual investment program. acquired by the beneficiaries on their annual investment programs. 4. Percentage of CRs with a single This indicator was moved to PDO level Annual Investment Program (AIP) (see Section 1.3) that reflects multiple funding sources (sources in addition to PACV, PGCT or PGCMB project resources) 5. Percentage of infrastructure Initially a PDO indicator, this indicator financed by the project that are was moved to the intermediate outcome staffed on completion. level as it contributed to the measurements of Component 2 results. 6. Number of CRs who have a current This new indicator measures the (new or updated) Local Development improvement in the investment planning Plan. process. 7. Percent of financial and The indicator was split into 2 sub‐ procurement audits at project level indicators to measure financial that are unqualified management and procurement separately at both the project and rural community levels. 8. Percent of prefectures that provide Percentage of prefectures that The reformulated indicator specifies the the required monitoring data in a provide the required monitoring types of monitoring required for timely manner data (availability of a computerized availability of computerized database monitoring and evaluation data base obtained from monitoring and of activities of the communities) in a evaluation activities in the communities. timely manner. 9. Percent of CNC quarterly and Percentage of quarterly annual The reformulated indicator specifies annual reports submitted in a reports from regional teams types of monitoring required for timely manner to all actors. submitted on time to the CNC. availability of computerized database obtained from monitoring and evaluation activities in the communities.
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Annex 9: Status of the policy and institutional triggers for the third phase
Table A9.1: Status of the policy and institutional triggers for the third phase Estimated Trigger for Phase III level of Actions taken prior to MTR Actions taken after the MTR achievement
1 The Community Receivers 100% Receveurs Communautaires (RC) were recruited and posted to A new act for reallocating RCs has been signed by (Receveurs Communautaires) all 304 CR in December 2008 by “arreté” of the Minister of the Minister of Economy and Finance are in place according to a Economy and Finance. The strategy was not realistic and many The RCs have been elevated to the rank of “section realistic strategy and action RCs did not take up their posts. head” to improve incentives and performance. plan that has been validated The regional and prefectural authorities took temporary during the project’s mid-term measures to redeploy existing RCs to ensure effective coverage review. of all CRs. RCs cover all CRs – each is responsible for 2-3 CRs. The separation of the functions between “ordonnateurs” and “comptable publique” is in place with the existence of the RCs and the possibility of accessing the CR accounts exists. A strategy for redeployment of RCs was developed based on this experience; the Minister of Economy and Finance shared the strategy with technical and financial partners. The RCs have begun to establish CR management accounts.
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2 The intergovernmental transfer 85% A new Mining Code that guarantees 15% of mining revenues The project supported a study trip to Benin and system for recurrent costs of for financing local governments was adopted in 2011 Senegal (July-August 2014) for the representatives CRDs is functioning, in Provisions were made in the public finance bill of the last three of the institutions and organizations interested in accordance with Article 373 of years (2011, 2012 and 2013) for the allocation of recurrent costs local government financing (e.g. MEF, MDB, and the Code des Collectivités to local communities ranging from 5-15 million for CRs and 10- ANCG MATD). Locales. 20 million for CUs. A study for the establishment of a National Local A budget nomenclature which takes into account both revenue Development Fund (FNDL), funded by the EU, has and expenditure items has been developed. been completed. A thematic sub-group of the Decentralization and Local A technical and financial feasibility study on the Development group and has been put in place to reflect on creation of an Etablissement Public à Caractère mechanisms to increase resource transfers resources to Administratif (EPA) is in the preparatory phase. A Collectivités Locales (CL). technical meeting between MATD, the EU and AFD Within the framework of the “Decentralization and has identified the main areas of focus for this study Deconcentration” (2D) initiative financed by AFD, a pilot was and draft Terms of Reference have been developed. undertaken for the health and education sectors. The tools and This study, which will be financed by AFD, will help 2D plans have been validated. to devise a formula for an equitable grant allocation Focal points in sectoral technical departments have identified for the local communities before the establishment of and appointed by their respective ministries to participate in the the EPA. work of the interdepartmental steering commission for the A national commission for the development of draft implementation of the Policy Letter related to Decentralization decrees that establish the FNDL and EPA has been and Local Development. put in place. A study to support the implementation of the 2D plan (devolution / decentralization) for the health and education sectors has been completed. It will allow piloting of the provisions in the CCL for systematic transfer of funds to the health and education sectors.
3 Legislation defining roles and 85% Decree 038 / PRG / SGG / 2011 of February 2011 which The Code des Collectivités Locales (CCL) has been responsibilities of restructured the department in charge of local governments is revised and legal texts for its application have been deconcentrated territorial operational. drafted. administration and sector- The level for approval of local government (CR) budgets has A workshop was held in Kindia to validate the specific technical staff is been decentralized to the prefecture level (previously approved revised CCL and was attended by all stakeholders of reviewed for consistency with by the MATD and the Governor). decentralization, including the sectoral ministries. the Code des Collectivités The decree adopting the Lettre de Politique National de The promulgation process is ongoing: the new CCL Locales. Décentralisation et Développement Locale (LPN / DDL) and its and its legal texts are in the Council of Ministers for action plan - which define the strategic vision of MATD - was approval before being submitted to Parliament. signed on March 28, 2012. Decree 081, specifying the conditions for Decree 081 defining the attributions of the territorial appointment of territorial administrators and profiles administration exists and a mission statement for territorial of Préfets and Secrétaires Généraux and Sous- directors has been developed. Préfets is being updated. A commission at the A capacity building strategy, taking into account the new MATD level has been put in place to consider all the profiles of the territorial administration, has been adopted. provisions related to deconcentrated territorial administrations, particularly those of Decree 081.
