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MDGF-1684: Mainstreaming environmental governance: linking local and national action in Bosnia and Herzegovina

PLEASE NOTE THIS CONCEPT NOTE IS THE ORIGINAL SUBMISSION TO THE FUND. IN MANY CASES INDICATIVE BUDGET AMOUNTS APPROVED BY THE STEERING COMMITTEE ARE CONSIDERABLY LOWER THAN THAT REQUESTED AND INDICATED HERE-IN. FINAL BUDGET AMOUNTS WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE AFTER APPROVAL OF THE FINALIZED DETAILED JOINT PROGRAMME DOCUMENT.
Thu, 2007/06/07 - 12:05pm — Stefan.Priesner...
Thu, 2007/06/07 - 4:04pm
Thu, 2007/06/14 - 11:32am
Stefan.Priesner@undp.org
English  (current)

ID: MDGF-1684

Environment and climate change
Round 1
(26/04/2007 - 31/12/2009)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
$8,991,415
36 Months
Mainstreaming environmental governance: linking local and national action in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Attached Documents:

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A. Applicant Information

Europe
  • Lower Middle Income Country
  • High HDI, according to UNDP's 2006 Human Development Report
  • Christine McNab
  • christine.mcnab@undp.org
  • Aris Seferovic
  • aseferovic@undp.ba
  • Stefan Priesner
  • UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
  • Deputy Resident Representative
  • stefan.priesner@undp.org
  • Harald Egerer
  • UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme
  • Head, UNEP Vienna
  • harald.egerer@unvienna.org
  • UNDP - United Nations Development Programme ($6,602,174)
  • UNESCO - United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization ($240,000)
  • FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ($486,841)
  • UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme ($1,412,400)
  • UNV - United Nations Volunteers ($250,000)
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B. Concept Note

The proposed programme to be jointly implemented by FAO, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO and UNV will address and overcome barriers to delivering environmental services and management at the local level in BiH. Interventions centre around providing capacity for developing Local Environmental Action Plans for 40 municipalities, providing seed funding for local service delivery priorities, raising the awareness and national level support for environmental action through an environmental innovation fund, and systems for capturing environmental data. The programme will strengthen management of environmental resources and service delivery through improving local environmental governance and developing replicable models for local environmental planning. The knowledge generated will inform and support national planning and policy. This will help achieve MDGs 1, 6, 7 and 8 in BiH. Implementation will involve the participation of central and local government that have committed to provide co-financing.

Without effective delivery of environmental management and services, the Millennium Development Goals (particularly 1, 6, 7 and 8) will not be realized in BiH. Addressing and reversing this situation requires an integrated multi-level approach of building capacity and incentivising local agents of change, and informing, supporting and enabling entity and national level policy, legislative and institutional development. Environmental management, protection and service delivery in BiH has been largely overshadowed by more pressing and immediate post-conflict priorities. Direct material damage from the war is estimated at $50-60 billion, with additional indirect damage estimated at $100bn. Even today the GDP is only at around 70% of its 1990 level. In view of this it is not surprising that around 20% of the population live below the absolute poverty line. The 2003 National Human Development Report (NHDR) on MDGs in BiH concluded that poverty reduction is the number one priority, with environmental management and governance being fundamental issues that need addressing if poverty is to be reduced and MDGs 1, 6, 7 and 8 achieved. This has been backed up by the BiH Medium-Term Development Strategy (MTDS – equivalent to PRSP), which identifies poverty as the main problem in BiH, and the 2007 NHDR on Social Inclusion. Key issues include a lack of environmental policy and legislation; poorly developed environmental management and implementation capacities; little public participation in environmental decision-making; and a lack of reliable information and data. BiH has serious environmental problems in the areas of water, forestry, health, land management (including abandoned land and land mines), contaminated land and waste management. Despite the documented importance given to the environment in poverty reduction, surprisingly little donor attention has been paid to it: the 2006 UNDP Donor Mapping Report states that only 0.6% of ODA (€2.7m) was allocated to environmental protection. The European integration process requires major changes in environmental management. EU environmental policy legislation covers a wide range of sectors and represents the most extensive and most expensive part of implementation of the EU laws. Currently the capacity of BiH authorities to move this process forward is extremely limited. Unusually complex governance structures and constitutional arrangements have resulted in a lack of a coherent policy and planning framework in the environment field, poor governance and jurisdictions divided between the two Entities without an effective coordination role at national level. It is very encouraging that the new Government (from February 2007) has proclaimed environment as one of its priority areas and is committed to work on resolving the mounting environmental problems. The issues of environment have been identified in the key national strategic planning documents as high priorities. The main guidance document in the environment sector is the National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) and the outcomes of the joint programme have been mapped against the main action points. Furthermore, the key environment related priorities identified in the MTDS are: i) strengthening the legal and institutional framework; ii) improvement of the system of funding and capacity in this sector (through the establishment of environmental funds) and encouraging local level implementation; and iii) strengthening environmental statistics. Through the current UNDAF for BiH, the UNCT in BiH has clearly committed itself to supporting BiH progression towards European Integration, and environment is one of the .priority areas for support. This proposed programme responds to the BiH UNDAF Outcome Number One: “Strengthened accountability and responsiveness of government to pro-active citizens”, as the UNDAF attributes the poor environmental protection in BiH to the lack of environmental policy, legislation and its implementation, poor public participation in environmental protection and sustainable development, and unsustainable rural and urban development. The MDGs, MTDS and European accession processes have common features: governance reform, poverty reduction and provision of basic services, to which this programme directly responds. The procedure for Kyoto Protocol ratification in BiH has been initiated, but there is little awareness and knowledge of its requirements among the government, public, and private sector. The Government lacks both the human capacity and financial resources to initiate the implementation process and has already approached UNDP for assistance. There is a clear commitment to commence the implementation activities on the Government side in order to become eligible to participate and host GHG reduction projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). BIH still has to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and establish appropriate legal and institutional frameworks, namely Designated National Authority and CDM approval procedures. The rationale behind this programme is to take an integrated approach to systematically addressing the key barriers that have been identified by the Government, UN agencies, and the EC. The main barriers addressed by this programme are: • Inadequate capacity and skills for planning and implementing environmental management, at the local level and entity/state levels; • Weak local level environmental planning mechanisms; • Lack of data for climate change and environmental monitoring; • Ineffective environmental resource management; • Poor delivery of environmental services; and • Low levels of awareness regarding environmental management, climate change and Kyoto mechanisms. The UNCT has extensive and very positive experience of supporting local governance reform with a particular focus on participatory planning processes. Several area-based development programmes providing support and capacity building for local level delivery of environmental services are being successfully delivered in BiH. These have captured experiences and knowledge, providing an evidence-base to inform, influence and support policy and legislative developments. The proposed programme builds on these experiences and skills, directing them toward environmental governance reform.

Please refer to Annex A – Joint Programme Results Framework, for specific outputs and activities. This Programme has three closely aligned and mutually supportive outcomes, designed to deliver significantly improved local management of environmental resources and service delivery (Outcome II of the thematic window). This will in turn contribute to a reduction in poverty and vulnerability by helping achieve MDGs 1, 6, 7 and 8. The three outcomes have been identified jointly by the UN Country Team and the Government of BiH as priority areas, where interventions can produce concrete and significant results in the life of the programme. Outcome 1: Improved local level environmental planning Environmental governance is very low on the planning agenda at municipal level and is not viewed as an important component in regional sustainable development. This is not symptomatic of a lack of interest or perceived importance of environmental governance: it is due to a lack of capacity to address the issues. The focus will be on developing effective participatory environmental planning methods (building on highly regarded social inclusion processes already implemented by UNDP across BiH), using multi-stakeholder decision support methods to identify and prioritise environmental management and delivery requirements. This will include development of Local Environmental Action Plans (LEAPs). LEAPs are a legal requirement in both Entities, and underpin the development of local environmental governance capacity. Some municipalities are more advanced in their environmental planning and service delivery than others. Our approach to building capacity will be to work with municipalities in groups of 2, with an ‘environmental champion’ municipality, that has already developed a LEAP, providing support and guidance to municipalities that are not so advanced. So far, 30 out of 143 municipalities in BiH have developed and approved LEAPs. A deeper understanding of the key environmental issues facing BiH, their relationship to sustainable development, social inclusion and poverty reduction, and how to plan and action activities to improve environmental governance will be built at the municipality level. Outcome 2: Enhanced management of environmental resources and delivery of environmental services In most of the municipalities there is an extremely low capacity for effective management of environmental resources or the delivery of environmental services. This, in turn, hinders sustainable economic development and deepens and embeds chronic poverty amongst the vulnerable. The UNCT agencies will utilise further their experience in delivering effective environmental resource management through capacity building and technical assistance across municipalities. A multi-agency approach will be taken to improving environmental service delivery mechanisms. This will be particularly focused on better provision of environmental services, energy, drinking water, sanitation, river and groundwater pollution, waste management and depletion of underground water, as key environmental priorities identified in existing LEAPs. A “Funding Mechanism for Environment” (FME) will be established, operating through a co-financing scheme. One window of the fund will provide $2 million in grants to support the implementation of the priorities identified through LEAPs developed under Outcome 1. The FME will: a) Directly benefit the communities and population at ground level though the financing of priority projects, FME will be multiplied though co-financing by municipalities applying for the funds, and by other donors b) Improve the level of capacities on national level and across the environment sector; c) Provide examples of best-practice, innovation and effective management and delivery models that will inform policy and legislative development; and d) Significantly assist BiH in meeting its obligations on the road to Europe. Outcome 3: Increased national environmental awareness and action, localizing and achieving MDGs. This outcome is focused on building national level capacity to develop and implement policy, thus ensuring the sustainability of local environmental service delivery, both in terms of policy development and funding allocations. The outcome has an output which will incentivise development and implementation of innovative approaches to environmental resource management and service delivery as well as for implementing multilateral environmental agreements. In order to strengthen national capacities to access carbon finance, direct support in establishing national CDM institutional and legal framework will be provided. Second FME window will disburse $2 million to provide incentives for development and implementation of national policy through supporting innovative proposals that link environmental management and poverty reduction, and generating lessons to inform further policy development. Linked with this will be the development of an environmental database capturing reliable information on environmental indicators, enabling informed decision-making. Local level developments, lessons and best-practices will be used to inform and influence policy development and mobilize awareness of environmental issues. Extract of Programme Deliverables: • 40 LEAPs • 40 Grants (in the range of $30,000-70,000) awarded through the programme FME to support LEAP implementation • At least 10 grants (up to $200,000) awarded through the FME to incentivise national policy developments and innovation • Kyoto protocol ratification and implementation • CDM institutional and legal framework established • Enhanced capacity of Environmental Protection Department, MoFTER • Environmental databases and national level environmental indicators • 1 State of the Environment Report • 1 set Participatory Environmental Planning Guidelines • Training programmes for 40 municipalities on environmental planning, adapting to climate change, management of waste, biodiversity management, renewable energy • Best-practice guidelines for delivery of environmental services

To secure the achievement of MDGs 1, 6, 7 and 8 in BiH there must be support for change at both the local and national level simultaneously, in a strategically and operationally aligned manner. The general problems in the fields of environmental policy and legislation, capacities, public participation in decision making on environmental issues, monitoring and analysing environmental data and a lack of economic incentives require a programme designed to address these issues at multiple levels. The three programme outcomes are designed to achieve this necessary synergy. The design of the programme is based on the need to have effective national level coordination and prioritization mechanism for the environment sector, not only as the central focal point for the many international treaties that BiH is party to, but also for the sake of the future EU accession process. In parallel, there is a focus on local environmental service delivery, where action can be rapidly implemented and can produce results more efficiently. The programme will establish a funding mechanism (Funding Mechanism for Environment – FME) with two financing windows. The first financing window will focus on the local level by supporting priority projects identified through the participatory planning process and LEAP development. A total of forty (40) performance based grants ranging from $30-70,000 will be awarded to municipalities with required matching funds. A second financing window will support the implementation of 10 innovative projects that aim to reduce poverty and social exclusion through environmental interventions. The two financing windows will also have a significant role to play in influencing and building effective, responsive and focused projects. Furthermore, by supporting environmental priorities and innovations the FME will strengthen capacities at national level by identifying agile and effective management approaches and generating knowledge for policy development. Various stakeholders will be involved throughout the programme. Outcomes 1 and 2 require the involvement of local level governments, civil society, communities and the private sector, while Outcome 3 focuses on work with national level stakeholders, namely state ministry in charge of environment and energy, entity ministries of environment, entity ministries of energy as well as academia. The participatory processes will follow rights-based principle, ensuring that the voices of often excluded groups, such as women, returnees, ethnic minorities, etc. are included in the identifying priorities. International cooperation will strengthen the transfer of knowledge and experience, which is imperative for the successful completion of the programme. Co-operation, among others, with European Commission and the World Bank has marked the concept note development phase and it will be continued throughout the programme implementation. In particular, close cooperation with the EC funded institutional strengthening project is foreseen. The programme is designed to build on and use fully the skills and experiences of the UN agencies involved. Working together, the UN agencies have a comparative advantage which needs to be utilised to benefit from synergies. The range of skills, experience, knowledge and support is unparalleled in international development and environmental management. Our strategic approach is to utilise the extensive skills and operational experiences of the UN implementation team to work with local and national partner organizations, drawing on their skills and capabilities, enhancing them where appropriate to further develop their capacity. While the specific roles for individual UN agencies and partner organisations are highlighted in Institutional Arrangements and Management Plan, the overall role of the UN agencies in this programme will be capacity building and technical assistance, moderation, and management of the programme. In order to further develop national capacity there will be an emphasis on developing in-country civil society and private sector skills through learning-by-doing, sub-contracting activities to local partners and joint implementation. As the UN agency with the most significant capacity at country level, UNDP will be the programme lead agency with responsibility for achieving the Joint Programme Outputs. With its strong implementation capacities and cooperation partnerships, UNDP will ensure quality and effective delivery of local level interventions. Given its strong mandate in environmental policy, UNEP will provide technical cross-programme coordination for environmental management issues at the national level. Within the programme, FAO will use its experience in supporting and strengthening management of natural resources as well as assessment and mitigation of health environmental threats. UNESCO will have a key role in providing organizational backstopping for all the activities related to environmental governance and capacity development, and will be providing trainings, assistance in development of legal framework and assessments of local environmental needs and services. Through all these activities, volunteerism in local environmental management will be actively promoted, building on work UNV has already done in this field. If BiH is to continue improvements in environmental management and service delivery, action will be required both outside this programme and after it has finished. The programme is designed to achieve financial, institutional, technical, environmental and social sustainability. Although budgetary support to environmental governance is limited and primarily directed to cover salaries and operating costs, the BiH Government has indicated its willingness to cost share the programme and initiate budget allocation for it starting in 2008. Furthermore, the programme will promote financial sustainability by supporting innovative projects that link environmental protection with poverty reduction and stimulate further policy development. Through programme interventions focusing at national level, sustainability will be achieved by raising awareness and providing access to carbon market mechanisms. The programme will achieve technical, institutional and implementation sustainability by building on results achieved under the existing UNCT projects, especially UNDP Rights-Based Municipal Development Programme, UNEP National Capacity Assessment project and FAO Participatory Land Use project, among others. Further sustainability of the programme will be achieved through UNDP local governance programme by assisting in institutionalizing the LEAP process and ensuring budget allocations for local environmental planning. Social sustainability will be achieved by including relevant stakeholders in developing a countrywide approach to poverty focused planning mechanisms, by incorporating local needs into environmental planning and priority setting and by building awareness of the benefits of environmental actions, through the “LEAP implementation support” window of the programme funding mechanism. Results from the programme will be disseminated within and beyond the programme intervention zone through a number of existing networks and forums, and through the programme technical reports, databases and publications. The programme will identify, analyze, and share lessons learned that might be beneficial in the design and implementation of similar future projects.

The following performance indicators will be used to monitor programme outcomes: Outcome 1: Improved local level environmental planning Indicator 1.1: No. of municipalities trained in environmental planning and programming Baseline: 0, Target: 40, Measurement: Training evaluations & reports Indicator 1.2: Environmental health risk assessment Baseline: 0, Target: 40 locations, Measurement: Field reports, Risk assessment reports Indicator 1.3: No. of LEAPs developed Baseline: 30, Target: 70, Measurement: Municipal Council decisions on LEAP adoption Indicator 1.4: Promulgation of regulations institutionalizing LEAPs (No.) Baseline: 0, Target: 2, Measurement: Government Official Gazettes Outcome 2: Enhanced management of environmental resources and delivery of environmental services Indicator 2.1: No. of grants distributed Baseline: 0, Target: 40, Measurement: MoUs/Contracts with municipalities signed Indicator 2.2: % of grant matching funds provided by municipalities/other donors Baseline: N/A, Target: 25%, Measurement: Co-financing agreements signed Indicator 2.3: No. of projects implemented Baseline: 0, Target: 40, Measurement: Project Monitoring Reports, Annual Review Reports Indicator 2.4: No. of developed and implemented preventive health risk systems Baseline: 0, Target: 40 locations, Measurement: Project progress reports, field reports Outcome 3: Increased national environmental awareness and action, localizing and achieving MDGs Indicator 3.1: Development of environmental policies based on lessons learnt Baseline: N/A, Target: Policies in 3 sectors developed, Measurement: Environmental policies and legislation documents Indicator 3.2: Functioning Environmental Information Systems Baseline: non-existing, Target: Database fully functional, Measurement: Number of users, size of databases, number of projects using database Indicator 3.3: Enabling legal and institutional CDM framework established Baseline: non-existing, Target: DNA fully functional, Measurement: National legal documents, DNA website Indicator 3.4: No. of innovative projects funded and implemented Baseline: 0, Target: 10, Measurement: Project Monitoring Reports, Annual Review Reports Indicator 3.5: Greater public awareness and informed population Baseline: Low, Target: Increased, Measurement: Surveys, Media monitoring Indicator 3.6: Expanded public access to environmental information Baseline: Outdated reports, Target: Updated report, Measurement: State of the Environment report The following risks that may affect the programme were identified during the concept note development: Lack of ongoing, long term political and government support for programme implementation. At both state and entity level, Government commitment to this programme has already been confirmed, including possibilities to cost share the programme. Highly participatory process of programme identification, concept note development and implementation strategy, together with ongoing consultations on ownership of programme development and implementation with key government stakeholders is already taking place and will continue throughout proposal development and programme implementation. BiH Constitutional reform that can transfer more responsibilities from entity to state level. At this time this risk does not pose a large threat to programme implementation as the programme is designed to deliver at municipal level, as well as to build state level capacities. By this, the programme largely mitigates the risk of shifting power between the state and entities, as environmental responsibilities and mandates at municipal level are expected to remain the same. Increased responsibilities at the state level will, in terms of this programme, increase absorption capacities and, therefore, enable more efficient delivery of results.

The UN Country Team (UNCT) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) comprises: FAO, ILO, IMF, IOM, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNICTY, UNOHCHR, UNV, WHO and World Bank. Additionally, there are several non-resident members, UNEP being the most relevant for this concept note. The MDGs, the BiH Government’s MTDS (equivalent to PRSP) and the increasingly important concept of social inclusion, are guiding principles for these agencies and are reflected in the UN Development Assistance Framework. Cooperation between the UN agencies during the last years has been very active and fruitful, with a number of successful UN collaborative projects related to the youth, providing assistance to communities in BiH, preparing BiH Census, tourism and mine action, and HIV/AIDS. In the area of environment protection, the most prominent joint initiative is the effort of FAO, UNDP, UNESCO and UNEP on developing a proposal for a regional project - the Dinaric Arc Initiative, with the primary goal of preserving environmental and cultural diversity and heritage. The agencies included in this joint programme are FAO, UNDP, UNEP and UNESCO. UNV will be providing specific technical assistance under the UNDP managed component of the programme. The aggregated expenditures of the agencies amount to USD 24,721,000 in 2005 and USD 20,788,568 in 2006, which shows significant delivery capacities. The extensive list of local Governmental and non-Governmental partners reflects to some degree the highly complex government and administrative system in BiH but also the participatory manner in which this proposal has been developed and illustrates how the implementation is foreseen. The key partners for this programme at national level will be the state Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations (MoFTER) and the two entity level Ministries of Environment. These Ministries will take active role in the strategic management of the programme though the Joint Programme Steering Board. At local level, the main partners will be Municipalities and Entities’ Associations of Municipalities that will, together with national experts, academia, research institutions, private sector, NGOs, and the key international partners, have an important role of providing technical inputs and effectively influencing the course of the programme activities, ensuring that they even better respond to the local needs and realities. Programme management arrangements will be fully in line with the PRINCE2 methodology, used by UNDP and some other agencies, which is an additional guarantee that programme implementation is well planned, well organized and efficiently conducted. Ensuring this will be the primary task of the Programme Implementation Team that will be fully responsible for the general management and delivery of the programme. Given the multi-agency nature of this programme, the Implementation Team will be closely supervised and guided on strategic issues by the Joint Programme Steering Board (PSB). The Board will be comprised of representatives of the Government (state and entity levels), Embassy of Spain, the UN Resident Coordinator and representatives of the UN participating agencies. The PSB will review progress against milestones and stage plan delivery, steer programme in relation to progress, evaluation and achieving outputs. It will serve as a strategic decision making board and the key coordinating mechanism among the agencies and with the Government. On the other hand, the Programme Advisory Committee will be focused on providing technical inputs for the programme. It will include representatives of municipal decision makers, national experts as well as the key international players. It is expected to provide concrete and specific guidance, support and feedback to the implementation unit. Specific responsibilities of each agency will be further defined in the programme inception document, as well as through the quality assurance procedures. The programme will be implemented though a UN Joint Programming arrangement under Pass Through modality. Each participating UN organization will be responsible for preparing reports in accordance with its financial rules and regulations and operational policies and the Administrative Agent will be responsible for consolidated reporting to the Donor in accordance to the agreed timelines. Reports will be presented to the Joint Programme Steering Board for review and comments. Regular reporting will be quarterly, with additional detailed annual reports. Given the complexity that delivering a joint programme entails, the agencies will pay special attention to monitoring and evaluation of joint activities. Monitoring will occur throughout the year and will be the responsibility of the participating UN agencies and the Steering Committee, being reported quarterly. The information will be thoroughly reviewed during the annual review process. The planned monitoring and evaluation of the joint programme will be part of UNDAF M&E plan. The UNDAF Evaluation will include a specific assessment of the joint programme looking in particular at UN System Collaboration. Additionally, there will be an independent mid-term output to purpose review to ensure that the programme is on track to deliver, and refine approaches if appropriate.

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C. MDG-Related Indicators

  • Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
  • Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
  • Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
  • Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
  • 2. Poverty gap ratio [incidence x depth of poverty]
  • 23. Prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis
  • 25. Proportion of land area covered by forest
  • 26. Ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity to surface area
  • 27. Energy use (kg oil equivalent) per $1 GDP (PPP)
  • 28. Carbon dioxide emissions per capita and consumption of ozone-depleting CFCs (ODP tons)
  • 29. Proportion of population using solid fuels
  • 30. Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural
  • 31. Proportion of population with access to improved sanitation, urban and rural
  • 34. Proportion of total bilateral, sector-allocable ODA of OECD/DAC donors to basic social services
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D. Formulation Advance

Yes
$20,000
UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
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E. Resident Coordinator's Undertakings

  • The Concept Note has been reviewed by the national government and the UN Country Team.
  • If approved by the MDG-F Steering Committee, the UN Participating Organizations undertake to submit a draft Joint Programme Document within eight weeks of notification.
  • All UN Participating Organizations have or will sign the global Memorandum of Understanding with the Multi-Donor Trust Fund Office.