Institutional Assessment Report: The National Commission for Social Action October 30, 2015 A Consultancy Report by Norbert O. Mugwagwa, PhD Table of Contents FOREWORD V INTRODUCTION 1 THE OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT 1 THE CONTEXT 1 THE SCOPE OF THE WORK 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND FINDINGS 2 ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY 5 I. SOCIAL PROTECTION HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 8 DEFINING THE SOCIAL PROTECTION AGENDA 8 IMPLEMENTING THE EMERGING SOCIAL PROTECTION AGENDA 9 II. THE EVOLUTION OF NACSA’S OPERATIONS 9 THE NACSA LEGAL MANDATE HAS REMAINED THE SAME SINCE 2008 10 NACSA PROGRAMS: SUMMARY OF PERFORMANCE AND DELIVERABLES 11 WHAT PROGRAMS AND INSTRUMENTS WERE PUT IN PLACE TO DISCHARGE NACSA FUNCTIONS? 11 INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW 12 WHAT NACSA OR RELATED RESULTS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED SINCE 2008? 13 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT 16 III. INSTITUTIONAL SET-UP AND IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS 17 A) INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 17 B) ORGANIZATION OF NACSA 20 C) SECTORAL COLLABORATION 22 D) IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS 23 FIGURE 7: PROPOSED IMPLEMENTATION STRUCTURE 24 IV. SYSTEMS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, QUALITY CONTROL, CREDIBILITY AND STAFFING 28 FIDUCIARY COMPLIANCE: FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATIVE EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY 28 INTERNAL AUDIT 29 NACSA STAFFING 30 V. IMPACT OF NACSA’S WORK 33 VI. FUNDING AND FINANCING SOURCES AND SPREAD 34 FIGURE 8: PARTICIPATION IN NSPIAF MEETINGS 35 FIGURE 9: NACSA TYPICAL SUBPROJECT CYCLE 36 VII. OFFICIAL ACTION REQUIRES OFFICIAL SANCTION 38 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 38 GOING FORWARD 40 BOX 2: MEETING THE CHIEF OF STAFF 40 BOX 3: MEETING THE NACSA BOARD CHAIRMAN 41 VIII. CONCLUSION: FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND NEXT STEPS 42 SPECIFIC FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 42 ii IX. NEXT STEPS 45 X. ANNEXES 47 ANNEX A: DOCUMENTS REVIEWED 47 ANNEX B: PEOPLE MET 48 ANNEX C: NACSA STAFF CONSULTATION SCHEDULE, MAY 2015 49 ANNEX D: REGIONAL AND DISTRICT STAFF MOVEMENTS, 2012–15 50 ANNEX E: CHANGING ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES 51 ANNEX F: SCHEDULE OF NACSA DIRECT AND INDIRECT SOCIAL PROTECTION PROGRAM AND PROJECT INTERVENTIONS 52 iii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS CSO civil society organization M&E monitoring and evaluation NaCSA National Commission for Social Action NGO nongovernmental organization NSPIAF National Social Protection Inter-Agency Forum NSPS National Social Protection Secretariat PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper SPTSC Social Protection Technical Steering Committee SSNP Social Safety Nets Project iv Foreword This institutional assessment has been authorized by the task team leader of the World Bank Social Safety Nets Project (SSNP) at the request of the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) of Sierra Leone. The assessment is meant to feed into the preparation of the follow-on national SSNP. The objective of the assessment is to assist the organization to restructure and strengthen itself to lead in the delivery of social protection services among the poor and vulnerable in Sierra Leone following the expiry, in 2018, of the 10-year mandate that was granted to the NaCSA in 2008. To that end, the consultant joined the implementation review mission, which occurred from April 28 to May 5, 2015, and presented the preliminary findings in the mission aide-mémoire, in addition to submitting an inception report. Follow-up work has included the NaCSA’s response to the inception report, the consultant’s comments and observations, and further guidance from the task team leader. This final report incorporates subsequent comments on the institutional assessment review and highlights the consultant’s findings. A big thank you to the Deputy Commissioner, Mrs. Haja Isatu Kamara, and the Coordinating Team, led by Messrs. M. Bangura and M. U. Koroma (NaCSA) and Abu Kargbo (World Bank), for providing invaluable support and organizing meetings with parliamentarians, key government officials, and other actors, and follow-up with NaCSA staff. The Commissioner, Mr. Alie Badara Mansaray, the Task Team Leader, Ms. Nina Rosas Raffo, the Coleader, Mr. Suleiman Namara, and the Chief Secretary, Mr. Saidu Conton Sesay, provided overall guidance and insights into the way forward for the NaCSA. v Introduction The Objective of the Assignment The objective of the institutional assessment is to assist the organization in restructuring and strengthening itself to lead in the delivery of social protection services among the poor and vulnerable of Sierra Leone following the expiry, in 2018, of the 10-year mandate that was granted to the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) in 2008. The Context The government of Sierra Leone made a directed decision to focus on social protection partly as a response to the Ebola outbreak and the resulting strain on the country’s resources. Social protection became a major focus because the country was battling substantial poverty arising from a poorly performing economy characterized by high unemployment rates among youth and adults, poor health among women and children, and the problems of orphans, the disabled, and people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. In addition, the legacy of displacement, war refugees, and war victims continued to trouble the delivery of services to these disadvantaged households and groups. The Social Protection Strategic Plan 2013–18 was developed and adopted to respond to these and other challenges. The government established the NaCSA as a lead agency to manage resettlement, rehabilitation, and reconstruction initiatives. The NaCSA pioneered the response and demonstrated strong implementation skills, coupled with accountability capabilities using community-driven development approaches. The country’s donors channeled sizable resources to finance the expansion of the community-driven development projects that were developed and managed by the NaCSA. The NaCSA became pivotal to the poverty reduction strategies of the government, the latest of which, the third Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP III), Agenda for Prosperity 2013–18, aimed to drive the country from reconstruction to development. The Social Protection Strategic Plan 2013–18 was developed and adopted as a key pillar of the PRSP III. The social protection strategy articulates social protection policy and programs and the implementing institutions. The NaCSA has a major role in the strategic plan; hence the call to strengthen and restructure the NaCSA. The Scope of the Work The scope of the terms of reference of the assignment was broad in some respects. Five areas were covered, as follows:  The institutional framework and organization: ensure an appropriate, effective, and efficient institutional framework  The planning of interventions supported by the NaCSA: ensure that the NaCSA program is strategic and focused to provide stronger sectoral complementarity in delivering better results in social protection  Systems for accountability, transparency, quality control, credibility, and staffing: ensure (1) more robust systems, processes, and procedures to demonstrate and 1 show results in real time and routinely in management information and decision making; (2) the availability of complete, up-to-date, and formally adopted documentation such as in the case of manuals and handbooks in use by the NaCSA, for example, the 2014 audit manual; and (3) ensure accurate and up-to-date staffing systems and staff records  Impact of the work of the NaCSA: ensure the timeliness of routine reporting on results, for instance, through quarterly and annual reports, as well as results- oriented reporting that informs the NaCSA and other actors on whether the program is having the desired impact in the short, medium, and long term or on the effects of the program on hunger, poverty, and vulnerability  Funding and financing sources and allocations: periodically report on the sources and applications of funds Executive Summary and Findings This report analyzes the origins and background of the work of the NaCSA, recaps earlier reviews of and progress in implementing social protection programs, explains the related institutional framework and organizational structures, and ventures to propose the way forward in social protection in the context of the situation after the close of the Agenda for Prosperity 2013–18. It describes the methodology—a combination of the appreciative inquiry and the results chain approaches—used in the analysis of organizational strengths and performance results and in envisioning positive future results to which the NaCSA may contribute. The report concludes that the NaCSA is crucial in leading the delivery of social safety net interventions for the benefit of the extreme poor and vulnerable. This occurs within the context of broader social protection initiatives and complementary activities envisaged in the 2011 national social protection policy as articulated in the social protection strategy outlined in the Agenda for Prosperity 2013–18. While acknowledging that the social protection priorities of the government and its partners are broad and ambitious, the report notes that the NaCSA will continue to play a pivotal role, given the strengths of its systems, mandates, organization, coverage and reach, experienced staff, ability to mobilize and account for resources, and links with government ministries, departments, and agencies, development partners, and other stakeholders. The findings of the report are as follows: Categories of the poor and vulnerable: The categories of the beneficiaries of social protection interventions that are unlikely to change after 2018, namely, the poor and vulnerable, are children in need of care, orphans, street children, the elderly, the disabled, youth and adolescents, the internally displaced, war refugees and returnees, victims of sexual violence, war victims, people affected by and infected with HIV/AIDs, victims of the Ebola virus disease, the chronically sick, widows and widowers, households headed by children, flood victims, and so on. Legal Status and Strategic Focus  There may be a need to revisit NaCSA’s legal mandates to reflect the successor poverty reduction strategy after the PRSP III, the Agenda for Prosperity, and the country’s future development priorities as the PRSP III draws to an end in 2018. 2  NaCSA’s mission and objectives should be articulated clearly in the NaCSA’s core documents as they are refined following the envisaged role of the NaCSA post-2018.  Whereas the government has spelled out NaCSA’s strategic focus on resettlement, rehabilitation, and reconstruction as well as broadbased social protection, including safety nets for the extreme poor and vulnerable, the PRSP IV may call for a sharper focus on social protection and streamlined programs to achieve greater impact.  While concentrating on defining and supporting interventions that address the needs of the extreme poor and vulnerable, NaCSA’s role in promoting economic growth requires that it also coordinate and rationalize implementation responsibilities and accountabilities among the various active sectors, including government ministries, departments, and agencies. The coordinating role would include oversight for targeting the poor, payment systems, including in remote areas, capacity building, promoting greater accountability, and overseeing grievance redress mechanisms.  A champion is needed for an NaCSA strategic vision, which is acknowledged as a function of the designated core staff who are government-funded custodians of the institution. The Institutional Framework and Organization for Social Protection  In the foreword to the Social Protection Strategy and Implementation Plan, 2013– 18, the president declares that “social protection is anchored in my office, and I have designated my chief of staff as champion of it in 2011.� The National Social Protection Inter-Agency Forum (NSPIAF), which is chaired by the chief secretary and comprised of ministers and representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs), labor, and the NaCSA, is therefore the apex institution on social protection (see table 4). As secretary to the NSPIAF, the NaCSA, though accountable to the NaCSA Board, is the key actor because of its implementation of safety nets for the extreme poor and vulnerable, coordination of sectoral social protection programs, and links to platforms that promote economic growth, such as infrastructure, agribusiness, and microfinance.  The Social Protection Policy Review exercise under way will resolve the institutional framework issues, including the current dual accountability of the NSPIAF and the NaCSA with respect to the National Social Protection Secretariat (NSPS). Organization of the NaCSA  There may be negative perceptions about NaCSA’s coverage, but NACSA remains relevant as an executing agency that delivers.  Defining NaCSA core staff functions, appointing core staff as custodians of its mandate and institutional memory, and mobilizing staff funding should be a government priority. The staff should include a finance director, a human resources manager, a procurement director, and an administrator.  A lean and efficient post-2018 NaCSA structure would have three main directorates, corporate services, strategic planning and monitoring, and operations. Implementation and support relative to existing programs and projects would be revised based on emerging implementation procedures and the organizational framework. 3  Standard NaCSA support documents—there are currently various project agreements and operating guidelines—would need to be developed and adopted. These would describe NaCSA operating systems, guidelines, and procedures. They might thus include an operational or implementation manual and supportive handbooks that lay out detailed new practices on administration, procurement, finance, grievances, and so on.  