“The success of the Nampula initiative attracted other development partners, Government and Mozambicans and the model started be replicated in various parts of the country. The idea is that local decision makers will manage public resources and district development in a transparent and participatory manner. For this they will need to improve their skills and capacities”, explains Decentralization Programme Specialist, Fátima Amade from UNDP Mozambique.

Weak capacity and lack of qualified staff at local level are key constrains according to H.E. Aiuba Cuereneia, the Minister for Planning and Development.  He said that decentralized governance will only succeed when it is centered on citizens. He noted that District Consultative Councils, established with UNDP/UNCDF support, are important forums for debating ideas, and to define objectives and priorities in line with the resources available.

Minister Cuereneia pointed out that it is in the districts, particularly in the rural areas, where poverty is at its sharpest. This iss where district planning needs to include measures and activities that respond to the concrete concerns of local communities.

“It’s on this basis that the Government considers the district, in its full extent, right down to village level, as the basis for planning, and economic, social and cultural development in Mozambique”, said Cuereneia. “That’s the base from which we should spread the collective will of Mozambicans to see their country free from poverty”.

 The 5-year first phase of the the decentralized planning programme is expected to result in greater and better use of local human, natural and material resources, and the creation of a greater awareness among communities about their problems and needs, and the mechanisms and resources available for solving their problems.

The National Programme is supported by UNDP, the World Bank and four other bilateral donors. Financial support from the World Bank, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and Netherlands will be channeled though a Common Fund.

UNDP’s contribution to the National Programme will be “in kind” through the continuation of technical assistance and the provision of capacity building and know-how to three provinces (Nampula, Cabo Delgado and Gaza) and to the Ministry of Planning and Development in relation of the coordination, management, and implementation of the Programme.

More about the history of the project in Mozambique kindly see the former article from March 2010