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Part
I:
Description
of the Different Palnning Frameworks in Burkina Faso
Introduction
As
soon as Burkina Faso achieved its independence, the country opted for
a planned management of its economic and social development. Prior to
that, in 1959 a service was created to design a national planning system
with the support of a statistic office. From 1960 to 1983 the planning
service implemented activities related to the elaboration of six draft
plans which were not all approved.
After
a provisional period from 1982 to 1983 during which there was no planning
process, the popular development programme (PPD) was elaborated in 1984/85
with the advent of the revolution. This programme's aim was to meet the
populations essential needs in short term. It was elaborated in accordance
with the objectives of the populations social needs.
From
1960 to 1983 the authorities were greatly concerned about promoting a
planning system which could be adapted to the realities of the country.
But, in spite of all efforts made to establish a sound planning system,
the process somewhat failed, due to the fact that the planning was supported
by inadequate and often inexperienced structures (Parliament, Ministry
of Plan, Sectorial commissions, etc.).
On
the other hand, the methodology used to elaborate the plans was generally
simple : the Presidency determines the overall orientations and the plan
global objectives while taking into account the country economic and social
situation ; then, the department in charge of planning selects the project
which will make up the investment programme. The population direct participation
is not expected in this action except through their representatives at
the Parliament.
In
fact, the planning system was weak during this period (insufficient technical
staff, inexperience in planning systems).
Public
authorities became aware of this constraint and attempted to deal with
it by orienting actions towards a real development planning. The advent
of the revolution in 1983 led the authorities to opt for participatory
development involving all the populations in the planning process. In
this respect, all grassroots communities were involved in the implementation
of the different five year plans.
The
first popular development five year plan was adopted and executed from
1986 to 1990 in the context of the Political Orientation Speech (DOP)
in 1983. This plan determined quantifiable objectives and adopted sectorial
strategies and actions to reach them.
The
new planning system urged a growing popular participation in several actions
in the form of "public debate".
In
the long run, progress was achieved and planning instruments were skillfully
used and became efficient means to manage the national economy. The PIP
technique which was designed as an adjusted annual section of the plan
was introduced to facilitate the monitoring of the plan execution.
Following
the first popular development five year plan, a second plan was elaborated
to cover the period 1991-1995. But, because of economic reforms started
in 1991 in the context of the SAP, this plan, which was considered as
a planning document lost its nature to become a document for guiding economic
policies in short and medium terms. In addition, its macro economic objectives
were modified by those which were defined in the framework documents for
economic policy (DCPE) covering the period 1991-1996.
Therefore,
the adoption of the SAP turned the second five year plan down and enabled
the establishment of a flexible planning and a three year public investment
programme (PIP). In this context, the objective was to change an unstable
three year programming into an instrument to control investments in order
to attain the plan objectives in medium term each year.
In
other words, the idea was to elaborate annual plans based on the three
year delicate programme in compliance with the State budget. However,
these plans couldn't be elaborated due to the lack of economic resources.
If the PIP can be considered as an example of annual programmes, they
are not actually annual execution plans. Moreover, their elaboration and
management are often impeded by enormous difficulties related to project
financing. These factors usually undermine the monitoring and execution
of medium term plans.
Similarly
to other African countries, Burkina Faso was seriously affected by the
economic crisis in the 1980s. To address this situation, strategies, policies
and measures were adopted.
But
it happened that investment policies defined by public authorities to
address the situation led to a deterioration of public finances and an
increase of the external debt. Besides, the financial situation in the
banks was unsatisfactory with debts accounting for 30% of the economy
credit in 1990.
These
difficulties urged the authorities to think about the insufficiencies
and constraints of the economy in order to define a new strategy for economic
and social development. As a result, in 1990, during national seminars,
they found it necessary to implement a structural adjustment programme
and seek the support of the international community.
The
first SAP (1991-1993) mainly emphasized the reestablishment of financial
balances and the implementation of certain reform measures (restructuring
of public companies, sanitation of the civil service) without paying much
attention to economic growth. After the implementation of the first SAP
and the devaluation of the CFA franc in 1994, poverty expanded considerably.
This situation led the Government to consider the fight against poverty
as the main development objective for the forthcoming decade. In 1995,
the Government elaborated an intent letter for the policy of sustainable
human development (LIPDHD) in order to include development actions in
a long term perspective covering the period 1995-2005. Public authorities
have defined a medium term strategy in the context of the LIPDHD.
The
objective of this policy is to focus the country development on the concept
of human security while ensuring the access of each Burkinabe to a remunerative
employment, preventive and curative medical care and environmental, individual
and political food security.
(i) PRESENTATION
OF PLANNING FRAMEWORKS EXECUTED OR BEING EXECUTED
The
LIPDHD and two other documents (the national strategy note and the framework
document for economic policy) are the substructure of the country development
strategy. Right now, Burkina Faso is involved in several sectorial and
transversal planning processes.
1.1 Frameworks
and sectorial plans
- the national strategy
of the sanitation sub-sector ;
- the ten year health
plan ;
- the strategy to
develop the private sector ;
- the agricultural
sectorial adjustment programme and the investment programme for the
agricultural sector ;
- the strategic plan
for scientific research ;
- the structural
adjustment programme and the framework document for economic policy.
1.2.
Transversal frameworks and plans
Context
During this period,
the Burkinabe public authorities made important efforts to improve basic
education. The increase of allocations and the experimentation of new
formulas related to classes organization, curriculum development and
teaching methods (multilevel classes, double group classes, satellite
schools, non formal basic education center, etc) contributed not only
to improve the educational coverage but also to involve more grassroots
communities in school management.
