Democratic Governance
GOVERNANCE CLUSTER STRATEGY
The new Angolan Constitution established a new governance structure with the President leading the Executive Branch of the Government. Government reshuffles caused delays in the appointment of focal points and in the implementation of established activities.
Good governance requires effective accountability. A state effectiveness, and hence its overall capacity, is normally measured by elements such as political stability; government effectiveness: regulatory quality; citizen's rights; perceptions of corruption; and accountability and voice.
Responding to these challenges requires high levels of human and institutional capacity. Achievement of this goal is at the heart of the governance strategy in Angola.
The Country Programme governance related outcomes intends to contribute to the achievement of the following results:
i) an efficient, effective decentralized governance with increased participation and representation;
ii ) efficiency, accountability and transparency enhanced in public administration and civil service; rule of law strengthened and protection of citizens’ rights and access to justice improved;
iii ) national capacity for the organization of free and fair elections strengthened;
iv) Increased protection of women’s rights, access to justice by women and increased awareness by Angolan women on their civil, political and socio-economic rights. |
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Angola remains largely a centralized state, where local authorities still hold very limited power and continue to be appointed from the centre. Another consequence of this process is the integrated municipal poverty reduction programme, which is a top down initiative crafted and coordinated by the Presidency via the Casa Civil. This programme has taken the lead in decentralization agenda and transferred sizeable resources to the municipalities, with the aim of improving social services delivery, but with a limited support and supervision from the provincial authorities and other line ministries with responsibilities (Agriculture, Health, etc).
Main Achievements in 2011
Our intervention on Decentralization and Local Governance made critical contributions to national development. Through exchanges, advice and technical support, UNDP provided opportunities for comparative analyses and sharing of different models of local governance. The programme strengthened the capacity to deliver and monitor the national programme on municipalization and poverty reduction. This resulted in the inclusion of civil society groups (CACSs) in decision-making at the decentralized level. Engagements with the National Assembly and relevant GoA institutions facilitated the passage of a new law for gradually adopting gender budgeting.
UNDP value added is measurable in several different ways. For example, the UNDP/DLG pilot municipal programme was instrumental in informing the municipal poverty programme design in early 2011, particularly by developing municipal profiles and planning tools, it also increased inter-action and cross learning from UNDP supported municipalities across provinces, in the region (Mozambique and South Africa) and internationally (Brazil and Spain) on local governance, with focus on municipal planning and local economic development. In the area of civil society and community participation UNDP support increased access of civil society organizations to local authorities through the Municipal Dialogue Councils (CACSs). The result was the CACSs became more active in the 18 municipalities in which UNDP works by participating in greater numbers in local decisions making processes. Lastly, UNDP provided technical capacity development support to the municipal and provincial civil servants to deliver basic services through capacity building programmes.
Financial Information in 2011 (amounts in US$ thousands)
By 2011 Project
ID Project |
Project |
Budget in 2011 |
Expenditure in 2011 |
% |
| 00039307 |
Decentralization and Local Governance |
1,312,090 |
919,991 |
71 |
By 2011 Democratic Governance budget (amounts in US$ thousands)
By 2011 Democratic Governance expenditure (amounts in US$ thousands)
|
Corporate outcomes |
2011 budget |
2011 expenditure |
|
Fostering inclusive participation |
345,782 |
22% |
236,824 |
20% |
|
Strengthening responsive governing institutions |
769,020 |
49% |
585,125 |
49% |
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Support national partners to implement democratic governance practices grounded in human rights, gender equality and anti-corruption |
427,857 |
27% |
349,191 |
29% |
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Unit defined key results |
20,528 |
1% |
15,941 |
1% |
|
Unaligned key results |
0 |
0% |
0 |
0% |
|
Total |
1,563,188 |
100% |
1,187,080 |
100% |
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Keys Results in 2011
- Strengthening the institutional capacity of IFAL -National institute for Local Administration training for local authorities through the introduction of participatory methodologies in their training materials which were used in all 18 provinces. Furthermore, UNDP provided train the trainers instruction.
- UNDP embarked on strengthening the local administration training institute (IFAL) at the national and provincial level, and municipal civil servants at the local level.
- UNDP supported the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MAT) to convene an inclusive board on decentralization and local governance issues that includes donors, NGOs, private sector along with;
- UNDP also supported the inter-ministerial commission for poverty reduction, under the guidance of Casa Civil that steers the provincial and municipal poverty units which brings together key sectoral players: Ministry of Planning, Finance, Agriculture, Commerce, Women Affairs, etc.
- UNDP played an active part in convening and supporting informal group on decentralization that is informal space for CSOs to discuss governance policies, share information and experiences related to governance. The group met 5 times in 2011.
Lessons learned
- IFAL (Instituto de Formaçao da Administração Local) has become more effective in the delivery of its training delivery by including more participatory methods, such as gender response budgeting, participatory action and competitive assessment for competitive advantage tools;
- Casa Civil improved its poverty reduction programme design and increase service delivery (roads and water) in all 164 municipalities.
Challenges in 2011
- In 2012 UNDP will target gender budgeting and the production of gender municipal profiles for the 18 municipalities.
- At local level UNDP is working to support 18 municipalities in 5 provinces to open up political spaces for civil society organizations to create municipal forms to discuss local issues prior to engaging government. In 2012 UNDP will establish forums in 12 municipalities in 3 provinces.
- UNDP is also supporting the Chamber of Commerce to discuss and strengthen Local Economic Development (LED) initiatives at Provincial and municipal levels.
- Working with national Parliament to support legislation on Participatory Budgeting model to be institutionalized for municipal planning and budgeting;
- Supporting local NGOs and CSOs on gender responsive budgeting at local level in 5 provinces.
- Working with women journalists on media, gender and local governance issues related to empowering women to participate in municipal budgeting exercises.
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Angola