Local & Economic Governance, Policy Support & Reform of Public Service Systems - Capacity Building International

The Aswan Water Programme was funded by the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC). It aimed at improving water supply services in a slum area hosting about 120,000 people in Aswan City, called El Nassereya. The Programme had three components: component one on infrastructure design and investment, component two on capacity building of the AWWC, and component three on awareness raising of the targeted population to rationalize use of water. There would be importance to dovetail components one and three together to ensure that the local population was aware of the investment actions and cooperate to make it a success. The approach decided for the project was community partnership which entailed engaging men and women of the community in decision making at an early stage. Component two targets the Aswan Water & Wastewater Company as an organization. CBI conceptualized the approach of the Project at the pre qualification phase, coordinated and written major parts of the Programme Document, and established a quality interface with the client (i.e., the Aswan Water and Wastewater Company). We implemented Component four on awareness raising. Lead staff from CBI was also involved in Component two on capacity building and institutionalizing new processes and functions, especially in relation to interfacing with the customers and water governance.

Client: Aswan Water and Wastewater Company
Lead Firm: Dorsch International Consultants, Germany

Starting January 2010 and for 32 months, an international consortium of IP and CBI implemented this project that aimed at assisting 200 informal plastic recyclers to become formalized, build their capacity to compete and participate in export markets,and address related policy and regulatory issues. CBI provided the part time team leader, and a part time technical assistance team of four different disciplines: environmental inspection and auditing, environmental legislation and code enforcement, NGO mobilization, and income tax. In addition, CBI provided a number of support staff working with stakeholders from the national and local governments and the solid waste management and recycling to:
i) analyze the current regulatory environment that affects formalization of recyclers.
ii) establish a sustainable network of formalization facilitation service providers in Ezbet El Nakhl, Shoubra El Kheima and Giza
iii) mobilize political well to package incentives for informal recyclers to move to the formal sector.
iv) building capacity of the service providers to be able to formalize enterprises.

Client: Ministry of Trade and Industry, Chamber of Chemical Industries and GIZ - Egypt
Lead Firm: IP, Germany

The overall aim of the project was to improve service delivery and enhance community representation and involvement in the WSS management of the Local Corporations and Public Utilities in the cities of Maber, Damt, Al-Bayda, Al Da’la, Attaq and Mahweet in Yemen. The project was funded by the World Bank and supervised by GTZ. The implementing partner is Euroconsult- MoTT MacDonald and CBI. Our team of experts worked on clarifying the interface between the governance and management sides of the utilities at different levels of government to ensure effective service delivery. The government policy devised local advisory boards and board of directors for the Public Utilities (at the district level) and Local Corporations (at the Governorate wide level). These entities did not have clear mandates and intervened in management affairs frequently which created unduly politics and derail daily tasks of service delivery. CBI identified origins of the confusion in national policies, and facilitated communication with high levels of decision making, in addition to providing coaching and direct technical assistance in clarifying governance of the infrastructure service.

Client: Ministry of Water and Environment – Yemen; GTZ and World Bank
Lead Firm: Euroconsult – Mott MacDonald, UK

CBI, in partnership with the Social Fund for Development (SFD), won a competitive grant of Euro 2m to build capacity of local authorities the SSG, within the framework of the EU-funded South Sinai Regional Development program. The proposal emphasized a participatory local governance approach to conflict resolution and local development. The project received political support from HE the Governor of SSG who committed office space for the project offices at premises of city councils in the four targeted cities, namely El-Tur, Noweiba, Ras Sudr and Sharm El-Sheikh. HE also donated an existing facility to be refurbished and equipped into a local training centre for good municipal governance. 56 entities are targeted by the project. CBI ; SFD adopted systemic approach to capacity building through three tracks:
i) developing a context for conflict resolution and improved governance;
ii) enhanced local finance base of local authorities.
iii) supported balanced local economic development.
Under the first track, the project worked closely with the SSG and local stakeholders to design and institute participatory and gendered planning and budget, enhance the citizens’ complaints management system, formalize land tenure of Bedouins in the targeted localities, increase percentage of NGO’s participation in delivery of public services, establish and operate a training centre on inclusive governance and local culture, and train staff. Under the second track, the project worked with stakeholders in local and central levels of government to increase collection efficiency of local service charges, automate financial and assets management, update local service charges and property taxes and train staff. The third track was lead by the Social Fund for Development and focused on supporting micro-enterprise and SMEs development. The project was launched in August 2007 and is set to continue for 40 months.

