A Guide to the Protection of Basic Services project
Introduction
The Protection of Basic Services (PBS) mechanism is being introduced following the decision of a number of development partners, in response to the political crisis last year, not to continue providing assistance through Direct Budget Support. This was a form of assistance which the Government could use within an agreed budget focused on poverty reduction. Development partners want to ensure however that the poor do not suffer as a result of the suspension of Direct Budget Support and that they continue to have access to basic services.
In Ethiopia, the basic services on which people rely – such as education, health and water - are overwhelmingly provided by the Government. For some years, the Government has been spending more time and money on improving the provision of these services, with the support of development partners. This is now delivering improvements in indicators such as school enrolment and health.
The new mechanism, known as the PBS project, aims to protect and promote the delivery of basic services by local government in Ethiopia and to make local services more transparent and accountable to ordinary people. Through this project, development partners will provide financial support through central Government, and we will ensure that this money is spent at the local level on education, health, water and sanitation, and agriculture. The Government has agreed to increase its own spending in these areas and PBS funds will be in addition to Government funds.
This project will assist the Ethiopian Government to increase transparency and accountability. Parliament - both Federal and Regional - and civil society organisations will play a role in monitoring how these basic services are delivered (notably through the fourth component of the project – see below). This will help ensure that services respond better to people’s needs.
The World Bank and the UK Department for International Development will be providing funds through this mechanism this Ethiopian financial year (1998) and, subject to satisfactory reviews, the next Ethiopian financial year. The Netherlands will also be contributing and the European Commission, African Development Bank, Canadian International Development Agency, Swedish International Development Agency and Irish Aid are considering contributions.
The PBS project
The PBS project consists of four components:
- Component 1: to protect the delivery of basic services by regional and woreda administrations. Development partners will provide money to the Government on condition that the full amount is passed to the regions (through the federal block grant). There will be reviews, tests and spot checks to make sure that funds are being allocated fairly and are being used to pay for basic services. Up to US$340 million will be disbursed through this component in the period up to the end of June 2007, subject to satisfactory reviews.
- Component 2: to deliver basic health services. These funds will be used to pay for commodities such as vaccines, anti malarial bed-nets and contraceptives, and associated logistics and procurement. Up to US$67 million will be disbursed through this component up to the end of June 2009.
- Component 3: to improve citizens’ understanding of regional and woreda budgets and to make service facilities (health clinics, primary schools, etc) more accountable to the citizens they serve. We want local people to know how much money has been provided and what it will be spent on. Woreda and kebele administrations will be provided with money and technical support to help them share with citizens information about their budgets and expenditure. Up to US$7.2 million will be spent on these activities in the period up to the end of June 2008.
- Component 4: to support citizens and civil society organisations in becoming more familiar with budgets and to engage citizens and civil society organisations in pilot activities on social accountability and service delivery. Funds will be provided, outside of Government, to experienced non-government organisations, to help ensure better accountability. The pilot initiatives will be monitored and assessed so that good practices can be replicated. We want to help citizens develop the ability to understand how the budget is prepared, how the money is allocated, and what it is used for. Up to US$6.0 million will be spent on these activities in the period up to the end of June 2008.
PBS will not only therefore help improve the basic services on which millions
of Ethiopians rely, it will also enable people to see how their money is being
spent. The
Ministry
of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) has already started to make some
of this information publicly available. Regional governments will also be
encouraged to use a range of media to publicise what they intend to spend their
budget on and how it is actually spent.
Further information on the Protection of Basic Services project can be found on
the
World
Bank website.
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