Colombia - Local government capacity : beyond technical assistance

Report No. 14085-CO Colombia Local Government Capacity: Beyond Technical Assistance July 7, 1995 Country Department III Country Operations Division I Latin America and the Caribbean Document of the World Bank   Colombia: Local Government Capacity Study Contents Preface ......................................................... iv Acronyms and Abbreviations ......................................................... vi Executive Summary ......................................................... vii Chapter 1: Local Government Effectiveness: Evidence from the front-line ..........................1 A new environment for municipios ..........................................................I Local government effectiveness ..........................................................2 The key questions ..........................................................8 Chapter 2: Leadership and participation: The emergence of local capacity ......................... 10 Local leadership ......................................................... 10 Community participation ......................................................... 13 Sustainable capacity development ......................................................... 16 Chapter 3: Capacity building: Local initiatives, innovations and tribulations ...................... 18 The human factor: Skills and professionalization ......................................................... 18 Capital: The physical factor ......................................................... 21 Technologies: Improving the management process ......................................................... 22 The challenge of putting it all together ......................................................... 24 Local capacity development ......................................................... 27 Chapter 4: Addressing the challenge of local capacity development ........ . ............................ 29 The proposed strategy ......................................................... 29 Implementing the strategy ......................................................... 32 Concluding remarks ......................................................... 34 Annex 1: The municipios studied ......................................................... 35 Annex 2: The basic norms ruling decentralization ......................................................... 37 Annex 3: A conceptual framework to analyze capacity ......................................................... 38 Annex 4: Performance indicators in the water sector ......................................................... 43 Annex 5: Measuring performance ......................................................... 44 Annex 6: Opinion Surveys ......................................................... 46 Annex 7: A profile of Colombian mayors ......................................................... 47 Annex 8: Municipal employment in Colombia ......................................................... 48 Bibliography ......................................................... 49 Map of Colombia . .  Colombia: Local Government Capacity Study Contents (cont'd) BOXES 1.1: And the water came with decentralization: An Acueducto for San Juar. Nepomuceno ............3 1.2: What do citizens think? ................................................................5 1.3: Local resource mobilization ................................................................6 2.1: Community leadership in Versalles ............................................................... 11 2.2: Violence, decentralization and local capacity ............................................................... 12 2.3: Innovation in community participation: The experience of Valledupar ................................ 13 2.4: The community influences government programs: The experience of Pensilvania ................ 15 2.5: The mingas in Ipiales ............................................................... 16 3.1: The dimension of capacity ................................................................ 18 3.2: The ICAM of Manizales ............................................................... 21 3.3: The administration in Ipiales ............................................................... 23 3.4: Innovative planning in Valledupar ............................................................... 24 4.1: Working with NGOs ............................................................... 31 4.2: A new approach to technical assistance ............................................................... 33 4.3: The role of municipal associations ............................................................... 33 TABLES 1. 1: Local resource mobilization ................................................................7 2:1: A sample of experiences with community voice ............................................................... 14 3.1: Professionals in the municipal administration ............................................................... 19 3.2: A sample of local capacity enhancing initiatives ............................................................... 