Implementation Arrangements
Management and Organization
Organizational Structure. The organizational
chart overleaf illustrates the relationships among the different
bodies involved in overseeing and managing implementation
of UCIRDP.
Coordination and Oversight. Formally,
oversight is provided by the national-level Project Policy
Steering Committee (PPSC) and the Provincial Steering Committee
(PSC). While the PSC is the key one for a project that focuses
on one province, the PPSC fulfils an essential role in linking
the Programme with national policy and strategy initiatives
and providing liaison with other similar and complementary
development initiatives in the country. In line with the Programme’s
increased orientation and integration with the country’s decentralisation
policy, the Provincial Council, a permanent body for
coordinating development and other initiatives in the Province,
chaired by the Préfet, will act as the ‘institutional home’
for the PSC. In essence this would mean that the Provincial
Council would fulfil the oversight function for the Programme.
To fulfil this function, for those sessions dedicated to UCRIDP,
additional participants would join the Council in order to
provide for full representation of the different stakeholders
involved in Programme implementation, including the mayors
of the eight districts are members of the PSC, as well as
the Programme Coordinator, the three PCU managers, the Monitoring
and Evaluation Officer and the representatives of participating
NGOs. The PSC will be responsible for: (i) approving
AWPBs prepared by the PCU; (ii) approving annual financial
allocations of the District Infrastructure Investment Fund
and of the Water and Roads Balancing Fund, as well as their
distribution by district; (iii) approving annual financial
allocations of the District and Province Institution Building
Facilities; (iv) reviewing annual district performance
and capacity assessment; (v) approving annually transfer
of responsibilities to districts, based on performance and
capacity; (vi) reviewing project implementation; (vii) solving
problems and issues arising in the course of programme implementation;
and (viii) coordinating programme activities with other
development activities in the province. PSC will meet semi-annually,
and on an ad hoc basis as required to ensure smooth
programme implementation.
Still at the provincial level, the UCRIDP
Province Working Group (PWG) is a smaller, more operational
body that is responsible for: (i) examining the progress
of activities on a quarterly basis; (ii) discussing and
providing solutions to problems/issues that can arise during
programme implementation; and (iii) following up on the
implementation of PSC decisions. The PWG will meet on a quarterly
basis and on an ad hoc basis when required to solve
implementation matters. It is to be chaired by the Province
Executive Secretary and will comprise the eight District Executive
Secretaries, and the PCU team managers.
UCRIDP District Working Groups will
have similar responsibilities as the PWG. They will comprise:
the district Executive Secretary, President of the CDC, and
programme-funded staff in the district.
Programme Management. Programme
management is organised at three levels: PCU, province and
district.
The PCU would be reorganized to reflect
the new Programme management strategy and to help increase
communication among officers responsible for Programme implementation.
The PCU fulfils three main roles: (i) coordination and facilitation
of the Programme; (ii) advice to the province and districts;
(iii) accountability for programme performance and resource
utilisation to the Government, IFAD and OPEC. The PCU, which
is headed by a Programme Coordinator, comprises:
· Infrastructure/Livelihoods Development
Team Manager, who is responsible for Component 1.
As the implementation of this component largely falls on the
districts and the province, the role of the PCU involves a
delicate combination of overall implementation and coordination
responsibilities, with capacity-building and advisory functions.
· Rural Economic Transformation Team,
responsible for the overall implementation of Component 2,
including agricultural, livestock and forest development activities,
small and micro rural enterprise development, and rural financial
services. The team is headed by a Rural Economic Transformation
Manager and also comprises a Rural Finance Adviser. It works
in close relationship with the agriculture and livestock provincial
advisers holding PCU contracts but decentralised to the provincial
government, as well as with the PPPMER staff responsible for
implementing the small and micro rural enterprise sub-component.
· Finance and Contract Management Team,
responsible for all the financial and contractual aspects
of the programme and for ensuring programme accountability.
The team is headed by the Administrative and Financial Manager
and includes a chief accountant, two accountants and a procurement
officer.
· Monitoring and Evaluation Unit,
responsible for coordinating programme planning, M&E and
reporting. It is headed by a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer
and also includes an Information Manager.
The functions of each of the core PCU staff are detailed
in Working Paper 10, Implementation Arrangements for
the Second Phase.
