How to Prepare MDG based Plan or Strategy

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How to Prepare MDG based Plan or Strategy
Yuba Raj Khatiwada United Nations Development
Programme MDGI, Regional Centre in Colombo
Serving Asia and the Pacific
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Contents

• Developing MDG based Development Strategy
• MDG Needs Assessment Approach to Planning
• Methodology and Tools
• Writing MDG NA based Plan
• Macro Framework for MDG based Plan
• Developing Financing Strategy
• Linking MDG based Planning with MTEF
• Key Policy Issues

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Developing MDG based Development Strategy (1)
the Process

• High-level political commitment
• Nationally-owned
• Integrated into on-going processes
• Inclusive with participation from key actors
• Transparent
• Regularly reviewed

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Developing MDG based Development Strategy (2)
Key Steps
Step 1 Launching the process with institutional
set up
Step 2 Adapt the MDG targets, Review Existing
Plans, Establish Baselines
Step 3 Undertaking MDG Needs Assessment and
Costing through 2015
Step 4 Developing Macroeconomic Framework,
Policies, and Financing Strategy
Step 5 Preparing MDG NA based Development
Strategy and drafting 3-5 year Plan to
Operationalize it.
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Developing MDG based Development Strategy (3)
Institutional Set-up

• A high level MDG based planning committee (headed
  by Finance/ Planning Minister) constituted to
  lead the process and oversee NA and planning
  exercise.
• MDG NA Costing led by governments Task forces
  constituted by thematic areas - comprise of
  members from different concerning Ministries,
  public sector agencies and non government
  organizations.
• Consultative process built in the formation of
  task force and NA work.

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MDG Needs Assessment Approach to Planning (1)

• Identify and assess..
• Who and where are the poor, deprived, and
  excluded from development process? Identify the
  population in need Disaggregate the analysis.
• What needs to be done? Focus on public
  investments (capital operating costs)
  Undertake Needs Assessment from now until 2015
  Cover goods, services, human resource,
  infrastructure Unlock capacity constraints
  through prioritization of interventions.
• How much? Local unit costs of GS x population in
  need Human resources required to meet each
  benchmark Infrastructure needs.

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MDG Needs Assessment Approach to Planning (2)

• Include interventions that target the poor
  directly (e.g. school feeding programs, improved
  non-cash crops, subsidies for girls attending
  school)
• Ensure pro-poor coverage rates(e.g. universal
  coverage of essential health services, particular
  focus on underserved regions)
• Adapt financing strategy to the poor(e.g. end of
  school fees and health user fees, subsidized
  infrastructure services where necessary)
• Identify policies and supporting institutional
  reforms
• Link strategy with budgets / MTEFs

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MDG Needs Assessment Approach to Planning (3)

• Key Elements of MDG-based Planning
• Ambition- national targets are at least as
  ambitious as MDG targets for 2015
• Scope- the range of sectors identified is broad
  enough to achieve all the MDGs
• Rigor -for each sector, the strategy is based on
  a detailed, bottom-up needs assessment
• Timeline -the medium term plan/strategy is nested
  in a long term MDG framework
• Financing -sources of financing are determined in
  line with ensuring access to MDG G S

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MDG Needs Assessment Approach to Planning (4)

• NA-based planning is typically a bottom-up
  approach..
• Physical targets based on goals are at the root
• Financial targets are derived through costing
• Priorities are clearly defined-MDG vs. others and
  within MDGs themselves.
• Overall macro constraints are derived with
  necessary actions and required resource inflow

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Methodology and Tools (1)

• Bottom up approach of identifying interventions,
  costing them, and linking to national development
  strategy done in a sequential manner
• Targets are specifically set, unit costs are
  worked out and total cost for achieving the
  target estimated.
• All types of inputs or resources like financial,
  human and infrastructure related ones are
  identified and costed.
• MP Excel based tools applied to do NA and
  costing UNESCO Model for Education, Resource
  Need (now UNDP RCC) model adopted for costing
  HIV/AIDS

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Methodology and Tools (2)

• Two pronged approach followed for incorporating
  Gender, Environment, ICT, and CD under MDG NA
  (i) mainstreaming interventions in sectoral NA
  and costing and (ii) additional NA for the cross
  cutting, policy and institutions related areas.
• The Excel based tools customized to capture
  country specific additional intervention needs.
• Policies and institutions related interventions
  identified and costed as additional interventions
  ( if they have financial implications for
  implementation).

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Methodology and Tools (3)

• Key policy lapses and gaps to be identified in
  the bottom up approach of identifying
  interventions, costing them, and linking to
  national development strategy.
• Existing policies, plans, strategies, and
  programs to be reviewed and credible ones
  incorporated into MDG NA.
• Policies having implication for higher or lower
  public sector engagement -- like creating space
  for private sector in socio economic services --
  to be factored in the NA process.

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Writing MDG NA based Plan

• MDG NA is an input to the planning process, not a
  plan in itself requires complementary analysis
  of policy formulation, institutional structures,
  and ME to evolve a full fledged plan document.
• Following a local and national consultative
  process for ensuring national ownership of the
  plan is essential.
• Macro framework and financing strategies are to
  be anchored with the MDG NA to make the Plan as a
  common document for pledging resources and aid by
  the donors.

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Macro Framework for MDG based Plan (1)

• Macro framework essential to link the investments
  estimated through MDG NA costing to macro
  economic fundamentals.
• Macro framework necessary to estimate the implied
  economic growth rate and its distribution to be
  achieved by investing in MDG related areas and
  then to estimate income poverty outcomes.
• Macro framework also essential to develop
  comprehensive MDG financing strategy as it
  enables the projection of domestic resource
  mobilization for meeting MDG investment
  requirements.