25 iii  Colombia: Local Government Capacitv Study Preface Colombia has made a strategic decision to the sixteen municipalities was organized be- decentralize to subnational governments re- fore the study was launched. The final design sponsibilities in sectors that are key to the of the case studies reflects the results of that country's future. The success of that strategy workshop. Each case study involved work- depends critically on the capacity of local shops with communities and public servants. governments to perform their new duties in Opinion surveys were conducted in the four an effective way. The World Bank and the largest municipios. A preliminary version of Colombian National Planning Department this report was discussed with a subgroup of (DNP) identified this as an area that deserved the participants in the initial workshop with special attention as part of their joint work mayors. This version incorporates their for the 1994 Poverty in Colombia report. comments. Support by the Fund for Innova- This report presents the results of a joint ef- tive Approaches in Human and Social De- fort by the two institutions to address the velopment (FIAHS) made possible many of need for a more complete understanding of these participatory activities. the condition of capacity development in The World Bank team was composed by Colombian municipios. It reflects the find- Ariel Fiszbein (mission leader), Tim Camp- ings of a study of sixteen local governments bell, Eduardo Wallentin and Martha in Colombia. The purpose of the study was Laverde. The DNP team was led by Alberto to learn about the progress made by munici- Maldonado and Jorge Acevedo. The re- pal governments since 1988 in developing the searchers in charge of the case studies that capacity needed to successfully perform their constitute the empirical basis for this report new responsibilities and the means through were, in alphabetical order, Juan Camilo which they achieved those results. Those Cardenas, Ariel Cifuentes (final report pre- lessons provide the empirical basis for a pared by Gonzalo Vargas), Johnny Palencia strategy of local capacity strengthening. and Camilo Villa Van Cotthem. They had the In-depth case studies were prepared for six- assistance of Oscar Rosero, Miriam Mer- teen municipios following a common meth- cedes Castilla, Olga Perez and Gonzalo Var- odology. T'hey are not necessarily a represen- gas respectively. The study was initiated in odoovy Thmpleyof are notlnecessarilyan re eni - June 1994 with the support of Cecilia Maria tativc sample of all Colombian municipali- Velez and Manuel Salazar who at that time ties. Rather, they were selected on the basis were thd Depuel Salazar o at at the tha, o iffret egres teymade attempts were the Deputy Director of DNP and the that, to different degrees, they made this Chief of the Unidad de Desarrollo Territorial. to develop capacity. The strength of this evi- Their successors, Juan Carlos Ramirez dence, however, resides in the fact that these (Deputy Director, DNP) and Ileana Kure municipalities-which face similar problems (Def, DToere DNP) and and constraints as the rest-have, to different (Chiefp UDT) offered continued support and degrees and varying success, faced-up to the made possible for the study to be success- challenge of decentralization. By studying fully completed. their experience we have learned many les- Emesto May and Hans Binswanger helped in sons valid for other municipios. the definition of the conceptual framework The study followed a participatory approach. used in the case studies. The team benefited Concepts and methodologies were discussed from comments and advice by several people. openly in Colombia and the design of the In Washington by Dan Morrow, Norman case studies reflects suggestions by several Hicks, Ernesto May, Hans Binswanger, Vin- professionals in the field of institutional de- cent Gouame (peer reviewer) and Rita Hilton velopment. A workshop with the mayors of (peer reviewer). In Bogota by Fernando Ro- iv  Colombia: Local Government Capacity Study jas, Jaime Silva Bautista, Hector Sanin An- ized by DNP in Bogota on June 15, 1995. gel, the members of the UDT and partici- Comments by Cesar Vallejo and Jorge Enri- pants in a seminar organized by the DNP to que Vargas, who reviewed the report for that discuss a preliminary version of the report. occasion, are welcomed. Sofia Corredor provided valuable secretarial Dan Morrow, Norman Hicks and Yoshiaki support in Bogota. Margarita Caro provided Abe were, respectively, the managing Divi- excellent help in the preparation of this re- sion Chief, Lead Economist and Department port. Director. This report was discussed with officials from Finally, the team wishes to thank the mayors, several ministries, departments, municipios, govermnent officials and citizens of the six- the Federaci6n Colombiana de Municipios te ms and cofinancmng funds, in a meeting organ- te uiiaiiswoegnru upr and cofaningfuns,nameeingorgnand collaboration made this study possible. v  Colombia: Local Government Capacity Study Acronyms and Abbreviations ACUAVALLE Water Company of the Department of Valle ASOOBANDO Asociaci6n de Municipios de la Provincia de Obando CPC Community Participation Commnittee CPU Central Planning Unit DNP Departamento Nacional de Planeacidn DRI Desarrollo Rural Integrado EMPOCALDAS Water Company of the Department