To support the PCU and implementation of
the Programme, provision has been made for strategic technical
assistance to be secured on a regular basis. To ensure
high-level expertise, combined with broad multi-country experience,
budgetary provision has been made to allow the PCU to recruit
international TA to meet the requirements, which will be required
in the following areas :
· Infrastructure/Livelihoods Development,
including: (i) assist in the design of the methodology
for the implementation of Component 1, (ii) ensure
synergies between infrastructure-related activities and strategies
relating to equal access to development benefits; (iii) capacity-building
and development of partnerships mechanisms between districts,
province and the PCU; and (iv) facilitate overall implementation
of the component by providing appropriate guidance and solutions.
· Rural Economic Transformation,
including: (i) defining the mechanisms and approaches whereby
farm and off-farm activities can be developed with appropriate
synergies so as to maximise their impact; (ii) ensuring
linkages between development of productive activities and
availability of financial services; and (iii) capacity-building
and development of partnerships.
· Administration and Finance, provided
through different short-term consultancies to: (i) ensure
that appropriate mechanisms and procedures reflecting the
new programme strategy have been set in place and are correctly
implemented.; (ii) update and finalise the Programme
Implementation Manual; (iii) reorganise the accounting
system and budgeting procedures in the PCU and provide district
and provincial accountants with rules and regulations on the
disbursement of programme funds and the recording of related
expenditures; and (iv) work with the PCU and other implementing
partners to define and operationalize the Programme’s M&E
system.
Provincial Management. A memorandum
of understanding (MOU) will be signed by the PCU and the province,
defining the modalities whereby both will collaborate for
the implementation and management of programme activities.
This MOU will define the following aspects of PCU-province
collaboration: (i) partnership mechanisms, (ii) planning
of activities and responsibilities, (iii) capacity assessment,
capacity-building and transfer of responsibilities, (iv) personnel
and (v) accountability. Details of the MOU are found
in Working Paper 10.
The annual capacity assessment will help
in determining staff needed by the province to implement responsibilities
deriving from the implementation of programme activities.
This staff would also be responsible for strengthening provincial,
district and ISAR capacities in this sector, including technical
and management capacities. Based on the evaluation of the
first phase and on the planning of activities for the second
phase, the mission recommends that following PCU advisers
be recruited: (i) water engineer, to be posted to the
Provincial Department for Water and Sanitation, (ii) road
engineer, to be posted to the Provincial Department of Infrastructure,
(iii) two GIS specialists, to be posted to the Provincial
Planning Office; (iv) a agriculturalist and a livestock specialist
to be posted to the Provincial Department of Agriculture,
Livestock and Forestry. The volume of project investment justifies
that full-time staff be hired to reinforce current provincial
resources, which are not sufficient in number and/or capacity
to ensure Programme implementation on their own. The PCU will
jointly decide upon the exact composition of the PCU staff
to be posted to the province, and annually decide on the renewal
of existing staff contracts, based on an assessment of province
capacity and needs to implement programme activities.
Gender balance. Recruitments
should be gender-balanced. Women's candidatures will be encouraged
to improve the current balance in the Programme.
District Management. An MOU
will be signed between the PCU and each district, defining
the modalities whereby the PCU and the district will collaborate
for the implementation and management of programme activities.
The responsibilities included would be: (i) partnership
mechanisms, (ii) planning of activities and responsibilities,
(iii) capacity assessment, capacity-building and transfer
of responsibilities, (iv) personnel and (v) accountability.
Existing capacities in the districts vary
considerably (particularly between old and new districts).
District capacity assessments will help in determining the
number and type of staff that will be required in each district
to implement programme activities, as well as whether this
staff should be part or full time. However there is a number
of competences, which will necessarily need to be in place
at district level to ensure smooth programme implementation,
as described above (para. 78). On this base, the core group
of officers could include: Local Development Adviser/Community
Facilitator, District Water Specialist, NCUR Delegate (roving)
and District Management/Contracts Advisers (See Working Paper 10
for TOR).
Other staff will assist in implementing
activities at district level, but their number has either
been already determined (as is the case for agriculture/livestock/forestry
facilitators, or rural enterprise advisers) or will be determined
through different mechanisms (rural financial advisers).
Gender balance. Recruitment would be gender-balanced.
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