Measuring Aid Effectiveness at the Local Level

Articulation of Territorial Networks

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Measuring Aid Effectiveness at the Local Level Case study: the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas – Ecuador

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This work has been carried out in the cooperation framework between the Technical Secretariat for International Cooperation (SETECI) and the ART Program of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), with the participation of the Consortium of Provincial Governments of Ecuador (CONGOPE), the Association of Ecuadorian Municipalities (AME), the National Council of Rural Parochial Governments of Ecuador (CONAGOPARE), with the support of the Spanish Agency of International Development Cooperation (AECID).

Articulation of Territorial Networks

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1. Background

1.1. Local-national-international articulation and actor complementarity as a significant contribution to Aid Effectiveness The Aid Effectiveness principles defined in the Paris Declaration and deepened in the Accra Agenda for Action acknowledge the participation of different key actors – central and local governments, civil society organizations and private sector, among others, as well as the articulation between national and local plans and policies, as key factors to manage development1.

Under these guidelines, during 2010 and 2011, UNDP (through the ART Initiative) carried out a “Consultative Process on Aid Effectiveness at the local level”, in collaboration with several international networks of decentralized actors, taking into consideration the “importance of the active role of local and regional governments as well as of social and economic groups in order to deepen and democratize the AE agenda”2. Through these consultations it has been possible to identify local experiences that “articulate territorial processes and national strategies”3 as an adequate mechanism to achieve a “joint impact on development”.

1

ACCRA Agenda for Action, 13.

2

Consultative Process on Aid Effectiveness at the local level. Page 2.

3

Consultative Process (Ibid).

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Measuring Aid Effectiveness at the Local Level

Some territorial processes, under the leadership of local and national governments, and in coordination with civil society, the private sector, academia and international cooperation, have managed to promote important dynamics with respect to planning, participation, management and accountability.

These efforts have attained positive results for the development of the territory. The recognition of these local experiences presents a challenge: to implement and measure compliance with the Aid Effectiveness principles at the Local Level.

In this context, UNDP’s ART Program in Ecuador4 is one of the experiences that have contributed to Aid Effectiveness at the local level, with a contribution that has been acknowledged by both national and local authorities.

Some of its results have been: ■

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Local and national governments’ ownership of the articulation and multilevel governance mechanisms for planning, territorial management and international cooperation in 7 provinces. These mechanisms are being institutionalized in 4 of these provinces.

Concerted agendas of development priorities that are inserted into the planning and allow for alignment, ownership and harmonization of international cooperation in 6 provinces.

Inclusion of mechanisms to articulate different levels of government for the decentralized management of cooperation.

For Ecuador, this contribution finds an important support in the policies defined by the country on the role of local governments5 in the management of International Cooperation, planning for development and the participation of social stakeholders.

4

ART/UNDP, SETECI. Effectiveness of international cooperation at the local level. The added value of the ART/UNDP Ecuador Program (2008 – 2010). 2010

5

The Constitution of Ecuador defines local governments as “Autonomous Decentralized Governments – ADGs” and recognizes four levels of Government: regional, provincial, municipal and rural parish.

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Case study: the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas – Ecuador

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1.2. Decentralized management of international cooperation Local governments in Ecuador, constitutionally denominated Auto nomous Decentralized Governments (ADGs), have maintained a historic relation with International Cooperation for their territorial management.

From the 90s onwards, they have done so with all different forms of coope ration: multilateral, bilateral, NGOs and decentralized cooperation. This relationship has allowed some governments to develop important experiences in managing their development. Planning-related actions, citizen participation and accountability processes have been promoted as mechanisms for the effective impact of the ADGs’ actions.

Additionally, it is worth highlighting the importance of the international cooperation’s support to the territories. In 2010, 77% of the cooperation’s contributions was channeled to programs and projects in the territories, whereas 23% went to national coverage6.