of Caldas EMPONARINO Water Company of the Department of Narifio ESAP Escuela Superior de Administraci6n Publica FINDETER Financiera de Desarrollo Territorial FIS Fondo de Inversi6n Social FUNDAGUA Colombian Non-Governmental Organization GTZ German Cooperation ICAM Instituto de Capacitacion Municipal de Manizales IDEA Instituto de Desarrollo Economico de Antioquia INSFOPAL Instituto de Fomento Municipal ISERVI Instituto de Servicios Varios de Ipiales NGO Non-Governmental Organization PDI Programa de Desarrollo Institucional PNR Plan Nacional de Rehabilitaci6n PPF Production Possibility Frontier PROCOMUN Colombian Non-Governmental Organization SISBEN Sistema de Selecci6n de Beneficiarios SSP Strategic Situational Planning TPU Techno Political Unit UBS Unidades Basicas de Servicios UFW Unaccountable for Water UMATA Agricultural extension unit UNDP United Nations Development Program vi   Colombia: Local Government Capacity Stuidi Executive Summary The Questions 5 This report should be seen as an ef- fort to address both the scarcitv of informa- 1. For almost a decade now, Colombia tion on local capacity and the need for a has embarked in a process of state decen- strategy that goes beyond the conventional tralization which, combined with other technical assistance approach. It is based on structural reforms, is reshaping in a funda- case studies of sixteen municipios. Jointly mental manner the way public policies are conducted by the World Bank and the Co- conducted. The transition to this new svstem lombian National Planning Department. The is not an easy one. More than a thousand studies reviewed the municipal provision of municipalities, seventy percent of which have three services (water, education and roads), populations of less than twenty thousand, over the period 1988-94 correspondinig to the must develop the capabilities to perform ef- administrations of popularly elected mavors. fectively the new duties starting with little or The municipios were selected on the basis of no tradition of public administration and lo- their efforts to develop the capabilities fe- cal governance. As a result, a natural con- quired to perform the new responsibilities. cern has emerged within Colombia on the The approach to local capacity development capacity of local governmcnts and the appro- we are proposing is based on the lessons de- priate means of strengthening it. rived from their experience. 2. The conventional view indicates that 6. While the report offers new cvidcncc a successfil1 process of decentralization re- on the state of the decentralization proccss, it quires a massive technical assistance effort, does not claim to provide an assessment of led bv the national level. to help local gov- nation-wide trends. Also, bv focusing on is- ernments develop their capabilities: the pro- sues of institutional capacity, the report has fessional and technical skills of their staff, not attempted to evaluate the current system the equipment, materials and buildings re- of financial incentives under which mu- quired for operations, as well as their organ- nicipi.os operate. T'his will be the subject of izational. planning and executing functions. future collaborative work with the Colotmi- 3. However, a certain skepticism re- bian government. garding the effectiveness of this approach has developed within Colombia and in the Bank. The Lessons It is fueled, in part, by the frustrating experi- 7 The picture emerging from the expe- ence of technical assistance programs that do rience of these municipios is encouraging. 1x not secm to achieve sustainable results. Con- rince of cistis uraging.eB sensus on a new approach that postulates the making use of existing, buit under-uitilized- ieffis of a nst ulatssth capabilitics and through conscious efforts to incffefpurely supply-driven assis- upgrade them, most of the local governments tance programs is slowly emerging. reviewed in the studv have been able to meet 4. The task of defining the characteris- the challenge of decentralization in a rela- tics of a new strategy for local capacitv de- tively effective way. The perccption of gcn- velopment is made more difficult by the in- eralized collapse in services following devo- sufficient information on the current status of lution to local governmcnts can be rejectcd. Colombian municipios the effectiveness of at least for these municipios. Serious prob- their governments and the alternative wavs in lems were observed in only a few places or in which they have attempted to develop their specific scctors. On the contrary, the studies, capacitv in response to the new circum- backed up by opinion survevs, found evi- stances. dence of increased service coveragc. citizcn Vil  Colombia. Local Government Capacity Study satisfaction, attention to rural areas and the municipios may experience capacity limits- poor, cost consciousness and resource mobi- particularly in terms of hiring a cadre of ade- lization efforts. quately remunerated professionals-due to insufficient scale. Also, the lack of institu- 8. The central message of the study is tional efforts to dissem'nate information on that competition for political office has, in many case, opened he doors o respon best practices and alternatives to municipal many cases, opened the doors to