|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
  |
 |
  |
USAID Mission to Poland
Europe & Eurasia
>> E & E Home >> Poland >> Assistance Areas >> Local Government
Success Stories
Assistance Areas
SEED Reports
Contact Information
Last updated: Thursday, 25-Jun-2009 16:24:10 EDT
Kopstein Report
Activity Reports
Local Government
Assistance to the development of local government and decentralization in Poland was one of the key element of the SEED-funded USAID assistance program to Poland from its very beginning. A brief decsription of the assistance is provided below. Alternatively, you may wish to consult a comprehensive historical view prepared by a USAID contractor. For more detail, look up descriptions of key activities, which in some cases include links to key reports or other internet sites.
We also suggest you refer to a number of websites belonging to the major local government program that USAID is funding in Poland through March 2001 (the Local Government Partnership Program - LGPP), and two sites belonging to our major local government reform partners: the Foundation for the Support of Local Democracy (FRDL) and Municipium S.A. USAID is also funding the establishment of a regional web-based exchange regarding local government reform in Central and Eastern Europe (LOGIN).
Please remember also to check the Development Experience Clearinghouse for more reports on local government and decentralization issues regarding Poland.
USAID assistance to develop Poland's local governments
When Poland's transition began in 1989, local governments did not exist. They were created by the Local Government Law of 1990. From the beginning of its involvement in Poland, USAID has supported the development of local government and the organizations that support local government development. This support has focussed on four main areas: 1) assistance to local governments and building institutional capacity; 2) municipal debt market development; 3) support for non-government organizations and public participation in local government; and, 4) assistance to the housing sector.
Providing Assistance to Local Governments and Building Institutional Capacity
In the early 1990s, USAID assistance for local government development was directed mostly to individual cities or organizations. This assistance led to a number of successful activities including, implementation of the Lublin community development project, which won an UN Habitat award, and help with the creation of the Foundation in Support of Local Democracy, which has become a leading local government training and advocacy organization in Poland. From 1991-95, USAID also contributed to the successful development of rural telephone systems. Working with a USAID grant, the U.S.-based National Telephone Cooperative Association helped several, poor rural communities from cooperatives to improve telephone service. The improved phone service gave these communities access to modern communications, greatly facilitating information flow and enhancing their competitiveness.
Beginning in 1993, USAID began to develop activities that would in a more comprehensive manner enhance the ability of local governments to manage their resources and build the capacity of local organizations to deliver quality assistance to local governments. In 1996, these activities were consolidated. The work to improve local government management focused mainly on financial management and infrastructure finance, working on both formulating better national policies and building local-level capacity.
Financial Management Tools
Over the course of the next seven years, USAID developed a number of financial management tools such as: task based budgeting, capital improvement planning, creditworthiness analysis, and enterprise accounting, that have been implemented in more than 100 local governments across Poland. Use of these tools has enabled local governments to more effectively allocate resources for health, education, water and sewerage provision, and transport.
Sustainable Assistance
To help foster sustainable delivery of assistance, USAID helped build the capacity of more than forty Polish local government support organizations (LGSOs). Beginning in 1995, support for LGSOs became a major focus of the USAID local government program. A major goal of USAID's last activity in this area, the Local Government Partnership Program (LGPP) is to develop a market for the delivery of such assistance by LGSOs. To do this, the LGPP supports the delivery of assistance through LGSOs on a large scale and disseminates the advantages of using such assistance to local governments in an effort to increase demand for them. LGPP builds the capacity of LGSOs to deliver this assistance in an effort to increase supply. The results of an LGPP cost-share program suggest that such a market is developing.
Municipal Debt Market Development
Also in 1993, USAID began working with the World Bank, the British Know How Fund, and the European Union on the development of a national system of infrastructure finance. As a result of this assistance, there has been substantial development of the legal, regulatory, and institutional framework for sub-sovereign debt, as well as the competencies of the appropriate capital demand and supply side participants. USAID furnished assistance that contributed to reform of the Bond Law, development of disclosure guidelines for bond issuance, and other policy changes needed to support the development of a municipal credit market. In 1996, Polish local governments started to borrow funds and issue bonds to finance various investments.
Using USAID technical assistance, the city of Ostrow Wielkopolski issued the first publicly traded municipal bond in Poland, and the city has gone on to complete two more successful public issues without assistance. The assistance provided to other Polish cities in budgeting and accounting, capital investment planning, and creditworthiness analysis have contributed to an increasing number of bond issues. The municipal bond market (public and private placements) has grown from zero in 1995 to over PLN 250 million ($63 million) in 1999. Long term municipal borrowing from commercial banks has similarly grown from zero in 1994 to over PLN 600 million ($150 million).
Supporting Financial and Administrative Decentralization
USAID assisted the Government of Poland in implementing the Financial and Administrative Decentralization Reform in the late 1990s, through its Democratic Governance and Public Administration (DGPA) program. The DGPA assisted the Government of Poland (principally the Ministry of Finance [MOF] as well as others) in developing legislation and policy, which has provided the framework for the decentralization of public administration and public finance. Four national municipal associations were also assisted in strengthening their ability to play an effective role in the development of law and policy for local governments.
