Protection of Basic Services in Ethiopia

1
Protection of Basic Services in Ethiopia

• The World Bank
• May 2006

2
The Context for PBS

• Political
• deterioration in governance
• Developmental
• still need to remain engaged with government
• Economic
• increase in oil prices, cut in donor aid
• Poverty
• huge needs and unmet demand
• Government remains committed to poverty reduction
• progress on development indicators
• basic services defined to include the main
  services on which poor people depend health,
  education, water sanitation, agricultural
  services

3
The Rationale for PBS

• Protect gains in poverty reduction
• Only Government has national reach
• no alternative but to work through GoE
• Reduce Government discretion over donor resources
• Earmarked at regional level and below
• Strict reporting
• Need to promote improved governance
• Mechanisms to promote greater transparency
  accountability over use of public resources

4
An Overview of PBS

• A package comprising 4 components
• funds to protect the delivery of basic services
• health commodities to prevent ill health and
  deliver more effective services
• improved government systems of transparency and
  accountability
• help for citizens to participate in public
  decision-making about the services they need
• A series of tests to demonstrate that
• Fairness funds are allocated according to
  transparent rules, irrespective of politics
• Fiduciary funds are used for the intended
  purpose, assessed via actual spending reports and
  continuous audit
• Additionality PBS funds are additional to
  governments own resources
• Accountability Government at all levels is more
  accountable to citizens for use of funds
• Participation is integral to success
• Formal representative institutions (kebele
  councils, woreda councils, Regional and National
  Parliamentary budget committees)
• Citizen groups and Civil Society Organizations
  (CSOs)
• Over a period of
• Just over two years (to end June 2008) for
  components 1-3
• Three years for component 4
• Supported by (subject to approval)
• World Bank, UK, EC, Canadian, Swedish, Dutch and
  Irish Governments

5
Component 1 Funds for Basic Services

• What?
• Funds channeled through public system to help
  preserve originally budgeted level of basic
  services at woreda level, sustaining steady
  increase
• Funds will become part of block grant that
  woredas receive for their development plans
• How?
• Funds delivered in quarterly blocks (or
  disbursements) and subject to satisfactory
  review of overall PBS progress
• Tests applied to funds (fairness, additionality,
  fiduciary) imply far greater external scrutiny
  than hitherto applied to donor funds disbursed
  through government systems
• How much?
• Up to about US 250 million per year over
  Ethiopian Fiscal Years 1998, 1999 and 2000
• Government to finance US 2 billion for basic
  services in this period

6
Component 2 Provision of Health Commodities

• What?
• vaccines, contraceptives, mosquito bed nets,
  malaria drugs, insecticides and spray pumps and
  emergency drugs
• Why?
• these commodities require international
  procurement which is most cost-effectively done
  in bulk, centrally
• prevention requires high coverage rates but
  woredas may choose not to use their block grants
  to provide these commodities
• will improve effectiveness of health facilities
  being supported under Component 1
• How?
• Through Health Sector Development Program (HSDP)
  and committees at every level (Regions, woredas)
• How much?
• US 67 million

7
Component 3 Financial Transparency
Accountability

• What?
• Promote accountability of local officials to
  citizens in delivery of public services
• How?
• Improved outreach by Government to help build
  citizens understanding of the public budget
  process preparation of the budget, reading the
  budget, engaging on the budget with their
  representatives, etc.
• Technical assistance to the public sector to
  improve mechanisms and approaches for disclosure
  of public budget information.
• Ensuring disclosure of resources and minimum
  service standards in public service facilities
• Assessment of progress using two Financial
  Transparency and Accountability Perception
  Surveys
• Capacity building for improved financial
  transparency in MOFED, Regional BOFEDs, and
  Office of the Federal Auditor General
• How Much?
• US 7.2 million

8
Component 4 Social Accountability

• What?
• Support citizens ability and capacity (i) to
  express themselves and (ii) to articulate their
  views or concerns in the context of decentralized
  service delivery, especially around budget
  processes
• How?
• Build capacity of civil society and CSOs to
  engage on public budget issues
• Support 4-6 multi-woreda pilots on different
  approaches to social accountability
• Assessment of experiences, joint learning between
  stakeholders (beneficiary communities and
  government), and exploring potential to scale-up
  promising approaches
• Managed via a non-government agency
• How Much?
• US 6.0 million over 36 months
• Recognition that this is the start of a
  longer-term process

9
The PBS System of Reviews

• 7 Reviews in the period up to the end of June
  2008
• Oct 2006 Jan, April, June Oct 2007 Jan
  April 2008
• Each will include
• A Joint Budget Aid Review (JBAR), covering the
  tests, a full macro-economic discussion,
  analysis of actual expenditures and discussion on
  budgets
• Assess progress on Components 2, 3 4
• Check that Government has completed agreed
  actions within agreed time frame
• Funds will be released in blocks only once the
  Reviews have been completed satisfactorily

10
PBS Management Structures

• Components 1and 3
• Funded by government, WB, donors
• Executed by government
• Component 2
• Funded by WB, donors
• Executed by government
• Component 4
• Funded by donors through a Trust Fund managed by
  WB
• Executed by a non-government Management Agency
• Guided by a Steering Committee with equal
  representation of CSOs, development partners and
  government

11
Opportunities for Engagement by Civil Society
Organisations

• All Components
• In independent monitoring evaluation
• Component 4
• In implementation of selected pilots
• Participation on Steering Committee
• Dialogue with local officials over budgets,
  spending, and performance
• Component 3
• Provision of technical assistance on
  budget-related work
• Checking on availability of budget information at
  regional, woreda and basic service facility level
  and helping with improvements
• Checking consistency of budget allocations with
  local citizens priorities