South Sudan Enhancing Community Resilience and Local Governance Project

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A detailed assessment of the contexts are included in the Concept Note. This includes reference to the recent violent conflict and climate change, and their impact on people, government, and service provision. It specifically focuses on the risks of GBV and social cohesion. It notes that poverty in South Sudan has reached unprecedented levels. Access to infrastructure and services is severely limited and the Government is unable to provide services to the people. The document also refers to the achievements of the Bank-financed Local Governance and Service Delivery Project (LGSDP), predecessor of the current project.The proposed project aims to address the immediate needs for basic services in vulnerable counties as measured by a composite vulnerability index (which include exposure to violence, natural hazard, concentration of the returnees, food insecurity, lack of access to basic services and remoteness), while strengthening the community institutions’ capacity to better manage inter-communal tensions and resources. To ensure flexibility and adaptability to accommodate changing population dynamics and fluctuations in the status of the local government and conflict dynamics, block grants will be allocated on a yearly basis and activities will be implemented in a phased manner. The project will finance the activities described below with a preliminary budget estimate of US$65 million. A project period of 36 months is proposed – short enough so as not to perpetuate direct third-party implementation, but long enough to allow sufficient time for community mobilization and local institutional strengthening. Component 1: Community Infrastructure and Services (US$45 million)This component will support investments in community-level socio-economic infrastructure and services in selected areas. Eligible investments are limited to construction or rehabilitation of public goods such as water supply and sanitation facilities, community roads, markets, health facilities, education facilities among others to ensure maximum community benefit. The selection will be made through an open menu approach subject to a negative list where communities will be allowed to choose freely, in a participatory manner, based on their needs. Such an approach, rather than a closed menu approach which gives communities a set of sectors to choose from, provides a better learning process to strengthen the communities’ capacity for local development and budgeting while empowering them to act as active drivers of recovery in an inclusive manner. This approach is especially aligned with efforts to increase the participation and agency of women, girls and other marginalized groups (Component 2). The proposed implementation through UN agencies lends itself to a more complex facilitation that is required for such an open menu approach while ensuring consistency of outcomes across different areas. Communities’ priorities will be validated through local service mapping to avoid overlaps and maximize the limited resources available by possibly pooling the block grants to finance common priorities among neighboring communities. The project will use the administrative division of the former 10 states, 79 counties, 2008 payams until the new sub-national boundaries are officially agreed. Such practice is in line with how the national budget is being allocated and how other development partners are operating. Selection of counties will be guided by four criteria: (i) vulnerability; (ii) feasibility; (iii) equity; and (iv) quick wins. The Bank will prioritize counties with high vulnerability but where there is practical feasibility i.e.- not too insecure and physically accessible and where there is support from the county government; ensure equities across both conflict-affected areas and more stable areas as the predecessor LGSDP was only in conflict-affected areas , and ensure that more conflict-affected areas benefit from the project (as they have historically been deprived of assistance due to insecurity); and finance “quick wins” by selecting a subset of unfunded subprojects under the LGSDP in more vulnerable counties to deliver tangible results quickly and help build the momentum of the project early on. The project will encourage contractors to utilize local labor in the infrastructure construction or rehabilitation to the extent possible. Particular emphasis will be given to the inclusion of various social groups facing marginalization or barriers to participation (e.g. women, youth, returnees, ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities etc.).Component 2. Local Institution Strengthening (US$12 million)Sub-Component 2.1. Community Institution Strengthening. This sub-component will support activities related to: (i) community mobilization; (ii) participatory risk analysis/mapping and risk mitigation training; (iii) support for community institutions on participatory development planning, infrastructure construction/rehabilitation/monitoring, and operation and maintenance (O&M); and (iv) facilitate constructive interaction between communities and the county government. This sub-component supports Component 1 as the participatory planning process generates the investment priorities, supports community monitoring during subproject implementation, and O&M of completed subprojects. Communities will be mobilized into Boma Development Committees (BDCs) and Payam Development Committees (PDCs) in line with the LGA. The Participatory Planning and Budgeting Guide for Local Governments in Southern Sudan (2010), which helps operationalize the LGA, calls for broad and inclusive membership of the BDCs/PDCs including traditional authorities, civil society, and requires gender balance with a 25 percent female representation. Building on the Guide as well as the LGSDP guidelines for BDCs/PDCs composition, ECRP will ensure that there is a minimum of 35 percent female representation. Where BDCs and PDCs already exist, an institutional assessment will be undertaken to assess their composition and capacities. Any deficits will be addressed with interventions based on these findings. PDCs and BDCs will serve as umbrella local governance institutions whose remit will go beyond a specific project. They will be supported to play a larger role in local development and resiliency planning for their communities, as well as serving as an interface between community and the county government. Sub-Component 2.2. County Government Strengthening. This sub-component will finance activities related to: (i) county government functionality assessment; (ii) training for county government officials in areas such as service delivery planning to utilize the infrastructure financed under ECRP leveraging other ongoing external assistance with relevant line departments e.g.- how to ensure sustainable medical supplies, teachers’ attendance etc., positive engagement with communities through participatory development planning, ECRP subproject implementation monitoring, BDCs/PDCs performance monitoring, and periodic reporting on ECRP implementation. This component will also provide mobility support for the county government officials to help them visit the subproject sites and participate in the BDCs/PDCs planning workshops as needed.Component 3: Project Management and Learning (US$8 million)This component will support: (i) project management including technical planning, financial management, procurement, social and environment risk management, and communications; (ii) project monitoring which includes geo-enabled monitoring system, social audit, and beneficiary feedback/grievance redress mechanism; (iii) hiring of an independent verification agent that monitors the progress towards achievement of results; (iv) continuous data collection on beneficiary impacts and local conflict dynamics; and (v) just-in-time studies as and when needs arise. Such studies may include PPP-based O&M, technical assessment of the subprojects, GBV risk