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The Prime Minister signed an amending order No. 784 / PM / CAB / 2013 of the Order No. 0388 / PM / CAB / 2013 establishing the Interministerial Steering Committee of the LPN / DDL. A study to establish the profiles of the current positions of the territorial administration and deconcentrated staff has been completed with financing from the EU.
4 The local development 100% A harmonized local planning guide has been developed, The planning guide was revised and validated by the planning process has been validated and distributed. various stakeholders. It was tested in the Kamsar CR, reviewed, widely validated and The harmonized guide serves as a unique local planning tool. as part of a public-private partnership between PACV guidelines have been developed and Rio Tinto / Alcoa. which are reflected in the A training workshop of key decentralization and local Project Implementation development stakeholders from all levels (national, Manual. regional, prefectural and local) was organized in each of the 7 administrative regions. 115 CRs have developed new LDPs by applying the guidelines of the new planning guide.
5 All 304 CRDs are covered by 100% All 304 CRs have been covered by the PACV since January The PACV signed a new partnership agreement with the National Program for 2012. the Projet de Développement Locale en Guinée Decentralized Rural The LDP constitutes a framework for all development (funded by UNCDF) for implementing the new Development; and the Local interventions in the CR. planning guide in the CRs of Haute Guinée. Development Plan and Annual The AIP is carried out with multiple funding sources and ceases A manual on participatory budgeting, including Investment Program have to be simply an “instrument” of the PACV. training modules, has been developed. become the framework for all Regional workshops involving local stakeholders and local level interventions. technical services have been held in all seven administrative regions of the country. The cadres de concertation have been piloted in all prefectures in line with the technical note for their operationalization. A regional cadre de concertation has also been organized on a pilot basis. A report has been prepared to capture lessons from the pilots and define the principles, mechanisms and procedures for the establishment effective cadres de concertation. The PACV is currently supporting cadres de concertation in the process of updating the LDPs of 99 CRs. This will be extended to other CRs in 2015.
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Annex 10. List of Supporting Documents
1. Aide-memoires of supervision missions from 2007 to 2014. 2. Ali Kissi and Dr. Bakaridian Condé. République de Guinée, Programme d’Appui aux Communautés Villageoises, PACV, Inventaire des Technologies Diffusées ou Prêtes à la Diffusion. December 2005. 3. Ali Kissi and Dr. Bakaridian Condé, Repertoire des Competences et des Expertises. December 2005. 4. Audit technique des infrastructures réalisés par les CR avec l’appui du Programme. 5. AFD Financing Agreement, December 10, 2013. 6. Amendment to Financing Agreement, December 13, 2013. 7. Decentralization in Guinea: Strengthening Accountability for Better Service Delivery, September 28, 2008, Report No. 38664 –GN. Document of the World Bank. 8. Étude Analytique du Cadre Institutionnel et Organisationnel du PACV2, Mai 2006, NSC. 9. Evaluation des besoins des Communautés Rurales de Développement (CRD) pour les réflexions et l’orientation des actions futures dans les différentes Composantes du PACV2, aout 2005, Rapport Finale. 10. Evaluation des Prestations des ADC, Opérateurs et ONG au Niveau Communautaire, Plan du Rapport. 11. Financing Agreement between IDA and the Republic of Guinea, September 20, 2007. 12. Ministère de l'Administration du Territoire et de la Décentralisation, Ministère de l'Agriculture et de l'Elevage, Ministère de l'Economie et des Finances, Manuel d’Exécution du Fonds d’Investissement Local (FIL-Guichet 1), Avril 2005. 13. Ministère du Plan, Programme d’appui aux Communautés Villageoises (PACV) Cellule Nationale de Coordination, Manuel d’exécution des Guichets 2 et 3 du PACV II, Ahmédou TALL, Consultant WAC. 14. Ministère du Plan, Institut National de la Statistique. Deuxième enquête pour l’évaluation des indicateurs de résultats (ODP et intermédiaires) et des indicateurs SYGRI du PACV2 15. Ministère de l’Administration du Territoire et de la Décentralisation, Programme d’Appui aux Communautés Villageoises. Référentiel technique des infrastructures, August 2014. 16. Project Appraisal Document, July 9, 2007. 17. Project restructuring Paper June 22, 2012 18. Project Restructuring Paper, December 11, 2013. 19. Programme d’Appui aux Communautés Villageoises – Phase 2 (Pacv2), 2008 – 2014, Rapport d’achèvement, Version Finale, December 2014.
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20. République de Guinée, Programme d’Appui aux Communautés Villageoises (PACV), Cellule Nationale de coordination, Décentralisation des activités sectorielles, Rapport final, Mars 2005. [Institutional analysis, evaluation of decentralization process, availability and quality of legal instruments, relevance of organizational and institutional framework, effectiveness of regulatory measures, competencies of the implementation agencies.] 21. Programme d’Appui aux Communautés Villageoises, 2eme Phase (PACV2), Manuel d’Exécution PACV2, 30 mai 2005. 22. Programme d’Appui aux Communautés Villageoises. Lexique Financier, Version finale, Cellule Nationale de Coordination, Avril 2005. 23. Programme d’Appui aux Communautés Villageoises (PACV2), Documents et Supports Budgétaires et Comptables des Collectivités Locales, Version Finale, Avril 2005. 24. Programme d’Appui aux Communautés Villageoises (PACV2), Cellule Nationale de Coordination, Etat des Lieux, Révision de la Nomenclature Budgétaire des Collectivités Locales et Elaboration d’un Lexique Financier, Décembre 2004.
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Annex 11. MAP IBRD 33414
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