NaCSA staff are working on the basis of annual government contracts or renewable project-oriented contracts. Well-performing organizations offer good incentives to motivate staff to deliver results. Sectoral Collaboration  District, regional, and national meetings of the NSPIAF and the Social Protection Technical Steering Committee (SPTSC) are being held, minutes taken and distributed, and follow-up actions implemented by NaCSA staff. The performance of the staff in carrying out these roles and functions are valued by sectoral stakeholders and others.  NaCSA’s strong contribution to the government’s post-2018 development surge is accentuated by NaCSA’s demonstrated ability to build capacity, coordinate the deployment of social protection systems, oversee the use of these systems, and provide technical support to government ministries, departments, and agencies and to other stakeholders in executing social protection activities in the subproject cycle. Program Delivery  The NaCSA is pivotal in the realization of the outcomes of the social protection pillar in reducing extreme poverty and vulnerability under the Agenda for Prosperity. To this end, the NaCSA should adopt a standard planning and program cycle in short-, medium-, and long-term project and subproject cycles. In this way, it could support social protection interventions in tackling extreme poverty and vulnerability. The cycles would be available for the design of social protection projects that government ministries, departments, and agencies and nonstate actors would use in developing interventions.  The NaCSA has a strong comparative advantage. It should therefore sharpen its focus on social protection interventions, including safety net interventions, where it plays a direct leadership role, such as cash transfers, cash for work, social protection systems, and related efforts, while continuing to strengthen coordination and its links among activities falling directly under government ministries, departments, and agencies, nonstate actors, the private sector, and so on (for example, see table 3). The Impact of NaCSA’s Work  Impacts are long-term effects of interventions that are most effectively established through evaluations usually at the end of project life. Only the Youth Employment Support Project has shown positive results in an evaluation.  Where an intervention was designed and implemented following robust results chains that uphold causality and adherence to the hierarchy of results, the achievement of desired impacts is reasonably assured. 4 Funding and financing sources and allocations  NaCSA’s good track record in terms of fiduciary compliance attracts donor funding for programs managed by it. However this leads to other sectoral implementing agencies being starved of funding and thereby withholding their services.  The NaCSA needs to standardize its accountability, fiduciary compliance and reporting documentation based on government legal and operating requirements and move from individual donor reporting formats.  The NaCSA cannot do everything; there is need for it to strengthen its capacity building outreach to sectoral management units to empower the fiduciary compliance of government ministries, departments, and agencies and thereby build the confidence of donor agencies in funding them directly. Assessment Methodology The consultant adopted a combination of appreciative inquiry and results chain approaches to analyzing organizational strengths and performance results and envisioning positive future results to which the NaCSA would contribute. Appreciative inquiry is a narrative-based process of positive change that starts by engaging all members of an organization or community in a broad cycle of activities and dialogue about strengths, resources, and capabilities. Appreciative inquiry is a strength- based approach and a process that resonates with broader definitions of sustainable development (Cooperrider, Whitney, and Stavros 2008). It involves the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system's capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and heighten positive potential (figure 1). It is an approach to organizational analysis and learning that is also intended for discovering, understanding, and fostering innovations in social organizational arrangements and processes. Figure 1: The Appreciative Inquiry Approach Source: David L. Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, and Jacqueline M. Stavros, 2008, Appreciative Inquiry Handbook: For Leaders of Change, Brunswick, OH: Crown Custom Publishing. 5 Results chains are based on a logical framework and show the causal relationship and hierarchy of results across a given set of inputs, processes and activities, outputs, intermediate and final outcomes, and impacts (figure 2). Establishing that inherent logic is critical for the design and restructuring of an operation because it provides a stress test on whether the intended results of that operation are likely to be achieved given the resources that have been devoted and the sets of planned activities. Figure 2: The Results Chain Approach What is the Results Chain?  Map of the causal links between the outcomes/goals and all the steps needed to achieve those goals. Planning for Results OUTCOMES OUTCOMES Medium- Medium- Long- Long- Short- Short- Term Term Term Term Term Term Outputs Outputs Activities Activities Changes in the conditions, behavior or Inputs Inputs Products & situation of the beneficiaries resulting services from the use of project outputs Tasks delivered Resources undertaken committed to to generate project outputs activities IMPLEMENTATION RESULTS Time Source: Norbert O. Mugwagwa, 2012, “Education Sector Report 2012: Improving the Education Sector Portfolio and Results,� Education Portfolio Quality Enhancement Group, Human Development Network, World Bank, Washington, DC. Results chains require an organization to introspect and examine: the mix of its programs and projects, the level of its resource pool, its systems to translate the resources into deliverables, nature of its collaboration with other actors, its institutional and organization set-up and the quality, mix and levels of its staff. The use of results chains provides an organization’s management with a compass to monitor its performance and ability to achieve the desired outcomes. This approach is appropriate for assessing NaCSA’s status as it gears itself for the post-2018 period. A desk review of the various documents produced by the government and NaCSA was carried out. It included statutes, regulations and policy pronouncements; minutes of government ministries, agencies, and committees, and NaCSA Board and committee meetings; NaCSA implementation manuals, handbooks, and reports; and studies and evaluations (annex A). Structured meetings with the Board chairman, commissioner, deputy commissioner, chief secretary, the Parliamentary Committee on NaCSA, ministers, and senior government officials enabled the consultant to obtain formal insights into 6 the public sector views and opinions regarding the current institutional set-up and organization structure of NaCSA (annex B). Interviews with NaCSA directors, managers, senior staff and regional directors elicited responses from the implementers on what has worked and what has not worked so well (annex C; table 1). Table 1: Select Questions Asked during the Assessment, by Assignment Area 1. Institutional Set-up and Organization What is the nature of the NaCSA mandate to play the lead role in social protection? The social protection strategy advocates for an social protection authority, would that duplicate the role of the NaCSA? Does the mandate cover the institutional relationships between the NaCSA, the NSPIAF, the Parliamentary Oversight Committee, government ministries, departments, and agencies, and other stakeholders adequately? Where there is no formally adopted project organizational structure, what operating structure does the NaCSA use? How does the NaCSA ensure compliance with operational practices by government ministries, departments, and agencies and by CSOs, given that it only has a coordinating and maintenance of linkages role over them? Does the weak articulation of the institutional linkages and accountabilities between the NaCSA and government ministries, departments, and agencies affect the role, functions, and organizational location of the NSPS? Would separating Strategic Planning from Operations Divisions promote and facilitate more efficient and effective organizational performance? Would replacing Support Services with Corporate Services better capture the Core Staff functions of that division? 2. Staffing and Incentives What is the current establishment? Of that how many vacancies exist and for how long have they been unfilled? Which staff category has the highest turn-over? How do the staff salaries compare with similar agencies? Would having a “Core Staff’ improve NaCSA’s operational effectiveness and efficiency? Should the NaCSA continue to have full time staff at decentralized levels? 3. Program Interventions Supported by NaCSA Has the NaCSA had a clear mandate, mission, and objectives historically? Does the NaCSA have a good track record of implementing programs and Projects and accounting for funds? Is adopting a standard project cycle for NaCSA operations feasible? Should the NaCSA adopt subproject cycles for community-driven development projects, rehabilitation and development subprojects, and for the disadvantaged, extreme poor and vulnerable? Should the NaCSA focus on the subprojects it leads and supports directly only? Should the NaCSA perform coordination and technical support functions where government ministries, departments, and agencies and CSOs and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) lead? Is the concept of building capacity to implement social protection programs among government ministries, departments, and agencies, while the NaCSA retains systems oversight and quality control responsibility via focal persons viable? 4. Systems of Accountability, Transparency, Quality Control and Credibility Has NaCSA developed and implemented the above systems throughout the subproject cycles by phase? 5. Impact of NaCSA’s Work Do projects that adhere to results chain principles at design and during implementation necessarily achieve desired impacts at project completion? 6. Funding and Financing Sources and Spread What is the current level of GOAL funding of the NaCSA budget? Which donor agencies are not contributing to NaCSA work? 7 How much does the government contribute to the NaCSA? Why are government ministries, departments, and agencies not attracting direct funding? Consultations with collaborating stakeholders that include donors, other funders, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) through meetings and follow-up with telephone calls and e-mails. Applied political, economic, social, technical, and legal environment analysis and SWOT analyses to understand the external and internal operating environments of NACSA and other social protection stakeholders. The purpose of the results chains is to assist project teams in clarifying the development objective, identify the final outcomes, intermediate outcomes, outputs, and project activities during project design or restructuring. Results chains articulate the causal relationships that are expected to lead to the desired results and help in the selection of appropriate indicators to monitor project performance and the organization’s overall performance. Results chains are also used to support intensified supervision during the implementation of projects by ensuring that teams focus on activities that achieve desired outcomes. I. Social Protection Historical Perspective The challenges of vulnerability and poverty among Sierra Leoneans though declining, ‘proportion of people in absolute poverty dropped from 66.4 percent in 2003 to 52.9 per cent in 2011 and those in extreme poverty levels fell from 31.3 per cent to 13.9 per cent in the same period’1, remain daunting. Defining the Social Protection Agenda On March 30, 2011, the Cabinet approved a national social protection policy. It defined specific outcomes and prioritized interventions for the sector. The policy focused on 10 areas, one of which was providing transfers to increase the use of social services. Under the policy additional analytical work to guide the rationalization and expansion of safety nets was sanctioned. In the same year, the government of Sierra Leone, with the support of the World Bank, launched a social protection assessment to guide the development of an improved social protection system and to put the social protection policy into action. The assessment, which was concluded in June 2013, recommended that the government should focus its efforts on three major programs selected from areas covered in the social protection policy, including the following: (1) a cash transfer to extreme poor households with children, (2) a social pension targeted at war victims and the elderly, and (3) a permanent labor-intensive public works program that would seek to help the unemployed and those rural and urban households that are seasonally exposed to food insecurity. 