World Bank Document

Document of The World Bank

Public Disclosure Authorized Report No:ICR000095

IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION AND RESULTS REPORT ( IDA-37430 IDA-H0560 )

ON A Public Disclosure Authorized GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF US$ MILLION 5.05

(SDR 3.41 MILLION CREDIT)

TO THE

REPUBLIC OF GHANA

FOR

Public Disclosure Authorized PROMOTING PARTNERSHIPS WITH TRADITIONAL AUTHORITIES PROJECT

May 31, 2007

Finance and Private Sector Development (FPD) Private Sector Unit Public Disclosure Authorized Africa Region

CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS

( Exchange Rate Effective Date May 30, 2007) Currency Unit = GHC Cedis GHC 1.00 = US$ 0.10770 US$ 1.00 = GHC 9,285

January 1 – December 31

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

AATC Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council AC Asanteman Council AM Appraisal Meeting ARCC Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council CBNFSP Community Based Nutrition and Food Security Project CBOs Community Based Organizations CBRDP Community Based Rural Development Project CDF Country Development Framework CPAR Country Procurement Assessment Report CINRMP Community Based Integrated Natural Resource Management Project CPAR Country Procurement Assessment Report CPPR Country Portfolio Performance Review DAs District Assemblies DCD District Coordinating Directors DCEs CDF District Chief Executives DPCU Country Development Framework DPP District Planning Coordinating Unit DRI Detailed Procurement Plan ERCC District Response Initiative FMR Eastern Regional Coordinating Council GAIT Financial Management Report GARFUND Government Accountability Improvement Trust GES Ghana Aids Response Fund GHS Ghana Education Service GIMPA Ghana Health Service GOG Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration HIV/AIDS Government of Ghana Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ICR Implementation Completion Report ICT Information Communication Technology

IDA International Development Association ISSER Institute of Statistical Social & Economic Research JSS Junior Secondary School LAP Land Administration Project LIL Learning & Innovation Loan MDU Manhyia Development Unit M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MIS Management Information System MoFEP Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations NHIS National Health Insurance Scheme OG Oversight Group PAD Project Appraisal Document Pas Parent Associations PIP Project Implementation Plan PPN Project Procurement Notice PP Procurement Policy PlUs Project Implementation Units PLWHA People Living With HIV/AIDS PRP Procurement Reform Proposal PTA Parent Teacher Association PMU Project Management Units QCBS Quality & Cost Based Selection PPTAP Promoting Partnership for TAs Project SBD Standard Bidding Document SOE Statement of Expenditures SMCs School Management Committee SP School Performance SPN Specific Procurement Notice SSS Senior Secondary School STIs Sexually Transmitted Infections STWSP Small Town Water Supply Project TAs Traditional Authorities TCs Traditional Councils TOR Terms of Reference

Vice President: Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili Country Director: Mats Karlsson Sector Manager: Dileep M. Wagle, Acting Project Team Leader: Kofi-Boateng Agyen ICR Team Leader: Papa Demba Thiam

GHANA PROMOTING PARTNERSHIPS WITH TRADITIONAL AUTHORITIES PROJECT

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 Objectives and Design...... 1 2. Key Factors Affecting Implementation and Outcomes ...... 4 3. Assessment of Outcomes...... 7 4. Assessment of Risk to Development Outcome...... 14 5. Assessment of Bank and Borrower Performance ...... 14 6. Lessons Learned ...... 16 7. Comments on Issues Raised by Borrower/Implementing Agencies/Partners ...... 17 Figures: Cumulative Disbursements Over The Project Life...... 18 Annex 2. Outputs by Component ...... 22 Annex 3. Project Costs and Financing...... 26 Annex 4. Bank Lending and Implementation Support/Supervision Processes ...... 27 Annex 5. Beneficiary Survey Results...... 29 Annex 6. Stakeholder Workshop Report and Results...... 34 Annex 7. Summary of Borrower's ICR and/or Comments on Draft ICR...... 35 Annex 8. Comments of Cofinanciers and Other Partners/Stakeholders...... 44 Annex 9. List of Supporting Documents ...... 45 MAP

A. Basic Information Promoting Partnerships Country: Ghana Project Name: with Traditional Authorities Project Project ID: P071399 L/C/TF Number(s): IDA-37430,IDA-H0560 ICR Date: 06/07/2007 ICR Type: Core ICR GOVERNMENT OF Lending Instrument: LIL Borrower: GHANA Original Total XDR 3.7M Disbursed Amount: XDR 3.4M Commitment: Environmental Category: C Implementing Agencies: ASANTEMAN COUNCIL Akim Abuakwa Traditional Council Cofinanciers and Other External Partners:

B. Key Dates Revised / Actual Process Date Process Original Date Date(s) Concept Review: 02/04/2002 Effectiveness: 07/28/2003 07/28/2003 Appraisal: 08/05/2002 Restructuring(s): Approval: 03/10/2003 Mid-term Review: 03/29/2004 06/01/2005 Closing: 06/30/2006 06/30/2006

C. Ratings Summary C.1 Performance Rating by ICR Outcomes: Moderately Satisfactory Risk to Development Outcome: Moderate Bank Performance: Moderately Satisfactory Borrower Performance: Moderately Satisfactory

C.2 Detailed Ratings of Bank and Borrower Performance (by ICR) Bank Ratings Borrower Ratings Quality at Entry: Moderately Satisfactory Government: Moderately Satisfactory Implementing Quality of Supervision: Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory Agency/Agencies: Overall Bank Overall Borrower Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory Performance: Performance:

i C.3 Quality at Entry and Implementation Performance Indicators Implementation QAG Assessments Indicators Rating Performance (if any) Potential Problem Project Quality at Entry No None at any time (Yes/No): (QEA): Problem Project at any Quality of No None time (Yes/No): Supervision (QSA): DO rating before Satisfactory Closing/Inactive status:

D. Sector and Theme Codes Original Actual Sector Code (as % of total Bank financing) Other social services 35 35 Primary education 65 65

Theme Code (Primary/Secondary) Decentralization Primary Primary Education for all Secondary Secondary Other communicable diseases Secondary Secondary Participation and civic engagement Primary Primary Rural services and infrastructure Secondary Secondary

E. Bank Staff Positions At ICR At Approval Vice President: Obiageli Katrya Ezekwesili Callisto E. Madavo Country Director: Mats Karlsson Mats Karlsson Sector Manager: Dileep M. Wagle Demba Ba Project Team Leader: Kofi-Boateng Agyen Kofi-Boateng Agyen ICR Team Leader: Papa Demba Thiam ICR Primary Author: Papa Demba Thiam

F. Results Framework Analysis

Project Development Objectives (from Project Appraisal Document) The project development objectives were to test approaches to integrate and improve TA involvement and help focus their contributions to socio-economic development in their communities. The proposed LIL was meant to test enhanced roles that Traditional Authorities should play in:

(i) the decentralization efforts of central government; (ii) the control of the spread of diseases such asHIV/AIDS; (iii) closing the gap in the provision of, among other things, improved health, and equitable and quality basic education (including the rehabilitation of existing classrooms) in deprived rural and remote areas; and (iv) determining the role of cultural heritage preservation in the socio-economic development of a community. Activities under the proposed project will pilot the changing role of the traditional authorities in development issues in two regions inGhana.

Revised Project Development Objectives (as approved by original approving authority) n/a

(a) PDO Indicator(s)

Original Target Formally Actual Value Values (from Revised Achieved at Indicator Baseline Value approval Target Completion or documents) Values Target Years Indicator 1 : Partnership methodology identified and validated Value quantitative or Qualitative) Date achieved Comments (incl. % achievement) Partnership methodology used in at least two other communities by end of Indicator 2 : project.

Value quantitative or Qualitative) Date achieved Comments (incl. % achievement)

(b) Intermediate Outcome Indicator(s)

Original Target Actual Value Formally Values (from Achieved at Indicator Baseline Value Revised approval Completion or Target Values documents) Target Years At least 20 individual traditional authorities ( including sub-chiefs and Indicator 1 : queenmothers) participate in Health outcomes workshops Value 2 traditional authorities 20 T.A. involved (quantitative led healthy outcomes

iii or Qualitative) awareness creation. Date achieved 07/30/2003 06/30/2006 Comments (incl. % achievement) • At least 50 percent of traditional leadership in pilot districts would Indicator 2 : participate in the enhancement of basic health and the fight against HIV/AIDS. • 50 percent of activities, include HIV/AIDS and health issue Value (quantitative or Qualitative) Date achieved Comments (incl. % achievement) Traditional leaders would engage in at least four community development training programs Indicator 3 : Monitoring and evaluation system developed and being implemented by end of year 1. All volunteers in pilot districts would become involved in health and education Value (quantitative or Qualitative) Date achieved Comments (incl. % achievement) Annual community development/business plans would be developed with the Indicator 4 : participation of TAs and MDAs

Value (quantitative or Qualitative) Date achieved Comments (incl. % achievement) Indicator 5 : Area and sector specific scaling up methods and manuals developed Value (quantitative or Qualitative) Date achieved Comments (incl. % achievement) Indicator 6 : Training in use of manuals in two sectors including health and education Value

(quantitative

iv or Qualitative) Date achieved Comments (incl. % achievement)

G. Ratings of Project Performance in ISRs

Actual Date ISR No. DO IP Disbursements Archived (USD millions) 1 10/20/2003 Satisfactory Satisfactory 0.51 2 05/28/2004 Satisfactory Satisfactory 0.63 3 12/14/2004 Satisfactory Satisfactory 2.68 4 06/22/2005 Satisfactory Satisfactory 3.88 5 07/26/2005 Satisfactory Satisfactory 4.17 6 01/28/2006 Satisfactory Satisfactory 4.61

H. Restructuring (if any) Not Applicable

I. Disbursement Profile

1. Project Context, Development Objectives and Design (this section is descriptive, taken from other documents, e.g., PAD/ISR, not evaluative)

1.1 Context at Appraisal (brief summary of country and sector background, rationale for Bank assistance)

In line with its quest for alternative decentralized development approaches, the Government of Ghana (GOG) has embarked on an attempt to set up partnership programs with active civil society organizations such as the Traditional Authorities (TAs). The Bank supported the Government’s decentralization policy under its Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for 2000-2004, and in this context the Promoting Partnership with Traditional Authorities Project (PPTAP) was approved as a pilot project that would test the Government's ability to support decentralized social and economic development initiatives in remote areas. The Government decentralization strategy was not very explicit and well articulated.

The context was one of dual governance systems.

TAs were upholding traditional practices in a modern state while trying to make their institutions relevant to the country’s formal political and economic governance. The Government was expecting TAs to rule within the framework of the local government system and lead efforts to develop communities with minimal reliance on the Government budget. The Asanteman Council was already involved in health, HIV/AIDS awareness programs, education, scholarship schemes, cultural heritage preservation and private sector development. The Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council (AATC) was already involved in health, cultural heritage and environmental activities but the contribution of the TAs had been considerably reduced over the previous few decades due to institutional decay and general decline in economic activity in the country.