The New Policy for International Cooperation, as set out by the national government and implemented by the Technical Secretariat for International Cooperation (SETECI as per Spanish acronym), is in line with the Constitution, which stipulates that “the country is to uphold sovereign and solidary relations with the international community, and which also puts forward the importance of a smart insertion in the global system”7. This supports the Secretariat’s policy to “establish adequate mechanisms to attract, channel and use efficiently and productively the resources “that the non-reimbursable international cooperation provides to the country’s development”8. That implies establishing strategic alliances and partnerships aligned and harmonized with national and territorial priorities9. Therefore, cooperation is considered as a

6

SETECI, Management Report 2010. Sovereign Management of Non-Reimbursable International Cooperation.

7

Rosero, Gabriela. Towards a Sovereign Management of International Cooperation. In: “Cooperamos” magazine. No 2. August 2011.

8

Technical Secretariat for International Cooperation. Our north is the SOUTH. November 2011.

9

SENPLANDES. National Plan for Good Living. 2009-2013. Page 108. 2009.

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Measuring Aid Effectiveness at the Local Level

“complement and not a substitute of the State’s development efforts, and its optimal use arises from institutional coordination for greater alignment with national development strategies”10.

Moreover, the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador states that one of the competencies of Autonomous Decentralized Governments is to “manage international cooperation in view of achieving their own competences”11; this norm has later been taken up in a specific law 12. The explicit recognition of this competence will allow all Local Governments to “access international cooperation resources, allowing for a fairer and more equitable distribution throughout the national territory”13.

The constitutional framework is thus enriched by the specific policies and guidelines defined by the country and reflected in the corresponding legal framework, which constitutes the basic framework for the management of Local Governments and the International Cooperation’s support: ■

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The National Plan for Good Living (Plan Nacional para el Buen Vivir) 2009 – 2013 defines national development objectives and constitutes the reference for international cooperation’s alignment and foreign investment. As a complement to national planning, Local Governments must prepare their Local Development Plans in a participatory manner; such planning has to be articulated among the various territorial levels and with the national level.

The Organic Code for Territorial Organization, Autonomy and Decentralization, which provides specific guidelines for the management of Local Governments within the framework of their territorial development planning.

10

SETECI. 2010. Quoted by Samer Srouji, in his article “Complementary nature of the southsouth cooperation. The new doctrine of International Cooperation of Ecuador.

11

Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador. Arts. 262, 263, 264 and 265.

12

Autonomous Decentralized Governments carry out their management under the protection of the Organic Code for Territorial Organization, Autonomy and Decentralization– COOTAD.

13

Rosero, Gabriela (Ibid).

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Case study: the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas – Ecuador

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The Organic Law for Citizen Participation defines the objectives and mechanisms that ensure an effective participation in planning, management and accountability at the territorial level.

The Organic Code for Planning and Public Finances defines the mechanisms to safeguard financing in accordance with previously prepared planning and the norm concerning cooperation.

The General Guidelines for Decentralized Territorial Planning establish the mechanisms and procedures for territorial planning with the participation of stakeholders, in line with the specific characteristics of each territorial unit.

The Resolution of the National Competences Council, which determines to “transfer and implement the competence to manage international cooperation in order to obtain non-reimbursable resources and technical assistance to the Autonomous Decentralized Governments for the achievement of their competencies ”14.

2. A tool to measure Aid Effectiveness

2.1. Measuring Aid Effectiveness at the local level In Ecuador there are favorable conditions for the implementation of the Aid Effectiveness principles at the local level and for their measurement: ■ ■

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14

The country adhered to the Paris Declaration in October 2009.

Significant experiences have been developed over many years of relations between Local Governments and International Cooperation.

The Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador and the corresponding legal framework, which state that the management of international cooperation is a competence of Local Governments, supported by a set of national laws and norms.

Resolution No. 0009-CNC-2011 National Competencies Council.