1 Social Protection Strategy and Implementation Plan 2013–18 8 The assessment further recommended an approach of building capacity and systems to increase the cost effectiveness of interventions and to improve coordination. The Assessment recommended that efforts should be made to: establish social protection systems that would function as a multi-program operational platform, which would also create links between transfer programs and health and education services; reduce program fragmentation and duplication; and improve coordination between government ministries, departments, and agencies, local councils, NGOs, and other service organizations implementing social programs. The government also adopted a social protection strategy in 2012. This strategy outlines the government’s priority of developing a national safety net system capable of responding effectively to the needs of vulnerable groups both during periods of crisis/shocks and in normal times, as well as improving their human capital over the long term. The government plans to focus on greater allocation of budgetary resources to increase the scope and coverage of the existing and limited social safety net system. As a result, the NSPS, which is housed by the NaCSA and under the overall leadership of the chief of staff in the Office of the President, has been created. The NSPS, which includes representatives of the various line ministries, leads in technical discussions among the government, the World Bank, and other partners on the development and implementation of safety net systems. The government launched the Third Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, the Agenda for Prosperity 2013–18. This strategy includes a new social protection pillar with the objective of strengthening the social protection delivery system to ensure the poor and vulnerable in Sierra Leone afforded an equal opportunity to access basic services while helping them cope and mitigate risks. This is also a major signal that the political will exists to move beyond crisis support and build an social protection system that can protect the poorest and most vulnerable, reduce poverty, and make growth more inclusive and promote social cohesion. Implementing the Emerging Social Protection Agenda The government is implementing a number of Social Protection programs in the Ministries of Health, Education, Social Welfare, and Agriculture, and many NGOs are also active in the country. The government recognizes that there are challenges with these programs with regard to coverage, targeting, leakage and program administration. A more effective and efficient utilization of expenditures has the potential to increase coverage of the Social Safety Net Project (SSNP) and mitigate the impact of shocks for a large group of poor and vulnerable households. Projects to support the government in its efforts to build an social protection system and to provide timely income support to an increased number of poor households via a consolidated approach are under implementation. A unified system of safety nets administration would therefore help the government build both resilience and opportunities for the poor. II. The Evolution of NaCSA’s Operations The NaCSA is a statutory body set-up under the National Social Action Act of 2001 as a successor organization to the National Commission for Reconstruction, 9 Resettlement, and Rehabilitation, which was transformed from a ministry. It was oriented toward  Relief and humanitarian operations, including the resettlement of refugees and internally displaced persons  The reconstruction of war-damaged infrastructure The NaCSA legal mandate has remained the same since 2008 The mandate areas assigned to the NaCSA by law include the following:  The provision of social protection services, which form the bedrock of the development of human capital, is assigned to the NaCSA under section 2 (e) of the NaCSA Act 2008 (Number 23).  The Refugees Protection Act 2007 (Number 42) assigns to the NaCSA the implementation of the act under humanitarian assistance.  War reparations, relief, and resettlement, which fall under humanitarian assistance, are also assigned to the NaCSA under the NaCSA Act 2008.  Providing capacity-building support to chiefdom councils within capacity building for local council governance is also assigned to the NaCSA under Local Government Act 15 of 2004. The mandate, which ended on December 31, 2010, was provided under the NaCSA Act of 2008 (number 23). The roles and responsibilities of the NaCSA are stipulated in the NaCSA Act of 2001 as amended in 2008 and include, under section (e) “to serve as a recipient and manager of funds for social protection of disadvantaged families and for liaising with the National Social Security and Insurance Trust for the use of the social safety nets.� The stipulated NaCSA roles, responsibilities, and accountability were detailed as follows:  Promote sustainable community-based development activities to reduce poverty and improve the speed, quality, and impact of development initiatives, with support and cooperation of NGOs, community-based organizations, ministries, private sector partners, and other interested parties. This mandate requires that NaCSA define and adopt a project cycle to guide project teams as they prepare specific interventions for funding by various sources.  Assume the functions of the National Commission for Reconstruction, Resettlement, and Rehabilitation during transition: overall planning, coordination, supervision, and monitoring of humanitarian, reintegration, resettlement, and reconstruction activities; improve the nation’s capacity to absorb and utilize relief and development assistance effectively and in a transparent manner. This implies that the NaCSA will define processes for reinforcing the project cycle in practice.  Undertake public education campaigns on post-conflict reconstruction, resettlement, and rehabilitation; the NaCSA articulates an information, education and communication strategy.  Support service delivery.  Seek funding from donors. 10  Develop and adopt operational and procedural framework – set out NaCSA policies and procedures including criteria for selection of subprojects as well as on financial and administrative arrangements necessary for the performance of NaCSA functions; It is under this mandate that the recommendation to undertake a massive exercise to develop standard program and project documents should be undertaken. This mandate was broad, thereby stretching the NaCSA. Extended NaCSA lifespan: The Cabinet reextended the NaCSA mandate to 2018, in line with the Parliamentary Act of 2001 that established the institution, as amended for appropriate responses, to conform to the changing NaCSA roles in promoting pro-poor service delivery and ensuring sustainable poverty reduction interventions. NaCSA Programs: Summary of Performance and Deliverables Goal at initiation : NaCSA’s goal was to provide a transition from relief to sustainable development, complete activities started by the National Commission for Reconstruction, Resettlement, and Rehabilitation and, in a change on focus and orientation, empower ordinary people to improve their lives and livelihoods through support for community-driven development projects. What programs and instruments were put in place to discharge NaCSA functions? To fulfill its legal mandates, the NaCSA needed to develop programs and instruments as well as source resources to finance those actions that would enable it to respond and deliver. The first of those programs was the National Social Action Project, a social fund with two main sources of financing, as follows:  The World Bank provided funding through a community-driven development program. The program relied on direct community financing of subprojects. Subcomponents of the program included the construction of feeder roads through a public works and job creation approach.  The African Development Fund and the Islamic Development Bank provided funding through the Social Action Support Project I and II. Under these programs, the NaCSA, in conjunction with government ministries, departments, and agencies, CSOs, NGOs, the private sector, and communities, executed and facilitated the following interventions (see table 3):  Providing temporary youth employment for rural youth  Capacity building in microenterprise development and access to capital among vulnerable women  The construction of markets, schools, community health facilities, community centers, communication centers  Spot improvement of feeder and community roads  Support for agricultural activities in, especially, cocoa, livestock, and rice value chains, and in farmer field schools  The provision of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities 11  Reparations for war victims, social protection of vulnerable groups, and international protection of refugees and irregular migrants The range of the interventions indicates that the NaCSA has been active across sectors in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, the provision of relief and social services, employment, access to capital, and support for agriculture and related services. The NaCSA started implementing social protection programs in 2011 and has achieved significant results since then. Institutional Review The last institutional review of the NaCSA was conducted in 2008 to establish how the NaCSA was organized, performing and what results it had achieved. The review recommended a simple organigram (figure 3). It is, however, not clear why, at the apex of the NaCSA, the span of control was one-on-one at three levels, making it overly top heavy, that is, commissioner, deputy commissioner, and executive director. Technical advisors are shown as accountable to the commissioners as well as the executive director. It is also unclear what skill sets the NaCSA would have given that heads of the three technical departments would be the technical leaders of their respective program and project areas. Three programs were being implemented: microfinance, community development, and public works. The review reported the following main changes:  Progressive devolution of functions to local and district councils  Two government PRSPs—the Agenda for Change and the Agenda for Prosperity— have outlined national development priorities  Public service reform, including a focus on youth through the Youth Commission and the Ministry of Youth, women’s empowerment, performance contracts in the civil service, the Anti-Corruption Commission to be granted prosecutorial powers, the Road Maintenance Act, and so on. Figure 3: Organigram, 2008 BOARD COMMISSIONER D-COMMISSIONER TECH ADVISORS EXEC. DIRECTOR SUP. SERVICES Micro Finance CDP PWP Reg. Office Dist Office 12 What NaCSA or related results have been observed since 2008?  Though reasonable progress was made in promoting growth, there was need to balance it with equity – poor and vulnerable need to actualize benefits of growth, gaps in availability and access to basic social services for the poor.  There was increased access to education, health and sanitation, income, livelihood and recreational opportunities for deprived rural communities through NaCSA efforts.  The NaCSA led the process of preparing a national social protection policy and an implementation strategy and in the creation of space for social protection as one of the national development pillars in the National Development Plan.  There has been greater attention to social protection since 2011 through the creation of livelihood opportunities that increase access to basic services; public works schemes through short-term jobs for youth; the introduction of the Self-Help Affinity and Livelihood Group (SAG) that organized poor women to undertake livelihood activities in education, health care, and water and sanitation in remote areas; and the building of a strong safety net system that includes targeting, identification, registry, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), e-payment systems, grievance redress, coordination, and the proposed piloting of a cash transfer scheme for extremely poor and labor-constrained households in four districts across four regions.  The NaCSA Board (December 2013) endorsed a request by management for an Institutional Assessment whose findings would strategically position the NaCSA for an increasing leadership position in social protection. The Social Protection Strategy 2013 aimed at helping households to graduate from poverty. Priorities identified under it included the following:  Harmonization and coordination of the different social protection interventions will be carried out by various government ministries, departments, and agencies as well as local councils.  A basic social safety net package will be established, including predictable cash transfers for extremely poor households.  Households in extreme poverty, but with some labor capacity will be provided with opportunities for skills development and inputs to work and earn incomes and create productive assets.  Support will be provided to youth to develop skills in areas of high demand in the labor market as well as start their own businesses. This will be complemented with support for youth to save, access credit, and raise capital to run their businesses.  Social security will be expanded to make it more attractive by introducing disability insurance and preretirement benefits.  Laws on child labor, maternity provisions, sick leave, holidays, salary protection, health and safety in the workplace, employment of disabled people, and organization in the workplace will be strengthened and enforced.  The resilience of households and communities to public health emergencies, natural disasters, and weather and climate-related shocks will be supported through early warning systems and emergency and disaster preparations. 13  The government will formulate policies, raise funds, and establish public-private affordable housing and assistance.  War victims, such as amputees, war wounded, victims of sexual violence, and war widows and orphans, will be empowered with financial assistance, skills training, and livelihood programs to enable them to earn incomes and access services.  