Despite these achievements,
there was a certain number of constraints especially related to poor
management of the education system, inequalities in access to education,
the low schooling and literacy rate and the importance of educational
losses.
To address these problems, the ten year development plan for basic
education was elaborated, inspired by both the guidelines of the States
General on Education (1994) and orientations defined by the strategic
programme for education development (1996).
This plan was based
on the four strategic objectives of the second five year plan while
restructuring them. The ten year plan was designed as a reference framework
aiming at orientating all actors' actions in the area of basic education.
It defined four major actions to be executed :
- increase the basic
education offer to reduce all kinds of inequalities especially pertaining
to geographical membership, the socio-economic situation and gender
;
- improve the quality
and efficiency of basic education while promoting consistency and integration
between the different levels and education modalities ;
- develop literacy
and support alternative educational formulas ;
- improve capacities
for steering, managing and evaluating these sectorial sectors and enhance
coordination of external actions.
The
implementation of these measures defined by the plan should last ten years.
Activities were planned to be executed successively per three year phase
with specific objectives for each phase.
Most
partners of the education sector participated in the formulation of the
ten year plan and adopted the principle which consisted of including any
other sectorial action in the plan. The process started in 1997.
On
the other hand, most donors involved in the sector have now adopted the
principle of sectorial approach which is strongly supported by the Dutch
Cooperation and the World Bank. Recently, other financial partners got
actively involved in the support (European Union, French Cooperation,
Canada).
By
adopting the principle of sectorial approach, development partners have
agreed with the following conditions :
- from now on, actions
should be carried out through a reference framework jointly approved
;
- because of shortcomings
related to implementation modalities, the projects will be discarded
to emphasize support to MEBA services to implement activities ;
- the national party
leader's role in the coordination and arbitration of the donors intervention
modes has been recognized and highlighted
- there will be more
focus on the technical and financial support for national capacity building
which is important in the process.
Donors
agree with the principle of the state leadership in this process, and
despite important observations on the ten year plan, they have decided
to follow MEBA's pace.
Actors
The
actions plan results from an internal reflection by the central structures
of the Department in charge of basic education. During the whole process
the Ministry maintained close relations with cooperation agencies working
in the education sector. The outline of the plan and the different versions
amended were regularly transmitted to them for comments.
However,
social partners (teacher unions, students parents associations and officers
of private and religions education) were only involved in the process
during the validation phase.
Integrating
institutions and initiatives
MEBA'S
DEP conducted the activity while including other central structures of
the Ministry (particularly the Directorate of education projects) and
certain decentralized services (provincial Directorates of basic education).
A
communication mechanism has been established with development partners
in order to collect their opinions and proposals. However, national institutions
depending on other ministerial departments, local collectivities and the
civil society organizations were not actually involved in the preparation
of the plan.
The
process was financially supported by the Netherlands and the World Bank
(through the fourth education project).
The
donors consulting framework (presided over by the Dutch Cooperation) managed
to establish a dialogue which resulted in a consensus between cooperation
agencies, but unfortunately some important partners such as BAD, BID,
UNDP, etc were not involved.
The
plan has defined global strategic choices based on an analysis of the
current education system and perspectives for the system evolution, aiming
at :
-
promoting a national
execution formula which includes the different technical and financial
partners supports ;
-
urging the harmonization
of actions ;
-
improving the
quality and efficiency of the basic education system and ;
-
promoting opportunities
for local collectivities to support activities in the context of decentralization.
Lessons
drawn from the experience may urge the plan to discard the project approaches
whose impacts are very limited. In fact, designing projects and financing
them per phase could be impeded by constraints. Moreover, the renewal
of project phases doesn't always follow the same principles of actions.
This situation has been worsened by "the inconsistency of the partners'
intervention caused by insufficient coordination of services support".
In order to improve consistency, the plan has suggested a better management
of external aids and the establishment of a sound system to follow up
programme execution.
On
the other hand, the plan recommends that ongoing reforms at national level
(restructuring of public administration and promotion of local authorities
in the context of decentralization) be better used and integrated in the
operational management of basic education. "The Ministry of Basic Education
and Literacy will work in close collaboration with the National Commission
for Decentralization to coordinate decentralization and devolution measures
and local and community-based initiatives pertaining to development, including
the development of basic education".
The
ten year plan has not defined a global monitoring/evaluation system. But
the logical framework of the first three year development programme for
basic education ((2000/2002) includes performance indicators of selected
activities.
The process
Preparation
of the ten year plan was launched in 1996 to enable the Ministry to make
proposals for the basic education sector in order to adopt a new economic
development plan, upon completion of the second five year plan.
The
first orientations were discussed during a meeting held by the department
CASEM. Later, the DEP invited decentralized structures (Provincial Directorates)
to make proposals. The summary of provincial reports was examined and
amended during a meeting attended by senior managers of central structures
and provincial Directorates.
In
1997, a planning workshop was organized during which the department technical
offices defined the plan logical framework. Work groups were set up to
better reflect on the proposals made under the DEP supervision.
During
their meeting they addressed the following three themes :
-
the quality of
basic education,
-
financial resources
required to implement the plan, and
-
literacy issues.
For
the time being, ongoing innovations concern the adoption of an approach
and the designing modalities of the ten year plan (content and principles).
These principles comply with national priorities aiming at harmonizing
actions (multisectorial integration). The decentralization process has
also been taken into account by the plan. It is also important to reinforce
MEBA management capacities.