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The New Policy for International Cooperation of Ecuador defined by SETECI, which strives to “improve coordination between the different levels of government and donors, as well as to ensure that the programs financed with ODA are aligned with the country’s development objectives”15. This policy includes the management of information relative to international cooperation both at the national as well as the territorial level; information available through various tools that share data on projects, investments, cooperation institutions and sectors.

The experience spearheaded by the national government and the ADGs, in the framework of the ART/UNDP Ecuador Program, to “implement an instrument measuring the added value of the ART/UNDP Initiative for Paris and Accra”, linked to actor complementarity in the field and the coherence of their actions with national development strategies16.

This exercise was socialized and enriched with the participation of different stakeholders at the national and territorial level.

Based on these conditions and on the interest of the SETECI, the autonomous decentralized governments and their national associations, the ART/UNDP Program has supported the design of a tool measuring Aid Effectiveness at the local level.

2.2. Steps in the construction of the tool The following criteria were applied to construct the tool to measure Aid Effectiveness at the local level: ■ ■

Paris Declaration principles, “adapted to the local level”.

Territorial approach.

15

SROUJI, Samer (ibid).

16

National Government of the Republic of Ecuador, UNDP Ecuador. “Effectiveness of international cooperation at the local level. The added value of the ART/UNDP Program in Ecuador (2008-2010). 2010

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Case study: the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas – Ecuador

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Simplicity and clarity of the instrument to facilitate its understanding and auto-implementation.

Usefulness to strengthen capacities of the ADGs and the decision-making process of the Ecuadorian System for International Cooperation.

The steps shown in the following graph were taken to design the tool: Graph No. 1. Process followed to construct the tool ANALYSIS OF DOCUMENTS LOGIC OF THE PARIS DECLARATION AT THE LOCAL LEVEL

DESIGN OF THE TOOL

VERSION TO BE VALIDATED

SOCIALIZATION AND CONTRIBUTIONS

FIRST RESULTS

IMPLEMENTATION IN THE TERRITORY

SETECI, AME, CONGOPE CONAGOPARE, ART/UNDP

The purpose of this first step was to establish a common logic between the various existing instruments, with emphasis on: the Paris Declaration, its Progress Indicators and the Indicators defined to measure the added value of the ART/UNDP Program, which were implemented in Ecuador during the 2008-2010 period. The following step was to review the Ecuadorian Constitution and legislation in order to obtain the necessary inputs for the next step: to transfer the Paris Declaration to the local level following two principal

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Measuring Aid Effectiveness at the Local Level

criteria: a) a visualization from the territory, b) the perspective of local authorities, who are in charge of development processes at this level.

Following the results of this analysis, indicators were defined to measure Aid Effectiveness at the local level. As a result of this exercise, it was possible to identify 15 indicators for the measurement of AE at the local level and 11 sub-indexes that contribute to the realization of the 5 Paris Declaration Principles. This rationale is presented in the following table: Table No. 1. Logic to measure the Paris Declaration at the local level: principles, sub-indexes and indicators PRINCIPLE / SUB INDEX

INDICATOR

A. Ownership A.1. Planning Leadership .

1. The ADG has its own Development strategy that is articulated with the other levels of Government and is elaborated on a participatory basis.

A.2. Management Leadership.

2. The ADG leads the management, involving social stakeholders.

B. Alignment B.1. Alignment with ADG strategies.

3. Cooperation aligns its support to the partners’ planning and budgets.

B.2. Use of country systems.

4. The execution of programs and projects is carried out under the ADG’s structure and systems.

B.3. The ADGs strengthen their development capacity with the support provided by cooperation.

5. Cooperation supports the capacity building of the ADGs by means of programs that are coordinated in coherence with local development strategies.

B.4. Strengthen the capacity to manage public finances.

6. Cooperation uses the ADGs’ Public Finance management systems.

B.5. Aid is untied.

