The Poverty Alleviation Strategy Coordinating Office (PASCO) coordinated the preparation of the Sierra Leone Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (SL-PRSP) under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Development and Economic Planning (MODEP) until January 2004. In February 2004, a Technical Working Group chaired by the Director of the Development Assistance Coordination Office (DACO) was established to supervise and fast track the completion of the SL-PRSP. Since then, DACO has been key in all activities relating to the completion of the SL-PRSP. The final draft of the document was circulated in March 2005 and subsequently launched in April 2005.

To facilitate the implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, DACO has been expanded to incorporate a Monitoring and Evaluation unit alongside a Poverty Reduction Coordination unit. The Monitoring and Evaluation Unit is primarily responsible for coordinating the Monitoring and Evaluation activities with regards to the PRSP whilst the Poverty Reduction Coordination Unit coordinates PRSP implementation activities of MDAs as well as track development assistance to Sierra Leone. This unit will also support the implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy through providing technical and secretarial support to the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) and the National Technical Committee (NTC). Finally, the unit will develop an effective communication strategy and action plan for the dissemination of information relating to development assistance as well as the implementation of the PRS.

NEW MANDATE FOR DACO

Clearly, at the national level, the central government will play the leading role as MDAs already have the statutory responsibilities for formulating and implementing sectoral programmes. However, in line with the Government’s decentralization programme, coordination structures have been set up to support planning, implementation and monitoring of the SL-PRSP both at the national and district levels. The IMC and the NTC have been set-up to guide the implementation of the PRS.

The IMC is chaired by the Vice President and have the overall responsibility of overseeing the implementation of the PRS. The IMC provides the necessary policy guidance for programme implementation. At the technical level, the NTC comprises professional heads of MDAs as well as representatives of NGOs and Civil Society. The NTC provides overall technical and professional guidance by reviewing sector progress at both the national and district level. In addition, the NTC promotes the participation of civil society in the implementation and monitoring of the SL-PRSP.

The SL-PRSP was prepared against the backdrop of widespread poverty and an environment of competing demands on limited resources. The Government is committed to instituting a robust system for monitoring and evaluation of the programmes/activities identified in the SL-PRSP. The line ministries primarily responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the sectoral programmes while DACO coordinates the monitoring of the programmes to ensure that the specific pillar objectives are met. DACO will use the Consultative Group results matrix as the basis for the monitoring of the targets in each sector. DACO will rationalise data generated by SSL and Line Ministries for input into the annual PRS Progress Report.

As the SL-PRSP is both the planning and resource-programming tool, its implementation cannot be divorced from the capacity building in the widest sense. The public systems of service delivery and human resources capacity are recognized as key obstacles to effective implementation of the SL-PRSP. This is underscored by the fact that the requisite capacities for programme design, implementation, and economic and financial management in the public sectors have declined progressively over the years. Reversing this trend is crucial for the successful implementation of the SL-PRSP.

DACO supporting the Ministry of Presidential Affairs in the development of a comprehensive capacity building programme to enhance the implementation of the PRS. This programme will take into account all on-going capacity building initiatives and ensures that a holistic approach to capacity building for the implementation of the PRSP is developed. Presently, with the support of UNDP and DFID-UK, DACO/SLIS is providing specialized capacity building support to the Ministry of Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Lands and Country Planning and the Freetown City Council. DACO will continue to provide such support through the end of the 2007.

The coordination of development assistance has been done by DACO. This function has continued to be carried out, as it is crucial in the implementation of the PRS. Specifically, DACO is doing the following:

1. In close collaboration with Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Sierra ensure that all external development assistance to Sierra Leone is systematically incorporated into the annual budget.

2. In close collaboration with Ministry of Development and Economic Planning and Bank of Sierra Leone, ensure that all development assistance channelled through NGOs are recorded and analysed by sector, Donor and region.

3. In collaboration with MODEP, ensure that NGO activities are consistent with the programmes and activities identified in the SL-PRSP.

4. Prepare and disseminate periodic reports on aggregated and disaggregated external assistance data and provide update on development assistance and related issues.

5. Serve as secretariat for the Development Partnership Committee (DEPAC) meetings and other Government/Donor meetings including Consultative Group (CG) and Round Table Conferences (RTC).

6. Facilitate the formulation of an Aid Policy for Sierra Leone in line with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

The UNDP SLIS is a component of the Development Assistance Coordination Office (DACO). The unit is dedicated to developing sustainable solutions in support of the Government of Sierra Leone’s increasing eGovernance demands. These solutions are primarily geared toward enhancing informed decision-making and policy formulation for key government ministries, donors, UN organisations and their implementing partners.

UNDP SLIS was established by UN-OCHA in 2002 to coordinate the collection of data that will give an indication of the level of socio-economic destruction down to the chiefdom level. In addition, a Who, What, Where data bank was also established to identify the various actors with the chiefdoms. The information analysed by SLIS gave birth to the district data packs, sector data packs and the CD encyclopedia. These products formed the basis for the Consolidated Appeals Process during the Humanitarian and Relief phase.

In 2004, as Sierra Leone was transitioning from Relief to Development, the role of UNDP SLIS was examined and re-adjusted. It was agreed that the UNDP SLIS products should shift focus from a statistical approach to humanitarian and relief to development to eGovernance. Resources have since then been commissioned to provide specialized capacity skills development for certain MDAs.