MSATM develops Joint National Programme to support the decentralization process

News

MSATM develops Joint National Programme to support the decentralization process

In the rural and remote Leohono village of Ossu sub-district in Viqueque located about 150 kilometers east of the Timor-Leste capital Dili, Mr. Mano Bosi (not his real name), knows the difficulty of accessing basic government services in a young nation where the state machinery is stretched to the limit and key services—and resources—are available mostly in the big city.

“In my village people think the government is based in Dili, “says Renato, a cousin of Bosi who is based in Dili. “We would like it to be closer to us to make our lives easier", says Renato adding that this perception is common in most rural areas of the country.

Nearly a decade after the restoration of independence, Timor-Leste is debating a decentralization policy to bolster the country’s young democracy by bringing government services closer to the people.

“For decentralization to become a success and to reach its objectives of bringing government closer to the people, improving public service delivery as well as strengthening accountability of the government, international support plays a key role", says the Minister of State Administration Dr. Arcângelo Leite. The minister was speaking during a meeting held on 28 January 2010 in the capital, Dili, to discuss the Joint National Programme, a vehicle intended to generate a single platform for support to the decentralization process in the country.

The decentralization process in Timor-Leste started with the establishment of an Inter-Ministerial Technical Working Group in 2003 to study different options for decentralization involving members of all ministries under the leadership of the Ministry of State Administration and Territorial Management (MSATM).

Decentralization reforms have evolved since 2003, resulting in the approval of a national decentralization policy and decentralization road map and the submission of a set of three local government laws to the National Parliament.

The process has benefited from continuous support provided by the joint UNCDF-UNDP Local Governance Support Program (LGSP) and its predecessor programs at policy and at local level. LGSP is supporting the establishment of a fully-fledged local government system by providing policy-relevant lessons from pilot activities, assisting in formulating a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for local government and supporting implementation of local government reforms.

The MSATM, with support from LGSP, has proceeded with the development of a legislative and policy framework for decentralization, resulting in the following key decisions and documents such as the set of three Local Government Laws: the Law on Administrative and Territorial Division, which was approved by the National Parliament in June 2009, the Local Government Law and Municipal Elections Law, which are still pending discussion.

The Local Development Program (LDP) started as a national pilot program in 2004 to test different models for decentralization and local governance and generate practical lessons for an effective, transparent local governance system, which is responsive to citizens’ needs.

The LDP supports capacity development at the local level through the provision of block grants to local assemblies, enabling them to develop capacities through an integrated approach of “learning by doing" throughout identification of priorities - in consultation with aldeias, sucos, and sub-districts, participatory local planning, procurement, implementation of small-scale infrastructure and training activities.

In 2008, the LDP was up-scaled to eight districts and in 2010 the program reached all 13 districts of Timor-Leste making it no longer a pilot but a national local development program. The capital allocation has reached an average of USD 3.5 per capital and a total budget of USD 2.35 Mi in 2010.

The Joint National Programme, led by the MSATM with support from the LGSP, will provide support to decentralization reforms and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to deliver public goods and services through three main components: a national capacity building strategy; policy advisory support to the decentralization reform; and a funding mechanism to transfer grants to municipalities. The JNP will have duration of five years and its goal is to contribute towards poverty reduction in Timor-Leste.

“We hope that the Joint National Programme will assist in strengthening coherence, helping to avoid any overlap and duplication, and supporting the alignment of donor support with government activities", remarked Nick Beresford, Acting UNDP Country Director.

LGSP continues to provide technical support through a joint MSATM-LGSP-staffed unit as well as to generate lessons learned from the LDP and feed these into the policy-making process, which in the future is expected to evolve into the Joint National Programme.