Mali has established a strong economic management record over the past decade and a half, in the context of a stable democratic political environment and founded on a market-oriented policy framework. As part of the reform agenda, capacity building at decentralized level is crucial to improving public service delivery
WASHINGTON, April 28, 2011- The World Bank continue its support to the implementation of the Mali Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Framework (GPRSF) 2007-11 while helping the country to strengthen its capacity for public financial management at decentralized level for improved budgetary decision-making and enhanced transparency and oversight.
To this purpose, the World Bank’s Executive Board approved today two International Development Association (IDA) credits: the fifth Poverty reduction support credit (PRSC-5) in the amount of US$70 million and the Governance and Budget Decentralization Technical Assistance project of US$ 12 million.
“The objective of this second series of PRSCs is, specifically, the implementation of the development objectives to which the PRSC-5 contributes: improve the policy environment for infrastructure and private investment, with a particular emphasis on actions to ensure a smooth transition to private ownership in the cotton sector, enhance governance in the office du Niger, improve the ease of doing business, enhance the financial sustainability of the electricity utility”, said Clara de Sousa, the Bank’s Task Team Leader.
The PRSC aims also to strengthen transparency and accountability practices in the mining sector; to improve public financial management, through a strengthened legal framework for procurement and increased transparency and strengthened external oversight; to strengthen public financial management in the sectors in charge of basic education and health in the Malian context of decentralization; and increase the utilization of health services by the poor.
“This operation is the last of a programmatic series of three annual PRSCs (PRSCs 3, 4 and 5). The overall objective of this second series of PRSCs is to support implementation of Mali’s GPRSF adopted in 2006”, she added.
Concerning the Governance and budget decentralization technical assistance, its development objective will be achieved through the provision of support in preparing key regulations, guidelines, and information systems for enhanced predictability and control in budget preparation and execution, and training staff in their use; in piloting key regulations, guidelines, and information systems for enhanced predictability and control in budget execution in the education and health sectors, and training staff in their use; in strengthening capacity to apply guidelines for external oversight, and strengthen the skills of elected officials and communities to monitor and evaluate public financial management information.
The project’s primary target and direct beneficiaries include civil servants at regional and local level, elected officials, and representatives of the civil society. However, civil servants at the central level will also benefit from the activities of the project, to ensure adequate coordination and complementarities between central and decentralized levels.
The entry point for interventions will be the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). Other beneficiaries of the activities of the project will include the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Local Governments (MACTL), the Ministry of Housing, Land Affairs and Urban Development (MLAFU), the Procurement Regulatory Authority (ARMDS), the Audit Section of the Supreme Court (SCCS), the Ministry of Education, Literacy and National Languages (MEALN), and the Ministry of Health (MS).
Civil society organizations such as the National Federation of Community Health Associations (FENASCOM), School Management Committees (CAPs), Civil Society National Council (Conseil National de la Société Civile, CNSC), community surveillance committees, and local health associations will also be covered.