After
a dull period related to internal functioning difficulties faced by the
DEP, the plan was completed in 1999 with the preparation of a synthesis
report which was approved during a national validation workshop and was
adopted by the Cabinet in 1999.
A
joint mission of technical and financial partners of basic education occurred
in Burkina Faso in April and May 2000. It was made up of the following
donors : AFD, World Bank, Canada, Cathwell, CCEB/BF, Swiss Cooperation,
FDC/SC, USA; France, HKI, Jica, UNAIDS, OSEO, PAEB, WFP, the Netherland,
UERD, UNESCO, UNICEF, European Union, Tin-Tua. The nature of the mission
showed that a wide range of donors were concerned about the issue (the
most important NGO's of the sector and even a national NGO are all involved).
Objectives
were as follows :
- support MEBA in
improving the PDDEB ;
- help MEBA to conduct
arbitration activities ;
- operationalize
the PDDEB ;
- make a first estimation
of the PDDEB cost while taking into account :
-
budgetary constraints,
-
global perspectives
for the debt alleviation,
-
poverty alleviation
and
-
the necessity
of providing Burkina children and adults with access to quality
education and literacy.
The
mission objectives show that they are greatly concerned about providing
support to the process and establishing dialogue with the national party.
The
donors have attempted to implement their actions in compliance with the
provisions of other frameworks (such as the framework programme for growth
and poverty reduction) and new financing opportunities in the context
of the debt alleviation.
The
joint mission carefully examined the PDDEB and made proposals on the multisectorial
approach in order to enable the harmonization of national institutions
of the sector. In addition, the mission proposed a certain number of practices
and innovations as a condition of forthcoming activities.
The
mission made recommendations aiming to reinforce the capacity of formulating
policies and managing the sector by the national party. It finally proposed
an agenda for meetings (in the context of the dialogue) between donors
and the national party as follows :
The context
The initiative of
elaborating a strategic plan for scientific research was taken by the
Ministry of Secondary and High Education and Scientific Research during
the meeting between researchers and the President of Faso in August
1994. This initiative would first of all enable scientific research
to play a key role for the country development and permit the national
center for scientific and technologic research (CNRST) to become an
excellent tool to promote and coordinate research.
The adoption of
the strategic plan for scientific research in October 1995 occurred
in a context characterized by the non structuring of the research sector,
the unsuitability between research programmes and development objectives
and the strong dependence of the research sector on external funding.
Planning programmes
were to cover the period from 1995 to 2000 with priorities related to
agricultural research, researches in social and human sciences, researches
in health sciences, in technologies and applied sciences. Each programme
determines sectorial objectives which should be harmonized with criteria
related to rationality, consistency and relevance required at global
level by the CNRST.
Actors
Involved actors
comprise technical Ministries (agriculture, animal resources, environment
and water, basic education, etc), political authorities, the private
sector, associations, NGOs and producer organizations, scientific and
financial partners. In addition to these different actors we should
add the CNRST institutes such as the environmental and agricultural
research institute (INERA), the research institute in applied sciences
and technologies (IRSAT) and the research institute in health sciences
(INSS).
Integrating
institutions and initiatives
Different
institutions have been involved in certain phases of the process to
develop the strategic plan. The involvement modalities per phase can
be described as follows :
Phase
1
: the internal evaluation of institutes has enabled to assess each
research institute activities and make proposals for the future.
Phase
2
: the CNRST external evaluations were carried out by experts from
the University, the Ministry and organisms for international scientific
cooperation. Over twenty five experts contributed to work on the research
programmes and evaluate their compliance with the country development
objectives.
Phase
3 :
development constraints were identified at the level of all activity
sectors, particularly rural development in the regions covered by
the CNRST with the participation of producers, officers of decentralized
technical services, NGOs and association, etc..
Phase
4
: actors involvement was shown by the creation of twenty one reflection
groups. These groups mission was to define research orientations,
evaluate needs for human and financial resources to implement priority
themes, make proposals which would enable to remove institutional
constraints and propose a consistent communication policy. In total,
over two hundred and fifty national and international experts contributed
to intervene in this phase.
Phase
5 : a national conference was organized for several hundreds
of actors who examined the proposals of the different reflection groups
and analyzed needs for resources to implement priority themes and
validate all proposals pertaining to the strategic plan.
Phase
6 : after the conference, internal committees were set up
to work on the amendments and structure the document according to
the CNRST research areas.
In implementing
the plan, other involvement mechanisms especially from the private sector
and scientific partners were planned to be used such as the signature
of contracts and research conventions. As regards follow up/assessment
some structures were created and started to function. These were the
board of directors, the scientific and technical council, the scientific
and managerial committee and the general Directorate.
It was not possible
to identify common consistent points with other existing programmes
and plans.
The process
The elaboration
of the strategic plan was a large reflection process carried out by
the national scientific community supported by the technical Ministry
officers, the private sector, the civil society, partners from the West
African sub-region and northern countries.
The process occurred
in several phases such as the internal evaluation of the CNRST institute,
external evaluations ordered by the general Directorate, the identification
of development constraints, the creation of reflection groups, the organization
of a national colloquium held in February 1995 and the completion of
the strategic document adopted in October 1995 by the Government.
Reliable and qualitative
data were provided for the process. There was also transparency in the
process management through units established by the CNRST (board of
directors, scientific and technical council, scientific and managerial
committee).
One should consider
the Government decision to bestow more authority on the CNRST with the
status of general Delegation instead of simple general Directorate.
