DPWG-LGD Newsletter

No. 8 03. 2011

Content:

Editorial:

DPWG-LGD Activities:

Dear Development Partners,

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Pilot Course “Harmonisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance”

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Interview with Gabin Hamman Principal Administrator Governance, Security, Human Rights and Gender, DEVCO and currently Acting Head of Unit

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DPWG-LGD Working Paper: Donor Program Harmonization, Aid Effectiveness and Decentralized Governance

News from our Partner Organizations: •

Luxembourg joins DPWG-LGD

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Harmonization within German Development Institution

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Face2Face DLGN Event SDC

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Europe-Central Asia Housing Forum in Budapest

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Brussels Urban Declaration Adopted on January 2011

Infos, links, Downloads: •

Training course Peace-building & Reconstruction, 9 - 13 May 2011

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Seminars on Public Financial Management

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Conference on Effective Local Governance, 2-4 June 2011

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Short Term Training Courses in Public Policy

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International Course on Local Governance and Rural Decentralisation

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Aid, Growth and Devolution

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Final Report – Paris Declaration Evaluation Phase 2 Mozambique

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An Analytical Framework for Assessing Decentralised Local Governance and the Local Public Sector

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Decentralized local governments as a modality for post-conflict recovery and development: An emerging natural experiment in Northern Uganda

The time has come for the first edition of the DPWG-LGD Newsletter in 2011. Not only is the year new, we also have a new member. Luxembourg joined the DPWG-LGD in March 2011 and will be represented through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Mr. Manuel Tonnar and Lux-Development by Mr. François Bary. Please join us in welcoming our new members. However this does not affect our membership number of 28 as the German Government has merged the DED (German Development Service), GTZ and InWEnt (Capacity Building International) into the new “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit” (GIZ, German International Cooperation). The merger will harmonise and concentrate the tools, instruments and resources of the German Technical Cooperation to provide more efficient services to its partners and beneficiaries. The DPWGLGD secretariat is now hosted by GIZ. In this edition we present “in profile” our new colleague Gabin Hamman, Principal Administrator Governance, Security, Human Rights and Gender from the EU Commission, inheriting Dominique Dellicour a highly dedicated DPWG-LGD member who has contributed a big part to the groups’ success and its good international standing. We want to know from our new DPWG-LGD member Gabin, if he will continue to play such an important role for our working group. For DPWG-LGD 2011 has started with the first pilot training of the DPWG-LGD train4dev course on "Harmonisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance". This course is a product of a subgroup composed by the European Commission (DEVCO), Switzerland (SDC), Denmark (DANIDA), Netherlands and the Secretariat/GIZ. The course took place from January 24th to 28th, 2011 in Brussels. At the end of January 2011 Paul Smoke and Matthew S. Winters, funded by USAID, have finalized their synthesis paper on the three case studies undertaken in 2010 in DRC, Indonesia and Uganda, supported by World Bank, USAID and UNCDF. The DPWG-LGD working paper provides a good basis for the four additional case studies in Benin, Ghana, Mozambique and Peru that are currently developed since February 2011. The seven cases will provide the evidence for a publication that will be developed and discussed on the 6th Annual Meeting in Brussels. This year’s meeting will take place from May 18 to 20th, 2011 hosted by the European Commission and Switzerland. Finally it’s my pleasure to inform you, that Christine Seidel has filled the Project Manager Position of the Secretariat since Nina Wade is currently on maternity/ parental leave. Christine will support the secretariat in all organizational and financial matters ensuring an efficient network management.

