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MOZAMBIQUE

Mozambique counts 129 Districts in 10 Provinces and a population of 30 million people. LoCAL is engaged in 17 districts across 4 provinces in Mozambique.

Climate Vulnerability:

Extreme climate phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña, bring droughts, floods and cyclones on a regular basis to Mozambique. Data from the Institute for Disaster Relief show that, between 1985 and 2008, over 16 million people were affected by droughts and over 100,000 people died as a result. Between January and May 2019, the country was hit by tropical cyclones Idai, Kenneth and Desmond, displacing tens of thousands of people and destroying infrastructure and livelihoods. Cyclones have affected almost a third of the country, especially the coastal provinces undermining national efforts to reduce poverty, improve food and nutritional security, expand infrastructure and services and reach the targets set out in the Sustainable Development Goals.

National Response

Mozambique is undergoing a major decentralization and deconcentration reform that will see the gradual transfer of responsibilities, personnel and funding to the provincial and district level. In 2018, a constitutional amendment allowed the entry of new decentralized and deconcentrated hybrid bodies characterized by the election, in 2019, of governors and members of provincial assemblies with their own powers. The process is due to be completed with general elections in 2024 and will see transfer of a host of responsibilities to district level including many that are key to climate change adaptation suhc as: preservation of the environment; commerce and industry; water supply;natural resource management; energy resources; transportation and public transit, participatory local development; public services; public works; and recreation, culture and tourism. Many of these sectors figure prominently in climate change adaptation.

LoCAL-MOZAMBIQUE

Brief:

Since LoCAL’s inception, a total of 62 projects have been prioritized and financed through the PBCRG, 39 of which were under implementation in 2020. Most of the investments concern the rehabilitation and construction of climate-adaptive infrastructure, and provision of equipment and goods.

Responses to climate change and food security are most effective when designed in accordance with locally prioritized needs. To this end, the Mozambique Ministry of Economy and Finance —with UNCDF technical support and financing from the Belgian Government—worked to strengthen decentralized local governance and local development finance, focusing first on the Gaza Province in southern Mozambique.

  • The LoCAL initiative, with its initial local government-led development interventions in Gaza Province, was reinforced with financial support from the Governments of Sweden (2018) and Catalonia (2019) as well as the European Union (2019), with Switzerland ready to pledge support as of 2021. Ultimately, the enhanced government capabilities for financing local adaptation plans in Gaza were extended to include additional provinces. This crucial step has guaranteed follow-up financing after the initial pilot phase (2015–2018), which was financed and supported by the Belgian Development Cooperation and UNCDF in the Gaza Province with a combined budget of $8 million.

  • For the current five-year period (2018-2023), a total of $25 million has been committed to the LoCAL programme (Phase II) to reinforce locally based climate-resilience development finance in Mozambique.

17 Districts engaged in 4 provinces

62 Adaptation investments

1,9993,950 people in Districts supported

Budget: US$ 7,989,968 (2014-20)

Action on Climate Change:

In 2020, PBCRGs were mostly devoted to social infrastructure, specifically schools and hospitals, by rehabilitating / climate proofing existing ones and building new facilities to improve access to basic social services for climate-vulnerable groups (i.e. women and children), amid the COVID-19 emergency. To further preserve public health in the face of climate change threats, most districts identified realization of multi-functional water supply systems as a priority intervention to ensure reliable access to drinking water. In 2020, 39 investments were undergoing in 17 districts for a portfolio amount of $2.47 million.

Through participatory activities, local consultative councils, community representatives – women, men and youth, including the most vulnerable – identify, prioritize and select the climate-adaptative investments that best correspond to their needs. This enhances community awareness and engagement in local governance, planning and budgetary processes; and also allows local governments to be held accountable in providing adequate public and climate- smart goods and services. The decentralized participatory approach strengthens feelings of inclusiveness and ownership, building a strong base for the success of the interventions in the districts, trust in local governance and the sustainability of the LoCAL programme.

PROGRAMME DETAILS

Objectives

The overall outcome of LoCAL-Mozambique is to improve the resilience of districts to climate change as a result of increased access to climate change adaptation financing through performance-based climate resilience grants (PBCRGs). Five specific outputs contribute to the achievement of this overall outcome. Adding to this are rural livelihood development interventions, specifically focused on responding to the current COVID-19 pandemic:
■ An effective PBCRG system established as a finance mechanism in Mozambique and operational for additional funding
■ Inclusive, effective and accountable climate change planning and budgeting processes at the district level
■ Climate change adaptation activities managed efficiently, effectively and transparently and implemented by participating districts through the PBCRG system
■ A monitoring and evaluation system and lessons learned to inform national policies about experiences from the LoCAL launch and integration of climate change in all stages of public financial management processes and improvement of public financial management
■ Completed roll-out plans and capacity-building support for new districts in new province(s) established by the end of the programme
■ Effective and inclusive support to rural livelihoods affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the climate-affected districts

Achievements

  • Since its launch in 2015, LoCAL has been reinforcing the government-led planning, budgeting and investment cycles to finance local adaptation plans and, more broadly, implementation of district development plans.

  • As of 2018, Mozambique successfully transitioned into Phase II, extending its reach to four provinces – Gaza, Inhambane, Nampula, Zambezia – covering 17 climate-affected districts. Donorship has grown beyond the initial support of the Belgian Development Cooperation to include the Governments of Sweden (Gaza and Inhambane) and Catalonia and the European Union (both for Nampula and Zambezia) for the 2018–2023 period. Negotiations are underway with donors to add a littoral dimension and funding to existing LoCAL programmes.