Client: EU and the South Sinai Governorate

Lead firm: Social Fund for Development (CBI is a partner implementing 95% of the contract)

CBI was a member of the winning international consortium to provide consultancy services to the IIIMP for the coming seven years. The project area covers about 10% of the Nile Delta. The consulting services were financed by the loan and grant from the Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) in Germany, EU and World Bank. It was implemented by Euroconsult Mott MacDonald, Mott MacDonald UK, CED Consulting Engineers Salzgitter in Germany, Sabbour and CBI in Egypt in close collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI). The overall objective was to improve management of irrigation and drainage in the project area and to increase efficiency of irrigated agriculture water use and services. The development objective was to achieve positive impacts on water distribution, quantity, quality and timeliness and hence poverty alleviation. Rehabilitation and improvement of the water management infrastructure are key elements of the IIIMP to achieve these goals. This was complemented with institutional reform and user participation that follow the experience gained from integrated water management and reform projects and water user participation projects. The IIIMP was regarded as a pioneering project where the policy reforms of integrated planning and development of water management services through better integration of MWRI departments and other Government agencies are rolled out at large scale. CBI provided advice and expertise during the proposal writing phase and mobilized a number of brainstorming sessions with key informants to conceptualize the technical approach. Areas of expertise covered by CBI including Monitoring and Evaluation, Financial Management, Procurement, Coordination of Water Users Associations, Environmental Management and Analysis, and training.

Client: MWRI & Dutch Embassy
Lead Firm: Euro-consult Mott-MacDonald

CBI expertise was recruited since October 2004 until December 2008 to provide policy support to the US AID funded ERP in the areas of policy and system reform of the educational system. ERP was large scale technical assistance program in education, with a budget of USD 50 m. CBI operated for 52 months as a sub-contractor of the implementing consortium led by the Academy for Education Development (AED). CBI role was to lead efforts of the consortium in policy support and system change. We provided an experienced Senior Policy and Advisor and a cohort of senior advisors to ERP. Our team worked on two main tracks: first sharpening capacity of the client (Ministries of Education, Local Development and Finance) to articulate policy and systemic challenges affecting quality of education, and second, working with various teams inside ERP (250 professionals in seven governorates including 35 full time expatriates) to help them understand policy and system issues and position their technical assistance efforts strategically to be effective in addressing various challenges. We also worked as a bridge between policy developments in Egypt and the ERP team. We developed a policy matrix at the early stage of the program to provide policy coherence and strengthen relevance of activities to policy reform. Our associates provided policy studies on issues of direct relevance to education decentralization (e.g., fiscal and administrative decentralization issues, structure of education idaras, dynamics of preparing new legislations related to local governance, etc.). We developed a Policy Support Action Plan to highlight policy reform issues, strategic interventions, expected outcomes and means of verification. We assisted in conceptualizing annual work plans in light of Ministry of Education’s priorities and comments received from USAID. CBI built synergies with other actors working on decentralization among donors, government ministries and international development organizations. The senior policy advisor was selected by MOE to lead the strategic planning effort of the Ministry in system decentralization through ERP. The program on system decentralization occupied a major space in the strategic plan, and shaped the efforts of education reform in Egypt for decades to come. The Strategic Plan of Education Reform was reviewed and endorsed by the Cabinet of Ministers in April 2007 and adopted by the Ruling Party as a model of reform in a number of social and environmetal services. CBI prepared a regulatory reform matrix and was instrumental in having the Ministry of Finance establish a multi-sectoral inter-ministerial working group on education finance, and another group on organizational transformation.

We mapped and analyzed all relevant regulations and analyzed all laws, procedures, or decrees related to the functioning and governance of the educational system with a view to identifying opportunities of policy and institutionalreform. Our assignment covered areas related to public and municipal finance, civil service laws, ministerial decrees in education and local development, and governorate-based dynamics and procedures. The team of CBI articulated proposals of regulatory reform to be presented to decision makers to help institutionalize decentralized governance of education. The second assignment was establishing GERN, a mechanism to bring seven governors, where the program was implemented, together to share ideas and lessons about reform efforts, and engage ministers of finance, planning, education and local development to discuss and agree on policy and institutional changes required. In October 2005, CBI’s team designed a kick-off meeting of the GERN around Fiscal Decentralization, a topic that constitutes the heart of reform efforts. The team prepared a discussion paper that captured existing municipal finance structure and regulatory framework and presented ideas for empowering local governments retain more funds that they collect. The rationale was to enhance service delivery, accountability and incentive structure. We mobilized seven governors and four ministers to the first meeting in 2005. This effort accelerated and supported other reform efforts in other areas of education services.

