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Key Text Synthesis Study on Supporting Decentralisation and Local Government – Lessons Learned, Good Practices and Emerging Issues

Author: Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research
Date: 2003
Size: 76 pages (661 KB)

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Summary

Over the past two decades, support to decentralisation and local governance has become a major field of international development co-operation. A vast majority of less developed countries are pursuing decentralisation policies that devolve functions and responsibilities to local governments. This study by the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Planning (NIBR) provides a synthesis of lessons learned and good practices to guide donors and partner countries in improving programmes supporting decentralisation and local governance.

The study is on three key aspects of donor support to decentralisation and local governance: The linkage between political decentralisation and poverty alleviation; partnerships between local governance and civil society; and sustainability challenges within this field of donor support. The report identifies the following key lessons learnt:

There is a need for long-term support for successful decentralisation programmes.
Successful implementation of decentralisation support requires top-level commitment on the part of the whole partner government.
Support to decentralisation is not necessarily an effective tool in poverty alleviation as local elites may not support the development priorities of the poorest sections of their constituencies.
Sustainability of programme support is a major challenge. There is a general lack of strategies for long-term sustainability of donor initiatives.
Programmes designed to enhance partnerships between local government and civil society groups are most successful if they combine support to local government with support to civil society.
Capacity building should not be a stand-alone activity but should be coupled with the transfer of resources to local government investments.

Several emerging issues in need of further evaluation are identified. Future evaluations should focus on: Pro-poor outcomes of decentralisation; sector-wide approaches (SWAps); Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and decentralisation; decentralisation and conflict; integration/non-integration of funds for capital investment into local government operations; overall donor support to local government finances; and intergovernmental fiscal relations. Recommendations for policy makers are:

Improved coordination is needed between donor support and partner governments’ polices, implementation plans and capacity building programmes.
Co-ordination between donors should be enhanced. Donors should establish fora for co-ordination and dissemination of information and establish systems for basket funding where appropriate.
Short-term and long-term sustainability concerns should be built into donor programmes supporting decentralisation and local governance.
Increased poverty focus of programmes. Efforts should be made to increase the poverty orientation of local government transfer systems and establish poverty-targeted capacity building, training and pilot programmes.
Increased focus on local governments’ own financial development and sustainability. Donor programmes should be designed in a holistic way, reforming the entire system of local government taxes.

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Source: Schou A., 2003, ‘Synthesis Study on Supporting Decentralisation and Local Government – Lessons Learned, Good Practices and Emerging Issues’, Report for the DAC Working Party on Aid Evaluation, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Author: Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR), http://www.nibr.no/content/view/full/66