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Benin
>> Regional Overview >> Benin Overview Program Data Sheet
680-003
USAID MISSION: Benin
PROGRAM TITLE: Democracy and Governance Strengthening (Pillars: Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade; and Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance)
SPECIAL OBJECTIVE AND NUMBER: Improved Governance and Reinforced Democracy, 680-003
STATUS: Continuing
PLANNED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $862,000 DA
PROPOSED FY 2003 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $923,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1996 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2005
Summary: The Democracy and Governance Special Objective program is helping Benin to improve its democratic governance through:
- technical assistance and small grants to improve advocacy skills of local non governmental organizations (NGOs);
- technical assistance to strengthen the capacities of Benin Supreme Audit Institutions;
- training, technical assistance and micro credit to small-scale entrepreneurs;
- technical assistance to transfer appropriate technology to local Beninese farmers; and
- technical assistance in legislative reform.
Inputs, Outputs and Activities: FY 2002 Program: In FY 2002, USAID will continue to increase the participation of NGOs in local governance and enhance their advocacy skills in order to help improve the delivery of health and education services. A government decentralization support activity will be implemented to prepare the central government to better assume its coordination role, pending the reinforcement of local officials' capacities to provide services, especially in health and education.
To promote transparency and accountability in government, USAID will continue to provide training to Supreme Audit Institutions and encourage public awareness of the negative effects of corruption through local civil society organizations. USAID will initiate activities to increase the participation of women in development. Support to the Ministry of Communications will help expand their communications bandwidth to four megabytes and promote Internet and other new communications technologies. In FY 2002, technical assistance and training for Benin National Assembly members to reinforce the legislative and analytical capacities of parliamentarians and their technical staff will be completed.
Ongoing private sector and local-level development initiatives will be promoted through funding the small-scale palm oil, market gardening and domestic energy sub-sectors, and introducing other technologies, such as high-yield potatoes and sunflower oil in the northern region of Benin. USAID intends to provide technical assistance to local micro-credit institutions to advocate for an improved micro-finance regulatory and policy environment.
Planned FY 2003 Program: The Mission plans to revise its democracy and governance program to emphasize economic governance. Through this approach USAID will reinforce the linkages among agriculture, health and education sectors for greater development impact.
It is anticipated that the revised program will help: 1) increase citizens', especially women's, participation in decision making for grassroots development activities; 2) support democratic decentralization by increasing incomes of subsistence farmers through micro-finance, appropriate agriculture, and information technologies transfer; 3) reduce corruption by strengthening mechanisms to increase transparency and accountability; and 4) promote synergy among USAID-funded activities in order to maximize developmental impact in health and education.
USAID will continue its women-in-development activities and plans to increase support to the Ministry of Communication to expand the communications bandwidth and to promote Internet and other new communication technologies.
Performance and Results: USAID continued to play a key role in supporting the GOB's commitment to improve democratic governance. Important outcomes included mitigation of ethnic and political conflicts through our support for the March 2001 presidential elections, and enhanced awareness by local communities and citizens about Benin's decentralization process. Transparency and accountability were improved through the development of public management tools, auditing procedure manuals, and training of public accountants and internal controllers on the use of these manuals. A total of 115 accounts were audited by Supreme Audit Institutions, comprised of inspectors from the Office of the Inspector General of Finance and the Chamber of Accounts of the Supreme Court. Another program outcome was increased participation of civil society in national decision making, such as: 1) advocating for the organization of local elections and 2) the fight against corruption. Vulnerable women were provided greater access to financial resources through micro-credit. Poor populations had increased access to small-scale technologies, enabling them to become stronger actors in local development and influencing local decision-making. Through the P.L. 480 Title II village banking program, rural communities have gained greater financial investment resources to increase household income for improved food security. Beninese legislators in the National Assembly, as well as their technical staffs, improved their legislative and analytical capacities in budgeting, law drafting, human resource skills development, and in analyzing such issues as child trafficking and female genital mutilation. With USAID assistance, the GOB expanded its communications bandwidth to two megabytes, and further increased Internet connectivity in the country.
The micro credit activity reached its targeted client levels with 84% of beneficiaries being women. With continued progress, Benin will have greater public accountability and transparency in governance. Civil society will have access to and play an effective role in national and local decision making. Similarly, local communities will be empowered to initiate ideas and improvements that have an effect on local development.
Principal Contractors, Grantees or Agencies: Current U.S. grantees are: Enterprises Works Worldwide (EWW), National Democratic Institute (NDI), International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), and the State University of New York/International Development Group. GOB partners include the National Assembly, Office of the Inspector General of Finance, the Chamber of Accounts of the Supreme Court, and the Decentralization Mission of the Ministry of Interior. Local partners include Transparency International Benin, Africa Obota, VITAL Finance, and other NGOs and indigenous associations.
US Financing in Thousands of Dollars
680-003 Improved governance and reinforced democracy DA DFA ESF Through September 30, 2000 Obligations 8,266 5,093 450 Expenditures 5,488 5,093 80 Unliquidated 2,778 0 370 Fiscal Year 2001 Obligations 1,485 0 0 Expenditures 1,894 0 276 Through September 30, 2001 Obligations 9,751 5,093 450 Expenditures 7,382 5,093 356 Unliquidated 2,369 0 94 Prior Year Unobligated Funds Obligations 0 0 0 Planned Fiscal Year 2002 NOA Obligations 862 0 0 Total Planned Fiscal Year 2002 Obligations 862 0 0 Proposed Fiscal Year 2003 NOA Obligations 923 0 0 Future Obligations 6,000 0 0 Est. Total Cost 17,536 5,093 450
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Last Updated on: May 29, 2002 |
