261 Poverty Reduction, Economic Management and Social Policy 35839 April 2006 Findings reports on ongoing operational, economic, and sector work carried out by the World Bank and its member governments in the Africa Region. It is published periodically by the Operations Results and Learning Unit on behalf of the Region. The views expressed in Findings are those of the author/s and should not be attributed to the World Bank Group. Sierra Leone: The Role of the Rapid Results Approach in Decentralization and Strengthening Local Governance Although Sierra Leone is endowed with resources in education, health, agriculture, rich natural resources, it is one of the poor- roads, water and sanitation. Local Council est countries in the world. An eleven-year Elections took place in May/June 2004.3 war over the period 1991-2002 destroyed To support the decentralization process, the country's infrastructure and social fab- the councils were encouraged to adopt the ric. The concentration of political power and Rapid ResultsApproach (RRA), which be- public resources in the capital city came an important driver in building a cul- Freetown and the marginalization of the ture of performance, accountability and re- provinces were perceived as one of the root sults. The initial efforts have also unleashed causes of the war. In 2004, Sierra Leone implementation capacity within the newly- ranked bottom in the United Nations Hu- created local Councils that delivered mea- man Development Indicators, and 70% of surable improvements in public services the population is said to be under the pov- over a short period. erty line.1 Since the end of the war, the country has The First Wave of Rapid Results embarked on a resettlement, reintegration, Initiatives reconstruction and recovery program. Pub- lic spending on education, health, agricul- In the first wave of Rapid-Results Initia- ture and infrastructure has been significant. tives (RRIs), local Council chairmen were However, a highly centralized and non- asked to identify areas of focus before dis- transparent bureaucracy, along with de- bursement procedures were established, motivated and under-skilled workforce re- bank accounts set up, and even before they duced the impact on service delivery. Re- hadofficiallytakenoffice.EachCouncilwas form efforts spread across many fronts with provided with a small grant (on average varyingdegreesofpoliticalcommitmentand $30,000) and a coach to implement a high- design and implementation capacity.2 visibility, high-impact project within 100 Since 2003, IDA support has been unam- days. During the period of September 2004 biguously focused on a governance trans- and January 2005, all Councils launched formation process, supporting fiscal decen- Rapid Results Initiatives ( RRIs ) and most tralization and strengthening local govern- achieved their results in water, sanitation, ment. The support is designed to create feeder roads, traffic, rice production and the political space for development-ori- mitigating post- harvest loss. Examples of ented local politicians to emerge, and for Findings communities to participate in decision-mak- ing processes and determine their own de- 1. Zhou, Yongmei. "Supporting Governance velopment priorities. In February 2004, the Transformation in Sierra Leone through Devolution and GoSL enacted a progressive Local Govern- Strengthening Local Governance: July 2005 ment Act, establishing 19 local councils, 2. Ibid which, over the period of 2004-2008, will take over increasing responsibilities and 3. Ibid some of the results achieved are: Scale-up and Devolution What is the Rapid Results · Travel time between Sewafe and Kono Approach? InNovember2005,mostCouncilscompleted District was reduced from 1 hour to 15 their second wave of RRIs. Some of the minutes and transportation costs were The "Rapid-ResultsApproach" (RRA) is challenges were to: reducedfromLe5,000($1.75)toLe2,000 a set of management tools, processes, and ($0.70). · increase the level of production of rice in skills that help leaders in organizations three sections in Samu Chiefdom from 50 use a series of short-term projects to · High-yield quick-harvest Inner Valley to 3000 bushels; translate long-term goals into concrete Swamp Rice seeds increased yields by actions, results and impact. The engine · increase inland valley swamp rice produc- 4,000 bushels within 90 days in Pujehun of theApproach is the "Rapid-Results Ini- tion from 320- 730 acres in Bo District District. tiative" (RRI) ­ 100-day project designed within 100 days; and to unleash the capacity and creativity of · The total volume of garbage in two lorry · reduce post harvest loss from 25-5% in six teams in pursuit of a strategically critical parks and two markets in Kenema Town- wards in the district within 100 days. goal that delivers a real result, and that ship was reduced by 90% within 95 days. ties directly to strategic long-term plans. The success of the initial round of initia- A team member in the Western Rural Area Each RRI becomes a vehicle for achieve- tives helped persuade the central govern- said, "Projects in the past were never com- ment, learning, and the advancement of ment to devolve the authority and resources pleted. The donors would come in during long-term goals. of key service delivery ministries to the lo- good times, and then leave during bad cal Councils. In conjunction with the sec- Teams start by prioritizing the areas they times. Next time the donors decide they ond round of RRIs were a set of 60-day want to impact, and develop capacity as want to start a new project in Sierra Leone; initiatives that focused on completing the they go ­ in the context of achieving 100- I will tell them to leave a child behind in devolution of assets, staff, and budget for day results. This has significant implica- the village, so they come back and com- select ministries. This process was com- tions for the huge investments that are plete what they started. The RRI project is pleted in health, where services and bud- being made in capacity building and train- exciting, because we know we are no gets were devolved to the District Health ing initiatives: less "just-in-case" work- longer at the mercy of the donor; we own Offices. Examples of RRIs in the devolved shops and more "just-in-time" training it and we will finish it." health sector are: and coaching; more learning by doing One Council focused on increasing the while achieving; and learning in smaller · improve access to safe drinking water from availability of rice seeds from 20% to 60% bites. 