1.2 Original Project Development Objectives (PDO) and Key Indicators (as approved)

The project development objectives were to test approaches to integrate and improve TA involvement and help focus their contributions to socio-economic development in their communities. The following were the project’s key performance indicators:

A. Outcome/Impact indicators:

• Partnership methodology identified and validated • Partnership methodology used in at least two other communities by end of project.

B. Output/Outcome Indicators:

Methodology dissemination/validation

• At least 50 percent of traditional leadership in pilot districts would participate in the enhancement of basic health and the fight against HIV/AIDS. • 50 percent of activities, include HIV/AIDS and health issues, would be carried out by TAs by the end of project. • At least 5 percent of traditional leaders in pilot districts would participate in the enhancement of primary school enrolment and retention rates by end of project. • At least 10 percent increase in girls’ enrollment/completion rates in basic education would be achieved by end of project. • 20 percent increase in teacher attendance in selected schools by end of project

Capacity building

• Traditional leaders would engage in at least four community development training programs • All volunteers in pilot districts would become involved in health and education training programs • Annual community development/business plans would be developed with the participation of TAs and local government.

Replication and Scaling Up

• Area and sector specific scaling up methods and manuals developed • Training in use of manuals in two sectors including health and education • Monitoring and evaluation system developed and being implemented by end of year 1.

The success of the project would be determined partly by the number of traditional authority figures that played a more effective role in educational, health, private sector collaboration and other developmental activities, through financial and in-kind contributions. Learning was to take place partly through documenting the response of the TAs to capacity-building activities and enhanced advocacy roles. The pilot was also expected to document the TAs’ contributions to the provision of social services and to the Government's decentralization activities. A baseline assessment of the role of TAs in development activities was to be carried out at the beginning of the project and a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system would track experience.

1.3 Revised PDO (as approved by original approving authority) and Key Indicators, and reasons/justification

The PDO and associated outcome indicators were not revised.

1.4 Main Beneficiaries, (briefly describe the "primary target group" identified in the PAD and as captured in the PDO, as well as any other individuals and organizations expected to benefit from the project)

The primary target group was the TAs. These are the community-based traditional local governance bodies recognized by law, comprised of kings, paramount chiefs, chiefs, queen mothers, and headpersons. There were over 300 such TAs in the communities identified for this pilot project. The pilot project targeted the communities, towns, villages and selected rural deprived areas of the Asanteman Council (AC), and Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council (AATC). A sum of US$4.5 million equivalent was allocated to the AC and US$0.5 million equivalent to the AATC.

1.5 Original Components (as approved) The following is the summary of the project components.

(i) Health AC (US$0.27 M equivalent); AATC (US$0.15 M equivalent): The proposed project sought to strengthen the capacities of the TAs in the Asanteman Council areas, and the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council areas to participate in community development. This would be done through regular workshops and seminars for the key senior figures, community volunteers and community members. The activities to be supported would focus on building the capacities of the TAs in the area of basic health including HIV/AIDS, to enable them to provide better assistance to communities and households through prevention and care. Community health registers would also be designed and instituted in the project communities (ii) Education. AC(US$2.90M); AATC (US$0.10M).. This component would focus on (a) the rehabilitating basic primary education facilities in select areas in the AC community and (b) design of a partnership method between TAs and government in the provision of quality basic education. The TAs constituting the Asanteman Council had on their own initiative set up mechanisms to achieve this goal and IDA support was sought to assist in creating a more structured and sustainable partnership with government. Assistance would also improve incentive schemes with the objective of retaining teachers in these remote areas, scholarships for primary school pupils, and improved enrollment. The project would also support the strengthening of the AATC Secretariat, and their review of the state of basic education in their communities and propose actions to improve it. (iii) Capacity Building AC (US$0.64 m equivalent); AATC (US$0.20 m equivalent): The project would seek to improve (a) the financial and management capabilities of the two councils' respective secretariats and (b) the capacities of the TAs who are members of these two councils, on decentralization and community development issues. (iv) Cultural Heritage AC (US$0.24 m equivalent); AATC (US$0.10 m equivalent): Support would be provided to both councils to carry out cultural heritage programs through development of educational activities/curriculum in schools, or

private sector-community business partnerships such as in eco-tourism. Support would also be provided for updating the inventory of cultural heritage practices and to review the traditional law courts systems with a view to reducing the incidence of chieftaincy disputes, land litigation, etc. The study would serve to identify needs for revision, codification, and dissemination of traditional laws, and identify ways to increase the effectiveness of traditional law courts.

1.6 Revised Components

The components remained the same in the AC, but there was a slight modification in the education component of the AATC as a result of harmonizing PPTAP and the Community Based Integrated Natural Resource Management Project (CINRMP). The environment component was moved to CINRMP and funds were reallocated from the AC component and within the AATC components.

1.7 Other significant changes (in design, scope and scale, implementation arrangements and schedule, and funding allocations)

2. Key Factors Affecting Implementation and Outcomes

2.1 Project Preparation, Design and Quality at Entry (including whether lessons of earlier operations were taken into account, risks and their mitigations identified, and adequacy of participatory processes, as applicable) The project concept was proposed by the Asantehene in consultation with the Ashanti Regional Minister Preparation work started in 2001 with a US$200,000 equivalent Japanese grant and assistance from the Norwegian Government. The pre-appraisal, including studies and identification of target interventions, was carried out in 2001 and appraisal was completed by end of 2002. The RVP approved the project in March 2003 and it became effective in July 2003.

Adequacy of Government Commitment. The project was to be initially financed under a standard credit, but this triggered public debate, in the context of the installation of a new Government, about why the Government should take a loan that was to benefit only one TA while the burden of debt service would be on the whole nation. Hence the project was re-cast as a Learning and Innovation Loan (LIL). The initial debate affected the Government’s level of commitment in project design, which led to a less than optimal level of interaction between local Government and TAs during project implementation.

Soundness of the Background Analysis in terms of content. Since this was by definition a learning project, lessons in design would be derived, the background analysis was limited in scope and depth. In retrospect it may have been desirable to assess further the mechanics of decentralization, in particular the effectiveness of coordination arrangements between the TAs and the DAs, and the financial management capacity of the TAs.

Assessment of risks: The Project Appraisal Document (PAD) highlighted risk factors such as the commitment by the TAs to the partnership approach, potential

Chieftaincy disputes, and the motivation and qualification of the implementation team. It could also have fruitfully have addressed in more detail structural risks that might affect sustainability, such as the effectiveness of the coordination arrangements and TAs capacity for financial management.

Assessment of project design: The proposal to develop and implement the project was consistent with the CAS as a response to Government priorities on poverty reduction and decentralization. As such, interventions designed were consistent with development priorities. As stated, the project design could have further addressed structural issues of decentralization and sustainability, and some lessons might have been derived from initiatives such as in the Bafokeng in South Africa. However, the project had unique features and in any case its objective was precisely to test approaches to strengthening decentralization through sustainable partnership between Government and TAs in the delivery of selected social services. A weak point in practice was the lack of a functioning monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system through most of its life, especially since the project called for a documentation of the response of the TAs to capacity-building activities and enhanced advocacy roles, and the TAs’ contributions to the provision of social services and decentralization. However this was not a design issue as such.

2.2 Implementation (including any project changes/restructuring, mid-term review, Project at Risk status, and actions taken, as applicable)

Factors outside Government control: there was some implementation risk because of the weak project design and management capacity of the TA’s. This risk was managed through the use of Project Implementation Units (PIU) to strengthen the AC secretariat and set-up the AATC one while implementing the project on behalf and under the oversight of the TAs s. The lack of adequate links between TAs and District Assemblies (DAs) was a further significant risk but this was one which the project actually aimed to address directly.

Factors subject to Government control: The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MoFEP) and the RCCs had adequate implementation capacity to help the PIUs and the Secretariats of the Traditional Councils (TCs). MoFEP, Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) and TCs were accountable for implementation, for consistency with the PAD and DGA. MoFEP and RCCs were to participate in supervision missions and monitoring and evaluation to help implement corrective measures.

Factors under control of implementing agencies: The lack of management experience of the TAs was a constraint. This could have been addressed more proactively through capacity development in the Secretariats and improvement of capacity for coordination with local Government and more regular consultations with the Oversight Committee (OC) and stakeholders at national, regional, district and community levels.

Implementation efficiency. In principle implementation was helped by its consistency with the national development agenda, the comprehensiveness of some intervention

packages and a participatory approach allowing a degree of integration with other implementation agencies.

Social Influence of the Asantehene and Okyehene. A key factor in implementation of the project at the community and district levels was the high level of social and customary influence of the Asantehene and Okyehene. Stakeholders surveyed explained their willingness to contribute because of their high regard for the Asantehene and Okyehene whose TCs have well established structures of power and authority.

Implementation delays/changes. Disbursement fell considerably behind schedule over 2003-2004, when it was only about 25 percent of target, but it caught up substantially by mid-2005. Initial delays were caused by lack of adequate coordination of project and local Government programs, inaccessibility of the communities and delays in the payment of counterpart contributions.

Lack of Effective Synchronization Between Project’s Interventions and DAs’ Programs. Despite efforts to ensure participation most local Government officials still felt that they did not have sufficient comprehension of the project nor were sufficiently involved in preparation, particularly the award and supervision of contracts.

Inaccessibility of some communities. Some of the contractors were unfamiliar with the remote location and unprepared for the conditions. Supervision of construction by the TAs and the communities was difficult due to poor accessibility. For example, Funsua LA Primary and the Asesewa classrooms were eventually completed and furnished, and Seneso teachers' bungalow and toilets were ready, but old school buildings were demolished before new ones were built and the furniture provided was left out of doors. Several communities, such as the Hwhereto, complained that no kindergarten had been built to feed the primary school. The Wasabeampa community in the AATC had no housing for teachers and it was difficult to retain those who could not get regular transport to the school.

Delays in the payment of counterpart contributions. Delays in the payment of counterpart contributions affected payments to some of the contractors. Discussions revealed that in addition to the inadequate commitment of some of the DAs, the delays had been caused by time taken to release the Common Fund to the DAs. For example, in the Fanteakwa DA, formation of the Tender Committee and approval/confirmation of the DCE delayed award of contract for construction of the school building until March 2006. Some districts had multiple commitments which interfered with payment of their contributions

2.3 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Design, Implementation and Utilization

Review meetings and periodic reports were expected to be vehicles for disseminating lessons learned and assessing progress. However, as stated, the M&E system was not put

in place as quickly as planned and did not function adequately. Performance indicators selected were not the most appropriate and baseline data were collected too late. Indicators were being tracked close to end of project but mainly in terms of inputs and outputs rather than outcome. More significantly, delays in setting-up the system prevented feedback of lessons, which was detrimental to project implementation and outcome.

2.4 Safeguard and Fiduciary Compliance (focusing on issues and their resolution, as applicable)

The project did not require specific safeguards supervision since it was rated as a category C project. No safeguard issues arose during implementation.

