Ahmed Sitti Fatouma Chargée de la Coordination de l’Aide Commissariat Général au Plan The current Aid coordination System UNION DES COMORES UNITÉ – DÉVELOPPEMENT- SOLIDARITÉ PRESIDENCY OF THE UNION OF COMOROS Commissioner General of Planning

Presentation summary 1. General Information about Comoros 2. State of Development Aid after the Donors Conference in Mauritius 3. Current context for Aid Coordination 4. Towards establishing a system of transparent Aid Management 5. Challenges 6. Conclusion

1. General information about Comoros Union of the Comoros is a post conflict country that has found stability after nearly a decade of political and institutional crises (since 1997) National reconciliation has led to the return of development partners after the holding of the donor conference in Mauritius Received $9m from the UN towards the Peace Building Fund In September , we received $21.5m from IMF towards the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF)

2. State of Foreign Aid after the Donor Conference The conference resulted in mobilization of resources to the tune of 200 million dollars to finance the Action Plan ( ) of the Strategy Paper for Growth and Poverty Reduction. By end of 2007, only 54 million had been absorbed by the country. In response to this, the government and its partners held a consultation meeting to discuss factors blocking the utilization of resources.

The meeting served to make the following conclusions: 1. A weak national coordination mechanism for assistance; 2. A weak national ownership of the process of development management; 3. A weak national capacity for strategic planning and operational implementation of development.

Government Commitments: Clarify and simplify the process of national aid coordination for better efficiency Pursue the establishment of transparent mechanisms for public financial management to facilitate access to direct budgetary aid Define and implement a joint program of strengthening national capacities for development management Establish a transparent system of management of foreign aid

Actions undertaken: A study on the environment related to the management and coordination of Foreign Aid in the Union of Comoros as well as some recommendations to improve it; the recommendations were:- The establishment of an institutional mechanism to coordinate foreign aid The establishment of an aid information management system (AIMS) The country's accession to the Paris Declaration on Improving the Effectiveness of Aid The definition of a joint program of capacity building for development management

3. Current context of the Foreign Aid Coordination Union of Comoros became a signatory of the Paris Declaration Setting up an institutional system allowing the coordination of Aid for development in the Union of Comoros

4. Establishing a transparent management system of the Foreign Aid

The management of the Foreign Aid is handled by the Commissioner General of Planning through the Public Investment Program (PIP). The PIP is in charge of the programming of the interventions of partners during the year. The PIP also makes sure the projects are carried out accordingly by asking for updates every three months. Gathering of the information that fuels the PIP is made possible through information forms sent out to partners and project managers who fill them and send back.

The information on Aid provided by the PIP is quite often partial because the information on non-resident partners is not always available. Collecting information from non-resident partners is far from easy because the information forms are not systematically sent back and the department in charge has very limited possibilities to ensure effective follow-up with the different partners.

In addition the government wants to establish a transparent aid information management system which will, in due course, provide complete information on the Foreign Aid to all development partners. The system will bring about the following: It will make the information on foreign Aid available to the government and its partners. It will allow the integration of information on the intervention of non-resident partners. It will facilitate the decision making and the gathering of additional resources.

The implementation of the system will face the following challenges : 1. Lack of technical capacity 2. High staff turnover will undermine the sustainability of the system 3. Limited internet connectivity and the recurrent problem of lack of electricity 5. Challenges

6. Conclusions The state of management and coordination of foreign Aid is improving significantly. The institutional system coordinating Aid is operational and has been very active on the finalization process of the Strategic Paper on Growth and Poverty Reduction. The government intends to strengthen these efforts through the implementation of an AIMS that will enhance transparency.

Thank you for your attention