NAHR EL BARED RECOVERY : THE WORLD BANK PROGRAM

1. NAHR EL BARED RECOVERY :THE WORLD BANK PROGRAM LPDC Workshop Tripoli November 26, 2008

2. MAIN ACTIVITIES • FMIP Loan: US$80 million /North = 18m • Supplemental Grant to FMIP: $30 million /North = 5.5m • Tripoli City Development Strategy: US$350,000 (grant) • Nahr El Bared (NBC) Recovery MDTF and Local Development • NBC Post conflict Grant: US$2million • Regional Development Strategy and North Lebanon Pilot Program: TA

3. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES • (i) Restore basic services and rebuild priority public infrastructure in the affected municipalities and villages • (ii) Support local economic recovery and development in the municipalities that have been impacted • (iii) Provide targeted assistance to most vulnerable groups through Community Development activities • (iv) Foster the capacity of municipalities to mitigate the impact of the hostilities on municipal finances (within the broader context of developing the municipal sector)

4. PROCESSES • Municipalities are at the center of the program They are fully responsible of selecting their priorities / subprojects. • The Municipal Council formally approves every investment • All Contracts are signed with the municipality • Municipalities are the prime responsible of project implementation • The Council commits to provide adequate maintenance

5. NORTH LEBANON FUNDING DISTRIBUTION

6. SECTOR CONSTRAINTS • Inadequate infrastructure with great geographical disparities between districts • Scarce municipal resources (fragmented source of own revenues & non transparent transfers) • Limited institutional capacity at central government level to manage the sector: Inadequately staffed (+staffing freeze). Weak motivation/incentives • Little capacity at local government level and almost no support • No business standards and no sanctions are enforced • No regionalization of sector investment programs and poor coordination among line ministries • Social fragmentation Overall poor implementation performance is a major disincentives for up scaling assistance

7. REFORM PRIORITIES • Strengthen the sector oversight and coordination (General Directorate of Municipal Administration) • Provide financial incentives to best performing municipalities • Foster cooperation between MOF and MOIM • Reform the municipal finance system • Limit setting-up many non-viable municipalities, etc. • Establish a professional cadre for local governments • Streamline the clearance processes

8. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY • - Vision of the long term DEVELOPMENT goal of the country with a Framework for action based on Regional Master Plan • Pilot Development Strategy for North Lebanon (covering Akkar Mouhafaza) and integration with the adjacent territories • - Multi-sector approach combining provision of key infrastructure but also foster the human resource base. 4. - Multi-level governance structure relying on decentralized decision making processes, 5. - Participatory approach with transparent decision making process 6. - Sustainable funding with stable, predictable and reliable resources 7. - Realistic time frame with early visible results and managed expectations. 8. - Flexible implementation modalities (contract-based) to formalize the commitments of the various parties 9. - Proactive communication strategy