30-70% amongst residents of two of the farming population in 90 days. The chiefdoms in Pujehun District by March The leaders in each case are a diverse goal was achieved and planting took place 2006; and group with differing styles. One quality within the period. This initial success cre- they all exhibited was a stubborn belief in ated the impetus to deal with the next level · increase immunization coverage for chil- the possibility, or even the inevitability, challenge: storing the harvest in a manner dren under one year from 50-70% in of succeeding in tackling big challenges that minimizes wastage and increases rice Moyamba District within 90 days; by entrusting the people closest to, and production in ten chiefdoms in the district. The agriculture and education ministries mostly affected by, the issue to channel The Councils implemented the RRIs prior began the process of devolution, which will their existing knowledge and capacity to to completing a participatory development be complete once the budgets are disbursed achieve results. These are individuals planning process. The initial wave of ini- to the Councils. Devolution has set the who step forward and take a risk in spite tiatives: stage for a third round by mid 2006, de- of the odds. In doing so, they inspire oth- signed to deepen and broaden service de- ers to take a leap of faith as well ­ to con- · built the confidence of the Council mem- livery while at the same time informing the tribute rather than staying on the side- bers in their own ability to deliver; design of financial management and pro- lines ­ to own the problem and find the · established the credibility of the Councils curement systems to strengthen gover- solution. with their constituencies; and nance and accountability. The Approach emphasizes that imple- · forced accelerated implementation of en- How was a favorable environment mentation and "learning by doing" are abling activities ­ such as opening a bank created for achieving such results integral parts of the policy development account and putting in place disburse- in a short period ? process and a means to assess the ca- ment and accounting mechanisms. pacity for, and the political will to, under- taking larger policy reforms through the In the process of achieving their goals, By adopting a structured process based on achievement of tangible results. Despite simple yet effective monitoring systems a few principles designed to unleash ca- the tremendous investments and techni- were also developed. This helped publi- pacity and empower local teams. Key ele- cal expertise provided in developing cize the stories of good governance, as well ments include : countries, implementing effective reform as recorded failures to create competitive · Collective prioritization of goals by both remains a very difficult task and simply pressures among local governments. the leadership and beneficiaries The experience of this Bank-assisted pro- This publication is based on the looking for better policies may not be gram in Sierra Leone shows that improve- Institutional Reform and Capacity the answer. ments in governance are possible even in Building Project in Sierra Leone (P078613) -Matta, Nadim; Hassanali, Zahra; an environment permeated with pervasive For more information please contact Balasubramaniam, Rashmir. The Rapid government failures. The RRA helped local Yongmei Zhou, yzhou1@worldbank.org Results Approach: A Briefing Note. July Councils deliver results and gain credibil- (TTL, AFTP2), Ronnie Hammad, 10,2005. ity with the central government and their rhammad@worldbank.org (AFTRL), or communities. The success was not solely BasmaAmmari, bammari@worldbank.org in the realization of the first round of goals, (AFTRL). but rather in the momentum and energy cre- ated in the process of achieving those re- · A sense of challenge and "stretch goals" sults -- all while `unleashing' knowledge ­ teams reaching for goals that go be- and capacity already available at the local yond normal performance thresholds level. ·Abelief that the goals ­ tough as they may be ­ will be achieved, despite the usual * Rapid Results is a tool developed by obstacles and prior failed attempts the management consulting firm of Robert H. Schaffer and Associates and has been · Focus on results: teams were challenged applied in partnership with the World Bank to pursue "results-oriented" goals, ver- in a number of Bank-assisted projects in sus activities, plans, recommendations Africa, Central America, and South Asia. and other preparatory steps · Personal accountability for specific and visible results. This dealt with account- ability not in a general, vague, or nominal sense, but a real sense of accountability that keeps one awake at night thinking about how one will deliver · Leadership buy-in and setting of overall challenges · Structured support to teams through coaching · Flexibility in charting the path to the goals ­ trusting local teams to develop their own solutions · Credible promise to give the teams "brag- ging rights" ­ in a public and visible man- ner ­ over their achievements.4 4. Matta, Nadim; Hassanali, Zahra; Balasubramaniam, Rashmir. The Rapid Results Approach: A Briefing Note. July 10, 2005