The Local Millennium Development Goals Initiative (LMDGI)

Timeframe: 2004 - ongoing

Implemented by WaterAid

LMDGI is a programming technique used across WaterAid West Africa programmes which brings the MDGs right down to the local level as a basis for positioning local government to move forward to carry out equitable planning and implementation of programmes to meet these goals.
The initiative facilitated in partnership between WaterAid and Enda Tiers Monde was designed to be implemented in six countries in the West African sub-region: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria and Senegal. The initiative was planned for a time frame of 24 months, commencing in 2004. Its implementation is based on local partner NGOs as the operational implementers in partnership with local government institutions in the six target countries.
The programme is expected to motivate communities and their local authorities to recognize and mobilize the potential resources available in the respective countries. Following the successful pilots a new regional partnership was forged in 2006 to expand the LMDGI approach to 12 countries.

 

Objectives of the Initiative:
The initiative aims to provide local authorities with the capacities and means of leading the   processes of expected change in terms of access to drinking water, hygiene and sanitation. More specifically, it will consist of:

-    Sensitizing local authorities on the objectives of the MDG and setting up
     follow-up mechanisms regarding the transfer of competences related to
     drinking water and sanitation;
-    Enhancing the leadership capacities of elected officials at the local level to
     conceive, implement and evaluate projects aimed at improving populations’
     access to drinking water and sanitation;
-    Capitalizing on lessons drawn from national experiments in order to improve
     the  institutional framework of decentralization and transfer of competences
     related to water and sanitation.

The LMDGI steps taken by most of the countries involved:

-    Sensitization and awareness creation
-    Stakeholder analysis/LGA capacity gap assessment
-    WATSAN mapping process : field data collection
-    Restitution workshop
-    Planning meetings
-    Sharing of the development plans
-    Disseminating the outputs of the process
-    Translating the plan into action

 Specific results achieved by LMDGI:

-    More awareness of local MDG gaps and challenges and aroused ambition to
     meet the targets;
-    Databases on the district water and sanitation situation exist in all LGA that
     have participated in the initiative;
-    Communities that were hitherto ‘hidden’ have now been identified, though
     watsan mapping, and added to LGA community lists. This mean that they can
     now begin to enjoy some development projects for the first time;
-    There is increased capacity, skills and competence for data collection,
     analysis, planning and participatory decision making in some LGAs across the
     region;
-    Water and sanitation strategic plans have been drawn in most of the
     participating LGAs, basing on very reliable field data generated through
     active community participation;
-    Visual digital maps reflecting facility location, distribution, functionality, etc
     are being used as advocacy tools in all the four countries; these maps
     facilitated very clear appreciation of resource allocation so far and made
     planning and targeting easier and more focused;
-    Platforms have been established for citizen-provider engagement, public
     hearings, and transparent resource allocation;
-    Many of the communities now have the chance to comment on the promises,
     plans and the standard of services that they receive;
-    Mechanisms and structures for monitoring LGA actions or inaction on Local
     Development Plans/ District Water and Sanitation Plans towards counting
     the numbers to meet MDG targets using community score cards.