Among the CNRST
institutes, only INERA has regional teams implementing research programmes
in the agricultural and environmental sector. However, each institute
is responsible for ensuring the follow up of the plan activities.
Now, there is no
formal consulting framework between donors for the plan execution. But
its elaboration process was strongly supported by the World Bank. In
fact, most plans now depend strongly on external financing which doesn't
enable actors to own processes fully.
At regional and
central level, technical committees have been created presided over
by the CNRST and serving as real consulting frameworks for researches,
producers and popularizers. Regional officers are in charge of studying
and analyzing constraints at regional level, discussing with researchers
in order to come up with consensual solutions which could be changed
into programmes. Now the process is undergoing an operational implementation.
Impact
In terms of impact,
one should note that the implementation of the strategic plan has enabled
the CNRST to enhance its coordination and validation functions in relation
to research activities. We can also note that external financing has
been better organized and has been implemented in compliance with the
country programme priorities while reinforcing balances in resources
allocations.
The national
strategy of the sanitation sub-sector
The context
For a long time
in Burkina Faso, environmental issues had not been seriously taken into
account and authorities thought that these issues should be addressed
by public institutions which would orientate their actions towards the
rural sector. In this regard, it was decided to carry out natural resource
management in the rural area. As a result, other environmental issues
occurring in the urban area were addressed lately. Environmental issues
were seriously taken into account in the 1990's when demographic growth
started to show negative impacts, degrading the environment.
As a matter of fact,
all national actors gradually considered the holistic dimension of the
environment.
In view of this
perspective, the Burkinabe State decided to define a consistent sanitation
strategy in order to improve environmental management in the urban area
and prevent environmental deterioration.
The strategy
orientation in relation to sanitation identified three main actions
- closely involve
local authorities in the planning process so as not only to ensure
sustainable actions, but also to favour capacity building and ownership
by the actors whose initiatives are based on the grassroot communities
demand ;
- restructure the
institutional system by adopting the principle of sharing responsibilities
by the different actors (administration, NGOs, local communities,
private sector, etc.) ;
- consider sanitation
as an essential component of development policies and programmes while
taking into account community based opportunities and initiatives
These orientations
resulted in an action programme. The project forms were elaborated based
on priority operational activities (evaluation of industrial pollution,
control of rain water in secondary towns, reduction of hazardous waste)
and supporting measures for the strategy implementation (strategic planning,
human resource development and normalization). The duration of the strategy
implementation is not stated in the document.
Actors
Preparation of the
strategy in relation to sanitation was launched under the supervision
of the Directorate of pollution prevention and sanitation (DPPA) with
the participation of other ministerial departments (especially departments
in charge of infrastructures, housing and town planning), the national
office of water and sanitation of Ouagadougou commune. Actors working
at decentralized level were involved to conduct surveys in certain provinces.
The team responsible
for writing the strategic document had working sessions with development
partners and public and private institutions interested in sanitation
issues.
The national workshop
to validate the strategy was attended by about a hundred and twenty
participants representing public institutions, NGOs, cooperation agencies,
private actors and municipalities, especially those who were visited
during the surveys.
Integrating institutions
and initiatives
The DPPA conducted
the preparation process of the strategy by setting up a work group made
up of representatives of public institutions, ONEA and the commune of
Ouagadougou. The group supervised the surveys conducted by the national
consultants team and organized consulting meetings with different technical
services, NGOs and cooperation agencies. These consulting meetings made
it possible to consider actors vision and view points on sanitation
issues particularly technical and institutional measures to be taken.
Despite considerable
efforts made to widen consultation with other institutions, one can
wonder about the efficiency of these mechanisms and their capacity to
ensure the application of decisions made.
The strategy development
was jointly financed by ONEA (consulting works) and the third urban
project (national validation workshop).
The strategy didn't
define precise harmonization mechanisms with the PANE even though it
was stated that its elaboration was included in the plan.
The strategy implementation
was accompanied by measures aiming at :
- encouraging consultation
and the development of human resources at all action levels ;
- boosting a dynamics
which would enable to address problems caused by environmental degradation,
the reduction of public finances, the spread of poverty and unemployment
and
- promoting and
supporting basic initiatives.
At institutional
level, competence and responsibility areas were determined for the different
actors (public authorities, local collectivities, NGOs, private actors,
grassroots communities) while taking into account the nature of waste
and types of actions required.
But the basic option
was based on the principle of the contracting authority which bestows
certain functions to local collectivities and the civil society organizations
while providing them with means to assume them efficiently.
The institutional
organization of the sanitation sector calls for the state intervention
as regards regulations, control, promoting research, support/counseling
and financial incentives. Since these missions have to be conducted
by several public institutions, it is indispensable to improve inter-sectorial
coordination.
The fact of bestowing
effective responsibilities on organisms and private structures means
that strong mechanisms should be established to facilitate their access
to information and reinforce their capacity especially in relation to
negotiation and management.
The sanitation strategy
didn't propose accurate mechanisms to follow up and assess actions to
be undertaken.
The process
The strategy elaboration
process was launched after the Ministry of environment CASEM meeting
held in 1995. During the meeting, participants analyzed the causes of
ONASENE failure (national office for service maintenance and embellishment)
and recommended the dissolution of the office and the definition of
an orientation framework for all actions pertaining to sanitation.
The group created
by the DPPA elaborated the terms of reference and set up a national
consultants team in October 1995.
