June 20, 2005 -- When put in the driver's seat, poor communities are proving they can find their own solutions to improve service delivery, increase their decision making power through social accountability, and, in the aftermath of war or violence, resolve local problems and rebuild societies devastated by conflict. This is what the World Bank had in mind when it designed the approach for Community-Driven Development (CDD) five years ago. The approach empowers the poor and gives communities the freedom to make their own choices about improvements to their well-being by prioritizing investments, working as partners in service provision and directly managing funds under World Bank projects. "Five years into our experience with community driven development it's clear that we have seen much better service delivery, much better accountability and ultimately more peaceful development when communities embrace this approach," said Steen Jorgensen, Director for Social Development, the World Bank. Making Everyone Accountable CDD gives communities voice and influence. It gives citizens decision-making power through this development approach that links community participation with local management of resources, making both citizens and politicians accountable for results. "People make the right decisions, unselfish decisions, when they're held accountable. National leaders will made good decisions if they're truly accountable and village leaders and village committees will make the right decisions if they're truly accountable," said Andrew Steer, the World Bank's Country Director for Indonesia. Building on Success The Bank and partners have moved forward community-driven programs during the last five years. Results are evident in different sectors and all regions, including rural development, water supply and sanitation, social funds, and slum upgrading projects. Social investment funds directly finance small community-managed projects. In the last decade, the World Bank has financed 108 social funds and similar demand-driven, multi-sectoral projects in 57 countries. These funds have proven to be an invaluable instrument in reaching the poor and in capitalizing on the energies of a wide range of partners: public sector, private sector, NGOs and the local communities themselves. Total World Bank financing to date for Social Funds is US$3.7 billion and more than 100,000 poor communities world-wide have benefited. "Moving forward, the challenge is to permanently embed CDD in national poverty reduction strategies, making community action and initiative an essential ingredient of sustainable local development," said Daniel Owen, CDD Coordinator at the World Bank. In the last five years the CDD portfolio has grown from approximately $1 billion to more than $2 billion of annual investment, averaging about 10% of the Bank's portfolio. The number of projects with CDD funding increased from FY04 to FY05 by 35%, or from 89 projects to 120 projects. It is projected that number of projects with CDD funding will continue to grow as projects are incorporated into Poverty Reduction Strategies and as successful projects are scaled up. Examples of Community-Driven Development Approaches When community based-organizations are responsible for project design, implementation, and the assessment of project delivery, evidence suggests that programs cost less and results are more sustainable. Improving Services for the Poor
Without active and ongoing community engagement and social outreach, basic service delivery often fails. Using CDD approaches, new social and community roles are established and more dynamic partnerships are often brokered with external agencies, and local government, civil society organizations or the private sector. With basic service delivery improvements, community investment is often catalyzed in other areas. Building Social Accountability
The CDD approach makes development more accountable by putting people at the core of decision-making and giving them voice to control their own future. Through community based groups, citizens work with the local government to prioritize their needs for basic services and make government accountable for their promises. Creating Peace Dividends
For communities who have lived under conflict, CDD offers citizens an approach to help rebuild their communities, and generate attitudes of trust and tolerance. Experience shows that when community ownership has been strong, conflict is less likely to reemerge. Kecamatan Development Program in Indonesia
In Indonesia, the Kecamatan Development Program (KDP) provides citizens, particularly the more disadvantaged groups and women, with authority and control over investments and pushes decision-making down to the lowest levels. Funds are distributed through decentralized block grants to help communities decide for themselves where they want funds to be allocated. Alternatives vary from infrastructure to health and education. The program has been expanded from 25 villages to more than 28,000 and reaches more than 25 million people. Wolfowitz Praises Burkina Faso's CDD Program
On his trip to Burkina Faso, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz praised Burkina Faso’s far reaching community-led development program that has empowered women, led to a new well with safe drinking water, improved forest management, and a cereal bank that help citizens maintain nutrition through periods when food supplies run low. |
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