How will this additional financing support the decentralization agenda in Tunisia?
The additional financing will assist the Government of Tunisia increase the impact of the ongoing program and contribute to an inclusive social contract in three interlinked ways:
- Scaling up results by supporting increased performance-based financing to local municipalities to accommodate expanded geographical coverage of the program and a larger number of beneficiaries;
- Further strengthening municipal performance, systems and accountability to improve service delivery and respond to growing citizen demands; and
- Adjusting program design to align with the current and forthcoming decentralization reforms and to ensure sustainability.
What will this additional financing add to the ongoing Urban Development and Local Governance Program?
The additional US$130 million will provide additional support to the government of Tunisia in carrying out the decentralization reforms laid out in the Constitution by shifting from a purely “infrastructure delivery” approach of the original project and paying greater attention to the performance of local municipalities and their accountability to local citizens.
To this end, the expanded program aims to:
- Strengthening the institutional capabilities of local governments to deliver municipal services while transforming their relationship with their citizens through measures that are designed to foster participation, transparency, and accountability; and
- Further improving the municipal infrastructure service delivery to disadvantaged neighborhoods.
What additional support will the expanded program bring to local governments?
The revised activities under the additional financing will enable a deepening of structural reforms, and are aligned with the principles outlined in the local governance Organic Law, helping prepare the groundwork for its effective implementation.
The additional financing will help further align the intergovernmental fiscal transfer system with the Government’s decentralization framework, strengthening administrative transparency in local governments, accountability, and human resources capacity. It will also help train newly elected officials.
Furthermore, the additional financing will have a strong focus on Program sustainability through:
- its greater emphasis on municipal institutional development;
- alignment with Government planning processes;
- further building municipal financial capacities to transition towards greater own source revenues
- bridging the Government’s transition to deeper institutional reforms, including a higher future level of transfers to local governments.