THE recently completed World Bank study on the country’s rural investments has recommended the re-defining of funding streams and the integration of planning processes as vital.
The study called, ‘Solomon Islands-towards better investment in rural communities’ had recommended that the three main funding streams of provincial, constituency and community must be clearly specified.
The study recommended that funds should be aligned to clarifyd and distinctive mandates with appropriate capacities for implementation.
This is to avoid financing of similar activities across the three funding streams which is seen to be a waste of resources and duplication of work that in most cases achieved little and can’t be accounted for.
The study identifies the type of investments and activities that should be the focus of funding for each of the three streams.
It further recommends that integration of the planning process is very important for each of the three funding streams to align with the re-defined focus of each stream.
The study highlights that the planning process should be fed from the bottom up.
Adding, it should start with participatory planning at the village and ward levels, then advance to the provincial and national levels.
“Coordination across the various levels and funding programs should be centered around the annual provincial central planning process,” the study said.
This would require an inter-ministerial coordination group established to maintain an inter-ministerial subnational financing coordination group to implement the programs.
By DANIEL NAMOSUAIA