2.5 Post-completion Operation/Next Phase (including transition arrangement to post-completion operation of investments financed by present operation, Operation & Maintenance arrangements, sustaining reforms and institutional capacity, and next phase/follow-up operation, if applicable)

Some measures will benefit exit and sustainability. These include the capacity development for the secretariats of the TCs, and development of business plans for the communities. Further work is needed on the capacity for identification, appraisal and delivery of projects by the TA secretariats, and improved coordination between DAs and TAs. The first issue may require formal establishment of Project Coordination Units (PCUs) within the secretariat of the TCs. The second issue requires a better platform for policy dialogue between TAs and DAs.

3. Assessment of Outcomes

3.1 Relevance of Objectives, Design and Implementation (to current country and global priorities, and Bank assistance strategy) The Project development objectives were consistent with the Country Assistance Strategy for 2000-2004 which aimed to learn from the contribution that TAs can make to social and economic development, thus help inform decentralized approaches to poverty reduction and improving local health and education. The project implementation approach and structures were consistent with development objectives. Capacity development of the TAs’ secretariats by the PIUs and the knowledge dissemination approach were consistent with the needs of an indigenous oral culture. In the absence of a Government explicit and well articulated decentralization strategy, the project design seems to have borrowed from approaches to community driven development (CDD).The approach to coordination of community and local Government projects may ultimately help create an ongoing forum for joint programs.

On the implementation side, it was expected that recourse to PIUs to deliver implementation of behalf of TAs could contribute to the capacity development of the TAs through interactions; that TAs exposure to Bank financial management and procurement procedures would help them formalize their delivery systems and

structures. However a more systematic integration of project implementation units (PIUs) into the TA secretariats might have been a better approach to strengthening partnerships and delivering programs. Lack of such a systematic approach prevented adequate harmonizing of local Government and TA decision-making and management. Administrative capacity building could have been a clearer focus.

3.2 Achievement of Project Development Objectives (including brief discussion of causal linkages between outputs and outcomes, with details on outputs in Annex 2) In assessing this project it should be born in mind that this was a learning initiative in an area in which there was no precedent for Bank programs – i.e. the integration of marginalized TAs into local Government development activities in Ghana. Since the ability of TAs to support education, health and other initiatives had been eroded over the last few decades due to institutional decay and decline in economic activity, the potential implementation problems were aggravated and this provided a difficult starting point.

The actual results of the project in terms of output were overall satisfactory. All the four components of interventions under the project were delivered to 40 communities in 35 paramountcies and 18 districts in the AC and 300 communities, five Divisional Councils and six districts in the AATC. The Project Implementation Units (PIUs) of the two TCs pursued interventions under these components with varied degree of scope and emphasis based on the resources made available to them (US$4.5m for the AC and US$0.5m in the AATC). While the interventions in the AC were tangible in nature (school infrastructure, teachers' quarters and other facilities, growth monitoring of children and capacity building interventions and studies), the interventions in the AATC were largely intangible (school infrastructure for five beneficiary communities, studies, capacity building and environmental protection).

Most recent supervision reports suggest that (See also annex 4):

• at Mid-Term over 70 percent of the grant was disbursed and almost 90 percent committed • participation of the TAs had been substantial in creating awareness of health issues ensuring community involvement in teacher retention and arranging scholarships for pupils in community schools • the partnership approach was being replicated in investment projects, including: the Community-Based Rural Development Project, Small towns' Water & Sanitation project and the Land Administration Project • under the education component all main civil works had been completed in all 40 identified communities, leading to increased enrollment in 95 percent of the communities • regular awareness creation on health matters had been instituted by the TAs in collaboration with local and national government institutions. • the communities’ capacity for health and education initiatives was strengthened and community development plans had been developed for the pilot communities.

• traditional courts that adjudicate land issues had been equipped and training was under way. WBI and LEGAF were replicating court training in two other communities.

With regard to replication, the project encouraged several TAs from other areas to carry out local economic development initiatives, helped by the capacity building workshops, some of which were held at the National House of Chiefs (TAs), and by media coverage. The three projects mentioned above have taken advantage of this broad interest in the following ways.

• As a result of community pressure during the preparation of this project, under the Land Administration Project (LAP) the Government is piloting the decentralization of title registration for community-owned land and is providing support to four TAs to improve and decentralize land title deed registration. • To address weaknesses in the land tenure system, the TAs piloted a joint process of land registration. • Community representations to the Government under the Community-Based Rural Development (CBRDP) led to the inclusion of a component to strengthen the role of TAs in partnership with district assemblies. The TAs and their communities can develop proposals on community development initiatives and then seek support from CBRDP. • A similar dynamic took place in the case of the Small Town Water & Sanitation Project (STWSP) which seeks to setup community managed water systems. Upon representations by a TA to the Bank and to the Government, it was decided to include the TAs by ensuring their involvement in the sitting, management and maintenance of water systems.

Nevertheless, as stated, a significant shortcoming was the failure to put in place the M & E system in a timely manner, and as a result the monitoring of target fulfillment, as set out in Annex 1, was inadequate. Though Implementation Status and Results Report (ISR) reported on progress and likelihood of achieving project objectives, the lack of rigorous M & E left scope for different interpretations of the PDOs and the key outcome indicators and there is inadequate independently derived data showing the level of outcome and impact achievement. The final ISRs contained progress tables that referred two outcomes only: a) the extent of replication of partnerships; and b) the number of TAs participating in health workshops, whereas the range of outcomes was addressed in practice. Taking into account the qualitative information available from field visits and from local staff, the table below presents the most likely qualitative assessment of project achievements.

Summary of Project Results

Outcome Target Actual Assessment Of Results Indicator Overall Replication of Extension of partnership process in Mostly reached. Opportunities Outcome Partnership several other target communities. & constraints for partnership (PDO) Methodology Replication of Court training in two highlighted, and reasonable other TAs substantive progress achieved.

Capacity Broad implementation Activities planned and largely Reached. Some degree of Building & participation in implemented with significant formalization of TAs activities capacity building attendance at health promotion through exposure to WB activities activities, and participation in procurement and financial community development plans and management procedures but court training more capacity for partnership is yet to be developed in terms of appraisal, budgeting and process management.. Health Commitment & Communities’ capacity for health and Reached. Project resources Increased Participation education initiatives strengthened. supported satisfactorily much of TAs. Participation of TAs more needed interventions. structured Education Commitment & Structured participation of TAs The objectives for girls Increased Participation combined with completion or part enrollment and retention were of TAs completion of main civil works in all not completely reached.. 40 identified communities, increasing However, educational enrollment in almost all communities activities were globally considered, reasonably successful interventions with some degree of harmonization with local government, but momentum needed to ensure sustainability Cultural Systems & Structures Studies and training Opportunities highlighted for Heritage put in place further development.. The following section supports the assessment of project results (see annex 2).

Education: In the AC, school infrastructure, teachers’ quarters and water borehole facilities have been provided to enhance school facilities and increase enrolment in 40 communities in 18 districts and 35 paramountcies with emphasis on girls. In some cases, paramount chiefs subsidized the cost or offered free accommodation to teachers. Scholarship schemes have been provided for a total of US$20,500 to 300 pupils. The same donation was used to establish an incentive for teachers, providing 10 million Cedis for the Best Teacher Award. In the AATC five communities benefited from improvements in school infrastructure to enhance access of children to school and increase enrollment.

Health: In both the AC and AATC, awareness about HIV/AIDS has been increased in the beneficiary communities and districts. This may have contributed to a drop in the prevalence rate though this may have also been attributable to the Government’s campaigns.

Capacity building: Capacity for monitoring of development interventions was improved in both AC and AATC. And in the AC, Medium Term Development Plans have been prepared for each community and paramount. Training was provided on a number of issues, including: conflict Management; TAs in partnership with Local Government; development planning; partnership with private sector in Eco-tourism; sustainable rural development and land management

Cultural Heritage: A number of studies, including baseline surveys, were conducted to provide basic information on opportunities in ecotourism, although these need to be further developed to trigger involvement of the private sector. Some artisans benefited

from training in collaboration with the Ghana Handicrafts Association (GHA). Some 47 unemployed handicapped persons were trained in the use of cultural heritage artifacts in the manufacture of "tye and dye", and batik cloth manufacturing, Ghanaian Kente weaving, screen printing and sculpture. Subsequently, one of them has gone on to employ four people in kente weaving, batik cloth making business.

The Counterfactual and Additionality

As in all development projects the outcome and impact has to be compared with a counterfactual. In this case the counterfactual would be the expected level of activity and engagement on development programs by the leaders and members of TAs that would have been occurring had there been no outside support. Without a quantitative survey of the costs and benefits definitive conclusions cannot be arrived at. However, given that the ability of the TAs to initiate and carry out development projects had been eroding for some time, the results of this project, (e.g. the increase in participation levels, and the need expressed by the TAs for continued further partnership building) suggests that the results achieved were significant and were additional in character, and therefore served to justify (albeit to a degree yet to be determined) the expenditure on the intervention by the Bank and the Government.

Assessment: Concluding Points.

Partnerships through joint development activities were built between local Government and the TAs, and lessons learned thereby. However monitoring and documentation was weak. The partnership approach was learned and disseminated at the request of a number of TAs through other projects but otherwise the experience of partnership formation was achieved through demonstration. While this is consistent with the approach of the existing oral culture, it puts at some risk the project’s sustainability, because of the lack of a solid base of lessons of experience that can be disseminated widely to assist future partnership.

3.3 Efficiency (Net Present Value/Economic Rate of Return, cost effectiveness, e.g., unit rate norms, least cost, and comparisons; and Financial Rate of Return)

There was no economic and financial analysis in the PAD.

3.4 Justification of Overall Outcome Rating (combining relevance, achievement of PDOs, and efficiency)

The overall outcome rating is assessed as moderately satisfactory, since the project largely met its objective to test a new partnership model with Traditional Authorities and deepen their engagement in the socio-economic development of communities, as measured by the outcome indicator for replication, and the intermediate outcome indicators related to capacity building, health, and cultural heritage. The relevance of the project objective and design is high, given the strong alignment with Ghana's development priorities and the Bank's Country Assistance Strategy. Similarly, the overall

efficiency of the project is satisfactory, since the design was based on a low-cost partnership model for the provision of social services and community development. Most important of all, the project generated a lot of learning and piloting in search of possible new developmental solutions -- the true test of a LIL. Nonetheless, there were moderate shortcomings in the achievement of the objective (particularly related to the education targets for girls enrollment and retention) and project implementation (particularly related to slow development of the monitoring and evaluation system, which undermined the project's ability to understand the effectiveness of the approach being tried).

3.5 Overarching Themes, Other Outcomes and Impacts (if any, where not previously covered or to amplify discussion above)

As delivered, the project including its spin off effects contributed to a reasonable extent to efficient implementation of Government strategy for improved social sector development on the ground, as envisaged in the result matrix.

(a) Poverty Impacts, Gender Aspects, and Social Development

Please refer section 3.2

(b) Institutional Change/Strengthening (particularly with reference to impacts on longer-term capacity and institutional development)

Capacity for monitoring of development interventions in the district was improved in both AC and AATC. But structural capacity to support partnership between DAs and TAs requires continued focus.

