Quarterly Performance Report: Wajibika Project

The project is implemented by Abt Associates Inc. in partnership with the Prime Minister's Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PMO-RALG), the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW), Family Health International (FHI), and TechnoBrain Ltd. During the quarter January 1 to March 31, 2011, the project implemented several activities, including supervisory follow-up on the development of facility plans and the compilation of Comprehensive Council Health Plans (CCHP). The Wajibika team visited all councils in Dodoma, Morogoro, and Pwani regions to follow up on the progress of facilities' development of their 2011/12 health plans, which will feed into the overall CCHP plan and budget. The team also assisted the visited Council Health Management Teams (CHMTs) in areas where difficulties were reported, such as forecasting resources from different sources during the budgeting process. The project also signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with the council authorities in the councils visited, outlining areas of intended collaboration between the councils and Wajibika. Among 19 councils, 17 have signed the MOUs (89%) thus far. The councils that have not signed are Morogoro Municipal Council and Rufiji District Council, which requested time to consult their legal officers before signing. Advocacy activities were also conducted during the quarter, including meetings with national authorities to discuss the government's plans to roll out the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) and possible areas of collaboration with the project. The Wajibika team met with PMO-RALG to discuss the government's plans to roll out IFMS to all councils that do not yet have the system, and agreed to assist in the training of 660 accountants from all councils. The team also met with the Deputy Permanent Secretary and provided an update on the progress of the project, and met with MOHSW and MOF to discuss issues related to the tripartite MOU. Other findings from the supervisory visits included that CHMTs are working hard to complete the CCHP preparations using the new MOHSW guidelines, most relevant stakeholders were involved in the process of developing CCHPs, CHMTs are using the facility plans to develop their CCHPs, and RHMTs have been involved in the preparation process of CCHPs. Several councils included a costed CCHP pre-planning activity in their 2011/12 CCHP budgets, indicating that the councils understood the value of the pre-planning and budgeting meetings to the CCHP process. The project's progress in the quarter January 1 to March 31, 2011, has been significant, with several key activities implemented and challenges addressed. The project's continued support to the councils in developing their CCHPs and implementing the IFMS system is expected to contribute to improved fiscal and programmatic accountability in the LGA.