The poor and vulnerable, especially children in need of care, the elderly, the disabled, and the homeless will be linked with enhanced complementary services. The wide range of prioritized areas for interventions demonstrated the need for a focused approach to social protection over the five-year period 2013 to 2018. Interventions were identified to address the following four categories of beneficiaries:  Moderately poor households with members able to do productive work  Moderately poor households that are labor constrained and unable to respond to labor-based interventions, for example, elderly pensioners, children, and the disabled  Extremely poor un- and underemployed households that require skills training or cash-for-work participation, such as fisherman and small-scale farmers  Households suffering from extreme poverty that are labor constrained as a result of war, HIV/AIDS, members too old to work, single mothers, or the disabled require cash transfers and free access to health care and education Donors have funded programs and projects designed to respond to these priorities (table 2; box 1). The programs and projects have performed to various levels of success (table 3). Table 2: Donor Funded Projects Implemented by the NaCSA Cumulative Cumulative Remaining Total donor Disbursement Loan disbursement at disbursement balances at Project, donor budget for 2014/15 disbursed beginning end of 2014/15 end of 2014/15 $ million $ million $ million $ million $ million % YESP, World Bank 11.30 10.12 0.438 10.558 0.742 93 Habope, World Bank 2.68 2.015 0.428 2.443 0.237 91 SLCDD, Islamic 101 17.31 16.204 1.346 17.550 0.240 Development Bank 97 GPC I, KfW 14.30 12.342 1.506 13.848 0.452 3 GPC II, KfW 16.07 - 0.38 0.38 15.332 Relief and Resettlement, 100 0.074 0.0 0.107 0.107 0.0 UNHCR Reparation, UN Women 3.59 2.425 1.502 3.927 0.023 99 Irregular migration, 0.321 0.197 0.0 0.197 0.124 61 ECOWAS SSNP, World Bank 7.00 0.0 0.518 0.518 6.482 7 Totals 73.038 43.303 6.225 49.528 23.510 68 Note: ECOWAS = Economic Community of West African States. GPC = Growth for Peace Consolidation. SLCDD = Sierra Leone Community-Driven Development Project. UNHCR = United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. YESP = Youth Employment Support Project. Box 1: Earlier Programs and Projects Implemented by the NaCSA Results of programs and projects implemented by the NaCSA 14 The primary objective of the Sierra Leone Community-Driven Development Project (Islamic Development Bank) was to improve the socioeconomic conditions of the communities in the targeted areas through interventions in basic social infrastructure (schools, public health units, community centers, and feeder roads) and through livelihood interventions. The implementation of the first phase of the project was expected to end in December 2013. By the end of the year, surplus funds were reallocated that resulted in the implementation of an additional 29 infrastructure subprojects in eight districts in the first quarter of 2014. Additionally, financial support in the form of microgrants to the tune of $177,000 was provided to 118 social action groups with a total membership of 2,388 women. A total of 640 women in 32 microenterprise groups were also given a grant of $32,000 to support proper documentation of the groups’ activities. The Union Trust Bank is also contracted to manage a revolving fund of $1 million that creates access to loans for at reduced interest rates for the women. Based on the successes during the implementation of phase I, the Islamic Development Bank agreed to fund a second phase with funds to the tune of $53.9 million in four districts and seven chiefdoms across the country. Project implementation is expected to commence in 2015. Implementation of social protection programs and projects started in 2011. The implementation of the Youth Employment Support Project: a cumulative total of 470 subprojects for the youth project and the cash-for-work component were completed in December 2013. An additional 70 agriculture-based subprojects were generated and implemented in 2014. The project and the component aimed to create temporary employment for youth and women ages 15–35. As of December 2014, 34,275 youth across the country had benefited from the project, 5,033 from the final 70 subprojects. Table 3: Programs and Projects Implemented by NaCSA, 2014 Donor Programs implemented and achievements Comments Promotion of Pro-Poor Growth for Peace Consolidation (GPC) - Phase I and II Phase I: focused on employment creation and income generation for vulnerable groups (youths and women) and improving access to markets in Kailahun and Koinadugu districts. KfW Spot improved151km of feeder roads Constructed 8 Grain stores fitted with accompanying milling machines and drying floors in Kailahun and Koinadugu Districts Phase II approval with a total of €12.3 million for four years, 2014–18 Sierra Leone Community Demand-Driven Development I and II 23 infrastructure subprojects completed in 8 districts in the first quarter of 2014 due to savings accrued from previous years’ subprojects. Islamic Financial support in the form of microgrants and loans provided to 118 SAGs and 32 MEGs. Development SLCDD phase was approved, with funding of $53.9 million for implementation in four districts: Bank Moyamba: Ribbi and Bagruwa c/doms; Kenema: Lower Bambara c/doms; Port Loko: Dibia and BKM c/doms; and Tonkolili: Kholifa Mabang & Kunike Sanda c/doms); SLCDD II implementation commenced with participatory rural appraisal Youth Employment Support Project and Cash-for-Work component $11.3 World Bank Project implementation started in 2011 and closed in June 2015 million, Total portfolio of 540 subprojects completed (feeder & town roads, cultivation of short duration closed 15 crops and IVS rice, and garbage collection) The World Bank agreed to provide additional funding of $1.5million. U.K. Department for International Development? Social Safety Nets Project The SSNP received funding of $8 million from the World Bank to implement a cash transfer scheme $7 million, 7 for 13,000 extremely poor households for two years in four districts (Bombali, Kono, Moyamba, percent and Western Rural); each beneficiary household is to receive the equivalent of $15 a month disbursed Management information system developed and operational Preimplementation activities completed with the support of the NSPS, the National Registration Secretariat, Statistics Sierra Leone, and the Anti-Corruption Commission Phase I beneficiaries (2,720) targeted, enrolled and first quarter cash transfer paid Rapid Ebola–Social Safety Net To tackle the Ebola virus disease, $4 million was provided to target 9,000 extremely poor Ebola- affected households in six districts not covered by the SSNP. Monthly and quarterly meetings of the NSPIAF and the SPTSC Technical support for organizations implementing cash transfer programs focused on the Ebola virus disease Rapid Response Growth Poles Project (HABOPE) Provided 54 kilometers of foot trails, four rowing boats, and four boat landings Cash-for-work for 120 youth and women food support to 1,200 at risk households 6 communication centers with solar energy livelihood grants to 50 youth and women’s groups agricultural support to 8 Farmer Field Schools. on The NaCSA provided capacity building and mentoring to beneficiaries of grants and farmer field schools; continued to mentor the microenterprise groups that received livelihood grants after project closure December 2014; Capacity Building for Combating Irregular Migration funded by ECOWAS To help combat irregular migration, NaCSA with support from ECOWAS provided Logistical support to Sierra Leone Immigration Department ECOWAS Basic training in trans-border operations for 19 Border Officials at the 6 border districts and provided 1 laptop and 2 mobile phones for each border post provided reintegration allowance to 113 returning migrants and 6 victims of trafficking from Holland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Tunisia, the Russian Federation, and the United States War Reparations Program Secured Le 6.138 billion from the government and completed payment of rehabilitation grants to 1,618 severely wounded war victims Government Production of a documentary and a seven-year report is in progress Resource mobilization is on-going for payment of rehabilitation grant to remaining 894 beneficiaries; Relief and Resettlement Relief and resettlement supports locally integrated Liberian refugees and asylum seekers with funds from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR Coordinated the issuance of resident and work permits to 993 locally integrated Liberian refugees coordinated Trained 60 refugees and host community on psychosocial first aid Peace and Development Corporation 27 interns were admitted into the NaCSA internship scheme. This provided three months practical work experience for young graduates from various tertiary institutions across the country Ebola Virus Disease Response the NaCSA, with support from its donor partners (Islamic Development Bank, KfW, and World Islamic Bank), implemented a range of activities including: Development sensitization and awareness raising, Bank, KfW, and distribution of sanitary materials, World Bank donation of motor bikes for contact tracers, establishment of community call centers food and psychosocial support to affected persons. Note: SLCDD = Sierra Leone Community-Driven Development Project. Contributions of the Government Whereas the bulk of the funding for the early community socioeconomic rehabilitation and development and other subprojects came from donors as shown above, the contribution of the government was also significant. In addition to direct government contribution to projects, staff on salary worked on projects at national, regional and district levels and public offices and facilities were availed throughout the project cycle. Significant areas of support include: mobilization and information dissemination among the communities and households, identification and targeting of beneficiaries, training and orientation of potential beneficiaries, appraisal 16 participation and approval, and at start of activities, training and contracting of works to CSOs and private contractors. The Pro-Poor Growth for Peace Program funded by the government of Sierra Leone and the government of Germany is an example of co- funding aimed at ‘primarily improving the livelihoods of beneficiary communities’ and contributes to development and consolidation of peace, with specific focus on employment creation and income generation for vulnerable groups (youths and women)2. The government demonstrated its commitment to focus on social protection of the poor and vulnerable groups across the country, by testing out a ‘cash transfer’ intervention. NaCSA secured a grant under the SSNP of $7 million from the World Bank and $1 million from the government for cash transfers to 13,000 extremely poor households for two years in four districts (Bombali, Kono, Moyamba, and Western Rural) in each of the country’s four regions.3 Under the grant, beneficiary households received a cash transfer in the equivalent of $15 per household per month, disbursed on a quarterly basis over a two-year period. The grant provided for preimplementation activities that funded, development of systems by the newly established NSPS and in collaboration with other government ministries, departments, and agencies, such as the National Registration Secretariat, Statistics Sierra Leone, and the Anti-Corruption Commission. Direct transfers of cash to the poor have been demonstrated to be an effective way of empowering the poor and vulnerable; a potential growth area for the NaCSA post-2018. The government of Sierra Leone has been increasingly allocating resources to social protection as it takes over incomplete projects and programs from the donor agencies at the end of the financing agreements. In 2014, the government allocated $2.4 million to the NaCSA for implementing programs and to cover costs that the government had taken over. Total expenditures for the year on eligible activities were $1.5 million. This is important for ensuring future sustainability of social protection programs. In the interest of sustainability, the government should focus its resource inputs to Core activities of NaCSA that would include remuneration for ‘Core Staff’ carrying out ‘Core’ NaCSA functions. III. Institutional Set-up and Implementation Arrangements a) Institutional Framework The President declared that ‘social protection is anchored in my office and I have designated my Chief of Staff as champion of it in 2011’, in the Foreword to the Social Protection Strategy and Implementation Plan, 2013–18. The NSPIAF, chaired by the chief secretary and comprised of ministers, CSOs, labor representatives, and the NaCSA, is therefore the apex institution in social protection (table 4). As secretary to the NSPIAF, the NaCSA through the commissioner, though accountable to the NaCSA Board, becomes the key actor through the implementation of safety nets for extreme poor and 2 NaCSA Annual Report 2014, 16. 3 NaCSA Annual Report 2014, XII. 17 vulnerable, coordination of sectoral social protection programs, and links to platforms promoting economic growth, such as infrastructure, agribusiness, and microfinance.4 The social protection strategy placed the responsibility for the day-to-day coordination and facilitation of the social protection programs and projects on NaCSA and yet identifies a future National Social Protection Agency as the host for the NSPS (table 4). The chief secretary and minister of finance and economic development as the cochairman have the overall responsibility for social protection policy (See above). The Minister of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s Affairs is the vice chairman and ministers of health, education, local government, as well as the NaCSA commissioner are members of the NSPIAF. The NSPS, introduced under the national social protection policy and housed in the NaCSA, takes the minutes of the NSPIAF. The social protection strategy recognizes that respective government ministries, departments, and agencies have the responsibility for implementing social protection interventions that fall within their ministerial mandates. It is notable that there is a Parliamentary Committee on Social Protection that provides parliamentary oversight over NaCSA activities. The parliamentarians conduct periodic field visits aimed at assessing whether projects are delivering per their mandates. At the Constituency level, the Members of Parliament (MPs) also conduct on site supervision and interact with the community management committees that manage subproject implementation. Whereas these visits reinforce the need for accountability, organizing them may be demanding on staff time, could disrupt operations and have a cost. Reports prepared following these spot visits are presented to parliament and followed up through the government channels. Clearly all these levels of authority do have a bearing on the implementation of social protection activities. This is yet another line of accountability and authority that would have a bearing on how NaCSA affairs are conducted. 4 Minutes of the NSPIAF show that the NSPS takes the official minutes at NSPIAF meetings. 