7. Cooperation’s aid is untied.

C. Harmonization C.1. Implementation of common provisions and simplification of procedures.

8. Cooperation actors carry out joint programming / planning in spaces that have been defined by the ADGs. 9. Cooperation actors that operate in the same sector / territory carry out joint or delegated evaluations.

10. Cooperation actors present in the same territory jointly manage / delegate the execution of programs & projects.

C.2. Complementarity: a more efficient division of labor.

11. Cooperation actors present in the same territory coordinate to undertake and use common diagnosis / guidelines.

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Case study: the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas – Ecuador

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D. Managing for results D.1. Management and implementation 12. The ADG has an evaluation system of the results of cooperation framed within the Local Development Plan. focused on desired results.

E. Mutual Responsibility 13. ADGs have and implement spaces for stakeholder participation to manage the development.

E.1. Responsibility and transparency in the use of resources.

14. ADGs receive timely information relative to the contributions of cooperation.

15. ADGs evaluate in a joint manner with cooperation actors the compliance with commitments.

Once the indicators Measuring Aid Effectiveness at the local level had been defined, the following step was to design questionnaires to obtain information for the construction of the indicators. As a result of this exercise, two index cards were developed: 1) Basic index card (ex ante): consists of 10 questions that allow verifying the feasibility of measuring Aid Effectiveness, based on the Local Governments’ existing capacities for the decentralized management of international cooperation. Answers consider an evaluation ranging from 0 to 4 points17.

2) Index card to measure the application of the Aid Effectiveness principles at the local level, comprised of 5 indexes (that correspond to the PD principles), 11 sub-indexes and 15 indicators, which are developed on the basis of 35 questions. For the evaluation a range of 0 to 4 points18 is used. This card is supported by an electronic page that allows the automatic visualization of the results.

17

Answers provided options graded from 0 to 4 points, where 0 = never/no/none; 1 = sometimes/incomplete; 2 = partly/Preliminary; 3 = Organized information/approved; 4=YES, totally.

18

0 =no/0%; 1 =low/25%; 2 = medium/50%; 3 = high/75%; 4 = yes/100%.

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It is worth noting that the purpose of these tools is to measure Aid Effectiveness at the territorial level, taking as a reference the institutional actors that manage international cooperation.

The ART/UNDP Program presented the tool to the consideration of SETECI and the national organizations that represent the local governments: the Consortium of Autonomous Provincial Governments of Ecuador (CONGOPE as per Spanish acronym), the Association of Municipalities of Ecuador (AME as per Spanish acronym), the National Council of Rural Parish Governments of Ecuador (CONAGOPARE as per Spanish acronym). Their contributions were incorporated into the tool. UN Women also offered some inputs, which allowed incorporating gender equity into the measurement tool.

Once the prototype of the tool was defined, it was implemented in two provinces along the northern border of Ecuador: Carchi and Esmeraldas. The tool was applied to officials and authorities of the Autonomous Decentralized Governments of the two provinces and of ten municipalities, to two provincial representatives of Rural Parish Governments and two representatives of international cooperation present in the territory. The officials of each level of local government that were interviewed have direct responsibilities in the management of international cooperation: planning, finances, cooperation, general administration, thematic areas (environment); others were municipal councilors. After the application of the tool, the information retrieved was processed. The results are presented in this document.

3. Implementation of the tool measuring Aid Effectiveness in the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas – Ecuador 3.1. Territorial Context The provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas are located in the northern part of Ecuador along the border with Colombia, in the Andean and coastal zone

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Case study: the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas – Ecuador

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respectively. The two provinces have a total population of 698.616 inhabitants, with 49,55% women and 50,45% men.

The province of Carchi has covers a surface of 3.749 km2. According to the 2010 Census19 it has a population of 164.524 inhabitants, comprised of AfroEcuadorians (the province has the highest percentage of Afro-Ecuadorians in the highlands of Ecuador, 6,4%), indigenous (Awá nationality), mixed (mestizo) and white people. 50,67% of the population is female, 49,33% male. The illiteracy rate in the province is 9,8%, higher than the national index, which is 6,8%.