To determine political,
social and cultural impacts caused by sanitation issues in Burkina Faso,
the team conducted in depth surveys in certain sample areas of the country
in Bobo-Dioulasso, kaya, Koudougou, Dori, Ouagadougou and Ouahigouya.
These surveys were
completed by consulting meetings with some actors such as communes,
NGOs and development partners. The preliminary version of the document
was revised by the work group steered by the DPPA.
The national validation
workshop held in December 1995 made amendments and recommendations which
were taken into account while completing the document. The strategy
was adopted by the Cabinet in May 1996 and is now being implemented
by institutions concerned.
While elaborating
the strategy document, the consultants team used available data at the
level of the different national institutions and conducted complementary
surveys.
The impact
All priority actions
defined within the strategy are being implemented thanks to the different
partners support. Projects being executed mainly deal with the strengthening
of the different actors capacities (public institutions, municipalities
and private sector), the valorization of biodegradable waste, the definition
of regulations and norms related to sanitation, the evaluation of industrial
pollution in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, the elaboration of sanitation
strategic plans in four secondary towns and sanitation development particularly
hygiene and health in rural areas.
It is difficult
to determine the impact of these experiences due to the fact that they
haven't been evaluated yet. The other components of the strategy, especially
the institutional structure haven't been assessed either.
Moreover, the implementation
of the sanitation strategy hasn't been established but the DPPA has
started another process aiming at defining a national strategy for the
sub-sector of open plan development.
Draft document
for national sanitary policy (PSN)
Context
The elaboration
of the PSN was mainly urged by the Ministry of health which was concerned
about having a comprehensive overview of the different actors interventions
in the field (state, private sector, NGOs and financial partners). This
should make it possible to define a guideline and a strategic orientation
for all actors involved in the health sector.
The elaboration
context of the national sanitary policy is characterized by several
political, economic and social factors. At political level, the Burkinabe
State has considered sanitary development as one of the priority areas
to be addressed. At economic level, there are not enough resources to
cover health programme financing which could be influenced by strategic
options adopted within the Structural Adjustment Programme. Finally,
at social level, the sanitary situation is characterized by high death
rate, poor quality of health services and the low attendance of health
centers by the populations.
The PSN was elaborated
after the adoption of the first document of sanitary programming in
March 1979 to cover the period 1980-1990. This document was prepared
after the Alma Ata conference and gave priority to primary health care.
The programme logics was strengthened by the adoption of the Bamako
Initiative (1991) which emphasized the decentralization of the sanitary
system.
The PNS was planned
to cover twenty to thirty years with sequences of elaboration and action
implementation.
The
general objective was to improve the populations sanitary state. Specific
objectives aimed at :
-
reducing mortality
significantly within the populations ;
-
increasing the
sanitary coverage ;
-
improving the
quality and utilization of health services ;
-
improving the
mobilization and management of financial resources for a sustainable
development of the health sector and
- strengthening
the Ministry of Health institutional capacities.
Actors
The elaboration
process of the PSN and the national sanitary development plan (PNDS)
which is still ongoing was one of the main recommendations of a workshop
organized by the Ministry of health in 1996 gathering the different
actors of the health sector. Initially, the Ministry of Health DEP
was in charge of monitoring and steering the process which should
lead to the elaboration of the PSN and the PNDS. But, because of several
constraints and the lack of operational structures, it was decided
to create a technical coordination secretariat so as to strengthen
the process.
To attain these
objectives, the technical secretariat established eight thematic work
commissions involving professionals from the public and private sector,
representatives of several ministerial departments including social
action, woman promotion, education, the territorial administration,
the environment, youth and sports, culture, defense, etc.. Cooperation
partners and the civil society were also included. The civil society
was especially associated through human rights associations, traditional
associations (traditional healers, specialists of traditional medicine)
and NGOs working in the health sector.
To elaborate the
PSN, several seminars and workshops were organized for actors at national
and regional level. This made it possible to identify priority problems
of the health sector and propose strategies to address them. However,
it is important to precise that the participation of regional actors
was limited to an analysis of the sanitary situation through data
collection in the field and during restoration meetings.
Integrating institutions
and initiatives
Institutions integration
in the process occurred essentially through the eight thematic commissions
activities. Some initiatives were taken to ensure an effective involvement
of different actors in the process. For example, there was the case
study on the evaluation on health services created for about a thousand
and five hundred beneficiaries in order to comply service offer with
the populations effective demand.
In addition, the
direct involvement of a representative of the Ministry of economy and
finances in the technical coordination secretariat in charge of elaborating
the PSN appears as a good initiative which can help to consider other
options in the process.
Regarding consistency
with the other existing frameworks, one should note that the PSN objectives
are adequately integrated in those defined by the national policy on
population issues especially in relation to its sanitary section.
The PSN will be
implemented with sanitary development plans which will be elaborated
by the Ministry of health. It was also envisaged that the monitoring/assessment
system will be steered by the high health council.
The process
The preliminary
results of the PSN elaboration process were generally approved within
the Ministry of Health. During the workshop held in July 2000 and attended
by different actors and partners of the health sector, financial partners
made proposals which consisted of giving priority to the objective of
combating HIV-AIDS. Therefore, the workshop recommended that this concern
should be taken into account while dealing with the PSN intermediate
objectives.
As indicated,
donors were steadily involved in the PSN elaboration. To materialize
this partnership, a round table will be organized as soon as the Government
adopts the PSN.
In fact, this conference
was required by development partners before they financed programmes
and projects included in the PNDS.