Sustainability

The two TCs have indicated that the Secretariats would continue to be functional after the project has closed as a basis for sustaining partnerships. In addition, training of the TA in best practice in fiduciary responsibility strengthened management. An outstanding issue of importance remains the TAs’ weak financial management and budgeting, and this still needs to be addressed. TAs and DAs regularly interacted and workshops provided a unique forum for sharing critical development choices. However, the role of the DAs was largely limited to payment of counterpart contributions and post-contract monitoring while specialized PIUs implemented the project. The use of specialized PIUs may have limited the level of local ownership and commitment in some districts. Future collaboration needs the continued momentum of joint projects to strengthen dialogue and integrate the dual governance system.

There is no unintended outcome noted during in the course of the preparation of this Implementation Completion Report (ICR).

3.6 Summary of Findings of Beneficiary Survey and/or Stakeholder Workshops (optional for Core ICR, required for ILI, details in annexes)

The four main components of interventions, namely health, education, capacity building and cultural heritage preservation were provided to 40 communities in 35 paramountcies and 18 districts in the AC and 300 communities, five Divisional Councils and six districts in the AATC.

Relevance. The majority of survey respondents considered that the interventions provided under the education, health, capacity building and cultural heritage preservation components were relevant and appropriate. The overall ratings are shown in the table.

Beneficiary Survey Perceptions on Relevance of Interventions

Highly relevant very relevant Relevant not relevant AC 67.5% 17.5% 13.75% AATC 35% 15% 30% 20%

The differences in the ratings in the AC and AATC are explained by the integrated and comprehensive nature of the interventions in the AC as opposed to the AATC.

Project participation. Respondents stated that their participation in conception and planning was limited but their level of involvement in the other stages was very satisfactory. The project idea was conceived and planning done at the level of the Secretariats and PIUs of the two TCs and the communities, but implementation was more decentralized. A rating of beneficiary perspectives on their overall involvement in the two TCs revealed the following answers:

Beneficiary Survey Ratings of Adequacy of Involvement

Very adequate Adequate Inadequate. AC 13.89% 33.33% 52.78% AATC 10.17% 72.88% 16.95%

The differences in the ratings in the two TCs are explained by the high level of involvement of beneficiary districts, communities and TAs in deciding on the location of facilities, contract award by the DAs and their more intense role in the monitoring and supervision of construction work in the AATC as opposed to the peripheral role played in the AC in the award of contract and location of the facilities.

Beneficiaries at the district, community and TA levels were quite satisfied with the quality and mode of delivery of the interventions, as below.

‘Very Satisfactory’ Beneficiary Rating of Intervention Quality

District level Community level TA level AC 60% 60% 67% AATC 60% 61%

The high level of satisfaction was due to the appropriate interventions, increased accessibility to facilities, and reasonable timeliness in the delivery of the interventions. A 90 percent satisfaction was expressed with the mode of delivery of interventions. However, there was some disquiet with substandard quality of work and materials used by some contractors. Beneficiaries at all levels in the AC and AATC stated that the project had yielded a positive impact on their lives. For example, they stated that new school infrastructure had increased access, enhanced enrolment, and helped in recruitment and retention of qualified teachers, and increased student motivation.

4. Assessment of Risk to Development Outcome

Rating: Medium

Notwithstanding tangible achievements in terms of outputs and capacity development for TAs, successful exit and the sustainability of the project’s impact are still vulnerable to low levels of commitment and to the still tentative structures for partnerships. While most stakeholders were committed, the responsiveness of some DAs and communities to requirements such as submission of quarterly reports was slow. About 40 percent of the communities in the AC did not contribute towards maintenance and repairs of the water, toilet and school facilities. User fees were not charged because for example the Asantehene had directed that the teachers should not pay any rent or user fees and community members were using the water facilities at the schools free of charge. Although most of the volunteers were motivated the beneficiary survey revealed that motivation fell by about 30 percent due to lack of mentoring and coaching from community members and TAs, and lack of finance. Weak financial management also delayed payment of counterpart funds and some TAs had to resort to other donor funds.

5. Assessment of Bank and Borrower Performance (relating to design, implementation and outcome issues)

5.1 Bank Performance (a) Bank Performance in Ensuring Quality at Entry (i.e., performance through lending phase)

Rating: Moderately satisfactory While (i) project design was consistent with development priorities and; (ii) due diligence was exercised to take project preparation through required procedures, there were also weaknesses. For example, the project design could have benefited from deeper background analysis. Thus there was insufficient conceptualization of how partnerships would form. The PAD and DCA were very explicit with regard to the need for linkages and coordination structures between TAs and local Government but such mechanisms were not built sufficiently into actual programs.

Other sector specialists outside education and health, with expertise e.g. in sociology, ethnology, decentralization could have contributed more to design and preparation. In the event the project focus shifted from supporting partnerships between Government and TAs to more regular interventions in health, education and training. Nevertheless, there was also some reasonable expectation that project implementation would in itself strengthen partnership structures.

(b) Bank Performance in Lending and Supervision (including of fiduciary and safeguards policies)

Rating: Moderately Satisfactory: The Bank team undertook a minimum of four supervision missions per year and attended several project meetings and workshops. Bank staff helped the implementation team comply with procurement and financial management procedures. Withdrawal applications were submitted at regular intervals and the project had adequate operating funds. Audits were conducted on time and Financial Management reports were prepared and submitted quarterly. The quality of the reports was acceptable as reports were consistent with the underlying records of the project and disbursement data. For this reason, Bank team work is rated satisfactory.

However adequate supervision was affected by the delay in putting in place the project M&E system. Bank supervision teams were also limited to specialists in procurement and financial management (concerned with fiduciary responsibility) whereas some use of Bank expertise in substantive areas of governance and local development could have been profitably deployed. This tended to focus supervision on output rather than outcome.

(c) Justification of Rating for Overall Bank Performance Rating: Rating: Moderately Satisfactory Overall, the Bank performance is rated “moderately satisfactory”. The satisfactory aspect of the rating is due to actual delivery in a difficult context and with limited funds. But the project design and implementation needed a clearer definition of PDOs and better alignment of outcomes, outputs and inputs to achieve its structural and sustainability objectives. The project would also have benefited from closer guidance during design and supervision.

5.2 Government

(a) Government Performance Rating: Moderately Satisfactory MoFEP, RCCs and District Assemblies (DAs) ended by working well together with the TCs, PIUs and Bank staff. As project implementation moved forward, local government gradually realized the potential of leveraging support from TAs through project interventions. This highlighted further opportunities for integration of project activities as “single packages” for maximum impact. By the end of the project the

need for (more) continuous policy dialogue between the dual governance systems was clearly demonstrated. As Bank counterpart, MoFEP should be commended for its technical support and support to policy dialogue between local government and TAs for delivery of project’s interventions.

It became clear through the experience of joint projects why a framework for partnership and policy dialogue was needed. Had this been anticipated in advance the project could have better targeted capacity development. The framework for partnership could then have been used to test joint approaches in health, education and cultural heritage. Lessons learnt at the early stage of project implementation could have helped to fine-tune capacity building interventions. A stronger Government commitment early on could also have provided a better platform for policy dialogue and identified risk mitigation measures.

(b) Implementing Agency or Agencies Performance

Rating: Moderately Satisfactory The Secretariats of the two TCs satisfactorily coordinated activities of the PIUs and participated in the mobilization of financial resources from the DAs to pay TAs counterpart funds. Overall, implementation infrastructures that were put in place in both TCs enabled effective functioning of the PIUs and facilitated timely delivery of interventions. These also helped in meeting reporting requirements at the various levels.

However, implementation agencies were not driven by the bigger picture, that is, of integrating activities in health, education and cultural heritage programs. In addition, the set-up of the management information system (MIS) came too late to guide corrective measures. As a result, while project outputs were adequately delivered the opportunity was missed to use the momentum to support structural change and decentralization of development activity. It was only ex post that the value of policy dialogue and pooling activities/funds was understood.

Rating: Moderately Satisfactory: Government overall performance is rated “moderately satisfactory”. Government technical support has been decisive in the successful delivery of project activities. The project design could have been more responsive to the need for structural change but the context was difficult and funds limited. As project implementation went on, Government became more active in developing partnerships, assuring quality of interventions and assessment of impact.

6. Lessons Learned (both project-specific and of wide general application)

Harmonization and integration of activities. A key to the success of projects of this kind is the recognition by the dual Governance system of the value of consistent joint policies and interventions. Project implementation highlighted some approaches to

coordination between DAs and TAs. But if this project was to be replicated, the development of a relevant platform for mainstreaming TAs governance systems in local government framework should be adopted as a specific, principal target.

Mainstreaming PIUs. One of the key objectives of the project was to build the capacity of the TCs to enable them sustain the project after closing, through a strong secretariat. However, apart from the Project Manager in the AC, other professional staff had to be recruited and paid for by the project. In the AATC the PIU is made up of entirely recruited professionals. The TCs did not provide personnel to take over responsibilities for managing the secretariat, as had been planned. Only the Okyehene's State Secretary was co-opted to understudy the PIU in the AATC. The educational and professional backgrounds of most Secretariat staff were inadequate.

In this project, it is evident that the resource base and management skills of the TAs was overestimated. Had the project preparation team paid attention to that, project design would have focused more on capacity development, for example to improve revenue collection systems. By so doing, the project would have been more likely to achieve major impact by contributing to help qualify TAs for sub-sovereign lending.

7. Comments on Issues Raised by Borrower/Implementing Agencies/Partners (a) Borrower/implementing agencies N/A (b) Cofinanciers N/A (c) Other partners and stakeholders (e.g. NGOs/private sector/civil society)

Figures: Cumulative Disbursements Over The Project Life

Annex 1. Project Design Summary GHANA: Promoting Partnerships with TAs Project

Hierarchy of Objectives Key Performance Indicators Data Collection Strategy Critical Assumptions

Sector-related CAS Goal: Government strategy of improved social sector Sector indicators: Sector/country reports: (from Goal to Bank Mission) development efficiently implemented on the Partner' TAs contribution to WBIIMF statistics. Sustainable improvement in school ground health information access, and Mm. of Health Annual enrollment in deprived communities quality basic education in Reports. deprived areas. increased by at Mm of Education report least 1% of total government ISSER annual report expenditure on health & Government's Annual education) within 2 years of LIL Budget closing

Policy guidelines on community Sustained reduction on number of participation instituted persons reporting illnesses in deprived communities Follow-on Development Objective: Effective implementation of government Macroeconomic stability strategy of reducing hard core poverty on the ground Project Development Objective: Outcome / Impact communities Project reports: (from Objective to Goal) Test approaches to substantively integrate and within the nation by end of improve TAs involvement and help focus their project Quarterly Project report. Sustained government commitment to contributions in socio-economic development in reducing poverty and political will to their communities Annual Surveys. fostering partnerships

Ministry of Health & Ministry of Education reports

Development plans of traditional authority Output from each component: Outcome Indicators: Project reports (from Outputs to Objectives)

1. Methodology identified 1.1 At least 50% of Traditional Project MIS and Beneficiary leadership in pilot districts Assessments participate in the enhancement of basic health and fight against Mid-term and end of HIV/AIDS project evaluation 1.2 50% of activities carried out by Reports TAs include REV/AIDS and health issues by end of project Quarterly progress reports

1.3 At least 50% of traditional Annual Audited accounts leadership in pilot districts participate in the enhancement of Economic development primary school enrolment and reports retention rates by end of project.