The potentialities of the province, as defined by local stakeholders in the Priority Guidelines for the integral development of the province, are: agriculture (potatoes, beans, corn, wheat and peas), livestock, minor species, fish farming, tourism, transport, commerce, industry20.

The government structure of the territory is composed of: 1 Provincial Government; 6 Municipal Governments (Tulcán, Bolívar, Mira, Espejo, Montúfar and San Pedro de Huaca); and 26 Rural Parish Governments.

The province of Esmeraldas covers a surface of 15.219 km2. Data from the 2010 Census indicate that the province has a population of 534.092 inhabitants, comprised of Afro-Ecuadorians (the province has the highest percentage of Afro-Ecuadorian population in the country - 43.9%), indigenous (Awá, Chachi, Epera nationalities), and mixed (mestizo) people. The illiteracy rate in the province of Esmeraldas is 6,2%, slightly lower than the national average (6,85%).

The province’s main productive activities are: shrimp and banana for export, cacao production, tobacco, coffee, fishing, the petrochemical industry, tourism, and handcrafts21.

19

INEC, Population and Housing Census of 2010 in www.inec.gob.ec

20

ART/PNUD. Priority Guidelines for integral development. Carchi, Ecuador. 2009

21

www. Prefecturadeesmeraldas.gob.ec

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In the case of the province of Esmeraldas, the different levels of autonomous decentralized government are comprised of: 1 Provincial Government; 8 Municipal Governments (Esmeraldas, Eloy Alfaro, Muisne, Quinindé, San Lorenzo, Atacames, Río Verde and La Concordia), and 56 Rural Parish Governments.

According to the information of SETECI, during the period 2007 – 2010, 42 participating cooperation actors contributed 114 million dollars through 298 projects in the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas22. Even though the highest percentage of resources is executed by the Central Government, it is important to highlight that 12.4% and 16% of the resources are executed by the ADGs (Local Governments) of the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas respectively.

3.2. Implementation of the Tool Measuring Aid Effectiveness at the local level As previously indicated, the application of the two tools23 was carried out in the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas. The following sections present some of the results obtained.

3.2.1. Basic Index Card The objective of the basic index card is to obtain a “general overview of the existing capacities that are present in Local Governments to manage international cooperation”. Some of the findings: ■

In the studied territories there is a high degree of experience with international cooperation (3.7); however, knowledge of the Paris Declaration is minimal (0.3). The implementation of the tool measuring Aid Effectiveness at the local level developed into an exercise of capacity development.

22

www.app.seteci.gob.ec/mapa_ong. November 11/2011

23

The two cards have questions, the answers to which have a range of 0 to 4.

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Case study: the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas – Ecuador

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It is necessary to strengthen institutional capacities of Local Governments for the management of International Cooperation.

The ADGs’ knowledge of the contribution of International Cooperation to their territories is intermediate (2.3).

It is necessary to promote the insertion of International Cooperation into the management cycle of the ADGs (0.9): planning, implementation, follow-up, evaluation and accountability.

Graph No. 2. Capacities for the decentralized management of international cooperation 10. Knowledge of the Paris Declaration.

0,4 0,2 0,3

9. Institutional capacity to manage cooperation resources.

0,7

1,4 1,0 4,0 4,0 4,0

8. Interest in attracting cooperation resources.

0,9 0,8 0,9

7. Cooperation participates in the management cycle.

6. Has knowledge of the international cooperation’s contribution to the budget.

2,9

1,7

5. Has an inventory of all programs and projects supported by the cooperation.

2,3

1,8

0,5

1,1 1,4 1,2 1,3

4. Inventory of cooperation actors.

3. Has a strategy and guidelines for cooperation.

0,0

0,8 0,4 1,6

2. Has an institutional reference for cooperation.

1,9

2,2 3,0

1. Experience in cooperation.

3,3 0,0

0,5

1,0

1,5

2,0

2,5

3,0

3,5

AVERAGE CARCHI PROVINCE AVERAGE ESMERALDAS PROVINCE AVERAGE BOTH PROVINCES SOURCE: Surveys conducted in the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas. October 2011.