Jochen Mattern Contact: [email protected]

Activities DPWG-LGD:

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Pilot Course “Harmonisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance” From January 24th to 28th 2011 the first pilot training course on Harmonisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance took place in Brussels hosted by the EC (DEVCO). This DPWG-LGD initiative was born in 2008 in order to use a joint training tool as an instrument to move towards a more harmonized approach on decentralization and local governance amongst DPs. The course is based on the DPWGLGD general and specific guiding principles. Besides DEVCO and the DPWGLGD Secretariat (GIZ), Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands made part of the subgroup that worked on designing the course. Read more>>

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Interview with Gabin Hamman Principal Administrator Governance, Security, Human Rights and Gender, DEVCO and currently Acting Head of Unit In our last edition of the Newsletter we have started to feature one DPWG-LGD member and their organization in order to understand and get to know each other better. For this edition we have chosen Gabin Hamann as Interview partner. He has been replacing Dominique Dellicour who has been the EC focal points for DPWG-LGD for over 3 years. We want to know from Gabin, if he will continue to play such an important role for the working group. Read more>>

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DPWG-LGD Working Paper: Donor Program Harmonization, Aid Effectiveness and Decentralized Governance This paper considers the connections between the Paris Declaration commitments (with a focus on ownership, alignment and harmonization) and aid effectiveness in the context of foreign aid to support decentralization and local governance. The paper makes use of three case studies prepared for the June 2010 fifth annual meeting of the Development Partners Working Group on Local Governance and Decentralization (DPWG-LGD). The case studies of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, and Uganda examine development partner harmonization of strategies and project activities supporting decentralization, government participation in and leadership of these efforts, the use of country systems in project implementation, and the resulting impacts of these variables on aid effectiveness. The case studies provide examples of donor harmonization (and the lack thereof) and review the obstacles to harmonization and alignment faced by the development partners working in these specific country contexts. Read more>>

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News from our Partner Organizations

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Luxembourg joins DPWG-LGD Since March 2011 Luxembourg makes officially part of the DPWG-LGD. Luxembourg is represented through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and through Lux-Development – Agency for development cooperation. The focal points are Manuel Tonnar, programme coordinator in the department of development cooperation of the Ministry and François Bary, director of the quality and expertise department of Lux-Development. Read more >>

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Harmonisation within German Development Cooperation The new year brought the three German Development Organisations under one umbrella. As of January 2011 DED, GTZ and InWEnt were merged to form GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH). GIZ operates in more than 130 countries worldwide with two Headquarters in Bonn and Eschborn. With an estimated turnover of EUR 1,9 billion, it employs approximately 17 000 people all over the world of which over 60 percent are local staff. Read more>>

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Face2Face DLGN Event SDC SDC’s network on Decentralisation and Local Governance (DLGN) held its second face-to-face meeting from March 7th through 11th 2011 in Sarajevo. Out of a total of 130 members, approximately 75 network members participated the event. Social inclusion, local governance assessment, SDC support to sustainable municipal finances, organizing study tours on decentralization and local governance, and election support were the focus points of event. In a related development, 1200 delegates from municipalities of 25 countries attended the NEXPO conference organised by NALAS. Read more>>

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Europe-Central Asia Housing Forum in Budapest UNDP, together with Habitat for Humanity International, UNECE, and IFRC are organising the first Housing Forum Europe & Central Asia, taking place from April 4th – 6th in Budapest, Hungary. This event is designed for experts from the donor and think tank community as well as national decision-makers involved in housing-related questions. Read more>>

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Brussels Urban Declaration Adopted on January 2011 Brussels Urban Declaration was adopted at the European parliament - European Commission - UN-Habitat consolidated urban dialogue meeting with European union partners on January 26th 2011. Read more>>

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Infos, Links, Downloads

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Training course Peace-building & Reconstruction, 9-13 May 2011 The Hague Academy for Local Governance is to provide a training course on Peace-building & Reconstruction from May 9th to13th 2011. This training course is targeted at staff of bilateral donors, multilateral agencies and NGOs, as well as civil servants working for ministries and local governments, who wish to be wellinformed about the local dimensions of Peace-building. Read more>>