18 The institutional arrangements shown in figure 4 do not mention the NaCSA under the Implementation pillar despite the day-to-day responsibility it has for overseeing implementation. Figure 4: Institutional Arrangements for Social Protection Policy, Coordination, and Implementation The proposed multiple accountability of the NSPS to NSPIAF, a National Social Protection Authority, and NaCSA requires resolution. The arrangement of the two current centers of authority—the NSPIAF and the NaCSA—above the NSPS poses functional challenges that need to be addressed. Housing the NSPS in the NaCSA and giving the NaCSA administrative oversight over the NSPS and assigning the NSPS responsibility for providing secretariat functions to the NSPIAF places NSPS staff in a conflictual position that may require them to exercise double loyalty, that is, to the NaCSA Board and to the NSPIAF. Given its experience with coordinating social protection projects and handling and accounting for large amounts of funds, its developed systems, and the skills and reach of its staff and network, the NaCSA is in the best position to manage the NSPS. The institutional and operating context of NaCSA in delivering the SSNP component of the social protection strategy is captured by the Institutional set-up 19 in Diagram 2 below adopted for the implementation of the SSNP. The set-up reflects the government’s policy and stewardship orientation and decentralized implementation focus as shown by the three pillars that anchor NaCSA’s SSNP operating environment; these are (1) policy/enabling authority, (2) coordination/collaboration and (3) implementation pillars. Each of these pillars operates at three levels: national, sectoral, and district levels. Though adopted for implementing the SNNP project, the institutional framework embraces the features advocated by the social protection strategy and has the potential to be adopted for all new projects (figure 5). Figure 5: NaCSA Institutional Framework Though fully articulated and adopted for the implementation of projects such as the SSNP funded by the World Bank, the institutions involved are yet to achieve full functionality as shown by attendance at the meetings of the NSPIAF and the SPTSC. There is need for orientation of the various committees as to their roles and functions if they are to add the value that was intended at design. A team and task building program needs to be put together and implemented with the help of a leadership development specialist. b) Organization of NaCSA The current organizational structure of NaCSA has the Board, the commissioner and deputy commissioner, three main divisions, and the internal audit unit (figure 6). The three Divisions are (1) programs, strategic planning and resource mobilization; (2) M&E, knowledge management and reporting, and visibility, and (3) support services. The divisions are headed by senior directors. Figure 6: NaCSA Organizational Structure 20 The Programs, Strategic Planning and Resource Mobilization Division is responsible for delivering on the NaCSA programs as well as the strategic planning and mobilization of resources. As shown in the diagram, all the Units that manage the projects fall under this Division in addition to the forward looking strategic planning aspects. There is a case for separating these very important roles and responsibilities as NaCSA moves beyond the post reconstruction into the development phase. The M&E, Knowledge Management and Reporting and Visibility Division is responsible for providing the needed feedback on the performance of the NaCSA, government ministries, departments, and agencies, and other stakeholders and the status of social protection service results. This is a specialized function that draws analytical skills and systems development and support functions the importance of which will grow because the NaCSA plays a pivotal role in social protection in the development phase. The inclusion of units, such as information, education, and communication, may need revisiting and reconfiguration to relate and link to operations. The Support Services Division houses the compliance units of the NaCSA. Its role will increase with the demands and requirements of a larger social protection program and refocused role for the NaCSA, especially as the links with government ministries, departments, and agencies and nonstate actors become more specialized. This division would be better defined as the corporate services directorate because it oversees the 21 redefinition of roles and functions using memorandums of understanding on various diversified activities. NACSA Remains Relevant Whereas there are/maybe some negative perceptions about NaCSA’s wide coverage, the NACSA remains relevant as an executing agency that works effectively, with speed and delivers. Its role is pivotal for the recovery phase that Sierra Leone is entering at end of the Agenda for Prosperity 2018. The NaCSA has the capacity to provide core services using core staff and systems designed, owned, and managed by the government in support of government ministries, departments, and agencies to implement social protection activities as well as broader development interventions. Besides the technical ones such as participatory rural appraisal, extended participatory rural appraisals, other appraisals, procurement, accountability, M&E, GSM, and so on, these include the design and provision of standard project and subproject cycles and defining and articulating qualification criteria. Defining and adopting NaCSA core staff’ functions, appointing core staff as custodians of the NaCSA mandate and institutional memory, and mobilizing funding should be a government priority. In the absence of standard NACSA documents – currently different project agreements and operating guidelines are being used. As the NaCSA prepares to support the government’s efforts in recovery, there is, a need to update, consolidate and adopt standard key documents that define NaCSA operating systems, guidelines, and procedures, that is, operational and implementation manuals and supportive handbooks that set out detailed practices in administration, procurement, finance, grievances, and so on. NaCSA’s greatest asset is its staff whose aggregated knowledge and experience is a critical factor to NaCSA’s success. All NaCSA staff are on annual, project-type renewable contracts; among other issues surrounding tenure and benefits, there were expressed concerns regarding: conditions of service, adequacy of pay scales, career related insecurities, and so on. A systematic review of the documents governing staff matters with the view to aligning them with other comparable agencies would go a long way toward addressing some of the staff concerns. An exercise that would facilitate incorporation of government best practice with other management units practice into the terms and conditions of service should go a long way toward convincing staff that they are getting a fair deal. c) Sectoral Collaboration Earlier programs implemented by the NaCSA, such as the Integration of Refugees (funded by UNHCR as a pro-poor growth program by the German Development Bank) and youth development initiatives (supported by Volunteer Services Overseas and the government of Italy), helped define sectoral collaboration in practice. Both of these projects were cofunded by the government in line with government funding and reporting procedures. 22 The NSPIAF and the supporting SPTSC provided the platform for social protection policy consultation among the ministers, and CSO, NGO, and private sector representatives (see figure 7). Chaired by the chief of staff in the Office of the President, the NSPIAF meets periodically and provides the needed guidance that is then communicated downward to the SPTSC and the NaCSA by the NACSA-based NSPS, which takes the NSPIAF minutes and acts as the secretary to the SPTSC. The representatives of government ministries, departments, and agencies on the organs report back to their respective sectors and ensure that their respective implementation units act as required. At the sector level, Technical Committee meetings at national, regional and district levels, are being held, minutes taken, disseminated and social protection and respective related actions followed up by government ministries, departments, and agencies and by NaCSA staff. Government ministries, departments, and agencies and other stakeholders that are active in programs and projects ensure that their staffs perform their respective roles and functions. Systems for ensuring quality of performance and reporting on results are put in place often with the support of the NaCSA, but sectoral staff remain responsible for overseeing delivery. At lower levels, local councils were reintroduced in 2004 with the mandate to deliver social services; their capacity and devolved functions were strengthened through NaCSA involvement. The approval of the Sierra Leone Community-Driven Development Project articulated the roles, functions, modus operandi, and deliverables of the devolved local authorities and their working relationships with sectoral ministries, CSOs, NGOs, service providers, communities, and households. The social protection programs and projects piggyback on these structures and systems. However, capacity building for social protection systems and other operational and reporting requirements is provided and financed by NaCSA staff and the budget, respectively. A standard subproject cycle was adopted for the identification, design, preparation, appraisal, implementation, and M&E of the subprojects funded under this type of intervention (see figure 9). The beneficiaries of the subprojects funded under this intervention were required to meet the following objective criteria that were developed in conjunction with all stakeholders:  Identified by communities through the community committees as poor and vulnerable  If able-bodied, enrolled in the cash-for-work program based on minimum quotas  Handicapped, women, or youth  Verified through the proxy-means test as eligible to participate in microprojects d) Implementation Arrangements The NaCSA mandate is meant to enable the respective sector ministries to implement their social protection responsibilities, while it facilitates them by providing the requisite systems support (figure 7). The NaCSA niche is to provide social safety nets including to the extremely poor and vulnerable, and link them with government ministries, departments, and agencies. 23 Figure 7: Proposed Implementation Structure NaCSA Board, commissioner, deputy commissioner Strategic Operations Corporate planning, M&E services The proposed structure is function driven’ and ‘team based’, and is expected to be lean and designed to deliver. At the apex is the Board whose function remains to oversee implementation of the social protection interventions and activities that fall under NaCSA. A chairperson, who is supported by a commissioner and deputy commissioner, leads the NaCSA Board. The social protection interventions and activities represent the third leg of the Institutional set-up that focuses on the implementation arrangements for social protection. The NaCSA structure would have a manageable span of control from the commissioner and deputy commissioner and would have three directorates that recognize the internal audit function as a direct report to the commissioner. It is not clear why the deputy commissioner has all along been shown as off the line of command of staff as the second in command. The restructured set-up, reflects her as a direct report to the commissioner and a member of his top management team. The institutional framework for implementing the social protection strategy shows the link between the NaCSA and the SPTSC (see figure 7). It is the primary responsibility of the Strategic Planning and M&E Directorate to oversee the strategic linkages between the coordination pillar and the implementation pillar of the institutional framework designed to implement the social protection strategy beyond 2018. Currently the M&E senior director represents the NaCSA on the SPTSC of the NSPIAF. The role of the SPTSC is to promote the integration of interventions by government ministries, departments, and agencies once the NSPIAF has provided the guidance. The NSPIAF is the forum of senior implementing institutions where policy is translated into actionable programs. At this forum, all actors share experience and lessons learned to inform future directions of social protection programs and to ensure smooth delivery. The NaCSA Strategic Planning and M&E Directorate actively participates in the NSPIAF to ensure that the strategic plans it draws up are evidence based and adequately forward looking. The SPTSC has the potential to be the distillation 24 point for capacity building and knowledge sharing on social protection matters. However, sectoral and NaCSA officials who attend the meetings tend to be the same ones attending the NSPIAF in the absence of their ministers. The duplication of power centers dilutes the quality of decisions and the guidance provided to operational arms of the implementing organizations. At initial design, the NSPS was to be responsible for several key implementation functions, particularly those related to building the social protection systems. The NSPS was to be headed by a director and supported by the following key staff: a SSNP manager, a systems–management information system specialist, a grievance redress officer, and an M&E officer. The NSPS specialists and officers would work closely with and in some cases under the respective NaCSA directorates. It would perform, among others, the following functions: lead the design of the SSNP and other related programs for approval by the NaCSA Board and the NSPIAF; develop effective social protection systems (for example, targeting); design and update program guidelines and operational procedures; provide technical support for program implementation; manage program data through a robust management information system; generate evidence and utilize it to inform policy; receive and address grievances that have been escalated to the national level; and facilitate training at various levels. Under the restructuring, these functions are integral to the Strategic Planning and M&E functions and should continue. However, functions related to receiving and addressing grievances would fall under the Operations Directorate. Broader M&E functions remain under the Strategic Planning and M&E Directorate; the specialists would be coopted as members of the program/project teams as needed. The proposed restructuring further separates the Operations functions from the strategic thinking, planning and resource mobilization functions. The Operations Division would be organized along the social protection service delivery platforms of support to the poor, poorest and vulnerable, employment and skills development, and access to markets, savings and credit. Each of the platforms would have clear subproject cycles and results frameworks showing deliverables and expected results from implementing the intervention activities. The intermediate outcomes from the interventions implemented under those platforms would be stated in the respective results chains. Performance reporting would be integral to the intervention while accountability and grievance reviews would fall under monitoring to ensure independent feedback, and checks and balances. Teams would be formed around those interventions as needed from the pool of specialists. The current permanent ‘projectized’ Units promote silos, which by nature promote isolation and vertical functioning and reduce organizational synergy. Coalescing operations