The objectives of the DGPA were to:
- strengthen the analytical and intergovernmental transfer system administration capacity of the Local Government Finance Department of the MOF;
- assist the MOF in developing financial decentralization reform, along with providing support to administrative decentralization and creating two new levels of local government; and
- strengthen the voice of local government leaders in designing this and other legislation affecting functioning of local governments.
These objectives were achieved, as described below:
Information Systems
The Local Government Finance Department of the MOF is now fully computerized. Trained staff operate an effective system of quarterly financial reporting, which additionally monitors the levels of sub-national debt of local governments consistent with World Bank and European Union standards. As a result of this effort, the MOF will have reliable information on the current financial situation of local governments and will be able to make more rational decisions on allocating government grants and subventions. The resulting data will be publicly accessible, which will increase transparency and lower the risk for private investors providing capital to local governments. The way data is collected and classified will eventually help local governments to better manage their resources.
Administrative Reform
In 1999, the GOP implemented major administrative reforms, creating two new levels of local government -- powiat (counties) and voivodships (regions). The pilot powiats structure was developed with USAID/DGPA assistance in 1996-97 and tested in early 1998, paving the way to the national reform. Countrywide training for new powiat officials was organized and financed by DGPA in December 1998, before powiats began operating in January 1999.
Intergovernmental Transfers
DGPA assistance helped the MOF and the working group of the Joint Commission of Central and Local Government to develop legislation on financing local governments. In mid-1998, the Parliament passed an intermediate, two-year law on local government finance. A more definitive law on local government finance will be passed in 2000. Through direct technical assistance and a series of study tours to the United States and European Union countries, Polish legislators were exposed to different options of increasing local government revenues. If passed as drafted by the MOF, the law will increase and stabilize sources of local government revenue. DGPA also helped the Ministry of Education develop improved formulas for the allocation of educational subsidies to local governments (which amounts to 13% of the GOP budget). Use of these formulas has led to a more rational allocation of education funds, forcing local governments to maximize efficiency of their use.
Advocacy
The four national municipal associations, which represent Polish villages, towns, and cities, as well as members of the Local Government side of the Joint Commission of Central and Local Government were considerably strengthened. From 1996-99, these organizations, using their own resources and benefiting from DGPA technical assistance and grants, established a Joint Secretariat in Warsaw, which coordinated local government lobbying activities with the GOP and Parliament. During 1997-98, these municipal associations played a crucial role in shaping public administration and financial decentralization legislation that supported the administrative reforms. Communication between the membership and leaders of the municipal associations was substantially enhanced, in large part through use of the internet.
Benchmarking
DGPA assistance allowed the associations to strengthen their analytical capacities, leading to the development of the "System of Self-Government Analysis", a software tool for collecting and analyzing data on costs and effectiveness of providing municipal services in their member cities. This system provided the first step toward a benchmarking system for city managers. As a result of these activities, membership of three of four municipal associations increased between 20% to 50% (data for 1998) and their budgets (membership dues only, excluding USAID support) between 120% to 700%. Drawing on their own determination, and making use of USAID assistance, the four associations carefully coordinate their lobbying activities. They have been joined recently by the new Association of Polish Powiats. This Association also received USAID assistance. It now serves 85% of all 360 powiats.
Professional Education
To improve the level of public administration education to help better educate civil servants, the DGPA program assisted four schools of public administration in curriculum development, drawing on U.S. models of public administration curricula. As a result of this assistance, these schools created an Association of Polish Schools of Public Administration in 1999. To date, most schools of public administration have joined this Association for the purpose of sharing experience and setting educational standards.
Support for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Public Participation in Local Government
Using grants, technical assistance, and training, USAID (together with other donors, especially the European Union) contributed significantly to a renaissance of NGOs in Poland. Approximately 30,000 non-governmental organizations are estimated to be active in Poland today in a variety of areas such as education, health-care, culture, human rights, local development, social assistance, and environmental protection. Most of these organizations have been established over the last ten years.
USAID's strategy for supporting development of the NGO sector evolved over the years. Initially, USAID support was provided to a broad-range of organizations that were essential for democratic transformation. In the mid-1990s, USAID's approach changed to focus on a select group of organizations, such as public policy-oriented NGOs and NGOs that provide services or can be partners to local government.
Capacity Building
Through USAID assistance, NGOs strengthened their abilities to raise funds and manage projects. This assistance also strengthened the network of NGO-support organizations that now exist in most major cities. These organizations provide training and technical assistance to other NGOs. USAID assistance was also instrumental in building NGO advocacy capacity and their ability to participate in policy debates. In each area of NGO activity, including social assistance, education, local economic development, and environmental protection, NGOs are actively engaged in coalition building and advocacy on behalf of their constituencies. An estimated 200 NGOs benefited from USAID assistance, and most of these NGOs are now among the most active and visible organizations in Poland.
Service Delivery
Most recently, USAID assistance has focused on promoting cooperation between NGOs and local governments and strengthening NGOs that provide local governments with information, technical assistance, and training services. To date, over 50 such organizations are available to provide local governments with assistance on how to implement new financial management tools, to develop economic development strategies, or to help increase public participation.
Sector Sustainability
Efforts to develop local sources of funding for NGOs continue without USAID's support. A local community foundation program that was initiated with USAID funding two years ago has already generated several endowment funds for local foundations. These foundations have started making grants for scholarships and other programs.
 |
|||
Last Updated on: June 25, 2009 |
