Good governance at decentralised level and poverty reduction

Programme description

Title: Good governance at decentralised level and poverty reduction
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Paraguay
Lead executing agency: Secretaría Técnica de Planificación (STP)
Overall term: 2003 to 2012

Context

Due to the country’s long prior history of authoritarianism, the need to reform governmental structures in Paraguay is greater than in other Latin American countries. In spite of significant progress, such as a democratic constitution, freedom of the press and of opinion, the election of governors and mayors and relative autonomy for municipalities, the country is still far from being a stabilised democracy. The political culture has not kept pace with the development of formal democracy. In spite of macroeconomic improvements, there has been no significant reduction in the level of poverty among the population, and attempts to fight corruption have been inadequate. The actions of governmental institutions are still relatively opaque and inefficient at all levels. Civil society is poorly organised and is only involved in decision-making processes to a very limited extent.

Objective

Selected municipalities in five administrative departments in Paraguay organise their development in an efficient, participatory and transparent manner.

Approach

The programme is made up of four components:

  • The improvement of municipal management
  • Local inter-institutional coordination and citizen participation
  • Cooperation between local and central financial administration
  • Dissemination of good practices

The programme is centred on thirty selected municipalities in five of the country’s administrative districts. Their performance capabilities and potential are developed and strengthened.

Specialist, process and policy advisory services on subjects such as municipal administration, cooperation management and citizen participation as well as the further training of management and specialised personnel of the various intermediary organisations at national and decentralised levels are central programme contributions. The programme involves developing and introducing tools and a legal basis for the promotion of transparent, efficient and participatory municipal management, with national and local bodies working together on almost all issues. The programme also aims to set up and enhance platforms that allow administrative bodies at different levels to cooperate more effectively.

Results achieved so far

Based on the indicators used by the assessment tool MIDAMOS, the management of municipalities in Paraguay has shown an improvement in the last two years. MIDAMOS measures the quality of the work carried out by municipal authorities in five key areas: finance, operational management, services, legislative management and citizen participation.

  • Every year, 25 municipal governments present details of their use of funds to the public. According to their citizens, this tool and the transparency of financial management have improved by 44 per cent.
  • The Education Ministry has incorporated a module on municipal accountability into its curriculum.
  • 25 municipal governments have introduced programme-based budget management systems.
  • 19 municipal governments have made improvements in the way they provide information to their citizens and in their administrative procedures.

Seven of the thirty municipal governments being advised are in the top ten ranking as established by MIDAMOS. The other municipal governments involved in the programme have also achieved substantial improvements in their ranking.

Twenty municipal governments have issued mandatory decrees to introduce a 'people’s budget' that channels local government funds to civil society organisations.

The level of satisfaction of citizens with the provision of a selected range of municipal services (for which advisory support was given under the programme) is now 44 per cent higher.

There are over 40 official coordinating and participatory bodies promoting local development. According to the population, their performance (impact on local development, allocation of funds and representativeness) has improved by 71 per cent in the last two years.

Between 2009 and 2010, there was a 100 per cent improvement in the speed with which financial reports were submitted by municipal governments to the Paraguayan Finance Ministry and with which funds were provided to municipal governments.

Specialist teams from the Finance Ministry now hold their own independent local training events.

The direct communication between municipal governments and those holding positions of responsibility in institutions at national level has led to major improvements in the transparency and efficiency of local government.

A number of tools and methods of promoting municipal government have been adopted by other municipalities, donors and national institutions.

Additional information