around skill-based teams maximizes product delivery. The Operations Division would focus on managing project and subproject cycles for the two emerging program thrusts: (1) the community-driven development programs that include – infrastructure rehabilitation an reconstruction, development initiatives, agribusiness and income earning programs, and (2) the programs that benefit the extreme poor and vulnerable as envisioned under the social protection strategy. The two emerging programs and projects thrusts share a common pool of skills that include community mobilization and awareness creation, participatory appraisals, program/project design, social and economic analysis, implementation, 25 accountability, quality control and management of institutional relationships. NaCSA’s top management in consultation with its funding partners has the prerogative to decide on the configuration of the shared skills and processes; there are no hard and fast rules. The community-driven development programs share a common subproject cycle and can easily be grouped under a lead community development program specialist whose main function is to implement the team-based approach in project design and implementation. In collaboration with the lead strategic planning specialist, the community program specialists will form teams from skills pools around the specific intervention that is to be designed and implemented. Once designed, the intervention would be led by an implementation specialist or program officer. A menu of community-driven development programs that qualify for funding under the social protection strategy either already exists or would need to be developed and agreed. Existing community-driven development interventions may run beyond 2018 or are likely to be extended when they expire before 2018. Ccommunity-driven development programs are implemented by government ministries, departments, and agencies in education, health care, water, public works (including roads), local government, agriculture, and social services. It is the NaCSA’s responsibility, under the social protection strategy, to develop and mainstream the processes that government ministries, departments, and agencies utilize and adhere to in the implementation and M&E of interventions. In performing this function, the NaCSA would work through existing government mechanism and in close collaboration with other ministries, local councils, chieftaincy, ward committees, and Community Identification Committees at respective levels. In addition, the NaCSA provides government ministries, departments, and agencies with the technical support and back up throughout the subproject cycles as needed. It is NSPIAF’s role, via the SPTSC, to define and oversee or modify the nature of the collaboration. Programs and projects that benefit the poorest and most vulnerable—the disabled, the widowed, people affected or infected by HIV/AIDs, orphans, woman- headed households, children, and so on—use eligibility criteria that include determination of eligible households through a nomination process by the communities through an elected community unit committee (CUC) organized by the chiefs and other traditional and local leaders; selection of direct at-risk beneficiaries using hunger vulnerability index; or determination of other at-risk households using —lottery, “first come first served,� or rotation methods. Once selected the beneficiaries are informed and registered using IDs, and so on. A recognized critical technical function is the management information system system to facilitate the collection, processing, management, and dissemination of performance monitoring data and other data essential for program operations and monitoring. In the case of cash transfer and public works programs, the management information system will incorporate data from the beneficiary registry and will be capable of generating progress values on indicators as well as providing the necessary information to the accounting and financial management system to generate payment sheets and reconcile payments. The management information system will build on the experience of the ongoing public works program, which has recently introduced a similar system to record and manage program data such as payment 26 information and beneficiary attendance. The management information system will constitute a common interface for the following services:  Beneficiary registry. The registry will include beneficiary information collected during the targeting process and will be linked to the national identification system. The information will be centrally updated to reflect any changes of the family composition.  Household targeting information. The basic beneficiary data collected in the community identification stage and the PMT data collected by SSL for proxy-means testing will be fed into the system, and lists of final beneficiaries will be automatically generated.  Payment system. The management information system will be linked to NaCSA’s accounting and financial management system to facilitate the delivery of transfers to beneficiaries. It will produce payment orders in the form of electronic files that will be sent to the accounting and financial management system, and ultimately to the payment service provider to execute payments. The system will also consolidate in a centralized database all the transaction reports from the service provider and produce statistics on transactional data at different geographical levels.  M&E reports. The management information system will generate customized and standard reports on selected performance indicators. Attendance data on soft- conditions workshops, as well as information gathered during field visits and spot checks will also be fed into the system.  Grievance redress mechanisms. Complaints and concerns will be stored in a centralized electronic logbook and made directly accessible to authorities in charge of the resolution.  Dissemination of information. Standard and customized reports will be generated in various formats and for different audiences (e.g. periodic coverage reports for the media and the public).  Enhanced implementation mechanisms. Email reminders will be sent to operators at the field level as well as to managers about upcoming deadlines (e.g., submission of data, payment approvals). The NaCSA Corporate Services Division that would be responsible for the fiduciary compliance comprises of well established, experienced and tested units. Donor Agencies have full confidence in NaCSA management hence the willingness to pump financing via it. The cost/price of starting afresh and setting a new outfit would neither be warranted nor is it in the interest of the government. Whereas there maybe power struggles linked to the advocacy for a separate NSPS, there is no socioeconomic justification for this. Carrying out a political, economic, social, technological, and legal environment analysis would provide an objective assessment. However, that would require the full participation and facilitation of a focus group discussion of that issue with all the concerned sector leaders including the Ministers. It seems the main driver is the ‘access to resources issue’. If the Office of the President developed an objective basis for sharing the social protection resources among the sectors, would the need for the removal of the NSPS be obviated? There is an interesting coincidence of interest between the current staff of NSPS and the NSPIAF membership of government ministries, departments, and agencies in having a freestanding NSPS driven by power dynamics and access to resources. That soon falls away once government ministries, departments, and agencies have a fair shot at the resources. 27 Government ministries, departments, and agencies, though aware that it takes a lot to attract the same donors funding the NaCSA to directly support their line Units, should work to obtain the trust of the donors so that they directly fund interventions they execute. Equally, the NaCSA ought to know that obtaining the full support of government ministries, departments, and agencies is crucial for achieving the desired results of providing benefit to the various categories of the needy, reaching the poorest and improving their livelihoods. Achievement of long-term positive impacts requires the NaCSA to collaborate with government ministries, departments, and agencies that have the infrastructure to reach households and needy communities in the rural areas and poor urban areas. One way could be an annual meeting of the NSPIAF dedicated to allocating resources on an agreed formula to all the sectors involved in social protection based on their roles and contribution to the strategy. The restructured NaCSA configuration of roles and functions seems to obviate the need, programmatically and organizationally, for establishing a separate social protection authority. The NaCSA is already designated to provide day-to-day responsibility over the NSPS. In addition, the NaCSA houses and has tremendous experience with managing and implementing core social protection services efficiently and very effectively. That makes it a natural home. Having said that however, the institutional assessment team acknowledges that there are already policy documents and pronouncements by government regarding the preferred location of the NSPS. IV. Systems for Accountability, Transparency, Quality Control, Credibility and Staffing Working with donor agencies such as the World Bank, the NaCSA has invested a lot in developing accountability systems in the management of its projects . Throughout the subproject cycle, mechanisms and tools for ensuring accountability are built into the various phases of project to:  Promote ownership of the community type asset created in the case of community- driven development subprojects  Ensure sustainability of the initiative sponsored  Ensure transparency  Ensure adequate quality and cost control  Promote fiduciary compliance, that is, financial and procurement  Minimize corrupt practices Fiduciary Compliance: Financial Administrative Effectiveness and Efficiency Fiduciary compliance entails adhering to recognized international standards of both accounting and procurement in utilizing approved funding. The Financial aspects of NaCSA provide a typical example of what Core Functions of NaCSA should incorporate. Complete proper instructions should be based on Treasury guidelines that should stipulate all standing government financial guidelines, rules and regulations and procedures for processing transactions. Individual programs and projects should 28 indicate where their procedures depart from those guidelines and such deviations should be incorporated into the Project Agreements to be signed by Minister of Finance and the donor per the government laws. The quote below suggests that the documents passed on to the consultant are based on a particular donor’s requirements, in this case the World Bank ones. They are comprehensive and objective and are subject to periodic review by the World Bank and the government to ensure that they are fully compliant. The documents cover accounting procedures and record keeping, banking guidelines, procurement procedures and petty cash management from national, regional to district levels. They also provide detailed instructions on how contracted agencies should maintain their books. The NaCSA Manual of Finance, Accounting, and Procurement Operational Procedures notes the following (on page 29): In terms of all financing Agreements for all Projects, the Borrower shall open and maintain a Separate and Counterpart Bank Account at a commercial bank. Into these accounts will be deposited the remittances of the donor and the government. These amounts shall be used exclusively for expenditures to be funded under the project. The financing agreements will stipulate the expenditures to be funded by each financing source’. There is provision for Regions and Districts to open accounts to facilitate payment of authorized local expenditures. Signatories to these accounts, authorized levels and methods of payment are stated in the agreements and a minimum accounting team reports on the expenditures regularly. It is the Directorate of Finance’s responsibility to ensure periodic replenishment on an imprest basis to keep activities at that level moving and to ensure full accountability for proper use of funds. In relation to subproject implementation, the Regional Finance Offices will submit its requests to HQ based on a summary of subproject disbursement schedules with supporting documentation attached for withdrawals on the previous transfer of funds. The procedures apply to the operations of NaCSA headquarters, regional offices, and district petty cash holdings. The procedures may, however, be adjusted where necessary and be used by project management committees in subproject activities. Reliance on documents agreed with donors has promoted confidence in NaCSA systems among donors and led to increased flow of funds. Government ministries, departments, and agencies would need to be supported to improve their ability to account for funds, adhere to internationally acceptable procurement guidelines and timely reporting on performance. Internal Audit This function is critical for top management oversight of the use of NaCSA’s resources in accordance with the purposes for which they were intended. Direct reporting to the commissioner ensures that the institutional assessment team does its work with support from the top and without fear or favor. In some organizations, the institutional assessment unit reports to the Board, which provides more latitude for the auditor to carry out the functions. Programs implemented by the NaCSA have been mostly donor driven with the government financing activities that were dropped when 29 projects ended. The value of the institutional assessment unit needs to be appreciated more and its relative positioning in the organization’s structure adjusted accordingly. It is notable that the two Assistant Auditors’ positions are the only vacant ones of the Head Office establishment. Besides jeopardizing the audit function, that state of affairs is an indication that NaCSA does not place the role of audit in safeguarding social protection resources that high. Reasons for failure to fill the position could range from poor remuneration for the incumbents to unavailability of qualified personnel in the country. If the former, NaCSA management should address the situation with speed. Internal audit reports are key verification