3,7 4,0

4,5

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3.2.2. Measuring the implementation of Aid Effectiveness principles Ownership The ownership principle received the highest grade of the five principles, with a medium-high grading (14/20). Two sub-indexes define what ownership is24: a) Planning leadership; and b) Management leadership.

Planning leadership received the highest grade (38/50), considering that the country has a National Decentralized Planning System and Local Governments are in the phase of constructing their territorial participatory planning in articulation with other levels of government. This planning is considered as a priority to organize the annual management and investments.

Graph No. 3. Ownership 100 90 80 70 MEASUREMENT

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

CARCHI

ESMERALDAS

SUMMARY

A2. Management leadership

25

38

31

A1. Planning leadership

38

38

38

SOURCE: Surveys conducted in the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas. October 2011.

24

Each sub-index contributes with a 50% to the grade awarded to the principle.

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Case study: the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas – Ecuador

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Alignment The average of this principle in the two provinces received a medium grading (10.2/20).

Among the results found are the following: ■

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There is evidence of cooperation alignment to the national systems, although this must be strengthened at the policy and strategy level.

There is a greater alignment of cooperation in the province of Carchi, which is due to a more extended practice of articulation of local stakeholders in the definition of priority guidelines under the leadership of the Provincial Government of Carchi, within the framework of the ART/UNDP Program.

Graph No. 4. Alignment

MEASUREMENT

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

CARCHI

ESMERALDAS

SUMMARY

5

5

5

B4. Strengthening capacities to manage public finances

20

5

13

B3. ADGs strengthen their development capacities with the support of cooperation

15

10

13

B2. Cooperation uses country’s reinforced systems

15

5

10

B1. Cooperation aligns itself with the ADGs’ strategies

15

5

10

B5. Untied Aid

SOURCE: Surveys conducted in the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas. October 2011.

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Harmonization On average in both provinces, this principle received a medium grading of 9.1/20.

Some of the results identified: â–

The province of Carchi has a higher grade due to a work system based on the Dialogue Groups (Territorial Working Groups), spaces in which Local Governments, stakeholders and international cooperation take part in a single exercise for the planning and definition of priorities, which serves as the basis for the contribution of cooperation.

Graph No. 5. Harmonization

MEASUREMENT

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

C2. Complementarity: a more effective division of labor C1. Cooperation implements common provisions and simplifies procedures

CARCHI

ESMERALDAS

SUMMARY

25

13

19

38

13

25

SOURCE: Surveys conducted in the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas. October 2011.

Managing for Results This is the index with the lowest results in both provinces (3.8/20).

Among the findings, the following can be highlighted: â–

As the country is in the initial phase of implementing the national decentralized planning system, the follow-up and evaluation based on

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development planning are still incipient.

There is evidence of individual evaluations for each project in the territory, but there is a lack of evaluation instances as well as of evaluation of results and impact in function of the territorial planning.

Graph No. 6. Managing for results

MEASUREMENT

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

D1. Management and implementation in view of the desired results

CARCHI

ESMERALDAS

SUMMARY

13

25

19

SOURCE: Surveys conducted in the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas. October 2011.

Mutual Responsibility The average grading of this principle in both provinces is medium low (8.3/20).

Some points that should be considered as a result of the measurement carried out in the territory: ■

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In the territory there is evidence of a need to increase systematized information on the contributions made by development cooperation.

Local Governments have implemented spaces for citizen participation in which the authorities render themselves accountable for their actions.

This reporting includes the contribution that international cooperation provides to institutional management.

The joint evaluations made between Local Governments and International Cooperation relative to compliance with the agreed commitments are embodied in internal exercises that respond to the projects procedures; it would be necessary to expand the scope of such exercises.

