Program Implementation
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geographic regions should the program be targeted geographically. Fund flows will follow, depending on the potential participants, number of days, and so on, subject to the available predetermined budget. • Performance-based release of funds. In some countries, allocations for the next round of projects depend on the performance of existing projects (in terms of persons employed, assets created, etc.). • Combination of models. Some countries apply a combination of two or more of the modalities described above in order to allocate funds. Local budgets in this case are used to cross-check central government budgets and fund allocations. Once the budget envelope is known, the next step is to allocate funds to different regions/districts. The procedure for such allocation differs from one country to another: funds could be allocated equally across districts, funds could be allocated disproportionately to deprived/foodinsecure/lagging regions, or some other formula could be followed that gives weight to poverty.
Flow of Funds A critical step in the successful implementation of public works programs is management of the flow of funds from the central level to project sites. This is not an easy task, given that delays can occur at any intermediary level thereby disrupting program implementation. How the funds for the project flow depends a great deal on how the country’s administrative structure is organized—for example, whether a country is fully centralized or decentralized, if the program is being implemented by a social fund or NGO, and the availability and channels of donor financing. The flow of funds encompasses a number of elements: periodicity of flows, the number of channels to pass through, and accounting (and accountability) procedures at each level. This section considers a number of models to show how funds flow in different countries: • Model 1 presents the case of funds flowing in a highly centralized delivery system. • Model 2 presents the case of a highly decentralized system where lowerlevel elected functionaries receive funds and implement the program. • Model 3 presents the case under a social fund delivery system. • Model 4 presents the case of a delivery system under directly donor- or NGO-funded and -implemented programs.