Resources mobilized
to finance the PSN process derive from the national budget (infrastructures
and project staff), the World Bank, the Dutch Embassy and UNFPA. The
European Union and the WHO may also provide resources.
Concerning the state
of the process, after the validation of the PSN document, the next step
should be the elaboration of a PNSD which will develop all priority
actions identified.
For the time being,
no structure has been designated to implement the PSN and the PNDS even
though proposals have been made to strengthen the mandate of the current
technical secretariat to enable it to pursue the steering of the process
or keep its present structuring and help the health Ministry DEP in
the process implementation.
Reliable data required
for the PSN elaboration are available. Data collected from the health
democratic survey in 1998-1999 have been taken into account as well
as data from other ministerial departments (schooling rate, statistics
on excision, young people's health, etc..
Traditionally, consulting
mechanisms have been established in the context of sanitary cooperation.
At central level, we can cite the annual conference organized for partners
of the health sector. Besides, bilateral and multilateral partners organize
periodical meetings under the aegis of the WHO in order to find ways
for solving specific problems.
At decentralized
level, consulting frameworks are established by regional health technical
committees and district health councils. However, one should stress
that these different frameworks are reliable and function efficiently
but for the time being there are no mechanisms enabling an accurate
coordination of the different donors' interventions.
The
impact
The PSN elaboration
process is still underway. For the time being it is not possible to
assess the impacts at this phase due to the fact that the implementation
will only occur when the Government adopts the PSN.
The framework
document of economic policy (DCPE)
The context
Economic reforms
were performed by the World Bank as a response to the international
economic crisis which seriously affected African countries in the 1980s.
The first framework
document of economic policy (DCPE) was elaborated in 1991 with the advent
of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) to face the persistent
deterioration of public finances and balance of payments. However despite
efforts made in the context of national development plans and specific
programmes, progress aiming at improving the populations' living conditions
has remained limited.
To face this situation
public authorities have found the necessity not only to intensify efforts
for poverty control, but also to promote a favorable macro-economic
framework.
In this perspective,
the Government got involved in a first SAP (1991-1993) with a DCPE whose
objective was to restructure public finances and create proper conditions
to relaunch the economy. Furthermore, three other DCPE were elaborated
to boost the sanitation process of the macro-economic and financial
frameworks and increase economic growth.
Actors
The DCPE was essentially
elaborated by the Government with the support of the World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund. It was noticed that the participation
of other actors (civil society, private sector, populations…) in
the document elaboration was very insufficient.
Integrating institutions
and initiatives
Two institutions
were strongly involved in the DCPE development : the Ministry of Economy
and Finances and the STC/PDES. These institutions meet during the evaluation
missions conducted by the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund in relation to the preparation of preliminary documents.
There is a steering
structure made up of a certain number of ministries whose members meet
when necessary.
The DCPE is poorly
coordinated with the other planning frameworks. Meetings are not held
on a regular basis and consulting mechanisms also function inadequately.
A monitoring/assessment
mechanism has also been recommended. Supervisory missions are organized
by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to ensure this
process.
The SAP (DCPE) objectives
are consistent with the country development objectives.
The process
Information required
to elaborate the DCPE is available and reliable. It was provided by
national agents working within the Ministries of the different institutions
concerned.
On the whole, the
SAP was satisfactorily managed by the Government in terms of transparency
and accurate managerial practices. A structure such as the STC/PAS which
became the STC/PDES was set up to ensure the SAP management.
The process which
started in 1991 is still underway at an advanced phase. The DCPE 1998-2000
has become the fourth process. Financing for the SAP occurs through
outlays in certain conditions. The other actors participation in the
process is reliable. Donors intervening in the SAP financing along with
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund regularly meet in
the context of a consulting mechanism.
The impact
The SAP impact was
differently perceived by public authorities and the beneficiary populations.
For the Government, the SAP permitted to reorganize public finances
and restructure public companies. It also permitted to improve macro-economic
results.
According to the
beneficiary populations, the SAP caused the dismissal of several civil
servants. It also caused the state to disengage itself from certain
economic sectors and didn't urge the promotion of the private sector.
Nevertheless, the
SAP made it possible to improve technical administrative and managerial
capacities of national frameworks and brought about entrepreneurship.
Adjustment Programme
for the Agricultural Sector (PASA/DOS/PSO/PISA)
The
context
The Adjustment Programme
for the Agricultural Sector (PASA) was boosted by the World Bank.
The different diagnostic
studies conducted showed the inadequate performance of the agricultural
and livestock sectors which were supposed to play a dynamic role in
the national economy. The Government got involved in the elaboration
and implementation of PASA I in 1992 and PASA II in 1996 in order to
relaunch the economy.
PASA objectives
were as follows
- modernize and
diversify production,
- reinforce food
security,
- improve natural
resources management.
In order to promote
agriculture and livestock and enhance progress in these sectors, the
Government elaborated and adopted an operational strategy through a
strategic orientation document (DOS) by the year 2010. The DOS serves
as a reference framework for the elaboration and execution of programmes
and projects in the areas of agriculture and livestock. It defines priority
objectives by the year 2010, and determines strategic orientations for
both sectors.
Actors
National senior
managers elaborated the PASA basic document called the Policy Letter
for Agricultural Development (LPDA) with the World Bank support.
Insufficiencies
were noticed in the participatory mechanisms established for the participation
of peasant organizations. Besides, these peasants were not sufficiently
prepared to be fully involved in debates and bring a significant contribution.
To elaborate the
DOS only officials from the public administration, the civil society,
professional organizations, and the private sector were involved in
the activities along with development partners. These actors were involved
at the level of the DOS elaboration and improvement.