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Macro Framework for MDG based Plan (2)

• Purpose of MDG-consistent macroeconomic
  framework
• Estimate key economic variables (GDP growth,
  exchange rate, national saving, private sector
  investment, current account balance, etc.)
• Project government revenues to map out MDG
  financing strategy
• Support policy formulation
• Monetary and fiscal stabilization
• Pro-poor tax systems
• Promotion of private sector investment
• Check MDG needs assessment (Goal 1)

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Developing Financing Strategy (1)

• MDG Financing strategy should be developed by the
  Ministry of Planning/ Finance with inputs from
  the TTFs, particularly in household financing.
• Macro framework along with the estimates of GDP
  and household income will provide input for
  domestic resource mobilization for financing MDGs
• Fiscal space for domestic borrowing, higher
  revenue collection or rationalizing non MDG
  investments need to be explored.
• The remaining financing gap has to be covered by
  ODA. Dialogue with major donors is needed to
  ensure higher aid commitment.

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Developing Financing Strategy (2)

• Sequence of Preparing an MDG Financing Strategy--
• Estimate financing needs
• Prepare MDG-consistent macro framework
• Project government resource mobilization
• Estimate household contributions
• Identify MDG financing gap (debt relief
  development assistance)
• Identify strategy for maintaining macro stability

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Developing Financing Strategy (3) Elements of an
MDG financing strategy
Government MDG expenditures
MDG Financing Needs
Domestic resource mobilization
Household contributions
MDG Financing Gap (closed through ODA including
debt relief)
Debt service payments
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Linking MDG based Planning with MTEF

• Building MDG-consistent MTEF to link MDG
  interventions to specific allocations in the
  national budget include capital recurrent
  costs, link cost with output and outcome,
  protect key investments.
• Prioritizing investments and proper estimation of
  investment based on Needs Assessment.
• Setting up mechanism for periodic review of
  development outcomes-building system for ME.
• Establishing public accountability
  mechanism-transparent fund, monitorable outputs,
  public audit.

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Key Challenges and Issues

• Integrating MDG NA into long term plans and
  strategies
• Building capacity in the government to undertake
  intensive MDG NA and costing and to
  institutionalize it.
• Incorporating Gender, Environment, ICT and
  Capacity Development interventions in all the
  relevant sectoral MDGs NA and Costing works.
• Integrating existing sector strategy, plan and
  credible programs into the MDG NA based plan or
  strategy.
• Ensuring MDG NA based planning, programming and
  budgeting as a dynamic process and making use of
  the work for annual programming and budgeting.
• Developing synergy among all development partners
  to help the country to prepare MDG based long
  term plan or strategy with a bottom up approach.

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Proposed Action Plan for Preparing MDG based Long
Term Development Strategy (1)

• First Month Institutional Arrangements
• Establish Political Level Steering Committee (led
  by of Planning / Finance Minister (functions
  issue action plan for the NA and costing work,
  establish MDG thematic/goal wise task forces for
  NA and costing, provide oversight for the works
  of the task forces, oversee the consolidation of
  task forces reports, lead the national
  consultation process, finalize the work)
• Establish a core group at the MOF/ Planning to
  consolidate the works of the TTFs as critical
  input to the development strategy
• Establish Thematic Task Forces (TTFs) to
  correspond with the goals set under MDGs
  /Investment Clusters identified in the Needs
  Assessment Methodology
• Define roles of the government, UNCT and other
  development partners in supporting the MDG NA and
  costing for preparing the strategy.

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Proposed Action Plan for Preparing MDG based Long
Term Development Strategy (2)

• Second Month Training on MDG NA and Costing
• Training on NA methodology for TTFs - each TTF to
  be trained (one day each) in the relevant NA
  module
• Follow up support to the TTFs to their hands on
  the tools and guidelines to the TTFs on
  customizing excel sheets.
• NA preparatory work
• TTFs review vision documents, sectoral
  strategies, Master Plans, sectoral programmes,
  and action plans
• TTFs review the NA and costing exercise of other
  similar countries which have done NA and costing
  for the work in which no sector specific tools
  are available.
• Familiarize with the whole planning tools and
  process identification of the resources for
  input in NA work.

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Proposed Action Plan for Preparing MDG based Long
Term Development Strategy (3)

• Third-Fifth Months MDG NA and Costing Exercise
• TTFs identify all cluster specific interventions
  necessary for achievement of the MDGs by 2015
• TTFs carry out consultations with other
  government agencies, donors and non-governmental
  organizations while determining interventions
  setting coverage target.
• TTFs undertake costing of sectoral interventions
  with the collection of baseline information,
  setting of coverage targets, unit cost
  estimation, target population in need and
  estimation of sectoral investment requirements
• Preparation of draft reports of individual TTFs
  identifying specific interventions and associated
  sectoral investment needs.

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Proposed Action Plan for Preparing MDG based Long
Term Development Strategy (4)

• Sixth-Seventh Month Consolidation of the draft
  TTF reports
• Consolidation of sectoral investment needs for
  the long term development strategy/plan. This
  would include key strategic directions and
  provisional costing of sinterventions.
• National workshop on the draft sectoral Needs
  Assessment and Costing report
• Development of macro framework, financing
  strategy and macro as well as sectoral policies
• Eighth-Ninth Month
• First draft of long term development strategy
  ready for consultations with national
  stakeholders and donors.
• National workshop on the draft of long term
  development strategy involving national
  stakeholders and donors.
• Finalization of preliminary report on Needs
  Assessment and of Sectoral Investment Needs for
  the long term development plan.