10/10/03 THE NATIONAL INDICATIVE PROGRAMMING (NIP) 2004-6 1 Priority: Contributing to the development of selected rural regions Context and justification: The three core strategic planning documents (Vision 2020, 6th NDP and the Strategic Economic Plan) set an ambitious framework with the aim of achieving equitable distribution of economic benefits, employment opportunities, social conditions and infrastructure development throughout the country by the year 2020. The Government of the Maldives is committed to pursuing the concept of regional development and recognises that infrastructure development must be channelled to selected areas. Objectives Support the establishment of regional growth centres. Description of the action To support the process of establishing regional growth centres that will act as a development framework for co-ordinating both private and public investment in providing social and physical infrastructure, start institutional strengthening of communities and local administration, and begin the process of decentralising the Governments regional management and development planning system. Expected results Decentralised Regional Development Management Offices built, established and staffed with local administrative staff who have received adequate training, facilities, and capacity building to be able to implement a regional participatory planning process that can identify, prioritise and implement a regional development plan. Establishment of vigorous island and atoll development committees able to fully participate in community development activities, undertake micro-project programmes, begin income generation and poverty reduction activities. This process should be particulary focussed on the empowerment of women. Activities Establishment, staffing, and equipping of Regional Development Management Offices. Human resource training in regional development, land use and rural planning, environment protection including promotion of renewable energies, participatory planning processes, project preparation, income generation and poverty reduction activities, management skills in budgeting, financial control and annual work programmes. Preparation of a long term development plan for the region with detailed and carefully prepared prioritised local budgets, identified projects for funding by either government, aid donors, or private investors, and a clear strategy for economic and social development for the region with all necessary environmental impact assessment (EIA) planning having been undertaken. The plans will detail environmentally sound infrastructure improvements required in communication and transport links between the regional 1 CSP – 10/10/03 centres and Male, either by sea or air, as well as between the regional centres and the other atolls and islands in the region. Regional infrastructure needs for education, health, sanitation, potable water sources, waste management facilities, and renewable energies will be clearly identified, especially the social facilities and vocational education requirements needed to support any planned economic or expected employment opportunities. Care will be needed to ensure that any proposed regional administrative system is acceptable to the central government and the participatory community based planning methods used are acceptable to both the traditional atoll societies as well as the political leaders in central government. A clear overall environmental protection plan for the region with sound strategies for each of the atolls and their respective islands will be prepared. These environmental protection plans will fully take into account any likely environmental impact that will be caused by any proposed infra-structural development activity and will also take into account issues of sustainability of any proposed action. Furthermore, such plan shall examine the use renewable energies. Moreover, these plans will also examine the possibilities to develop learning by doing adaptive capacity, spanning human, institutional and systemic components to reduce the vulnerability of the population to climate change and climate variability. This may include the sharing of information on climate variability and forecasting, and assisting the government in developing an early warning system that would prepare the country to implement response measures to effectively confront and manage natural disasters. Decentralised local government in the Maldives will become more of a reality with strengthened development committees and women’s committees playing a more active role in civil administration. Economic opportunities will increase and diversify with islands in the region looking to the regional centre for social and economic support. The progress and impact of the activities described above will be measured through regular feedback, monitoring and evaluation. Implementation Multi-annual regional development plans will begin to be developed by a medium-term team of European TAs with local counterparts, consisting of regional planners, an infrastructure engineer, a transport engineer, land use planners, a local government specialist and a SME specialist, supported by short-term inputs from a gender specialist, a rural development specialist, an environmental specialist, a sociologist, a GIS (geographic information system) expert, a marine fishery specialist, and a tourism expert. Based at the identified regional centre, the team should begin a participatory planning process to identify the priority needs for both social, as well as economic development. The team should identify institutional strengthening needs, capacity building requirements and training needs for the local administration, communities, and administrators and begin the training programme. Based upon the experience of other aid donor projects, begin the establishment of Regional Development Management Offices, carry out training for institutional strengthening and capacity building for local administrative staff, island, and women’s development committees, involving local chiefs and village officials. Strengthen regional 2 CSP – 10/10/03 planning, land use planning, and GIS facilities at the Regional Office level. Improve use of local funds, local planning and establish local development priorities. On a pilot basis, implement and fund selected micro-projects and development activities based on local initiatives. Particular focus in this process should be laid on projects which target environment protection and/or that help the population to adjust to harmful effects caused by climate change. In the region, the plan should identify agricultural development and market potentials, highlight possibilities for tourism expansion; identify sustainable and marketable marine products, clarify communication and transport needs, identify private initiatives and sources of commercial funding, as well as technical education development. The environmental sustainability of such interventions will be carefully examined. The plan will also look at renewable energy sources such as solar, wind or wave power. Where there are key bottlenecks and problems in the region to begin to implement a programme infrastructure improvement in the fields of communication, transport, tourism, fishing and social improvements. The ADB Regional Development Project is designed to improve the living conditions of the people in the Northern Development Region and Southern Development Region and will be a catalyst for economic growth. It is the first major initiative to implement the Government policy of equitable development and is financed through the Asian Development Bank with co-finance from the Islamic Development Bank. The EC might decide to collaborate with the ADB and co-finance the project. The synergy with a prominent donor on the spot such as the ADB is advisable given the modest level of EC intervention and the fact that there is no EC Delegation in the Maldives but at considerable distance in Delhi. Performance/Outcome Indicators (disaggregated by gender) The main performance indicator of the project will be a noticeable reduction of migration flows from the targeted region to Malé by the end of the project period, i.e. 2006, others include: • Regional Development Centre established, equipped and staffed. Organisational structure drawn up and number of posts occupied and/or vacant. • Regional staff actively involved with the assistance of local communities in preparing regional multi-annual plans with development priorities identified, and public and private funding opportunities highlighted. • Number of training courses, number of participants in training courses. • Multi-annual regional plan encompassing environment, land, gender, economics, social, education, communication, tourism, transport, agriculture drawn up. • Levels of public and private investment. • Number of people living below poverty line, income levels. • Local communities undertaking micro-projects, self-help initiatives, community planning, and forming SMEs. Number of micro-projects carried out, SMEs founded, self-help initiatives set-up, number of women participating in these undertakings, ownership of assets. 3 CSP – 10/10/03 • Regional administration preparing, carrying out, controlling, and monitoring regional funds and budgets. Regional budget prepared, carried out, controlled and regional funds and budgets monitored. • Behavioural change of stakeholders. Local committees set up, number of participants, participation of women. Risks and Conditionalities Despite