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Graph No. 7. Mutual responsibility

MEASUREMENT

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

E1. Responsibility and transparency

CARCHI

ESMERALDAS

SUMMARY

44

38

41

SOURCE: Surveys conducted in the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas. October 2011.

3.2.3. Measuring Aid Effectiveness at the local level Based on the results obtained for each principle, some overall conclusions are presented, taking as a reference Graph No. 8: ■

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There are positive results in the three principles of ownership, alignment and harmonization. It is necessary to consider that these principles have been at the center of interest and actions of the involved stakeholders, as a response to the New Policy for Cooperation and the new national decentralized planning system.

The principle of ownership received the highest grade, considering that the country has specific guidelines and policies for Development planning, both at the national as well as the local level, which enables it to lead this process.

In line with the country’s guidelines and policies, the National Plan for the Good Living and the Local Governments’ Plans for Development and Territorial Planning are the point of reference for the alignment of international cooperation.

There is evidence of the efforts of cooperation actors in their alignment with Local Governments’ policies and in the harmonization of their actions.

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It has been shown that the practical experience promoted by the ART/UNDP Program, already consolidated in the Carchi province, has had a positive impact on the measurement of aid effectiveness, based on the development of tools and mechanisms for the articulation of actors and levels of government. Insofar this process will consolidate in the province of Esmeraldas, similar results can be expected.

The principles of Managing for Results and Mutual Responsibility require an additional effort; considering that there are favorable conditions in the country, such as the accountability exercises that the authorities at all levels of government must annually comply with, and the participatory system.

Graph No. 8. Measuring Aid Effectiveness at the local level OWNERSHIP 20,0 15,0

MUTUAL RESPONSIBILITY

10,0 5,0

ALIGNMENT

CARCHI

0,0

ESMERALDAS SUMMARY MANAGING FOR RESULTS

HARMONIZATION

SOURCE: Surveys conducted in the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas. October 2011.

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4. Conclusions This case study on Measuring Aid Effectiveness at the local level allows us to point out several conclusions:

Regarding the tool: ■

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At this stage, the implementation of the tool requires specialized external support, due to the limited information that territorial actors currently have regarding the management of international cooperation and Aid Effectiveness.

The tool has been enriched with the contributions of SETECI, the ADGs’ national associations, UN Women and during its implementation in Esmeraldas and Carchi.

Overall, it has been validated in a satisfactory manner. The required time for its application is approximately one hour.

The implementation of the tool has resulted in an opportunity to strengthen the capacities for the management of International Cooperation.

The implementation of the tool has allowed the generation of information that may constitute an input to define Local Governments’ policies and strategies.

In general terms: ■

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The country has policies and a legal framework that favor the management of the ADGs and the implementation of the Aid Effectiveness principles.

The implementation of the National System for Decentralized Participatory Planning at all levels is one of the elements that directly contribute to Aid Effectiveness.

At the level of ADGs, a process has been initiated that allows them to take over the Competency of Cooperation Management, which should be articulated between the different sub-national levels and the national level.

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Case study: the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas – Ecuador

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Even though in the territories there is a lack of prior knowledge regarding the Aid Effectiveness Principles, their implementation awakes great interest and their potential for the positioning of the ADGs has been put to the fore.

There are specific experiences that, through the articulation and actor complementarity, are contributing to Aid Effectiveness in the territories.

The management of information relative to International Cooperation in the territories is insufficient.

The level of institutionalization and capacities for the decentralized management of cooperation is diverse. Support from the national government, international cooperation and national associations is required in order to strengthen this area and facilitate compliance with the Paris Declaration.

Contacts Julio Portieles – Programa ART/PNUD Ecuador: julio.portieles@undp.org María Elena Enríquez – Programa ART/PNUD Ecuador: mariaelena.enriquez@undp.org

For more information www.undp.org.ec/art www.seteci.gob.ec

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