Conflict Prevention and Recovery Through Decentralization and Local Development
By Carlos Barry
UNCDF Programme Officer in Guinea
CONAKRY – March 18, 2008: UNCDF's effort to build sustainable systems of good local governance in Upper Guinea has heralded more than effective service delivery and new infrastructure - it has brought the first period of peace and stability since social unrest there in early 2007 tore the community apart and destroyed most public buildings. At that time, violent protests and a crippling national strike threw the country into two months of turmoil, threatening to further destabilize a volatile West African region slowly emerging from a decade of civil wars.
UNCDF's local development initiatives implemented by the rural development authorities (RDAs) of Siguiri and Kouroussa (Upper Guinea) are promoting the emergence and strengthening of sound political and economic governance, reflected in improved management of the local authority and a definite improvement in the culture of taxpayer compliance and in elected officials' accountability to electors.
A 2004 study on local taxation found that most of the RDAs have a weak economic base and are faced with growing poverty among their populations whose weak financial resources are a source of frustration and of potential social unrest. The study showed that one reason for the low revenue of the RDAs is the narrowness of the tax base, due to the difficulties of exploiting local economic potential. The analysis of socio-economic dynamics made in the context of this study also revealed the relative importance of local economic potential, its diversity and its unequal division between the RDAs. The economic potential includes an extensive river system, considerable subsoil resources, wide availability of arable land, and an experienced workforce.
In addition, the weekly markets, where the essential economic activities in RDAs are concentrated, are not managed or appropriated by the RDAs, although they provide opportunities for the local populations to earn income (through marketing agricultural products) and an important source of revenue for RDAs (rental payments and various duties).
In this context, and in order to strengthen self-management capacities of the RDAs and to improve the economic and social situation of the populations concerned, in 2004 the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) introduced the Local Authorities Financial and Institutional Management System (LAFIAS) in all the RDAs of Kouroussa and Siguiri. The administrative, economic and financial audits conducted within the framework of LAFIAS identified economic, financial and organizational dysfunctions and proposed measures to improve local management in all its aspects.
It was thus considered useful and relevant to organize the RDAs in development territories around economic hubs selected on the basis of potential revenue from local taxation. Seven economic hubs were thus proposed: three in Kouroussa (RDAs of Cisséla, Kiniéro and Baro) and four in Siguiri (RDAs of Doko, Kintinian, Norassoba and Siguiri).
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| A “development hub” or inter-RDA cooperation territory is a space organized around an RDA able to act as an engine of economic growth (in view of its potential for economic development). It consists of two or more adjacent RDAs connected by geographical, historical, cultural or economic circumstances and linked by a network of rural roads to form a territory of proximity within which the populations experience their development process. | |
In addition to the emergence of the hubs, which are part of the Plan de Développement Economique Local (PADEL) (Support to Local Development) resulting from LAFIAS, activities connected with the Plan d'Actions de Redressement Financier et Institutionnel de la Collectivité Locale (PARFIC) (Action Plan for the Financial and Institutional Recovery of the Local Authority), a major result of LAFIAS, helped considerably to strengthen self-management capacities of the community councils and enabled these bodies to acquire a basic knowledge of decentralization and local development.
Local elected officials are now more conversant with the rules governing the operation of decentralized authorities (RDA, district), have a clearer picture of their cooperative relationships with the immediate oversight body and, lastly, have become more aware of the role and responsibilities entrusted to them in the process of development of their area and preservation of social cohesion. They now ensure that the community councils meet regularly, as prescribed, and disseminate and implement their decisions with the necessary regularity and precision.
These innovative initiatives have had the positive effect of enhancing the accountability of elected officials. This dynamic underlies the emergence of an empowering environment which has facilitated the improvement of taxpayer compliance and the encouraging results obtained by the local authorities with PDLG support.
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Encouraging peaceful conflict resolution through dialogue within the context of local development.
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This awareness and the desire of communities to promote their own development in order to reduce poverty and increase their well-being undoubtedly explain why, in the PDLG area of intervention, public property escaped the large-scale destruction that occurred in Guinea during the serious socio-political crisis of January and February 2007.
For more information on UNCDF's activities in Guinea, and to access background information on the programme discussed in this article, please visit the UNCDF Guinea webpage.
