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Lebanon
>> Regional Overview >>Lebanon Overview Program Data Sheet
268-002
USAID MISSION: Lebanon
PROGRAM TITLE: Promoting Democracy and Good Governance (Pillar: Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance)
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE AND NUMBER: Increased Effectiveness of Selected Institutions that Support Democracy, 268-002
STATUS: Continuing
PLANNED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $7,000,000 ESF
UNOBLIGATED PRIOR YEAR FUNDS AND FUNDING SOURCE: $3,000,000 ESF
PROPOSED FY 2003 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $7,000,000 ESF
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1994 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2004Summary: USAID’s program to promote democracy and good governance is helping:
- Municipalities improve planning and management, and services to constituents;
- Parliamentarians conduct sound, independent budget, policy, and legal analyses;
- Journalists and editors promote and strengthen investigative journalism; and
- Independent advocacy groups combat corruption and advocate transparency.
Inputs, Outputs, and Activities: FY 2002 Program: Efficient local government, progressive legislation, and responsible journalism dominate USAID’s FY 2002 democracy and governance agenda. In August 2001 a ground-breaking agreement with the Ministry of Interior and Municipal Affairs gave USAID the mandate to expand its pioneering municipal capacity-building program from 82 to all 712 municipalities nationwide during the ensuing three years. FY 2002 technical assistance to 440 municipalities, 15 districts, four governorates, and three oversight agencies will simplify municipal procedures; improve service delivery; standardize budget, revenue, and personnel systems; enhance coordination among central, regional, and local authorities; provide citizens with timely information on rights and responsibilities through user-friendly Citizen Reception Offices and web pages; and ensure sustainability of Rural Community Development Cluster (RCDC) activities in affected municipalities (see SO 268-001).
Technical support to Parliament will focus on formulating and passing revised municipal and new decentralization laws; analyzing and proposing viable budget options for 2002 and 2003; and working with NGO leaders on public policy issues. In-country training for 30 Arabic-language newspaper reporters and editors in investigative journalism—the only program of its kind in the Arab world—and linking them to 40 previous participants on an interactive electronic "listserv" will strengthen professionalism in the print media and expose it to American-style journalism. About 20 grants to civil society and advocacy groups will build on anticorruption activities started by USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) in 2001.
Planned FY 2003 Program: Pending a strategy review, USAID does not anticipate any major change in this objective for FY 2003. Passage of the new municipal and decentralization laws, coupled with continued economic development and political stability in South Lebanon, will facilitate the planned expansion of the local government program to the remaining 190 municipalities, 11 districts, and two governorates. Further integration of RCDC activities into municipal planning and budgeting will build ownership for financing future operations and maintenance costs. Assuming the Lebanese economy will be in an austerity—if not an adjustment—mode, assistance to Parliament will focus mainly on analyzing the social, economic, and environmental effects of budget trade-offs for 2003 and 2004. USAID plans to reinstate a 2-3-month U.S.-based training program for journalists to gain first-hand experience with American newspapers and investigative reporting standards. Anticorruption grants, while encouraging innovation and new-starts, will begin targeting experienced groups with broad-based interests, constituencies, and networks.
Performance and Results: USAID has emerged as the leader in strengthening municipal government nationwide—the lynchpin for local development in Lebanon. Customized, automated management information systems now help elected officials and civil servants in over 100 municipalities plan and manage their resources more efficiently, with effective oversight of
funds and staff, and reliable information they can share electronically with other local, regional and central government units. Tax records, for example, can now be accessed in 10 minutes, not six weeks; tax refunds can be processed in three steps, not 13. Licenses and permits that once required several desk-to-desk stops and multiple bribes can now be acquired at one-stop Customer Service Counters in minutes, with set fees published on websites and in Citizen Guides. This new capacity is also enabling municipalities to take over operations and maintenance costs of hundreds of infrastructure projects in RCDC clusters (see SO 268-001). Continued progress will enable at least 80% of municipalities to have effective, transparent, and accountable planning and management systems, responsive to citizen needs and capable of sustaining development projects by the end of 2004. Parliament will have the analytic capacity to pass rational budgets and craft progressive legislation. Citizens will be more informed of controversial issues by an unbiased, unfettered, and truth-seeking press. Watchdog organizations, fully anchored in civil society, will identify corrupt practices openly and publicly, without fear of reprisal or concern for judicial indifference.
USAID’s Municipal Revenue and Budget Systems have increased revenues in 40 municipalities from $26 million in 2000 to $39 million in 2001, resulting in more local investment and better constituent services. Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: For FY 2002, the Municipal and Parliamentary capacity-building activities will continue to be implemented through the State University of New York at Albany’s Center for Legislative Development. This will be done in collaboration with the five NGOs supporting the RCDC program (see SO 268-001); the Ministries of Interior and Municipal Affairs, and Administrative Development; and selected oversight agencies, i.e., the Central Inspection Board, the Civil Service Board, and Court of Audit. Anti-corruption grants will be implemented through the America-Mideast Educational and Training Services, and investigative journalism training will be implemented through the International Center for Journalists. USAID expects several of these partners to continue under a new or updated strategy beginning in FY 2003.
US Financing in Thousands of Dollars
268-002 Increased effectiveness of selected institutions which support democracy ESF Through September 30, 2000 Obligations 3,080 Expenditures 1,586 Unliquidated 1,494 Fiscal Year 2001 Obligations 2,500 Expenditures 1,274 Through September 30, 2001 Obligations 5,580 Expenditures 2,860 Unliquidated 2,720 Prior Year Unobligated Funds Obligations 3,000 Planned Fiscal Year 2002 NOA Obligations 7,000 Total Planned Fiscal Year 2002 Obligations 10,000 Proposed Fiscal Year 2003 NOA Obligations 7,000 Future Obligations 0 Est. Total Cost 22,580
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Last Updated on: May 29, 2002 |
