Supporting Municipal Development in Angola
The Angolan people and their Government are very quickly recovering from the country's long civil war and working hard to build the national capacity essential to broad-based economic growth and participatory democracy. Recognizing the positive change that is taking place, the United States Agency for International Development has shifted the focus of its programs away from humanitarian assistance and towards a collaborative assistance relationship that seeks to:
- reinforce Angolan efforts to improve people's lives through increased economic opportunity and improved social service delivery
- help Angolans make the systemic reforms that will lock Angola onto a path of stability and wide-spread prosperity
To support the two objectives above, USAID and Chevron designed a Municipal Development Program that will benefit selected municipalities in Bié, Cabinda, Cuando Cubango, and Huambo. Lazare Kaplan International has joined a partnership with USAID to implement the same program in Lunda Norte.
The Context for Municipal Development
Worldwide decentralization is being promoted by Governments as a way to bring Government closer to the people and to facilitate greater attention to local concerns. Angola is among the countries that are part of this global trend. It enacted the Local Administration Decree in 1999, providing a detailed framework for deconcentration and has since highlighted decentralization in the principles approved for the future Angolan Constitution. Moreover, it has recently approved Decree 2/07 which paves the way for further decentralization as selected municipalities become increasingly responsible for their budgets. This move demonstrates Angola's continued commitment for decentralization.
Angola has plans under way to pilot test decentralization in 68 of Angola's 163 municipalities. Decentralization efforts are being ably led by the Ministry of Territorial Administration.
Description of the Municipal Development Program
One of the constraints that Angola faces in its decentralization process is a shortage of institutional capacity at the local level. Chevron and USAID, thus, decided to combine their efforts to support the Government of Angola's efforts to overcome this legacy of the recently ended long civil war.
The program that USAID and Chevron designed, with strong support from the Ministry of Territorial Administration, has three components:
- tecnical assistance and training to help communities organize and participate with municipal authorities in the preparation and implementation of municipal development plans;
- technical assistance and on-the-job training to help municipal officials improve their capacity to lead participatory planning processes, participate effectively in provincial planning and budgeting exercises, and monitor and effect necessary adjustments to the delivery of public services; and,
- a municipal development fund for participating municipalities to support the construction and/or rehabilitation of community infrastructure (e.g., clinics, schools, irrigation channels, etc.) or other activities designed to improve service delivery or economic opportunity.
Chevron, USAID and the Ministry of Territorial Administration chose four provinces where the Municipal Development Program is being implemented: Bié, Cabinda, Cuando Cubango, and Huambo.
USAID invited other like-minded corporate sponsors to join the program as well. In response, Lazare Kaplan International entered into a partnership with USAID to implement the program in Lunda Norte.
Other Partners in the Program
A number of other donors also have substantial programs that will help position Angola for a successful decentralization experience. The design of the Municipal Development Program benefited considerably from these other donor experience. Most significantly, we drew from, and hope to reinforce, the work of the Social Assistance Fund (FAS, in Portuguese), established by the Ministry of Planning and the World Bank. The experience of the Luanda Urban Poverty Program, supported by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, also contributed to shaping the Program.
The Municipal Development Program will be implemented under the guidance of the Ministry of Territorial Administration. Experiences gained will contribute to the development of national decentralization policies and plans.
USAID and Chevron will partner with FAS in Cabinda, Cuando Cubanga, and Huambo and with the UNDP Decentralisation and Local Governance Project in Bié. USAID and Lazare Kaplan International will partner with FAS in Lunda Norte.
To oversee the implementation of the program, USAID and Chevron, together with Lazare Kaplan International, FAS, the UNDP, and the Ministry of Territorial Administration chose a consortium led by CARE International and including Development Workshop and Save the Children, UK, in a competitive selection process
USAID's Global Development Alliance: A New Way of Doing Business
The Global Development Alliance - USAID's new way of doing business - is based on the recognition that significant changes in the environment of economic development assistance are occurring. No longer are traditional donor governments and multilateral development banks the only providers of assistance. Rather, over the past 20 years, there has been a growing number of new actors on the scene: foundations, corporations, and even individuals. Under its Global Development Alliance model, USAID seeks to facilitate linkages between its own programs and the programs of these new and, increasingly important, new actors, in order to strengthen the overall effectiveness of development efforts.
Learn more about the Global Development Alliance model. Browse our website. You can find it at www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_partnerships/gda/.
USAID's Program in Angola
The United States Agency for International Development has a 16 year history of cooperation in Angola. From 1989 through 2005, USAID's largest contributions were in providing food support to those unable to support themselves. Over the past five years, USAID has helped vulnerable households become more food self-sufficient and helped farmers more effectively produce and market high value crops; supported Ministry of Health efforts to provide increasing numbers of Angolans with high quality maternal/child health care and HIV/AIDS services; and supported Angolan civil society groups make a difference in areas ranging from HIV/AIDS to land to national elections. Our most recent successes have included the successful spraying of over 100,000 houses against malaria and contributions to the start-up of Novo Banco.
Under our new program, our primary areas of focus will be on increasing access to: high quality health care, finance, property rights, electricity and good governance.