mechanisms that augur well for transparency and accountability within an organization. Donors warm up to demonstrated willingness to finance this position. Alongside grievance redress mechanisms, the institutional assessment reduces the potential risks of corruption in projects. The institutional assessment practices demonstrated at project level should be built into the NaCSA core functions and exported to the executing government ministries, departments, and agencies. The institutional assessment reviews the compliance of programs and projects by (1) assessing compliance with various stages of the program and project cycle, that is, identification, preparation, submission, appraisal, approval, contracting, disbursement, and financial controls, and (2) through the use of basic eligibility criteria that include legal status, general organizational policy guidelines, project selection criteria (type of projects to be funded, beneficiary criteria), the selection of target groups, financial criteria (involving maximum project duration and funding limits), technical evaluation criteria (including project feasibility and coherence with identified community problems and solutions), sustainability, environmental and social issues, and so on. For projects associated with the community-driven development program, such as the Youth Employment Support Project, the Sierra Leone Community-Driven Development Project, the Rapid Response Growth Poles Project (HABOPE), and the Promotion of Pro- Poor Growth for Peace Consolidation (GPC), institutional assessments have ensured that controls are in place to prevent the inclusion of a subproject in more than one program. NaCSA Staffing For the period reviewed, staff evaluations are being carried out and action taken based on the evaluation results as shown by human resource records of staff movements (annex D). A few cases exist where the evaluation was not completed. Management would need to work with human resources to resolve this issue. During interviews, staff observed that it lags behind other projects in salaries and incentives. Table 5 shows the salary comparators for NaCSA. Average salaries for NaCSA are lower than those of three other World Bank financed projects in all eight of the select categories reviewed. Table 5: Sierra Leone Comparator, Monthly Salaries, World Bank Project, June 2015 U.S. dollars Position NaCSA Integrated Project Public Financial PRSDP, WAAPP Average Comment 30 Administration Unit Management Project Used senior Project director, 3,000 4,500 4,500 5,102 4,275 director for manager NaCSA Used Deputy project 2,400 2,500 2,450 director manager level M&E specialist 3,000 2,500 2,894 2,947 May be Procurement specialist 1,800 3,000 800 7,500 4,933 international hire Financial management 1,800 3,000 2,500 5,000 3,075 specialist Project officer 1,200 2,000 1,500 2,205 1,726 Project assistant 500 600 600 500 550 Project secretary 300 450 400 383 Note: PRSDP = Rural and Private Sector Development Project. WAAPP = West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program. The staff designations are not necessarily totally uniform, for example, for project secretary, NaCSA has administrative assistant, but their functions correspond. Across the eight select categories, NaCSA staff is paid lees than the average. That is the case even though NaCSA possibly has the wider coverage and highest number of employees. The discrepancy is attributed, in part, to some of the staff being funded by the government. The one-staff policy advocates for uniform conditions of service for staff. Overall staff numbers for the year 2012 were much larger, at 124, across regions and districts. District staffing levels range from 5 to 11. There is substantively no uniform leadership structure for districts, district coordinators lead in most districts, but a few districts are led by officers –in-charge. 13 percent of the district coordinators were transferred out of their districts and 3 percent were terminated for poor performance; a good sign that there is actually performance based staff retention based on annual evaluations. In 2013, staff numbers declined to 105 perhaps a result of project closers. Transfers in and out of districts were 18 percent of staff total, a high turnover. When the figures are decomposed, district coordinators, who are the managers at district level, and other high level technical staff, had the highest movements. These categories had the highest level of transfers, which doesn’t augur well for performance and service delivery. The disruptions arising from the movements show that all is not well with the programs at that level. The analysis suggests that perhaps the NaCSA should not be directly engaging staff or that its conditions of services are not competitive for that level of staff. More significantly, it could be that the NaCSA should not be directly delivering that range of services at that level. The NaCSA should not be engaging that level of staff; someone is doing a better job of providing that service than the NaCSA. Or someone in the same field is offering better conditions of service and therefore attracting staff from the NaCSA. There were further staff reductions in 2015, total regional staff was reduced to 78, 50 percent of whom are at the level of office assistant and lower; of the remaining 50 percent, 32 percent are manager level staff, that is, district coordinators and officers-in- charge and only 32 percent are technical staff with 4 percent as support staff; a case of 31 too many senior staff. The staff ratio suggests that NaCSA staff provide high-level support to other sector or agencies’ staff that actually execute. Of the 68 staff nationwide, who consist of project officers, officers, and administration staff, 27 (20 percent) are in the Support Services Division (annex E). If the commissioner’s office and senior directors, who are essentially administrative, are added, the share of staff rises to 47 percent (table 6). The share of the cost burden by this division is high. There may be a need to look at the range of control issues whereby too many manager designations are given to positions with functions that can be performed by specialist officers. Manager positions where staff has only one direct report could be transformed into specialist positions and may also be outsourced as the need arises. Going forward, this division could be transformed into Corporate Services, a core function of NACSA, the funding of which the government should consider taking over. Table 6: Staffing Categories, 2015 Staff category Number Commissioner's office 6 Senior directors 3 Directors 2 Program manager 9 Professional/technical 11 Coordinators 10 Project officers 5 Officers 28 Administration staff 35 General workers 33 Total 142 The proposed transformation to a Core Services Division would be complemented by a similar reconfiguration of the current two divisions, first, Program Development, Strategic Planning, and Resource Mobilization, and, second, M&E Knowledge Management, Reporting, and Visibility. A Strategic Planning and Monitoring Directorate and an Operations Directorate headed by senior directors to align the designations to priority roles and functions of the transformed NaCSA would replace the old divisions beyond 2018. The Strategic Planning and Monitoring Directorate would lead the forward planning focusing on how social protection contributes to the country’s growth trajectory as reflected in the PRSP IV, and ensuring policy consistency. Advocacy for social protection, packaged by the information, education, and communication team, which is evidence based, would rely on results flowing from the performance monitoring that covers the NaCSA as well as the contributions of government ministries, departments, and agencies to social protection. From this strategic perspective, the Strategic Planning and Monitoring Directorate would mobilize resources based on the clearly articulated outcomes of the social protection program. Government ministries, departments, and agencies would take over the implementation and execution of community-driven development and rehabilitation and reconstruction programs and projects, thereby rounding off the realignment of functions with the NaCSA. The NaCSA would provide specialized 32 functions such as to the development and mainstreaming of social protection systems, quality control, and nationwide accountability and verification functions with focal points in government ministries, departments, and agencies. Retaining implementing regional and district offices is inefficient, a heavy managerial and cost burden for the NaCSA. Staff contracts are not uniform with projects such as the World Bank ones issuing own contracts for staff working on their projects – a potential source of staff discontent. The concept of one staff needs to be promoted through the preparation and adoption of a NaCSA Administrative Handbook with uniform conditions of service for all NaCSA staff. Besides reducing the burden of administering multiple rules and regulations, the move eliminates perceived staff differentiation that may affect staff performance. A NACSA administered Handbook is a move closer to sustainability as government guidelines are adopted. V. Impact of NaCSA’s Work Impacts are long-term effects of interventions that are best established through evaluations usually at the end of the project life. The results of NACSA programs and projects indicate that targets have been generally achieved (see table 3). Some projects, such as the Sierra Leone Community-Driven Development Project and the Youth Employment Support Project and the cash-for-work component, exceeded targets. Though evaluations may not have been done consistently, the positive results point to the achievement of positive impacts. Thus, a baseline survey was conducted during the Youth Employment Support Project to facilitate an eventual project evaluation. In addition, requiring timeliness in the results-oriented reporting (for example, quarterly and annual reports) that informs the NaCSA and other actors on whether or not a program is having the desired impact in the short, medium, and long term (such as the effects on hunger, poverty, and vulnerability), allows the early detection of impacts. Interventions of which the designs are robust have used tested subproject cycles and apply results chains that uphold causality and adherence to the hierarchy of results, and assure the achievement of desired impacts. Good project design provides upfront assurance of good project performance and attainment of desired results. Benchmarking and setting of milestones provides targets that can be monitored during implementation, and that once attained, would lead to desirable impacts over time. Ongoing projects would have to rely on routine reporting to establish the trajectory of performance toward achieving the desired results. On project coverage, the NaCSA chairman observed that the focus on intensified impact is viewed as overriding the need for equity. Political and traditional leadership are concerned about how uncovered communities are reacting to the seeming exclusion and the impact it is having on the ground. A targeted approach that starts with worst districts though objective leads to delayed access for those not covered so, consider scaling-up fast to increase coverage. There is a general call that there be increased collaboration with other projects so that they cover the balance of districts and program activities. 33 The Parliamentary Committee on NaCSA reaffirmed the relevance of the NaCSA and applauded its contribution to overall local development. The committee members, who carry out field visits, highlighted the following during discussions of their assessment of NaCSA performance:  The need to support women. Women are carrying a heavier burden since the Ebola outbreak.  Chiefs have a role to play. They register people to access benefits. Though politicians can also play a role, they may confuse beneficiaries given their political biases.  On roadwork, contract awards need to be more transparent.  There needs to be a savings culture. Some constituencies are more well performing in this. The lessons learned from these experiences should be shared with those not yet on board.  There was a general call to strengthen local institutions to ensure greater awareness of the services available and thereby promote greater community participation in local development programs. VI. Funding and financing sources and spread A total of US $24 million remained unutilized at the end of December 2014 to which would be added about $58 million from the Islamic Development Bank for community-driven development interventions. These resources are spread between the reconstruction and socio-economic interventions and the social safety nets. For the later, a second SSNP is on the books by the World Bank and similar support may be coming from other donors. NaCSA’s good track record in terms of fiduciary compliance attracts donor funding for programs managed by it. However, targeted direct funding to the NaCSA may cause other sectoral implementing agencies to become starved of funding and thereby withholding of only partially committing their services. The NaCSA cannot do everything. Going forward, NaCSA’s effectiveness would be more pronounced if it f ocused on the direct supports and areas it plays a lead role in, while strengthening its capacity building outreach to sectoral management units. In addition, empowering the fiduciary compliance and systems adherence of government ministries, departments, and agencies would build the confidence of donor agencies in these entities as well as nonstate actors and thereby fund them directly. It is felt that with more funding, conflict over resources would decline and increased collaboration between the social protection actors would improve social protection service delivery and access. Going forward There is a need to unpack the implications of the various actors coming from different operational levels that contribute to the implementation of the social protection strategy converging at the NSPIAF platform (figure 8). The minutes of the 34 NSPIAF meetings show poor attendance by the respective ministers, which results in (1) senior officials attending both the NSPIAF and the technical committee meetings and, (2) as a result, the quality of deliberations is diluted as policy and implementation issues are discussed. The cochairpersons of the NSPIAF need to ensure that attendance at their meetings is at the appropriate level if the NSPIAF is to provide its social protection policy guidance role. Figure 8: Participation in NSPIAF Meetings NaCSA commissioner, CSOs and NGOs social protection strategy director Technical committee of Selected sectoral senior staff that ministers advises the social NSPIAF: chief of staff and minister of protection strategy finance (cochairs), director minister of social welfare, gender, and children's affairs (vice chair) Standard Subproject Cycle NaCSA’s strong contribution to the government’s post 2018 development thrust is accentuated by its demonstrated ability to build capacity, coordinate social protection systems deployment, oversee their use, execute and lead specific social protection programs, and provide technical support to programs that lead and fall directly under government ministries, departments, and agencies and nonstate actors. NACSA’s role across these interventions would be provided using a common subproject cycle (figure 9). 