New Program to Strengthen Capacity of Institutions to Effectively Deliver Devolved Services
WASHINGTON, March 15, 2016—The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved an International Development Association* (IDA) credit of US$200 million to support Kenya’s devolution.
This funding will help citizens in the counties by improving the way key devolved services such as healthcare and local road maintenance are delivered to them.
The new Kenya Devolution Support Program-for-Results will support the county and national government to improve results in five core areas: public finance management systems: human resource management; planning and monitoring and evaluation systems; civic education and public participation, and intergovernmental relations.
“Kenyans want devolution to work, and so do we at the World Bank. This program presents a great opportunity for both national and County Governments to work together to deliver services to the ordinary citizens, efficiently and effectively,” said Diarietou Gaye, World Bank Country Director for Kenya.
This program seeks to support all counties that opt to participate in it, and is significant as it offers a dedicated effort and financing for Kenya’s devolution. Also, the program will be implemented through Government’s own systems and policy framework to ensure sustainable impact and scale.
“‘The Annual Capacity and Performance Assessment will provide a systematic review of capacity strengths and weaknesses, and will enable capacity providers at national and county levels to more directly target support to gaps that emerge,” said Christopher Finch, Senior Social Development Specialist and Task Team Leader.
The Kenya Devolution Support Program-for-Results is unique in that it brings a results orientation to capacity building by introducing performance-based transfers from national government to counties. The performance based grants, which are 80 percent of the credit, create incentives for counties to participate while providing additional resources for investment.
“These results will provide a foundation for counties to deliver devolved services, and leverage the US$2.5 billion that county governments receive annually via the Equitable Share,” said Jane Kiringai, Senior Economist and Co-Task Team Leader.
This program is fully aligned with the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) which focuses on operationalizing new reforms created by the Constitution, and identifies devolution as one of the three top priorities. Indeed, Kenya’s devolution has major implications for poverty reduction, service delivery, economic growth and governance.
* The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, and helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 77 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.3 billion people who live in IDA countries. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 112 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $19 billion over the last three years, with about 50 percent going to Africa.