1.6 At least 10 % increase in girls

enrolment/completion rates in basic education by end of project 1.5 20% increase in teacher attendance in selected schools by Annual Enrollment Statistical end of project Census conducted by MOE

Teacher attendance records in selected schools Capacity building program implemented 2.1 Traditional leaders participate in minimum of 4 community development training programs by end of project. 2.2 All community volunteers in the pilot districts participate in health and education specific training programs. 2.3 Community development/business plans developed. 3.1. Area and sector specific 3. Replication/scaling up method and scaling up methods and guidance manuals developed and manuals developed. New set of key, committed and disseminated resourceful TAs/communities identified 3.2 Training on manual use

organized in two other sectors

besides health and education by

end of project. 4. LIL Project Management system installed 4.1 Project annual plans and operational developed with participation of Qualified borrower implementation selected communities and team engaged and working. implemented. 4.2 Development office/Project management team in place. 4.3 Monitoring and evaluation system developed and being implemented by end of year 1. Project Components/Sub-component Inputs: (budget for each Project reports: (from component) Components to Outputs) 1.1HIV/ALDS/Health Advocacy Modules / workshops/ training/outreach activities 1.US$0.48M Mid-term and end of project 1. TAs committed to productive reports partnership with government in the 1.2 Design Community Health development of the education and Register/Planning for Healthy Outcomes Supervision Mission Reports health sectors.

1.3 Periodic Public for a Audits Reports 2. TAs provides adequate and timely resources.

3. Communities supportive of efforts of TAs.

4. School Performance Appraisal Meeting (SPAM) is initiated in community.

5. Schools in the pilot areas are adequately staffed.

6. PTAs are strengthened or initiated. 2.1 TAs; role in schools’ administration (Scholarship schemes, lands, enrollment

drives, etc) training module Min. of Education reports 2. US$30M 2.2 School resources/facilities and rehabilitation plan

2.3 survey/study – to identify constraints to enrollment, teacher retention incentives, baseline

3.1 TAs secretariats/MIS

3.2 Training needs assessment/training program

3.3 Monitoring & Evaluation system Mid-term and end of project 3. US$0.93M reports 3.4 Office equipment/vehicles/audit/operations. Supervision Mission Reports 3.5 Partnership Module

4.1 Cultural Heritage Preservation study/inventory of artifacts Mid-term and end of project 4.2 Traditional courts/museums study reports 4. US$0.39M 4.3 Cultural Heritage curriculum/multi-purpose Supervision Mission Reports center study

Annex 2. Outputs by Component

Interventions were delivered to 40 communities in 35 paramountcies and 18 districts in the AC and 300 communities, five Divisional Councils and six districts in the AATC. While outputs in the AC are tangible (school infrastructure, teachers' quarters and relevant facilities, monitoring of children growth aside from capacity building and studies), outputs in the AATC are of a softer nature (school infrastructure only for five communities, studies, capacity building and interventions in environment protection.).

Asanteman Council (AC) In the Asanteman Council 40 communities in 35 paramountcies in 18 districts benefited from interventions under the project in health, education, capacity building and cultural heritage preservation.

Education: Under the education component the activities focused on renovation, reconstruction and or construction of classrooms, offices, 6 bedroom teachers' quarters, library, staff common room and water boreholes. Each participating community had a school rehabilitated, reconstructed and or constructed. Water boreholes and 10 to 20-seater Aqua Privy Toilet Facilities were also constructed. In addition, text books, readers and furniture (dual desk for the classrooms, tables and chairs for the library and head teachers' offices) were supplied to the schools. Three communities namely Hwereso, Asamang and the Manhyia Palace benefited from solar energy supply thus mechanizing the water borehole facility to supply water to the larger community. Teacher incentives schemes have also been instituted. In addition, 700 needy pupils selected by head teachers and recommended by the SMCs from all the beneficiary communities have benefited from stationery supplies (5 exercise books, 5 notebooks, 1 mathematical set and one school bag each). Scholarship schemes for needy children and girls' education have also been instituted.

Health: Outputs under the health component included training of community members and other key stakeholders in growth monitoring of children 0-5 years, HIV/AIDS control, disease surveillance including malaria prevention and control. Teams of six to seven trained facilitators from the district health directorates supported the implementation of community based growth promotion aimed at ensuring improvement in child health, particularly their nutritional status. These facilitators also trained seven to ten volunteers in each of the participating communities to undertake growth monitoring of children. Inputs such as weighing scales and weighing pants were provided for their activities. Monthly growth monitoring of children 0-2 years and half-yearly for children 2-5 years was ongoing. On awareness creation and follow up on HIV/AIDS, the AC has entered into partnership with an NGO (Serwaa Ampem

AIDS Foundation) to follow up on activities started under the PPTAP including mounting of bill boards and sensitization programs.

Capacity Building: Capacity building activities included training of all traditional leaders (including all paramount chiefs, queen mothers, beneficiary community chiefs and queen mothers), DCEs and Planning Officers of beneficiary districts as well as community members (mainly the monitoring committees) in community development issues such as needs assessment, roles in the government's decentralization process as well as maintenance of school property and the water facilities. Eleven volunteers from each community were trained in the maintenance of the water borehole facilities. Training of health volunteers in health specific issues, were also undertaken. Each paramountcy had MIS established and the relevant personnel trained in basic management practices and computer literacy. Two education vans fitted with various audio and video equipment were also procured to facilitate HIV /AIDS sensitization and monitoring activities by the PIU.

As part of the capacity building, Medium Term Development Plans have been prepared for each community and paramountcy. The plans take into account the community needs and development plans. All the 35 paramountcies have their own development plans and each community has its own development plan. The capacities of the district assemblies have been built to enhance their role in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development interventions in the districts. The DAs and TAs now have very good database to inform development activities. Management Information Systems were being put in place to facilitate management of development activities in the beneficiary communities, districts and paramountcies.

Cultural Heritage Preservation: Under the Cultural Heritage component, TCs were assisted to improve their community's ability to carry out programs that would help them to preserve and benefit from their cultural heritage through the development of educational activities, curriculum in schools on cultural heritage, linkages to environmental degradation, private sector-community business partnerships for eco-tourism projects, artifacts and practices.

A study on identification of cultural heritage assets has been done and a report on cultural heritage assets of the participating paramountcies produced and yet to be published. Studies have been conducted on traditional courts and customary laws codified to help the TAs to review the operations of the traditional court system with a view to reducing the incidence of chieftaincy disputes and litigation.

Training of craft artisans for employment generation has been undertaken. Four of such training have been organized in conjunction with the Ghana Handicrafts

Exports Associations for Wood Carvers in Ashanti at Akyeaw-Krom for 75 participants, for handicraft producers at Atonso in the Kwabre District for 46 participants, for brassware producers at Sokoban-Krofrom-Ashanti for 37 participants as well as a three month training workshop for 50 deaf and disabled craft artisans in Kente weaving, tie & dye, sculpture and screen printing at Tewobaabi in the Kwabre District.

The Lands Secretariat at Manhyia has been refurbished to help streamline land acquisition processes and ultimately improve revenue generation for the AC.

Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Councils (AATC)

About 300 communities in five divisional councils and six district assemblies have benefited from the interventions under the education, health, capacity building and cultural heritage preservation components.

Education: Five communities in five districts namely Heman in the Fanteakwa district, Kibi in the East Akim district, Wasabeampa in the West Akim district, Addaekrom in the Kwabibirem district and Akote in the Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar district benefited from the rehabilitation, reconstruction and or construction of three to six unit classrooms, office, a store and library. The Kibi and Addaekrom school buildings were near completion at the time of the field data collection. The Wasabeampa and Akote buildings were at the lintel level, while the Heman building was at the foundation level. Health: Under the health component about 300 communities in the five divisional councils of the AATC benefited from the health interventions. Baseline studies that establish the status of development indicators, including health, in the AATC have been undertaken. A study to identify resources needed to empower divisional TAs in the Akyem Abuakwa Kingdom to enhance HIV/AIDS advocacy campaign was undertaken and some traditional leaders have been sensitized and trained in basic health issues to participate in enhancing basic health and the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Sixteen Queen Mothers have been trained as resource persons for HIV/AIDS advocacy campaign; 22 volunteers (2 chiefs, 3 Queen Mothers and 17 community members – 9 females and 8 males) have been trained to serve as caretakers for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA); and 17 resource persons (4 chiefs, 2 linguists and 11 administrators of the palace) trained in HIV/AIDS/STI Advocacy Campaign. Documentation centers in each of the divisional capitals of Wenchi, Begoro, Kwabeng, Asiakwa and Kukurantumi have been renovated and equipped to track and document all health related incidents in each of the divisions in the Kingdom. A cinema van, audio visual equipment for HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns, office furniture and equipment including telecommunication facilities have also been provided.

Capacity Building: Okyehene's Secretariat has been established at Kyebi and equipped with computers and accessories, other office equipment and furniture. One 4x4 Nissan pickup and an accounting software have also been provided.

Sensitization workshops were organized for TAs with about 44 participants comprising 15 chiefs, 2 women, 3 resource persons, 2 facilitators and 12 TA representatives participated in the workshops. Training has been organized for traditional leaders in community development programs. Five development training programs have been organized for 60 participants from the five participating districts (5 DCEs, 5 DCDs, 5 Presiding Members, 10 chiefs, 20 Sub-Committee Chairpersons and 15'DPCU members). Updating and capacity building workshops were organized for 100 participants made up of 50 chiefs and 50 queen mothers. An M&E system has been established for the secretariat and training in M&E has been organized for 49 TAs made up of 28 chiefs, 9 queen mothers, and 12 DA representatives (11 males and one female). Training in ICT has also been organized. Working sessions of the DAs with all the divisional councils were also organized to review development process in the division and strategies mapped out to address challenges. Cultural Heritage Preservation: Renovation works were done on the Okyehene's Secretariat and the documentation centre (library and archives) at Kyebi as part of the capacity enhancement processes for the preservation of cultural heritage in the Kingdom. A study on the tourism potentials of Akyem Abuakwa ecological and cultural heritage sites has been done. Interpretation, translation, codification and documentation of Akyem Abuakwa Historical materials have also been done. It identified all historical materials in the Kingdom which were scattered in various publications and documented them under one source for easy reference.

Publication of law reform documents was ongoing in the Okyehene's palace to ensure that all cases settled and documented were automated to facilitate regularized and authenticated legal reform document for the kingdom.

Equipment including computers, production equipment and accessories has been procured for the documentation centre in order to resource the centre with the state of the art equipment and to provide documentary recordings of all major events in the Kingdom.

