260 Multisectoral 35527 March 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. Post-Conflict Mozambique's Reconstruction: A Transferable Strategy in Africa In post-conflict Mozambique, over nism of discussion with civil soci- a period of roughly twelve years, we ety, so that every bill approved in have witnessed an amazing eco- the parliament had already been nomic turnaround. There has vetted by the society at large. There been a reversal from a GDP growth were two key factors that sus- of minus 8 percent to one of plus tained the implementation of the 8.2 percent. This was due mainly agenda: a leadership with clear, to a successful capacity develop- long-term vision and international ment program that relied on the donors willing to accommodate that participation of all sectors--govern- vision. ment, private sector, civil society, Former President Chissano's vi- and international donors. sion was to create an environment When we prepared the first re- of peace and stability, which would construction program after the facilitate economic growth. He suc- war, in 1993, we had about 4,000 ceeded in doing so. President projects, which had been agreed Guebuza's vision is currently to upon with the wide participation of reduce poverty, which is the ma- all the stakeholders. For the first trix for a healthy and prosperous time, groups such as NGOs, eco- country. When we first tackled this nomic associations, and local com- task, we were in the dark. We munities had the opportunity to lacked indicators, figures, and make their voices heard. Faced causes. Therefore, we had to start with the challenge to prioritize this by doing research. The results from large amount of projects, the gov- a household survey, in 1997, indi- ernment focused on rebuilding the cated that we had 70 percent abso- health and education infrastruc- lute poverty in Mozambique. We ture, and achieved its goals in analyzed the causes, and subse- three to four years. quently decided on how best to al- locate our scarce resources in or- The development agenda der to alleviate symptoms and also Findings get to the roots of the problem. We An important element that con- ended up allocating 65 to 70 per- tributed to our success was a strat- cent of the budget to education, egy based on a specific agenda. health, agriculture and rural de- This development agenda was built velopment, infrastructures, gover- on consensus through a mecha- nance, including judiciary and de- centralization processes, and mac- ing with the government. These country's commitment to democ- roeconomic stability. discussions are often time con- racy. It is important to point out that suming, but they produce better Secondly, macroeconomic stabil- today, although we may not have policies based on consensus and, ity must be pursued in order to con- consensus on every specific issue, therefore, make implementation trol inflation. Price fluctuation due we do have consensus on the es- easier. to inflation creates problems for sence and general direction the Finally, a key measure of suc- the consumers and leads to strikes government has imparted to the cess is community development. and mass protests. Conversely, in country--on allocation of re- We are devoting more and more ef- a situation of macroeconomic sta- sources, on state control of re- forts to community development bility it is easier for the govern- sources, and on the way we receive because this would be the basis for ment to implement policies that aid. the country's capacity develop- benefit society--agricultural ment. When our communities are policy, resettlement policy, Measures of success prepared to face the challenges of demining policy, HIV/AIDS fight- natural disasters and diseases ing policy, and so on. Macroeco- In order to be able to sustain the such as malaria, tuberculosis, and nomic stability should not be post- level of capacity development ex- HIV/AIDS, Mozambique will have poned as a policy. perienced in our country in the achieved true capacity develop- Finally, much depends on lead- last decade, we have to be aware ment. ership. Leadership at all levels of the areas in which we achieved must be guided by clear and far- our major successes. In the area Transferring the achievements reaching vision, which extends to of poverty reduction, indicators the future of the country. It should show that the living standards In view of the success set directions that put the country have improved thanks to economic Mozambique had in implementing on a steady course, but should not growth. This is our first measure its development agenda, we are of- force policies on the people with- of success. ten asked whether our country out consensus. It should open up The second measure of success could be a model to be replicated the development process to a great is the issue of institutional capac- in other post-conflict countries. My variety of voices from all the stake- ity. Our institutions are now able answer to this question is that holders. to make policies, create programs, Mozambique's post-conflict experi- Stakeholders such as NGOs and and control projects. They are also ence may be useful to other coun- foundations, on their part, should handling gender issues at all lev- tries, keeping in mind a few es- live up to their responsibilities and els. These are major improve- sential points. make a valid contribution to capac- ments that strengthen institu- Firstly, the given country should ity development. And, last but not tional capacity. The third measure stabilize its post-conflict environ- least, the government should pro- of success is the growth of the pri- ment by keeping peace and secu- tect the freedom of the press, which vate sector, with a total invest- rity, consolidating democratic in- is one of the foundations of a demo- ment, both internal and foreign, of stitutions, and encouraging broad cratic society. US$7 billion since 1997. Only participation in the development three countries in Africa have process. The latter is especially Donors' cooperation such a level of investment: Sudan, crucial, because one of the causes where there is oil; Angola, where of conflict in Africa is poverty and International donors are impor- there are oil and diamonds; and the sense of exclusion. Equally tant partners in our development Mozambique, where there are nei- important is to strengthen demo- agenda. We need to keep them in- ther oil nor diamonds. cratic institutions. Mozambique's volved in the process. But we also Still another measure of success spending for the parliament went have to take ownership of our pro- is the involvement of civil society. up from US$200,000 to US$3 mil- grams. After all, ownership is a Our civil society is actively en- lion per year in the post-conflict key measure of capacity develop- gaged in discussions of policy mak- period, which is indicative of the ment in the country. We are mak- ing progress in this direction. budget. While we had a very posi- is dialogue. Initiative may start In 1996, we started implement- tive response to this approach from from one side or the other, but the ing the Sector Wide Approach the donors that are currently work- issues should be discussed in a (SWAp), which allows the govern- ing with us, other potential donors clear and transparent manner, and ment, once a program has been are still reluctant to join because agreement should be reached, approved in consultation with the of negative experiences they had which assuages the donors' con- donors, to take ownership and in other countries. cerns and guarantees ownership implement it, without discussing I think that oftentimes this is to the receiving country. disbursement of every single dol- due to the fact that some leaders I am convinced that the leaders' lar. It practically amounts to bud- are too timid to discuss their response would be enthusiastic, get support. During the implemen- country's needs with donors such because if a government has been tation the government reports on as the World Bank and the IMF. democratically elected by the will indicators of process. Only at the Rather, they would passively accept of the people, it is implicit that its end of the program, would the gov- the donors' proposed projects with- role is to do the people's work and ernment account for output and out claiming ownership, and as a fulfill the mandate for a better fu- costs. Under SWAp, the donors consequence implementation may ture. And a better future is achiev- could present their projects, but not have a positive outcome. What able mainly through capacity de- they must fit in the government's the donors should do, in my opin- velopment. strategy, and should be approved ion, is to challenge those leaders, only after discussion and agree- to stimulate them, to encourage This article was written by Her ment. them to take initiatives, to provide Excellency, the Prime Minister of There are at present 17 donors examples of programs that worked Mozambique, Ms. Luisa Diogo, and that participate in the SWAp ap- in other countries in similar situ- is reproduced from the World Bank proach, and they include the World ations, and to create a space for Institute's Development Outreach Bank and the European Union. The ownership. The donor's represen- September 2005 issue. It is based on great advantages of this arrange- tatives may raise questions such her presentation at the "Capacity ment are ownership, predictability, as: "How do you want to approach Matters : Operational Implications" long-term commitment, and gender issues?" Or: "What do you conference in Washington DC, on additionality of resources to the want to do to improve girls' educa- June 8, 2005. tion?," and the like. The essential factor in dealing with the donors