At the request of the Chadian Government, a multi-donor mission visited N’Djamena from June 12 to 23, 2007. The mission included representatives from the African Development Bank, the European Commission, France, Germany, the IMF, the United Nations (including UNDP, UNHCR, UNICEF and FAO), the United States, and the World Bank.
The main objectives of the mission were to follow up on the implementation of the MoU signed on July 13, 2006 and better understand the security situation in the country. In this regard, the mission had to (i) assess the level and composition of priority sector spending and analyze outputs delivered in key social priority sectors, (ii) develop a results matrix to include objectives already identified by the Government for priority sectors (health, education, agriculture and livestock, and infrastructure), (iii) seek to ensure medium-term fiscal sustainability, (iv) address weaknesses in budget control and the quality of spending, and (v) assess the higher level of exceptional military spending and its impact on budget allocation and execution.
The mission ended with a High Level Forum attended by key cabinet members and presided over by the Prime Minister. The parties agreed upon an action plan including Public Finance Management and sector actions to be implemented over the time. More specifically, the Forum led to the following conclusions and recommendations: the 70 percent provision in the MoU may not be met in light of the security situation which led to high military spending over the past year as a sovereign necessity. Chances for political stability are greater now than they have been in some time, which provides the opening for a greater focus on development results. Currently, expenditures in priority sectors have risen so quickly that the Government must focus on improving the quality and efficiency of these expenditures; and there is a need to ensure that development issues have the attention of the highest authorities to ensure that development impact increases.
In that respect, the mission was followed by a meeting in Paris on Saturday, July 21st between the World Bank's Vice President for the Africa Region, Ms Obiageli Ezekwesili and Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno who confirmed his agreement with the recommendations of the multi-donor mission.
|