Annex 3. Project Costs and Financing

Health 0.40 0.08 0.48 Local Foreign Total Project Coat By Component US $million US US $million Actual Asanteman (US$0.27M) 0.17 Akyem Abuakwa (US$0.15M) 0.20

Education 3.10 0.20 3.30 Asanteman (US$2.90M) 3.29 Akyem Abuakwa (US$0.10M) 0.146

Capacity Building 0.41 0.52 0.93 Asanteman (US$0.64M) 1.12 Akyem Abuakwa (US$0.20M) 0.214 0.25 0.14 0.39 Cultural Heritage Asanteman (US$0.24M) 0.19 Akyem Abuakwa (US$0.20M) 0.21

Unallocated 0.00 0.40 0.40

Incremental Operating Cost Total Baseline Cost 4.16 1.34 5.50 4.77 (0.56) Physical Contingencies 0.00 0.00 0.00 Price Contingencies 0.00 0.00 0.00 1 4.16 1 34 5.50 Total Project Costs Total Financing Required 4.16 1.34 5.50 Foreign Total Local Project Cost By Category US US US $million $million $million Goods 0.12 0.41 0.53 0.59 Works 2.80 0.20 3.00 2.94 Services & Training 1.11 0.33 1.44 1.51 Operating Cost 0.13 0.00 0.13 0.29 Unallocated 0.00 0.40 0.40 0.00 i 4.16 1.34 5.50 Total Financing Required 4.16 1.34 5.50

Annex 4. Bank Lending and Implementation Support/Supervision Processes

(a) Task Team members Responsibility/ Names Title Unit Specialty Lending

Supervision/ICR Sylvester Kofi Awanyo Sr Procurement Spec. AFTPC Evelyn Awittor Operations Officer AFTH2 Samuel Bruce-Smith Consultant AFTFM Salli Cudjoe Program Assistant AFC10 Rona Cook Program Assistant AFTFDP Eunice Yaa Brimfah Dapaah Education Spec. AFTH2 Edward Felix Dwumfour Sr. Natural Resources Mgmt. Spec AFTS4 Charlotte Hayfron Disbursement Asst. AFC10 Anthony Mensa-Bonsu E T Consultant AFTPC Arthur Majoribanks Swatson Water & Sanitation Spec. AFTU2 Frederick Yankey Sr Financial Management Specia AFTFM

(b) Staff Time and Cost Staff Time and Cost (Bank Budget Only) Stage of Project Cycle USD Thousands (including No. of staff weeks travel and consultant costs) Lending FY01 12 29.85 FY02 17 28.87 FY03 18 29.18 FY04 0.00 FY05 0.00 FY06 0.00 FY07 0.00

Total: 47 87.90 Supervision/ICR FY01 0.00 FY02 0.00 FY03 2 3.86 FY04 15 38.03 FY05 19 32.80 FY06 18 34.83 FY07 5 36.41

Total: 59 145.93

No. Date ISR Archived DO IP Actual Disbursements (USD M) 1 10/20/2003 Satisfactory Satisfactory 0.51 2 05/28/2004 Satisfactory Satisfactory 0.63 3 12/14/2004 Satisfactory Satisfactory 2.68 4 06/22/2005 Satisfactory Satisfactory 3.88 5 07/26/2005 Satisfactory Satisfactory 4.17 6 01/28/2006 Satisfactory Satisfactory 4.61

Annex 5. Beneficiary Survey Results (if any)

Summary

Context The Promoting Partnership with Traditional Authorities Project (PPTAP) is a partnership approach to development, between the Government of Ghana, Asanteman Council (AC), Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council (AATC) and the World Bank. It aims to test in a limited number of areas approaches to substantively integrate and improve TAs in deprived, remote and rural communities’ involvement in development activities; and help focus the contributions/influence of Traditional Authorities (TAs) in socio-economic development. Implementation of the project is scheduled to close at the end of June 2006. As part of the Development Grant Agreement, an Implementation Completion Report (ICR) and Beneficiary Impact Assessment Report were to be prepared. This beneficiary assessment was therefore conducted to: i. Assess potential outcomes as at June 30, 2006 and beyond and likely impact of the project on the beneficiaries; ii. Ascertain and document lessons learned and make recommendations to be incorporated into future projects; iii. Assess plans instituted by the beneficiaries to ensure sustainability of the project interventions and make recommendations for future operations of the project; and iv. Assess the suitability of the approaches adopted in project implementation and suggest other suitable approaches.

More specifically, the assessment was to establish the following: i. Relevance and or suitability of project interventions to beneficiaries; ii. Participation in different stages of project activities; iii. Direct benefits to beneficiaries; iv. Availability of project services; v. Quality of project interventions; vi. Impact on the lives of beneficiaries (women and children); and vii. Satisfaction with the mode of delivery of the interventions.

Key Findings The study came up with the following key findings:

Interventions Provided and the Beneficiaries Four main components of interventions, namely health, education, capacity building and cultural heritage preservation were provided to 40 communities in 35 paramountcies and 18 districts in the AC and 300 communities, five Divisional Councils and six districts in the AATC. The PIUs of each of the two Traditional Councils (TCs) pursued interventions under these components with varied degree of scope and emphasis. While the interventions in the AC were largely tangible in nature (school infrastructure, teachers’

quarters and other facilities, growth monitoring of children and capacity building interventions in each community and studies), the interventions in the AATC were largely intangible (school infrastructure for five beneficiary communities, studies and capacity building).

Relevance/Suitability of Project Interventions to Beneficiaries All the dialogue partners during the field data collection acknowledged that the interventions provided under the education, health, capacity building and cultural heritage preservation components were relevant and appropriate in responding to their critical socio-economic development needs. Overall rating of the relevance/suitability of the interventions in the AC indicated that 67.5 percent found them highly relevant, 17.5 percent as very relevant and 13.75percent as relevant. In AATC 35 percent rated them as highly relevant, 15 percent as very relevant and 30 percent as moderately relevant. About 20 percent rated them as relevant. The differences in the ratings in the AC and AATC are explained by the integrated and comprehensive nature of the interventions in the AC as opposed to the AATC.

Participation in Different Stages of the Project Activities Assessment of beneficiary perspectives on their level of involvement in the conception of the project and in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of project activities revealed that although their level of involvement in the conception and planning of interventions were very limited in scope, their level of involvement in the other stages of delivery of interventions were very satisfactory. They indicated that the project idea was conceived and the planning done at the level of the Secretariats and PIUs of the two TCs and the communities. They however contended that their level of involvement at the implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages had been significant. They cited the systems and structures put in place at the various levels, the leadership provided by the TAs, their participation in the sensitization and capacity building activities as well as the cash and in kind contributions as avenues for their involvement. A rating of the beneficiary perspectives about the adequacy of their overall involvement in the two TCs revealed that in the AC, 13.89 percent found it very adequate, 33.33 percent adequate and 52.78 percent inadequate. In the AATC, 10.17 percent rated their involvement as very adequate, 72.88 percent as adequate and 16.95 as inadequate. The differences in the ratings in the two TCs are explained by the high level of involvement of beneficiary districts, communities and TAs in deciding on the location of facilities, contract award by the DAs and their more intense role in the monitoring and supervision of construction work in the AATC as opposed to the peripheral role played by the beneficiaries in the AC in the award of contract and location of the facilities.

Beneficiary Satisfaction with Project Interventions Beneficiaries at the district, community and TA levels were quite satisfied with the quality and mode of delivery of the interventions. In the AC majority (60 percent) of the beneficiaries at the community level, 60 percent at the district level and 66.67 percent at the TA level were very satisfied with the quality of interventions provided. Similarly, 60 percent of the beneficiaries at the community and district levels and 61.22 percent at the TA level were very satisfied with the quality of interventions in the AATC. They

attributed the relevance and appropriateness of the interventions, increased accessibility to facilities and services, timeliness in the delivery of the interventions, good quality of most of the school buildings rehabilitated, reconstructed/constructed, as well as the good impact of the interventions on the lives of beneficiaries as the basis for their level of satisfaction.

On the mode of delivery, notwithstanding the fact that over 90 percent of the beneficiaries interviewed in both TCs were satisfied with the mode of delivery of interventions, they expressed disquiet about the poor quality of work done by some contractors and the sub-standard materials used for construction leading to cracks in walls and falling off of locks, doors, windows, as well as leakage of the sinks. The poor location of toilet facilities that posed health hazards to the teachers and members of the beneficiary communities were also cited as some of the apprehensions of the beneficiaries in the AC.

Impact on the Lives of Beneficiaries Beneficiaries at the community, district and TA levels intimated that the project had yielded significant impact on the lives of children, women, teachers and other community members. In both the AC and AATC, the school infrastructure had increased access of children to school and had enhanced enrolment and retention of pupils in the beneficiary communities. In the AC, recruitment and retention of qualified teachers had increased; the children were motivated to learn and had developed their reading culture as a result of the library, textbooks and reading materials made available. Punctuality of pupils and teachers to school had improved as a result of increased access to potable water by the teachers, pupils and women. The teacher’s quarters had made the teachers more accessible to the children. The teachers do not spend on transport and get to school early leading to more contact hours with the pupils.

In the AC, healthcare services had been brought to the doorstep of the children, women/caregivers and the entire beneficiary communities. The work of the Community Based Disease Surveillance Groups together with the Growth Promoters had heightened awareness of community members about disease control and good care giving practices. Mothers now monitor the nutritional status and growth of their children regularly. In both the AC and AATC environmental cleanliness had improved through the activities of the disease surveillance groups. Awareness about HIV/AIDS had been heightened in the beneficiary communities and districts. This had led to a drop in the prevalence rate in most beneficiary communities, especially in the AATC. In the Fanteakwa District for, example, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate had dropped from 6.8 to 4.1 in 2004/2005. The district also moved from the second to the fifth position in ranking of the prevalence rate nationwide. In the AC, development plans had been formulated for each participating community and paramountcy. The plans incorporate potential employment and income generation activities that would assist community development. Capacities of TAs in both the AC and AATC in adjudicating land ownership disputes, succession cases and other issues brought before the Traditional Law Courts had also been strengthened. Business partnerships had been established with the private sector using outcomes of inventory on cultural heritage sites.

Project Sustainability The project had put in place systems and structures, including implementation arrangements, with well defined roles and responsibilities at the various levels, as well as leadership that could be sustained if ownership and commitment of the beneficiaries could be sustained. Most of the key stakeholders were motivated by the benefits and impacts of the project and therefore had a strong urge to sustain the project interventions. Contributions in cash and kind and performance of the key stakeholders point to their strong ownership and commitment. A number of sustainability measures and exit strategies had been put in place. These include budgetary allocations for project interventions at the District Assembly level, plans by the Directorate of the Ghana Education Service and the beneficiary schools to fund maintenance and repairs requirements under the Capitation Grant, as well as cash and in kind contributions by the beneficiary communities for repair and maintenance of structures and facilities. The Directorate of the Ghana Health Service had also planned to budget for the growth monitoring, disease surveillance and HIV/AIDS activities. Linkage and coordination arrangements had been established by the TCs and communities with the districts and other departments and agencies, including the Community and District Water and Sanitation Agencies, the Ghana Accountability Improved Trust (GAIT), the Otumfuo Education Fund, the Ghana Book Trust and the German Development Service to support provision of the interventions.