Integrating
institutions and initiatives
The PASA coordination
unit, the World Bank and the Ministries of Agricultural and Animal Resources
participated in PASA different phases (elaboration, implementation and
follow-up).
The PASA is linked
with ongoing projects and programmes at the Ministry of Agriculture
but hasn't developed strong relations with other Ministries. It was
noted that public authorities were greatly concerned about environmental
issues, even though no concrete actions had been taken yet.
PASA has set up
a steering committee which functions if necessary. A monitoring/assessment
mechanism has been established as well. Activities are followed up by
the coordination unit, the World Bank supervision missions, and through
the PASA donors meetings.
Consistent projects
with global objectives have been selected to be executed within the
PASA. The DOS determines the orientations of the agricultural and livestock
sector for the ten forthcoming years. It has been changed into an operational
strategic plan (PSO) made up of action plans. Efforts are being made
to improve the inadequate coordination of these different action plans.
The
process
Information required
for the elaboration of the PASA and DOS is available and sufficiently
reliable.
The PASA was satisfactorily
managed in terms of transparency and sound managerial practices by the
coordination unit with the donors support. It also benefited from the
state and development partners financing. Partners financing occurred
through outlays based on certain conditions. The PASA has been completed
and its results and lessons learned have permitted to elaborate the
DOS.
The process of elaborating,
implementing, and monitoring the PASA mainly involved the coordination
unit, ministerial departments concerned, and development partners. Other
actors were strongly involved in the process of the DOS preparation.
For example, in addition to the public administration, the civil society,
the private sector and producer professional organizations took part
in its elaboration.
Donors played an
important role in the PASA and DOS implementation. They have even created
a consulting framework within PASA.
An investment programme
for the agricultural sector (PISA) will be formulated from PSO.
In this regard,
the terms of reference have already been elaborated. The PISA is considered
as a PIP for the agricultural sector. Therefore it is considered as
an instrument to implement the State investment policy in this sector.
The
impact
The PASA impact
has been appreciated in different ways. For the Government, the PASA
has permitted to improve agricultural productivity, diversify productions,
and strengthen the private sector participation in agriculture. For
the private sector the lack of incentive and supporting measures hindered
private actors involvement. For producer organizations the PASA didn't
have any noticeable positive impact either on their activities on their
structures improvement.
TRANSVERSAL
FRAMEWORKS AND PLAN
Orientation and
decentralization regulations
Context
On June 2, 1991,
the new constitution turned down the year of exceptional regimes and
relied on the national desire to opt for a democratization process.
Five laws were enacted in 1993 to express the national option for decentralization
in compliance with the spirit of the constitution.
The goal of the
decentralization is to enhance democracy within the communities so as
to enable citizens direct participation in current activities. It encourages
the promotion of sustainable development through the liberation of local
energies and the use of available resources.
Objectives aim at
creating local communities and transferring the central powers and responsibilities
and the use of resources to these collectivities. This process is consistent
with the country economic development policies.
Actors
The government workshop
held on August 1, 1996 examined the options proposed by the CND related
to devolution, the creation of communes and the distribution of competencies
and resources. The different actors of the civil society (peasant organizations,
urban populations through representatives, national expert, etc) attended
the workshop. Reflection and animation groups on decentralization were
created in all the provinces. In September 1996, a national assessment
workshop was organized again for the different actors.
The CND functioned
unusually. Its communication strategy enabled the involvement of all
social groups in the debate : use of commercials for civic training
and plays, etc.
The reflection and
animation groups role was to have the different actors meet in a consulting
framework and exchange ideas.
However, the actors
involvement mechanisms were established through their participation
in the different workshops. Unfortunately, the participants (particularly
popular rural and urban groups) didn't have the opportunity to be involved
in the debates and make proposals based on their vision and their own
experiences.
Integrating
institutions and initiatives
Several synergy
mechanisms were envisaged with other institutions and resource persons
: the structure in charge of the Strategy and Methods of the CND general
Assembly.
This structure is
responsible for proposing major orientations and studying proposals
made by the different studies. It is made up of resource persons and
national institutions managers who play a key role in development issues.
The National Assembly
comprises persons working in the ministerial departments (1 to 2 depending
on the case). This double system role is to ensure a synergy between
the CND and the other departments and planning frameworks.
However, some constraints
often arise :
- the mobility
of the Ministries personnel working in the national Assembly ;
- the importance
that the ministerial departments give to the selection of their representatives
who should participate in the general Assembly (persons selected are
not always the best indicated to ensure communication between their
original institution and the CND);
- the lack of specifications
for the representatives of ministerial departments.
The CND is requested
for different steering committees (for example committees of the PNGT,
FEER, the Ministry of health and SP-CONAGESE) or for formulating policies
(for example the policy letter for decentralized rural development).
This enables it to transmit orientations and principles adopted by the
decentralization.
Regarding follow
up/evaluation, the CND organizes a self evaluation half yearly which
allows it to assess the process evaluation on a regular basis. In addition,
donors had ordered external evaluations and only one was carried out
in 1999.
Unfortunately, for
the time being, there is no specific system to deal with decentralization
principles through intervention projects and programmes.
The process
Several basic studies
were conducted to develop the strategy and the TOD. The process was
managed by the CND which was connected to the Prime Ministry. Management
is controlled by the administration but indirectly by the different
non governmental organizations.