Client: USAID and the Ministry of Education
Lead Firm: Academy of Education Development, USA

The professional support of CBI has been requested by the DEM component of the Danida-supported Environmental Sector Program (ESP) to help clarify and formalize cooperation of the regional branch offices (RBOs) of EEAA and the environmental management units (EMUs) in governorates. The technical approach devised by CBI for this assignment was based on mobilizing the stakeholders from the Ministry of Local Development and Ministry of Environment (MSEA) to effectively participate in drafting and endorsing principles of cooperation, drafting memorandum of understanding (MOU) between both ministries on supporting DEM; and third, developing detailed executive regulations for cooperation. A central part of the assignment was to mobilize both ministers to co-sign the MOU to make it formal, and to engage RBOs and EMUs in consultations to integrate their comments on early drafts of the materials. We utilized our track record in this line of work, and our established network with the stakeholders to prepare draft deliverables and get them endorsed by both ministers in less than two months. This achievement has been a continuation of our previous work on institutional foundations of DEM and has underscored the quality and timeliness of our services.

Client: DFID and the Ministry of Environment
Lead Firm: Intec - UK

In 2005, CBI has won competitive bidding to provide consultancy services to GTZ and the Ministry of Local Development (MoLD) within the framework of the “Program for Privatization of Solid Waste Management”. CBI services were requested to mobilize high level executives from all Governorates to a national consultation on PSP in SWM. We proposed to survey the status of PSP in SWM in all Governorates, implement the national consultation, short-list a number of Governorates to work with the Program on building their capacity in managing the process of PSP, and facilitate the Program’s field missions in these governorates to provide access to Governors and Secretary Generals. The proposed approach was designed to utilize the wide and robust network the CBI has within the Ministry of Local Development and the Governorates.

Contract Value: Euro 25,000.00
Client: GTZ – the Ministry of Local Development
Lead Firm: CBI

Within the framework of the US-AID funded Egyptian Environmental Policy Program (EEPP), CBI was subcontracted by of the International Resources Group (IRG). Starting September 2003, CBI was successful in implementing a 13-month contract to strengthen environmental management capacity of the RSG. The process included piloting organizational development of the Environmental Management Unit (EMU) to the level of a general department, including a review of staffing, preparing policies and procedures, preparing technical manuals, and clarifying roles and responsibilities of various actors involved in environmental management in the Red Sea area such as the Tourism Development Authority, National Conservation Sector (NCS), and the Regional Branch office of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA). Employees were exposed to a diverse number of courses on strategic planning, environmental law and legal pursuits, environmental profile preparation, inspection, participatory communication, conflict resolution, EIA, and EMS in hotels among other topics. The process was evaluated quarterly in collaboration with EEAA. As a part of CBI success, the RSG has prepared a proposal for upgrading the EMU to the level of a General Department through self-finance by the Governorate. The Minister of Administrative Development issued a decree late 2003 approving the request of the RSG. This entailed a tenfold increase in staff number, and more financial and technical capacity to handle local environmental challenges. HE the Governor has recently issued a decree to establish an EMU in each city of the RSG, thus boosting decentralization of environmental management. The experience of RSG became a show case of how to institutionalize decentralized environmental management. It attracted other donors to study and learn from (see below). The experience has a direct relevance to improving quality of local governance, enabling citizens’ participation in addressing local issues, and improving livelihoods.

Client: USAID and the Ministry of Environment
Lead Firm: IRG, USA

The success achieved in the RSG case opened news window of opportunity for other governorates to follow through. The DFID-supported SEAM (Support to Environmental Assessment and Management) Program has recruited CBI to provide technical assistance to five governorates in the area of strengthening institutional capacity for improved local environmental management. These governorates include South Sinai, Dakahliyah, Qena, Damietta, and Sohag. The assignment included a focus on exploring potentials of EMUs upgrading to General Department of Environment (GDEs), in addition to conducing a cost benefit analysis of this process. CBI was able to assist the five governorates to streamline their human resource capacity, define vacant and financed positions in their endorsed organizational structure that can be re-evaluated to fill positions in a proposed structure of GDEs, and to write job description cards for the suggested entity. Our associates mobilized political support through contacts, field visits and follow ups with Governors and Secretary Generals. We established work groups in each governorate made of managers of EMUs, Employees Affairs Department and Financial Affairs Department. CBI alsoorganized a workshop at its premises of the five workgroups, and invited representative from the RSG to transfer knowledge and know how of preparing the organizational development proposal in a way that is acceptable to the Central Agency for Organization and Administration (CAOA). Our senior associates moderated the workshop that has proven very effective for peer learning. Participants competed to complete draft proposals and became really engaged and felt ownership of the process. The South Sinai Governorate was able to develop a package to activate a recent approval of the CAOA to upgrade the EMU to a GDE. Damietta is about to earn a CAOA approval for the proposed reform following extensive and formal milestones. Qena, Sohag and Dakahliyah defined the available positions that can be reallocated to a GDE. CBI work has injected dynamics and created enthusiasm that started an accelerated pace of productive work within all governorates towards improved local environmental governance.

Client: DIFD and the Ministry of Environment
Lead Firm: Intec, UK