A number of challenges however confronted successful exit and sustainability of the project interventions. These included a slow pace in the payment of counterpart fund contributions by some districts, inadequate strategies for sustainability in some communities and districts, weakened motivation of the volunteers in the latter stages, and some reluctance to participate in some communities, including the failure to submit quarterly reports.

Lessons learned Key lessons distilled include the need for comprehensive, integrated and complementary intervention packages in the AC leading to a holistic approach to addressing development challenges; complementarity of educational interventions in both TCs with the Capitation Grant leading to increased enrolment and increased classroom capacities to cope with the increased enrolment; integration of implementation approaches into existing systems and structures thus providing opportunities for smooth exit and sustainability of the interventions; replication of the project approach in other communities; and the political and social clout of the Asantehene and Okyehene that contributed to successful implementation and achievement of project objectives.

Other lessons include those for the DAs; it is important to present to the AC the counterpart fund responsibility not as a virtual tax imposition but as a contribution to community welfare; the inaccessibility of some target communities leading to slow execution of contract work needs to be planned for ahead (e.g. in the Afram Plains); absence of complementary facilities can create serious delays to programs (such as teacher accommodation in the AATC leading to problems recruiting and retaining

qualified teachers); all programs of this type need to be designed to align cultural and attitudinal change to modernization and development; the capacity of local implementing agents (the Secretariats of the AC and AATC) needs to be assessed a priori, to ensure sustainable management of the interventions; the role of local Government (and the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment) should be carefully factored into design; and there needs to be a fair balance between tangible and intangible interventions in deprived communities that had been starved of development interventions to the extent that their level of commitment and ownership is determined by immediate rather than long term benefits/impacts.

Recommendations

Based on the findings, recommendations have been provided to facilitate replication and sustainability of the project approach and interventions. They include the need to enhance participation of beneficiaries of project interventions from the very onset in order to secure their ownership, commitment and sustainability; the need to strengthen the exit and sustainability strategies including mainstreaming systems and structures as well as the interventions into existing systems, structures and development agenda and the need to enhance the involvement of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment to facilitate its advocacy role for replication of the project approach.

Also recommended is the need to put more emphasis on building the capacities of the Secretariats of the two TCs technically and financially to sustain the project approach and interventions; and the need for a fair balance between tangible and intangible interventions in deprived communities to ensure ownership, commitment and sustainability of interventions.

Annex 6. Stakeholder Workshop Report and Results (if any)

N/A

Annex 7. Summary of Borrower's ICR and/or Comments on Draft ICR

Context

The PPTAP is a partnership approach to development, between the Government of Ghana (GOG), Asanteman Council (AC), Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council (AATC) and the World Bank. It aims to test in a limited number of areas approaches to substantively integrate and improve TAs (TAs) in deprived, remote and rural communities' involvement in development activities; and help focus their contributions/influence in socio-economic development. Implementation of the project is scheduled to close at the end of June 2006. As part of the Development Grant Agreement (DGA), an Implementation Completion Report (ICR) and Beneficiary Impact Assessment Report were to be prepared. This ICR was therefore to:

• carry out a comprehensive review of all aspects of the project implementation as agreed in the Project Appraisal Document (PAD); • assess potential outcomes as at June 30, 2006 and beyond and the likely impact of the project on the beneficiaries; • ascertain and document lessons and make recommendations to be incorporated in future projects; • assess plans instituted by the beneficiaries to ensure sustainability of the project and make recommendations for future operations of the project; and • Assess suitability of the approaches adopted in project implementation and suggest other suitable approaches.

More specifically, the ICR was to: Assess development objectives, project design and quality at entry; ii. Identify major factors affecting implementation and outcomes; iii. Assess project sustainability; iv. Assess the level of contributions (in kind and cash) made by the beneficiaries towards project implementation; v. Assess the level of involvement of the TAs in the activities of the District Assemblies (DAs) and vice versa in promoting development; vi. Assess the leadership roles and guidance provided by the heads of these TCs and its impact on project implementation and likely sustainability; vii. Assess Bank performance in terms of lending and supervision; and viii. Assess borrower's performance in terms of preparation, Government implementation performance and implementing agency performance.

Key findings The following key findings were made: i. Development Objectives, Design and Quality at Entry Development objectives The development objective of the PPTAP was to test approaches to substantively integrate and improve TAs in deprived, remote and rural communities' involvement in development activities and help focus their contributions in socio-economic development

in their communities. These objectives were consistent with the World Bank's Country Assistance Strategy of March 2000 and the goal of assisting the GOG to implement its Poverty Reduction Strategy and the decentralization policy more effectively.

Components The PPTAP was piloted in two Traditional Councils (TCs) namely the AC in the Ashanti Region and the AATC in the Eastern Region of Ghana in the following areas:

Component 1: Health and HIV/AIDS. This component aimed to test approaches on how to effectively bring in and utilize the chieftaincy institution to help contain the spread of HIV/AIDS and lead an improved and sustained fight to curb the menace of other public health issues and infectious diseases that impact negatively on the communities' productive capacities.

Component 2: Education. The main objective was to develop sustainable solutions to improve primary school enrolment in pilot communities given the resource contributions of TAs. Assistance was to be provided for rehabilitation of dilapidated and broken-down primary school infrastructure in remote and rural communities. Capacities of TAs were to be built to facilitate enhancement of educational opportunities for primary school age children, especially females in rural areas, to identify ways to retain teachers in rural and remote communities, and enhance information flow on education between the central government, the DAs and TAs.

Component 3: Capacity Building - sought to strengthen skills of staff working in the Secretariats of the TCs. It included support for engagement of key project management staff, formulation of community development/business plans for the pilot communities, provision of vehicles and office equipment, including hardware and software for setting up management information systems, development of efficient financial management, M&E system, as well as establishment of lines of communication with DAs, government agencies and other national leaders.

Component 4: Cultural Heritage Preservation - aimed at providing support to the two TCs to improve their communities' ability to carry out programs that could help them to preserve and benefit from their cultural heritage through the development of educational activities/curriculum in schools on cultural heritage, linkage to environmental degradation, private sector-community business partnership to set up ecotourism projects, etc. It also sought to assist the TAs to review the operations of the traditional law courts system with the view to reducing the incidence of chieftaincy disputes and land litigation in order to identify needs for revision, codification and dissemination of traditional laws.

The project components were compatible with the objectives. The project provided the opportunity for the Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs), DAs and TAs to test new approaches in the provision of basic social services, test and build capacity at national, district and community levels for M&E as well as strengthen collaboration between TAs and the decentralized system of government at the various levels. The project design

ensured that its implementation was done by existing TC and government structures leading to strong ownership and commitment at various levels. The objectives remained the same throughout the life of the project. The components remained the same in the AC, but the AATC education component was modified to include rehabilitation, reconstruction /construction of school infrastructure in five deprived and remote communities after studies had established its need.

Quality at Entry

Although the project design/preparation and negotiation processes took about two and a half years (longer than expected for a US$5m grant), successful implementation and pursuance of the project objectives have led to strong community, TA, District Assembly and Government ownership and commitment to the project objectives and activities.

The PPTAP is consistent with Government priorities on poverty reduction and decentralization. The project design, which was based on existing structures at the community, district, TC, regional and national levels, provides opportunities for sustainability and replication. Achievement of Objectives and Outputs

The project has addressed the development, as well as learning and innovation objectives of integrating and improving TAs' involvement, and focus their contributions in socio- economic development of their communities.

Education In the AC, the school infrastructure, teachers' quarters and water borehole facilities provided have enhanced access of children to education and increased enrolment in 40 communities in 18 districts and 35 paramountcies. Overall, primary school pupils enrolled in AC beneficiary communities increased by 14 percent from 8,670 in 2002 to 9,881 in 2004. Furniture, textbooks and readers provided have also improved teaching and learning outcomes. Scholarship schemes have been instituted to address the educational needs of needy but brilliant children as well as girls' education. Junior Secondary School (JSS) enrolment in the Ashanti Region increased by 29 percent from 2,819 pupils in 2002 to 3,647 in 2004. The proportion of pupils in the 40 beneficiary JSS who qualify into the Senior Secondary School (SSS) increased from 18 percent in 2002 to 33 percent in 2004. In 2002, only four JSS schools had more than 50 percent of pupils qualifying for SSS. In 2004 the number increased to seven schools. Punctuality of both pupils and teachers to school has improved as a result of increased access to potable water by both the teachers and pupils. The teachers' quarters has made the teachers more accessible to the children and parents. The teachers do not spend money on transport and they get to school early (by 7 am instead of between 9 am and 11 am). They are also motivated by their presence in the communities to spend longer contact hours with the children (about 7 hours instead of less than 4 hours on the average). In the AATC access of children to school has improved, teaching and learning outcomes enhanced and enrolment increased in five communities that benefited from improvements in school

infrastructure. In both TCs, the Parent Associations (Pass) and School Management Committees (SMCs) are now better focused on overseeing education planning and delivery in the beneficiary communities. Parents, chiefs and queen mothers are supporting enrolment drive. They visit the schools regularly to enable them identify and address challenges that come up promptly.

Health In the AC, health support services have been provided and capacities of volunteers in the communities built to enable them to provide growth monitoring and disease surveillance services to the communities. Capacities of volunteers in both TCs have been built to enable them provide HIV/AIDS awareness services to the communities.

In the AC, healthcare services have been brought closer to the doorsteps of the children, women/caregivers and the entire community. The work of the Community Based Disease Surveillance Groups (CBDSGs) and the Growth Promoters have heightened awareness of the community members about disease control and good care giving practices. Mothers now monitor the nutritional status and growth of their children regularly and environmental cleanliness has improved. Awareness about HIV/AIDS has been heightened in the beneficiary communities and districts. The young men and women now talk about HIV/AIDS and advise one another. This has contributed to a drop in the prevalence rate in the beneficiary communities, especially in the AATC where in the Fanteakwa District the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate had dropped from 6.8 to 4.1 in 2004/2005. The district also moved from second to fifth position in ranking of the prevalence rate nationwide. Although it may be too optimistic to partly attribute these achievements to project interventions, the feeling among the communities, TAs and districts was that the project has helped to consolidate the gains.

Capacity Building Capacities of the TAs and DAs have been built to enhance their role in monitoring development interventions in the districts. The DAs and TAs now have very good database for development activities. Management Information Systems have been put in place to facilitate management of development activities in the beneficiary communities, districts and paramountcies. Medium Term Development Plans that incorporate potential employment and income generation ventures to assist community development have been prepared for each community and paramountcy in the AC. The PPTAP has strengthened collaboration between the DAs and TAs. The DAs now know how to involve the TAs better in their development agenda. The TAs have better appreciation of their roles and responsibilities and are better equipped to demand their share of the district's resources for development.