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Seminars on Public Financial Management V-EZ, an international training centre with focus on inter-cultural and cross-cultural dialogue, communication skills and political awareness, offers seminars on Public Financial Management. The seminars will focus on governance and sustainable economic development. They are intended to address professionals in the field of administration, government support, market development and empowerment of civil society. Read more>>

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Conference on Effective Local Governance, 2-4 June 2011 Pria Global Partnership (PGP), in collaboration with Local Governance Initiative South Asia (LoGIn) LOGOLINK & Institute for Governance and Development (IGD),is having an Asian Regional Conference on Effective Local Governance: Accountability Participation & Inclusion taking place on 2nd to 4th June 2011 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Read more>>

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Short Term Training Courses in Public Policy The Duke Centre for International Development is set to offer short term training courses in public policy particularly on the following: Project Appraisal and Risk Management from May 15th to June 10th 2011; Fiscal Decentralisation and Local Government Financial Management from July 10th to July 29th, 2011; Tax Analysis and Revenue Forecasting from June 26 to July 22, 2011; and Budgeting and Financial Management in the Public Sector from July 24th to August 12th, 2011. Read more>>

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International Course on Local Governance and Rural Decentralisation Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation and the Royal Tropical Institute in the Netherlands organise international course on Local Governance and Rural Decentralisation. This course will be held in February 27th to March 9th 2012. The course is designed for people who are involved with governance processes in a context of rural decentralisation.

Read more>>

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Aid, Growth and Devolution This paper examines whether the federal structure of aid-receiving countries matters in explaining aid effectiveness. Following the decentralisation theorem, the devolution of powers should increase aid effectiveness, since local decisionmakers are better informed about local needs. At the same time, decentralisation may have reverse effects. The paper emphasises that aid contributes to economic growth in centralised developing economies, while it is less effective or even harmful in decentralised countries. Therefore, donor countries should carefully consider how both antipoverty instruments – financial assistance and decentralisation – work together.

Read more>>

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Final Report – Paris Declaration Evaluation Phase 2 Mozambique This report constitutes the Mozambican country report for the Second Phase of Evaluation which aims to document, analyse and assess the relevance and effectiveness of the Paris Declaration and its contribution to aid effectiveness and ultimately to development results, including poverty reduction. The methodology followed was based on a standard evaluation matrix developed by the International Reference Group. The matrix was organized into three core questions, related to the Paris Declaration in context; aid effectiveness results and development results. A desk review, and data analysis was carried out, as well as semi-structured interviews carried out by the KPMG team, covering senior government officials, at central and sector level, donor and UN representatives, civil society, academics and parliament.

Read more>>

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An Analytical Framework for Assessing Decentralised Local Governance and the Local Public Sector There is a growing recognition within the global development community that the public sector in developing and transition countries must be made to function more effectively and efficiently in the pursuit of their own development and poverty reduction ambitions. This cannot be done without considering the critical role of the local public sector. While the development community seeks to better understand the complex interrelations that drive the performance of decentralised political, administrative and fiscal systems, especially in developing and transition economies. This paper proposes a comparative decentralisation assessment framework which guides a rapid assessment of a country’s local public sector, including its political-administrative structures, its system of intergovernmental relations and the financing and functioning of the country’s decentralised local governments.

Read more>>

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Decentralised local governments as a modality for post-conflict recovery and development: An emerging natural experiment in Northern Uganda This paper compares the main features and potential impact of five post-conflict interventions in Northern Uganda. Each of the programs aims to promote peace and recovery, but each program relies on local governments in somewhat different ways and to different extents. The current note provides an initial situation analysis which, first, takes stock of the current development interventions, and second, lays the groundwork for a future comparative analysis of these post-conflict recovery and development interventions. The note also identifies that a number of gaps exist with respect to the policy analysis of the situation in North Uganda that none of the programs properly address.

Read more>>

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Contacts, Newsletters and Websites: Secretariat for the Development Partners Working Group on Local Governance and Decentralization Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 40 53113 Bonn, Germany [email protected] www.dpwg-lgd.org

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