Orientation regulations
have been elaborated but application decrees haven't been yet. The CND
started a national consulting process to define modalities for transferring
responsibilities and financial resources related to the services to
be transferred in the context of decentralization. The decentralization
process is now being discussed in the rural sector and the context of
the current political crisis appears to hamper it.
Donors (Switzerland,
the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada, etc) provided considerable financing
for the process implementation through an accurate coordination with
fungible funds. This facilitated the implementation of a real programme
which avoided being hindered by slow accounting and administrative procedures.
Ownership of the
process is effective due to its attraction for the population different
groups.
Donors have been
organized in consulting committees which have enabled them to harmonize
their actions. Regular exchanges between the CND and the donors consulting
committee have made it possible for the CND to contribute to the process
The impact
The strategy impacts
can be summarized as follows :
- increase the
municipalities participation in business management especially through
infrastructures established by SAGEDECOM and FODECOM ;
- improve services
provided to the citizens (development of internal roads, waste management,
construction and maintenance of educational and health infrastructures,
parceling out …) ;
- establish higher
recovery rates for fiscal and parafiscal receipts ;
- create employments
(over five hundred employments have been created within the decentralization
process by recruiting agents for management and sanitation works,
and municipal workers…) ;
- establish a local
entrepreneurship by increasing the number of work sites and giving
priority to local companies ;
- develop the associative
movement
The National
Action Plan for the Environment
The context
In Burkina Faso
and in most African countries environmental national plans were developed
following recommendations made by the World Bank. In order to urge countries
to address environmental management consistently, the World Bank has
decided to include environmental planning in its various requirements
for access to its financial resources.
The environmental
action plan concept was formulated in 1987, based on an experience conducted
in Madagascar and related to a planning action whose objective was to
promote the consideration of environmental issues in economic and social
development processes while including institutional aspects and macro-economic
policies.
In getting involved
in the process of the PANE preparation, Burkina Faso decided to address
the country environmental constraints and priorities and define mechanisms
which would allow to guide the different economic actors choices in
order to enable their decisions to comply with "objectives set by the
authorities and resulting from an awareness of limited and insufficient
available natural resources.
Therefore, in launching
the environmental planning process, the national authorities sought
to transform a constraint (condition imposed by the World Bank in order
to proceed with financing) into an opportunity (strengthening sectorial
and transversal policies regarding aspects directly or indirectly related
to the environment and natural resource management).
In this perspective,
the environmental planning process set the objective of creating a strategic
framework which would make it possible to "orientate and coordinate
current actions efficiently and with flexibility" through all development
partners and establish the basis of an operational system for natural
resource and environmental management.
The PANE which was
considered as a concrete assertion tool for the country environmental
policy was committed to strengthen the orientations of the structural
adjustment programme and the programme for relaunching the national
economy in the medium term, especially for the agricultural sector.
These orientations focussed on productivity growth and food security
in a context of improved natural resource management
The PANE strategic
orientations led to action programmes and projects to be implemented
over five years.
Actors
The PANE process
involved representatives of the different technical Ministries, the
territorial administration, NGOs, sub-regional cooperation organizations
and development partners. These actors participated in the different
consulting workshops organized to prepare the PANE first version. Materials
collected during these meetings were completed by the results of consulting
works on environmental and other crucial issues. The PANE document was
written by the World Bank experts and consultants.
Later, modalities
to conduct the process were modified to permit the involvement of the
civil society actors in the process. Soon after the Rio Conference held
in June 1992 , Burkina authorities decided to review the PANE in order
to make the Agenda 21 recommendations at national level.
This planning document
review was carried out by about thirty senior managers essentially from
the central administration.
Two NGOs managers
participated in the ad hoc committee works. Despite this opening towards
the civil society, it was clear that the processes of the PANE development
and review were based on a technocratic and centralized approach which
kept the civil society actors in marginalized position.
Integrating
institutions and initiatives
The environmental
planning exercise was first conducted by the Permanent Secretariat of
the National Committee for desertification control. Then, this institution
was replaced by the PANE Permanent Secretariat when public authorities
decided to replace the national plan for desertification control (developed
under the aegis of CILSS in 1986) by a more global framework which would
integrate the environmental dimension in macro-economic planning.
The environmental
planning process was essentially conducted by public institutions and
cooperation agencies. Civil organizations involvement was limited to
NGOs and study offices representatives participation in workshops.
The PANE preparation
process was supported by different development partners, mainly the
World Bank and UNDP/UNSO.
From a general environmental
audit, the PANE attempted to implement an understanding and integrating
approach in formulating proposals for solutions. For example, while
taking into account interactive development activities/environmental
impact, the document identified three major framework programmes aiming
at the improvement of living conditions and environmental management.
The PANE is carried
out through a crossing between these framework programmes and supporting
programmes which are designed as inter-sectorial horizontal schemes
(managing information related to the environment and capacity building).
This structure has been completed by several "projects defined by the
different partners at the level of ministerial departments and non governmental
organizations".
We can notice that
the PANE elaboration was carried out consistently with the territorial
development process. In accordance with the environmental action plan,
regional programmes for the territory development are indispensable
operational tools to provide a territorial dimension to national economic
planning while organizing the environment harmoniously and ensuring
an appropriateness between activities and environmental specificities".
On the other hand,
the plan orientation activities emphasize the necessity to make readjustments
which will permit to channel actions related to common principles at
local level.
The planning document
doesn't include any monitoring/assessment system. It has then been decided
to define an appropriate monitoring/assessment system including performance
indicators of programmes and projects during the PANE implementation.
The process | 
