Governance & Rural Infrastructure Team –

Engineers without Borders

DED Sector Meeting – 21/01/2010

37 Chapters30,000 Members

• Global Engineer• Connect and Contribute• Action & Advocacy

5 Teams4 Countries

• Agriculture• Rural Infrastructure• Water & Sanitation

Engineers without Borders

From the Field

District Planning Systems Vital link to providing effective infrastructure and

service delivery to rural communities in Districts Parties responsible:

District Planning and Coordinating Unit (DPCU) Regional Planning and Coordinating Unit (RPCU)

Experience Embedded in 8 DPCUs (since 2006) & NRPCU (since 2008)

Providing on-the-job support to senior District officers Our goal: Help improve the functioning of District systems, specifically

Planning systems, and share field-level insights with other stakeholders

District Planning - TheoreticalD

IST

RIC

TS

RP

CU

INFORMING PLANS

MEDIUM TERM DEVELOPMENT

PLAN

ANNUAL ACTION PLAN

DISTRICT DATA AND

INFORMATION

PROJECT / PROGRAMME

IMPLEMENTATION

COORDINATING DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS

MONITOR DISTRICT LEVEL PLANNING THROUGH ALL STAGES

UPDATE DATA

District Planning - ActualD

IST

RIC

TS

RP

CU

MEDIUM TERM DEVELOPMENT

PLAN

ANNUAL ACTION PLAN

PROJECT / PROGRAMME

IMPLEMENTATION

MONITOR SPECIFIC DISTRICT LEVEL PROJECTS

DISTRICT DATA NOT UTILIZED

RESULT Management and Distribution of Resources

are not done as well as they could be! Persons most in need are often not served Projects & Programmes are not informed and

coordinated

District Example 1 Example – Extract of community list of Central Gonja District (CWSA - 2007)

Community Area CouncilTotal

Population Borehole*Population

Served CoverageYapei Yapei 4,693 0 0 0.00%Kusawgu Kusawgu 2,037 0 0 0.00%Old Buipe Buipe 294 2 600 204.08%Kalinka Kusawgu 278 2 600 215.83%Gbinbinto Buipe 30 2 600 2000.00%

District Example 2 Example – Saboba District Enrolment rate vs. BECE (National

standardized test results)

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

2006 2007 2008

Gross Enrolment Rate

BECE Results

Our Work at the DPCUDistrict Data / MTDP & AAP- FOAT requires Districts to have databanks, monitoring

records, Progress Reports, MTDP / AAP- Our focus is on actual use of databanks, monitoring and

analysis to inform planning & decision-making Help develop analysis tools in the Districts to determine types and location

of projects; tracking of progress Coordinated data management & analysis workshop (with NORPREP) for

all DPOs / DBOs in N/R Organizing intensive training (summer) for District Data & Communication

Officer

Our Work at the DPCUCommunication- Help enhance District stakeholder participation and communication

Collaborated with ILGS / DED on Stakeholder workshops in Central Gonja and Saboba

For MTDP, helping Districts with preparation, implementation and follow-up of District Review mtgs & Public Hearings

Leadership- Challenge management capacities of DCDs

Coordinated DCD fellowship in 2009 2010 will focus on relevant District topics (MTDP / AAP, FOAT, Development

Partner collaborations)

Our Work at the RPCUMonitoring- Support the creation and maintenance of District monitoring systems

Development of monitoring database (to track and analyze DP projects / programmes, MTDP / AAP, District issues)

Coordination- Working with the RPCU to coordinate Development Partner

activities, programmes & projects RPCU Mentorship Programme for new Districts Development Partner Group Google Calendar, Capacity Building database

Our Work Nationally

Action Research- Working to bring district-level realities to decentralization policy and

Development Partner programme decisions 3 Briefing Papers distributed and published in Journal of Local Government Studies

(July 2009)

i) “Capacity Development vs. Poverty Reduction”

ii) “District Planning and Coordination”

iii) “Disincentives of civil servants in Northern Ghana” 4 more papers soon to be completed

i) Gender Desk Officer position

ii) FOAT

iii) Medium-Term Development Plan

iv) District Officer motivation

Positive ExamplesDPCU- Saboba created a Water Prioritization tool

• Helped cite 40 of the most needy communities (depending on population, current water facilities, distance to water facility)

• Water Coverage has increased by appox. 10%

- Currently limited to a few Districts and irregular use: Aim is for DPCUs to utilize data whenever making planning and project decisions

More focus (from DPs, FOAT, NDPC, RPCU) is needed on utilization of data for Districts

Positive ExamplesRPCU- Through monitoring in Dec 2009:

identified a project submission (for discretionary spending from a DP) from a District for a project that was already currently in construction

found another District made two project submissions outside their Medium-Term Development Plan

- Currently surface-level: Aim is for RPCU to ensure projects target District needs & locations of concern and coordinating DPs / Districts effectively

More focus and resources need to be put into RPCU monitoring systems

Positive ExamplesRPCU- Through monitoring in Dec 2009:

identified a project submission (for discretionary spending from a DP) from a District for a project that was already currently in construction

found another District made two project submissions outside their Medium-Term Development Plan

- Currently surface-level: Aim is for RPCU to ensure projects target District needs & locations of concern and coordinating DPs / Districts effectively

More focus and resources need to be put into RPCU monitoring systems

Back to the community

How to get involved?

COMMUNICATION SUMMARY

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