respon- sible and innovative local leadership that, problems, forces most municipios into the in turn, became thedrivingawkward position of 'reinventing the wheel" capacity building efforts. More wide- when dealing with capacity development. spread community participation-voicing Finall, doubts and uncertainties regarding a srapdly expandIg legal and regulatory demands, making choices, being involved framework, combined with sometimes in projects-has expanded the range of frieok obnd wt oe'c in.. projects-has expanded the rangeof strained inter-governmental relations, do not possibilities open to municipios and pro- contribute to maintaining an environment vided the basis to sustain local government propitious to local goverment effectiveness. capacity over time. Leadership and par- ticipation, thus, consolidated corporate 12. Furthermore, the cases reviewed are strength in local governments. not necessarily representative of current 9 . . events in the rest of the country. Neverthe- Amarityofteloal go t less, the experience of these municipios of- reviewed for this study enhanced their ca- fers many lessons to other Colombian mu- pabilities by giving attention to areas such as staff skills and professionalization, equip- nicipios facing similar challenges and con- ment, materials and buildings, organization, straints on how to build capacity. It also and planning and execution functions. They provides valuable lessons to national level and laning nd xectionfuntion. They institutions concerned with making decen- did so drawing upon resources which already tltion corki existed inside the public sector or in the tralization work. community that were not fully utilized under the old system. They also initiated efforts to The Challenge Ahead upgrade the skills of their staff (through new 13. The chief findings of this study-the hirings and training), expand the equipment importance of leadership, of civic involve- available to them (for example, contracting ment and of political reform, as well as the out to the private sector), and improve the tremendous potential for innovation at the way local administrations work (for exam- local level-lead us to propose an approach ple, involving users in decision-making). to capacity strengthening of local govern- 10. These municipios illustrate that ments that implies the involvement of a varn- capacity can be enhanced through skillful ety of actors-public and civic, central, re- innovations even under difficult circum- gional and local-and tools that go beyond stances, given the right political incentives traditional technical assistance programs. and if the community and its leadership 14. Our proposal is based on three basic are determined. It also suggests that assis- premises arising from the study: tance from governmental and non- * Sustainable development of capacity at governmental organizations can play a role the local level is possible only when there if it responds to and is guided by local de- is effective demand by local administra- mands. tions and communities. The interven- I. However, even the most motivated tions needed to increase demand for mnunicipios face obstacles in the process of capacity development must go beyond developing their capacity. For example, small technical assistance and work, indi- rectly, by promoting innovative and viii  Colombia: Local Government Capacity Study responsible leadership and civic in- 16. The role of the center would be much volvement. This would have the double more sharply focused on developing ways to effect of increasing demand for capacity leverage incentives already being felt in civil development and increasing capacity it- society. National authorities wvould thus be- self in the form of better mayors and come enablers of possibilities, rather than council members and local participants. direct builders of municipal institutional This view is in consonance with the ap- strength. Departments should become part- proach proposed by the Govemment of ners and enablers of the efforts conducted at Colombia in its new development plan, the local level. Cooperative forms of asso- El Salto Social, that calls for public ciations between municipalities could become policies and actions conducive to more a central part of this approach. The Fed- participation and supportive of the de- eracion Colombiana de Municipios could velopment of participatory organizations. play a very important role, but it needs to * Technical assistance should follow lo- regain its legitimacy among members and cal demand, be tailored to local needs, build up its own capacity. and be provided in a decentralized 17. This approach to capacity develop- manner. The challenge Is to create the ment is sketched out as a concept, not a environment conducive to the emergence blueprint. Further detail, delivery iccha- and consolidation of a svstem in which nisms. and program components stiill need to multiple agents (public and private) are positioned to offer support to local gov- ideaslasea.inputfor discs concepts and enimets. nchvrk o thos insitu- ideas as an input for discussion and consid- eration of all the relevant parties to this en- tions-organized at the regional and na- tional level-would provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences.