2013年-世界发展银行全球_Liberias_New_National_Development_Strategy___Planning_for_Stronger_Results_in_a_Low_Capacity_Context_12页_660kb

Summary of Liberia's New National Development Strategy: Agenda for Transformation

Core Content

Liberia's new National Development Strategy, the Agenda for Transformation (2012-2017), was developed with the support of the World Bank Institute (WBI) and the Government of Liberia. It aims to improve development outcomes in a fragile and low-capacity context by focusing on results-based planning, institutional change, and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

The strategy was designed to address the limitations of the previous Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), which was output-focused and lacked institutional coherence. The new approach emphasizes outcomes over interventions, ensuring that development efforts are aligned with a clear national vision and measurable goals.

Main Objectives

• Improve the capacity to formulate an effective, country-led and -owned PRS using practical, collaborative results tools.
• Design the PRS to drive institutional change processes in the Liberia context.
• Integrate national planning, monitoring, and budgetary processes around common development outcomes.

Key Lessons from Strategy Planning

• Address institutional constraints: Identifying specific institutional barriers helped in planning interventions to accelerate reforms and measure progress.
• Create a multi-stakeholder, outcome-based framework: This enabled diverse actors to align around national outcomes and improve coordination.
• Facilitate adaptive learning: The "learning by doing" approach allowed government actors to develop local capacity and adapt tools to the national context.
• Reach consensus on outcomes: Stakeholders prioritized outcomes over interventions, leading to a more focused and coherent strategy.
• Frame multi-stakeholder efforts: The strategy identified systemic constraints and emphasized collaboration between government and non-state actors.
• Map institutional change processes: Stakeholders agreed on the sequence of changes needed for each reform, improving alignment between short- and medium-term priorities.
• Cascaded a network of stakeholders: A multi-level network of leaders, champions, and teams supported the strategy design and implementation, enhancing ownership and legitimacy.

Background and Context

Liberia has made progress in recovery from civil war, including peace, governance, and basic infrastructure. However, the country remains fragile with deep institutional and socio-economic constraints. These include economic exclusion, mistrust in the state, high youth unemployment, and fragmented society.

The government set an ambitious vision of achieving middle-income status by 2030, which required a more robust and transformative strategy.

Innovations in the Strategy

• Sequenced strategy information around a results chain: The government used a consistent results logic to organize all strategy inputs, moving away from output-based planning.
• Planned reforms to address constraints: The strategy was framed around specific institutional barriers such as corruption, mistrust, and transparency issues.
• Framed multi-stakeholder capacity development: The strategy emphasized collaborative capacity building beyond traditional training, involving local actors in driving change.
• Identified local actors to drive results: Local change agents such as community leaders, civil society groups, and private sector actors were empowered to lead reform processes.
• Integrated PRS planning with budget and monitoring: The strategy aligned with the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), national monitoring, and M&E planning.

Achievements

• A new strategy with stronger expected results, integrated with the national budget.
• A legitimate and empowered planning process, supported by the cabinet and all major stakeholders.
• A country-led, outcome-based results framework that guides development co-operation and resource flows.
• Enhanced government capacity in results-based budgeting and M&E.
• A collaborative and transparent planning environment that encourages stakeholder dialogue and ownership.

Opportunities and Needs Going Forward

• Expand non-government stakeholder involvement: Encourage civil society to take more active roles in planning, monitoring, and implementation.
• Identify new partners: Support multi-stakeholder capacity development to address common constraints and behavioral changes across sectors.
• Integrate the National Capacity Development Strategy (NCDS): Align capacity development with the new strategy to improve institutional performance.
• Align donor strategies: Translate the country’s vision into donor collaboration and support for development outcomes.
• Enhance sub-national planning: Strengthen the capacity of local governments to implement the strategy effectively.

Conclusion

Liberia's Agenda for Transformation represents a significant shift in development strategy, focusing on results, institutional change, and multi-stakeholder collaboration. It offers valuable lessons for other fragile and low-capacity countries, demonstrating how to design and implement effective, country-owned strategies. The use of outcome-based results frameworks and adaptive learning is key to achieving sustainable development outcomes in challenging contexts. Continued support for M&E, donor coordination, and local capacity building is essential to ensure the strategy's success and to drive Liberia toward its vision of middle-income status by 2030.