Belgium, in particular, has supported the decentralisation process since 2006 through the “Support programme for the establishment of decentralised bodies in the region of Dosso” (PAMED programme). From the onset, this programme was conceived as an experiment: Depending on the results, it will inspire all or part of the national decentralisation policy of the Niger government. The aim is to support the government’s policy to fight against poverty through the operationalization of communes. The programme is planned for four years and it is due to end in 2010. It regards 43 communes of the Dosso region, covering 5 departments and reaching 1.6 million inhabitants on a territory almost as big as Belgium.

Making communes responsible creates a virtuous circle

As the government’s decentralisation strategy proposes to start by the installation of the communes, the programme directly focuses its efforts on the communes. With poorly trained elected officials, who have neither the logistics, nor the human resources at their disposal to function properly, the priority for the 2 first years was given to supporting the 43 communes in getting organised to a minimum and to training the elected officials, who will be at the basis of local management (administering the budget, the population office, public works, etc.). It was also necessary to strengthen the capacities of the communes in development planning through “Commune Development Plans”, which are elaborated in close collaboration with the populations.

At the beginning only 13 communes had a general secretariat. At the end of 2007 there were 27 such secretariats. The number of tax officers increased from 16 to 40, the number of secretaries increased from 12 to 17, whereas population administrators increased from 27 to 44. In 2006 only 5 communes had a Commune Development Plan; at the end of 2007 all 43 communes had such a document, even though of differing average quality. The participative process used to elaborate these plans is very important. In future, the populations will be better prepared to these civil exercises.

Financial aid and social control

One of the first activities of the programme was to start up a Local Development Fund. This provided financial aid to the communes that had no local government offices, so they could build, rehabilitate or buy premises. For the whole Dosso region only 13 communes out of 43 had a local government building at the beginning of 2006. In 2007 and 2008 the programme financed 30 building projects (among which 1 rehabilitation project). This way, at the end of 2008, the 43 communes were housed in permanent premises.

The Local Development Fund also supports investments efforts (2 EUR/year/inhabitant) of 15 communes (428,000 of most vulnerable inhabitants). These funds have to be used to finance commune investments (60%) and community initiatives (40%).

The annual grants of the Local Development Fund are calculated by means of an evening-out formula, which provides more to the communes that have less. But more importantly, this distribution key depends on the annual performance of each commune: fiscal performance, commune governance (meetings, meeting deadlines etc.).
Nowadays almost all communes hold a minimum of 4 sessions. In 2005 only 8% of these meeting had minutes; in 2007, this percentage was 97.
In 2005 less than 1 commune out of 2 voted its budget in conformity to legal deadlines. Today 87% of communes do so, even though the annual statement of accounts clearly lags behind.

One fundamental question can however be raised about this financial aid: Does this aid to communes increase the risk of embezzlement, bad management or corruption? The financial audits performed in the 15 communes that benefit from annual allocations state that “financial affairs are in order and show a correct statement of the funds received and how they have been used”. Of course, the auditors have found some material errors, partial lapses or gaps but no intentional error, no embezzlement, no personal enrichment. Moreover, the programme can claim that inhabitants themselves signalled the 2 or 3 major lapses by elected officials within 48 hours! This close-up “social control” shows the advantages of an active and decentralised democracy. Central management does not offer such guaranties.

Priority to food security

As the Belgian Survival Fund funds the programme, the investment choices of the communes have to be mainly oriented towards food security while at the same time securing the management freedom and autonomy of the communes, which is a basic principle of decentralisation.

The 15 beneficiary communes have used their allocation well (CFA 317 million francs in 2007; 517 million in 2008 ²): 64% were spent on activities that were directly linked to food security of vulnerable populations. More important still, 98% of community investments and initiatives supported by the commune budget and 41% of commune investments belong to this category. These first results are encouraging. For 2009, the 15 communes have decided to spend 75 to 80% of their budget allocations to food security.

Searching for a new kind of development

To ensure close technical support of the communes a technical support advisor is active in each department. He/she supports the communes in their search for a new kind of development and together with them he/she ensures the follow-up and control of the use of the funds provided by the programme while still respecting the principle of management autonomy of the communes as stipulated in Niger legislation. Practically speaking, this means that even if the advisor gives a negative piece of advice about a planned operation the commune may take the risk, taking up its responsibility, and still go ahead with the operation.

All together, in 2007, the advisors have spent more than 550 days supporting and advising the field: installation of an archives service, of a populations register, learning to draw up a resolution, minutes etc. Above all, the mid-term evaluation of the programme shows a change in attitude of the different actors: the wait-and-see policy and fatalism seem to back out as communities get organised and look for their potential at “shaping the future”.

The decentralisation support programme is no tutelage: it counsels, coaches, makes aware, empowers but never substitutes. This empowerment of the elected officials and their agents is at the core of this approach, which was a bet on confidence.

The first results open perspectives

The action of the programme but also actions of other development partners in the Dosso region are not free of the risks of spreading too thinly and they can in the long run generate territorial inequities unless they are adapting. That is why the coordination between these partners has to further improve to manage the “complementarity of their territories”.
Budget aid to communes, the empowerment of elected officials, the taking into account of performances with regards to mobilising resources are important levers of change to forward development.

1: Deconcentration corresponds with a decision transfer from the central administration to local or regional levels. Decentralisation corresponds to a transfer of allocations from the State to territorial bodies, which are legally differing from the State.

2: 317,000,000 FCFA = 557,000 € / 517,000,000 FCFA = 908,000 €

• Niger
• Decentralisation