Cultural Heritage A number of studies, including baseline studies, have been conducted to facilitate exploitation of the ecotourism potentials of the communities, paramountcies and the districts. Business partnerships have been established with the private sector using outcomes of inventory on cultural heritage sites and the community and paramountcies development plans. In the AC, artisans have been trained under the project in

collaboration with the Ghana Handicrafts Association. This has strengthened their ability to access markets for their products, improved production methods, and facilitate order fulfillment and access to financial services.

Capacities of TAs in both the AC and AATC in adjudicating land ownership disputes, succession cases and other issues brought before the Traditional Law Courts have been strengthened. In the AC, 500 cases were withdrawn from state courts and arbitrated in the traditional courts, thus contributing to a reduction in the number of cases in the national courts. The Chief Justice, in partnership with Legal Aid Board and the World Bank Institute, has selected two TAs where this initiative will be replicated.

All the four components of interventions under the project were delivered to 40 communities in 35 paramountcies and 18 districts in the AC and 300 communities, five Divisional Councils and six districts in the AATC. The Project Implementation Units (PIUs) of the two TCs pursued interventions under these components with varied degree of scope and emphasis based on the resources made available to them (US$4.5m for the AC and US$0.5m in the AATC). While the interventions in the AC were tangible in nature (school infrastructure, teachers' quarters and other facilities, growth monitoring of children and capacity building interventions and studies), the interventions in the AATC were largely intangible (school infrastructure for five beneficiary communities, studies, capacity building and environmental protection). iii. Major Factors Affecting Implementation and Outcome

The following factors were identified:

Factors outside the control of government or implementation agency The project preparation took about two and half years (longer than expected for a grant of US$5m). There was also protracted debate in the public domain on the rationale for the direct collaboration between a traditional authority and the World Bank, generating media discussions. The project was subsequently submitted to Cabinet for consideration in February 2003, and was accepted and approved in March 2003. It became effective in July 2003.

Factors generally subject to government control MoFEP and the RCCs provided continued support to the PIUs and the Secretariats of the TCs to put in place relevant structures for project implementation. They ensured that implementation arrangements were functional and responsive to implementation requirements. MoFEP and the RCCs were represented on the review and supervision missions conducted by the World Bank. They also participated in all the review workshops and meetings.

Factors generally subject to implementing agency control The project was managed by PIUs set up to manage and build the capacities of the Secretariats of the TCs for sustainability. Supported by the Oversight Committees, the

PIUs conducted monthly reviews with the Secretariats, discussed project progress as well as identified and addressed implementation challenges. Periodic review workshops were also organized for all key stakeholders at the national, regional, TA, district and community levels to share implementation experiences, challenges and lessons for replication and sustainability.

Cost and financing The project cost was estimated at US$5.5 million. The International Development Association (IDA) contributed US$5 million and the two TCs were expected to make counterpart contribution of US$0.5 million The AC was to contribute US$450,000 and the AAATC US$50,000. The two TCs mobilized resources from the DAs to pay the counterpart contributions on their behalf The TAs and community members also made other cash and in-kind contributions towards the rehabilitation, reconstruction and construction of the school buildings and to support activities of the Community Based Growth Promoters and the CBDSGs. The DAs in the AC had paid US$238,372.35 representing 53 percent of the counterpart contribution as at the time of the ICR. Each DA in the AATC made annual counterpart contributions of 030 million in addition to counterpart contributions for the school building construction ranging between 18 percent and 55 percent of the cost of the buildings. A total of US$3,820,026.17 representing 90 percent of the allocated funds had been disbursed with US$145,624.40 as uncommitted funds as of June 2006.

iv. Assessment of the Level of Contributions by Beneficiaries Key stakeholders in both the AC and AATC made cash and in kind contributions towards delivery of interventions. Financial contributions made included mobilization of funds by the TAs from the DAs to pay their counterpart fund contributions ranging between US$7,385.10 and US$33,643.94 for the rehabilitation, reconstruction/ construction of the school buildings and other project interventions in the AC. In the ATTC each beneficiary DA made annual contributions of ¢30m together with counterpart contributions ranging between 18 percent and 55 percent on behalf of the TAs. The Manhyia Development Unit through the initiative of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, sourced US$40,000 worth of supplementary books and solar energy worth US$26,000. In addition, scholarship schemes for 300 pupils at the basic school level estimated at US$20,500 were provided through the Otumfuo Education Fund. The fund has also made various cash donations to 23 SSSs for various projects in the Ashanti Region. Seventeen other institutions outside the Ashanti Region have also benefited from the fund. The fund has further released $0.1 million to the Ashanti Regional Directorate of the GES to support the Best Teacher Award to serve as incentive to teachers in the region.

Both the AC and the AATC made in kind contributions, including their participation in all training programs, research/study activities and review workshops. They provided office space, monitoring, supervisory, mentoring and coaching support to project implementation. Other in kind contributions made by the two TCs included organization of the annual HIV/AIDS campaigns by the Okyehene and the supportive role of the Okyehemaa in addressing the needs of PLWHA. Each chief made available 5 acres of

land for the construction of school facilities estimated at ¢1.2m (US$130) per acre on the average. Communal labor, monitoring and supervision of school buildings construction as well as free services were provided by the volunteers. The communities provided communal labor, used low rates for water and lumber provided, gave construction workers place to sleep free of charge and supervised construction. Some communities in the AC have provided benches and plastic chairs as well as convenient places for growth monitoring sessions. Some Parent Associations have also provided additional chairs for the library.

v. Leadership Role Provided by the Heads of the TCs The heads of the TCs and the TAs of the participating communities, paramountcies and divisions made immense contributions to, supported and guided project implementation. Their participation in capacity building programs and meetings, mobilization of the people and counterpart contributions from the DAs, supervision of construction activities as well as cash and in kind contributions were valuable leadership provided in the of course delivery of project interventions.

vi. Project Sustainability Systems and structures, including implementation arrangements, with well defined roles and responsibilities at the various levels, as well as leadership that could be sustained are in place. Most key stakeholders were motivated by the benefits and impacts of the project to sustain the project interventions. Contributions in cash and kind and performance of the key stakeholders point to their strong ownership and commitment. Sustainability measures and exit strategies put in place include budgetary allocations for project interventions at the DA level, plans by the District Directorates of the GES and the beneficiary schools to fund maintenance and repairs requirements under the Capitation Grant, as well as cash and in kind contributions by the beneficiary communities for repair and maintenance of structures and facilities. The District Directorates of the Ghana Health Service has also planned to budget for the growth monitoring, disease surveillance and HIV/AIDS activities. Linkage and coordination arrangements have been established by the TCs and communities with the districts and other departments and agencies, including the Community and District Water and Sanitation Agencies, the Ghana Accountability Improved Trust (GAIT), the Otumfuo Education Fund, the Ghana Book Trust and the German Development Service to support provision of the interventions. A number of challenges confront successful exit and sustainability of the project. They include the delays in the payment of counterpart fund contributions by some districts, inadequate strategies for sustainability in some communities and districts, inadequate motivation of the volunteers as well as inadequate response to implementation arrangements.

vii. Lessons learned Lessons include the need for interdependent, comprehensive, integrated and complementary intervention packages in the AC leading to a holistic approach to addressing development challenges; the complementarity of educational interventions

with the Capitation Grant leading to increased enrolment and increased classroom

capacities to cope with the increased enrolment; integration of implementation approaches into existing systems and structures thus providing opportunities for smooth exit and sustainability; replication of the project approach in other communities; and the political and social clout of the Asantehene and Okyehene contributing to successful implementation and achievement of project objectives. Other lessons that have to be taken into account are: the tendency of some DAs to see the counterpart fund contributions as a virtual imposition; inaccessibility of some communities in the Afram Plains leading to slow execution of contract work; absence of other complementary facilities such as teacher accommodation in the AATC leading to the inability of the communities to recruit and retain qualified teachers; the need to align cultural and attitudinal change to modernization and development; inadequate capacity at the Secretariats of TCs to ensure sustainable management of the interventions; the need for a more involving role of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment; and the need for fair balance between tangible and intangible interventions in deprived communities.

viii. Bank Performance in Lending and Supervision The World Bank played a significant role in the lending process with its President being personally involved in the initiation of the project idea with the Asantehene, giving the project a high profile. The overall objectives were consistent with Government priorities and the Bank's Country Assistance Strategy for 2000-2004. Although the Bank was cooperative, protracted preparation process and public apprehension at the initial stages of the lending process delayed effectiveness.

The Bank staff provided the PIUs and the Secretariats with the needed technical support to facilitate effective and efficient implementation of the project. The Bank staff led at least four supervision missions each year. They participated in workshops and meetings to provide supervision. At least six such meetings and workshops were attended by the staff in a year on the project. The Bank staff also helped in establishing linkage with other IDA funded projects. ix. Borrower's Performance In terms of preparation, the government was committed to the project objectives. MoFEP, the regional administration and Secretariats of the two TCs participated effectively in the project preparation and supported in carrying out most of the technical work.

Government implementation performance The Government made available requisite human, physical and financial resources for project implementation. Personnel from MoFEP, the RCCs of the two participating regions and the district assemblies worked well together with the TCs, PIUs and the Bank staff to achieve the project objectives and outcomes.

Implementing Agency The Secretariats of the two TCs did well in coordinating the activities of the PIUs and mobilizing financial resources from the DAs to pay the TAs counterpart fund contributions. The implementation structures put in place in both TCs enabled effective

functioning of the PIUs and facilitated prompt delivery of intervention activities and in meeting reporting requirements at the various levels.

Procurement procedures and financial management procedures and requirements were adequately followed. All withdrawals under Statement of Expenditures were made on the prescribed Withdrawal Application Forms and supported with detailed transaction list which referenced support documentation. Withdrawal applications were submitted at regular intervals thus enabling the project to have funds for operation on continuous basis. Audits were done promptly and Financial Management Reports prepared and submitted quarterly. The quality of the reports was assessed by the World Bank to be acceptable and consistent with the underlying records of the project and disbursement data.

Recommendations

Based on the findings, recommendations have been provided to facilitate replication and sustainability of the project approach and interventions. They include the need to enhance participation of beneficiaries of project interventions from the very onset in order to secure their ownership, commitment and sustainability; the need to strengthen the exit and sustainability strategies including mainstreaming systems and structures as well as the interventions into existing systems, structures and development agenda; and the need to enhance the involvement of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment to facilitate its advocacy role for replication of the project approach.

Also recommended is the need to put more emphasis on building the capacities of the Secretariats of the two TCs technically, professionally and financially to sustain the project approach and interventions; and the need for fair balance between tangible and intangible interventions in deprived communities to ensure ownership, commitment and sustainability.

Annex 8. Comments of Cofinanciers and Other Partners/Stakeholders

N/A

Annex 9. List of Supporting Documents

Ghana Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) 2000-2004 PPTAP Project Appraisal Document (PAD) MOFEP PPTAP ICR PPTAP Beneficiary Assessment Report AATC End of Project Report AC third quarter FM report Aide Memoirs PSRs ISRs Records of interviews during ICR mission