Local Service Delivery & MDGs

• Course introduction
• The experts
• Learning objectives
• The experience
• Practical information

Local services, such as drinking water, waste management and basic health care, have a huge impact on our daily lives and well-being. Unfortunately, the poor often seem to lack access to the right quantity and quality of these imperatives for development. How can we ensure that basic services reach the poorest? How can financial management of services be organised in a transparent and democratic way? How can partnerships with NGOs and the private sector help local governments to operate more effectively? And, what are the particular challenges for delivering services in violent-prone situations?

These are key questions that will be addressed during this 2-week training course on Local Service Delivery & the MDGs. This course is primarily targeted at staff of bilateral donors, multilateral agencies, NGOs, Ministries and Municipalities, who wish to be well-informed about cutting-edge developments in the field of service delivery. It equips you with a number of practical and analytical tools and brings you new ideas to conceive and implement policies and projects on pro-poor local service delivery. Furthermore, it will provide you with networking opportunities with colleagues working in the same field of expertise.

Contributions come from practitioners in the field of service delivery and local governance, e.g. mayors, city managers and experts from renowned institutes with extensive experience in various parts of the world. Speakers include:

• Stephen Commins, senior expert in regional and international development. Dr. Commins is co-author of the World Bank’s  Development Report 2004 “Making Services Work for Poor People.” and has managed many projects on service delivery and the relationships between political reform and improved services. Currently, Dr. Commins is Strategy Manager, Fragile States at the International Medical Corps and lecturer at the UCLA.
• Jamie Boex, senior public finance expert with extensive experience in fiscal policy reforms in developing and transition countries, such as Afghanistan, Nepal, Indonesia, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. He has authored and contributed to numerous books, articles, and reports on fiscal decentralisation, public expenditure management and poverty reduction. Currently, Dr. Boex holds a position as principal research associate at the Urban Institute in Washington.

The training course Service Delivery & the MDGs helps you in:

• Increasing your insight into the basic conditions for good local service delivery;
• Judging the impact of improved service delivery on the realisation of the MDGs;
• Linking results based management, public financial management and local development plans;
•  Designing approaches for holding service providers accountable;
• Deepening your knowledge of the collaboration and interaction between public sector, private sector and civil society; and between central and local government.

After successful completion of the course you will receive a certificate.

Day 1: Localising the MDGs

The MDGs at the country level cannot be achieved unless they are understood and translated into strategies for action at the local level. The first day will focus on the relation between local services and the MDGs. We will start with investigating trends and tendencies in the field of pro-poor local service delivery. Using various case studies, we will then explore how to measure which public sector functions are pro-poor and how local authorities can better deal with the challenges they encounter in the delivery of services.

Day 2: Financing services

In order to effectively provide services, local governments must have access to sufficient financial resources and fiscal discretion. The aim of day 2, is to provide you with insight in fiscal transfers, local government revenue raising and expenditure capacities. We will explore ways to design pro-poor intergovernmental transfers systems and zoom in on issues such as local taxes and user-fees. Finally, we will discuss how governments can link development plans, minimum service delivery norms and budget processes. 

Day 3: Management of services

At the local level, institutions and participatory development mechanisms are often weak, resulting in poor service delivery. On day 3, we will introduce you to international good and bad practices in the management of services, and distil conditions for good local service delivery. We will explore the pros and cons of results based management and service standards, and zoom in on issues such as distribution and accessibility of services. 

Day 4: Establishing effective partnerships

The growing demand, complexity and costs of service delivery calls for innovative interactions and more inclusive collaboration between different actors. Local governments, businesses and communities have complementary skills and resources, that together can foster local development and substantially contribute to the improvement of service delivery. On day 4, we will present you with guidelines for promoting an enabling environment conducive to local public, private and civil partnerships in pro-poor service delivery.

Day 5: Citizens voice and accountability

How are politicians accountable to their citizens and what is the relationship between policy maker and service provider? Poor people have several ways of influencing the policy, budget and provision of services. On the fifth day, we will focus on the interactions between policy makers, service providers and the citizens. Ways to encourage direct citizen and stakeholder involvement will be discussed, as well as how to incorporate gender perspectives in the policy process.

Day 6 - 10: Local service delivery in practice

During the second week, we will explore how to apply the theory and tools presented in week 1. From Monday through Wednesday we will introduce you to the Dutch model of service management and visit projects in several Dutch municipalities. Depending on your preferences, these visits will focus on the following themes: basic health care, education, social services, housing, waste management/environment, water management/sanitation, infrastructure, energy. On Thursday, we will focus on how to successfully implement your new ideas and manage change. On the final day you will present your action plan, relating what has been learned to the situation back home.

This training course will not be part of our open enrollment courses in 2011. However we can always organise this training course tailor made. For more information please email to info@thehagueacademy.com.