UNCDF: Mobilizing Capacity Development at the Local Level in Yemen

Building the capacity of local government authorities in Yemen. UNCDF’s Decentralization and Local Development Support Program (DLDSP) assists the Government of Yemen to define and implement decentralization reforms with the objective of enhancing the effectiveness of local government to promote local development and alleviate poverty.

SANAA – 7 May 2008: Working through a decentralized governance structure to build the capacity of local authorities to plan, finance and implement their own development carries many inherent challenges. One such challenge is access – reaching numerous local councils in remote areas to meet and support their individual capacity building requirements.

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), in partnership with UNDP in Yemen, has come up with one innovative approach that mobilizes the development training by making it mobile. The joint programme, known locally as the Decentralization and Local Development Support Programme (DLDSP), has created District Facilitation Teams (DFTs) within the Governorate Local Authority to function as on-demand providers of technical assistance and training to pilot districts that are being activated by the Programme.

"These DFT/MT combinations have proven to be very effective," said UNCDF Local Economic Development Advisor Aladeen Shawa. "Each local authority and its elected council have different capacity and technical assistance needs and are at different stages of advancement in terms of acquired capacity and are thus in need of varying capacity inputs at different points in their public expenditure and asset management cycle.. This way, we are able to respond efficiently to capacity needs of the authorities and consequently expedite the development process."

The team uses four-wheel drives to reach remote areas of the country. The programme also has created a Mobile Team (MT) which is based at the Ministry of Local Administration (MOLA) with specialization in participatory data collection, integrated planning, budgeting, procurement, supervision of project implementation, accounting and reporting which is dispatched in support of DFTs and pilot districts as needed. A combination of DFT and MT members join forces to provide responsive on the job training and technical support to participating districts as they perform the range of tasks related to their functions throughout the year. This approach has enabled the DLDSP to build capacity where and when it is needed and a manner which is responsive the capacity requirements of an evolving local authority system.

By 2007, the DLDSP had created 8 DFTs with 4 technical specialists in each in the 8 pilot governorates. A nine-member Mobil Team is operational in support of the 8 DFTs. Each day, Governorate based DFTs joined by MT members as needed respond to the requirements of participating districts for performing their basic functions. Such responsive support missions could have durations of 1 or more days depending on the level of support required by a requesting district. .

DLDSP has developed a number of training manuals that are used in the training, addressing different aspects of Yemen’s specific public expenditure and asset management procedures. Base training on these manuals is provided by the DFT/MTs to all districts to bring them to a common level of understanding. This base training is repeated at least twice every year to all participating districts to ensure absorption and effective utilization of procedures in their everyday functions.

Although UNCDF is known for its investments on the ground in strategic small-scale infrastructure and in viable financial service providers, the heart and soul of the organization’s mission is in enhancing the performance of local government systems for improved services delivery and effective contribution to local development : building the technical knowledge and institutional capability to plan, finance, implement and manage development that is needs-driven and locally owned. UNCDF works exclusively in the Least Developed Countries to support the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals through its two areas of core competence: promoting financial inclusion and supporting local development. Within the latter practice area, UNCDF works with UNDP and other partners to support national efforts to decentralize development authority to local authorities, who are then supported through training and other areas of capacity support.

In Yemen, DLDSP is providing both technical and capital assistance to build, strengthen and empower locally-accountable institutions that can produce development results on the ground. Since its start-up in early 2004, the programme has provided a unified methodology and institutional framework for supporting Yemen’s local governance system. It has also provided an efficient platform through which other development organizations seeking to support Yemen’s local development can channel their assistance. An increasing number of donors – currently nine, including the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Governments of Italy and France, as well as UNICEF and the Yemen Social Fund for Development – use the DLDSP framework to direct support to local authorities through a pooled funding framework that now exceeds $12 million.

For more information on UNCDF’s programmes in Yemen, please visit the UNCDF Yemen webpage.