  • Seventeen districts have integrated climate change adaptation into their development plans. Also, 754 national- and local-level officials have participated in awareness and capacity- building activities such as integration of climate change adaptation into local planning processes and how to develop local adaptation plans. Periodic planning and sensitization workshops (at least one per district each year and two workshops involving all provinces participating in LoCAL) have been carried out with programme support.

  • The integration of the PBCRG system into the intergovernmental fiscal transfer system further facilitated delivery to the public financial management system of $8 million over the coming years to finance resilient interventions in the four selected districts under LoCAL.

  • LoCAL’s implementing partners – the Ministry of Land and Environment, through its National Directorate of Environment, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, through the National Directorate of Planning and Budget – have supported policy dialogue among the development partners and donors to consolidate LoCAL-driven experience in five provinces for the 2018– 2023 period. The development impact achieved within the Environmental Sector Support Programme (PASA II) financed by Danida, the European Union and Irish Development Aid, combined with the programmatic lessons emerging from implementation of the LoCAL mechanism in Gaza and Inhambane, has guided design of the new programme in the Niassa province (2020–2023) to begin implementation in 2021 and the start of implementation of resilient development interventions in the Nampula and Zambezia provinces (2019–2022).

  • The LoCAL initiative, with its initial local government-led development interventions in Gaza Province, has been reinforced with financial support from the Governments of Sweden (2018) and Catalonia (2019) as well as the European Union (2019), with Switzerland ready to pledge support as of 2021. Ultimately, the enhanced government capabilities for financing local adaptation plans in Gaza were extended to include additional provinces. This crucial step has guaranteed follow-up financing after the initial pilot phase (2015–2018), which was financed and supported by the Belgian Development Cooperation and UNCDF in the Gaza Province with a combined budget of $8 million.

  • For the current five-year period (2018-2023), a total of $25 million has been committed to the LoCAL programme (Phase II) to reinforce locally based climate-resilience development finance in Mozambique.

  • UNCDF manages – in consultation with government partners – the financial resources, localized capacity building and technical assistance to further operationalize local adaptation plans and climate-adaptive investments in the focal provinces. LoCAL programmatic development interventions support and build on existing government-led and -managed climate change adaptation experiences in the selected districts. As of 2020, 17 districts – Gaza (up-scaled to 8), Inhambane (5), Nampula (2), Zambezia (2) – are supported, and Niassa (3) will join in 2021.

  • The make-up of Mozambique’s LoCAL programme allows for it to adapt and be tailored to the country’s changing environment and local needs. Examples include responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by increasing access to basic necessities such as water/soap; extending a focus to the climate-sensitive coastal/littoral zones; exploring nature-based solutions; strengthening social inclusion, civic rights and government accountability in providing public services – all in the context of local climate adaptation and resilience development. This demonstrates the LoCAL programme’s comprehensiveness and ambition.

Way Forward

  • The LoCAL Niassa programme will be operationalized with local partnerships and technical assistance established to begin implementation. A novel and close collaboration with a civil society actor will support implementation in enhancing the effective, accountable, efficient and inclusive provision of public services to women, men and youth in the selected district and municipalities. Awareness will be raised among citizens of their civic rights and duties, thus building greater local government accountability and dialogue on locally identified needs and performance issues.
  • Annual performance assessments have been carried out in Gaza, Inhambane, Nampula and Zambezia. Districts will be informed of their allocations for the next financial cycle based on performance as well as compliance with minimum conditions.
  • Programmatic implementation will take advantage of PASA development experiences as well as of existing government-based human resources, processes and local government systems.
  • LoCAL will continue to fine-tune performance measures within the PBCRG system in the selected districts to pave the way for expansion to new areas.
  • Priority will be placed on improving the monitoring system to ensure adequate service delivery by both LoCAL and complementary programmes.
  • The Assessing Climate Change Adaptation Framework (ACCAF) will be rolled out with UNCDF support.
  • LoCAL Mozambique continues to explore further opportunities, partnerships and local development and climate adaptation needs to enhance its reach, impact and sustainability.

More Information

Climate change adaptation falls within the core mandate of community councils, along with land use planning, natural resource management and infrastructure development. Climate change adaptation requires effective coordination of various stakeholders. As a gateway for development facilitation at the local level as well as custodians of all development, community councils are strategically positioned to play this coordination role. However, community councils seldom have sufficient resources to execute these functions.

The overall outcome of LoCAL-Lesotho is to improve the climate change resilience of the communities in the selected councils as a result of climate change adaptation activities funded through the performance-based climate resilience grant (PBCRG) and capacity development support. By promoting climate change–resilient communities and economies via increasing financing for and investment in climate change adaptation at the local level, LoCAL-Lesotho will directly contribute to one of the country’s development plan pillars – reversing environmental degradation and adapting to climate change.

The objectives for LoCAL-Lesotho are as follows:

• Increased transfer of climate finance to local governments through national institutions and systems for building verifiable climate change adaptation and resilience

• A standard and recognized country-based mechanism which supports direct access to international climate finance

Four outputs are envisaged:

(i) inclusive and accountable climate change adaptation is mainstreamed into local council planning;

(ii) government, local authority and population awareness of and capacities in adaptation and resilience planning are improved;

(iii) an effective country PBCRG finance mechanism is established and operational, providing additional funding to targeted community councils; and

(iv) experience and lessons learned are consolidated and shared.waiting results of annual performance assessment (APA). Lessons are being drawn from the LoCAL pilot to expand the LoCAL and its PBCRG mechanism to additional community councils in Lesotho and to attract additional finance to be channelled through the LoCAL mechanism to finance locally led adaptation and increase resilience of communities and local economies. This intends to prepare for a fully integrated mechanism into the country systems and a scaling-up country-wide.

Objectives

Achievements

Way Forward

Stories from the Field

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