35 Figure 9: NaCSA Typical Subproject Cycle 1. Office of the President, NSPIAF consultations and guidance - Social protection policy matters - Safety net priorities, norms, and standards - Sensitization, mobilization, monitoring and supervision 10. Commissioning - Receipt of subproject completion reports 2. Mobilization and sensitization - Issuing subproject completion certificates to the - Clarifying objectives, access criteria, and community implementation modalities - Formal handover of subproject assets to the beneficiaries - Encouraging stakeholder participation among the - Inauguration of maintenance committees target population 9. Supervision, M&E - Field visits to subproject sites 3. Identification and preparation - Providing technical support and guidance to - Generating baseline data on the community implementers - Identifying, prioritizing target community - Review of implementation reports - Identifying existing resources and resource gaps - Reviewing implementation of previous - Preparing community action plans recommendations - Preparing subproject proposals - Documenting and reporting progress in implementation - Tracking progress toward meeting subproject objectives 4. Desk appraisal 8. Implementation - Checking completeness of documentation - Subproject launch - Checking conformity with sector standards and - Implementation of approved subproject activities norms - Provision of technical support to communities - Checking conformity with project guidelines - Checking appropriates of budgets 7. Funds disbursement 5. Field appraisal - Verifying information on application form - Reviewing subproject approval process - Checking appropriateness of targeting - Checking compliance with subproject budget ceilings - Verifying participation of communities - Signing of financing agreements - Verifying viability and sustainability - Providing basic training to subproject management - Verifying environmental and social safeguards committees - Ascertaining community contribution - Transfer of funds to district/subproject accounts 6. Approval - Reviewing subproject documentation - Ascertaining conformity with sector norms and standards - Ascertaining compliance with Project guidelines 36 The typical subproject cycle would strengthen NaCSA’s capability to develop common social protection planning cycles and beneficiary qualification criteria for programs and projects. Refining the mechanisms for processing social protection interventions that NaCSA can engage in is critical if the NaCSA is to respond to the categories of poverty identified under the social protection strategy, as follows:  The extreme poor and labor-constrained poor, estimated at 60,000 people, who are supported through cash transfers. This includes pensioners, children, the disabled, the sick, and so on.  Able-bodied, labor-endowed, poor, but productive households, which account for around 353,000 people, who are to be engaged in self-help–type project responses as well as microfinance initiatives.  Conjectural poverty, which represents about 147,000 unemployed indiviudlas. These people typically require access to skills and cash-for-work programs. This includes farmers, fishermen, and so on.  The least well off, including disabled and otherwise disadvantaged individuals, number about 60,000 people. This category of the poor would benefit from cash transfers. NaCSA is best positioned to design systems for use by government ministries, departments, and agencies and other stakeholders to implement social protection interventions in the (a) and (d) categories of the poor. Though best positioned to design the systems, the NACSA is not the only agency that delivers social protection interventions. There is therefore a need to strengthen its ability to lead, implement, collaborate and coordinate interventions in social protection as well as other broader community development activities. Table 7 indicates the other actors that work with the NaCSA throughout the subproject cycle by level. Table 7: Subproject Phase and Actors Stage Responsible center Office of the President, government Sectoral ministries, other ministries, departments, and agencies guidance Awareness raising and mobilization District councils, chiefs, sectoral staff, NaCSA Subproject identification and Chiefs, local government and social welfare officer, sectoral preparation specialists, CSOs, community-based organizations Desk appraisal Sectoral specialist staff, district technical staff Field appraisal Local technical staff, district technical staff Subproject approval District technical staff, district executive committee Fund disbursement NaCSA, district and local governments Implementation Community committee, local government, local service providers Communities, local government staff, sectoral ministries, other Monitoring and supervision government institutions and agencies Commissioning Community committees, local governments, NaCSA Post-subproject cycle: operation and Communities, local governments, sectoral ministries, and other maintenance government ministries, departments, and agencies Post-subproject cycle: subproject Communities, local governments, sectoral ministries, and other 37 evaluation government ministries, departments, and agencies, NaCSA, Statistics Sierra Leone, NGOs, CSOs About Traditional Structures – Chiefdoms: the country’s 149 paramount chiefs come from hereditary ‘‘ruling houses’’; serve for life once appointed or elected (by a restricted electorate); exert considerable control over resource allocation, including land and labor; operate the local court system that presides outside the capital; and organize the provision of many local public goods (such as road maintenance). This system largely excludes both women (who are not eligible to serve as chiefs in much of the country) and young men from decision-making. NaCSA has been working very well with these an indication of its versatility when it comes to ensuring that it reaches its targeted beneficiaries. VII. Official Action Requires Official Sanction Refining processes for officially instituting key management decisions and actions should be an integral process and function of core staff. These actions define organizational growth and formalization of its existence, processes and procedures. Often the government uses ministerial statutory instruments to legalize those actions and embody them in the organization’s enforceable structures. In some instances, the ministry responsible for the public service is empowered to institute these changes following a structured review and approval process. Organizational Structure Discussions with the NaCSA management indicate the outlines of the organizational chart with which they are working (figure 10). It is not clear that there was any official adoption of this structure, nor is there any indication of the process that was embarked on to authenticate it. Does it make it any less official? May be not. However, besides filling all the positions to make NaCSA fully functional, there are elements of this structure that require clarification, for example the relationship of the NSPS with the rest of the structure. Figure 10: NaCSA’s Current de facto Organizational Structure 38 The NSPS is shown under the Programs Division that is headed by a senior director. Whereas this NSPS is housed at the NaCSA, it remains under the Office of the President, which is headed by the chief of staff, and its functions mainly involve the coordination of broader social protection and servicing the NSPIAF and the multisectoral SPTSC. A discussion of the NSPIAF should also make reference to the SPTSC, which takes responsibility for briefing authorities of their ministries, departments, or agencies on discussions of the SPTSC and one page brief submitted to the NSPIAF for the records. How is the SPTSC linked to NaCSA staff and structures? Does it have a strong role to play going forward? The organizational structure shown in figure 11 was agreed on and adopted by NaCSA and the World Bank when the SSNP was approved and is reflected in the Implementation Manual of the NaCSA. The manual is the document of reference regarding NaCSA organizational functions and structure, and, yet, it mostly refers to project related processes and procedures. To be complete and fully applicable to the range of programs and activities executed by the NACSA, it would require supportive handbooks. The institutional assessment recommends follow-up work to develop these handbooks. Figure 11: NaCSA Organizational Structure 39 Going Forward Programs which may require reconfiguring should be placed elsewhere and redefine what role the NaCSA continues to play vis-à-vis them, e.g. Reparations – winding up next year, current support is to three categories – amputees, severe war wounded and some sexually violated individuals. NaCSA would provide refined systems as well as specialist support to execute. Units doing similar work should be grouped together, for example, infrastructure type social protection projects such as local community driven development projects and growth for peace consolidation projects have rural infrastructure orientation, to have one directorate, instead of various separate ones contributing to livelihoods. Answer could be to ensure that the Director has the technical skills to incorporate and lead various interventions that add up to the social protection livelihoods agenda. Director’s job would be redefined so as to focus on integrating related programs managed by the respective managers who are the technical heads. Meetings with the chief of staff and the NaCSA board chairman were revealing (boxes 2 and 3). Box 2: Meeting the Chief of Staff Historically, the NaCSA has a 10-year mandate starting in 2008, when the first 40 institutional assessment was conducted. What were its findings and to what extent were these implemented? The chief of staff in the Office of the President observes as follows:  An organization has to keep reinventing itself.  Consultancy appointments were important to attract good staff, remunerate them, and shield them from the pay-as-you-earn taxation revenue scheme, a win–win for the government and staff.  The NaCSA remains pivotal for the fulfillment of the Agenda for Prosperity, which ends in 2018. The NaCSA should also lead in the application of the next development strategy.  The NaCSA should prepare for the end of its current mandate in 2018. It should focus on the cash transfer program, which is critical for poverty reduction in the country.  The NaCSA should continue to drive the social protection agenda through systems development and the coordination of interventions with the various sectors that have roles to play in contributing to social protection through the NSPS.  The NaCSA should transform itself to be more nimble in responding to and positioning itself for changing roles as other the performance of other sectors improve and begin delivering their mandates more effectively. Thus, if health service delivery improves, the NaCSA could then include health conditionality in the cash transfer program to promote antenatal visits at clinics.  The NaCSA should build and support the capacity of other sectors to deliver social protection interventions with the support of the NSPS, which should also include representatives of other sectors.  The skill mix among NaCSA staff should respond to the organization’s changing roles. For example, staff proficient in social protection, social scientists, and so on should be recruited. Box 3: Meeting the NaCSA Board Chairman The chairman, though less than a year in the position, was the former NaCSA Parliamentary Committee chairman. He brings a wealth of experience to the Board. The Board visits sites, meets twice a year, approves work-plans and budgets, and receives the annual report. Among the questions discussed with the chairman are the following: How does the NaCSA Board assess the NaCSA’s performance? Staff and consultant performance contracts are signed with the NaCSA; does the NaCSA Board receive some of these and evaluate them? Does the chairman sit on the NSPIAF? NSPIAF has met a number of times under the Chairmanship of the Chief of Staff, has the Chairman reviewed the level of discussion and nature of decisions taken by the NSPIAF? Do the levels of deliberations warrant the level of membership formally stated? Does the attendance record support retaining the current level of membership, 41 that is, ministers? With a Parliamentary Committee on NaCSA in place too, are there any overlapping roles and functions between the NSPIAF, NaCSA Board and the NaCSA Parliamentary Committee? Do these policy level organs meet and exchange notes? Considering that these bodies go on field visits – how cost effective is retaining them? On return from these visits, with whom does the NSPIAF and Parliamentary Committee confer? Is it the Board chairman or the commissioner? Is there potential for replication and duplication here? On project coverage, the chairman observed that the focus on intensified impact is viewed as overriding the need for equity. Political and traditional leadership are concerned how uncovered communities are reacting to this and the impact it is having on the ground. Use of targeting as objective but consider scaling-up fast to increase coverage. There is a general call that there be increased collaboration with other projects so that they cover the balance of districts and program activities? VIII. Conclusion: Findings, Recommendations and Next Steps NaCSA remains a strong, relevant and a lead Institution for the post 2018 development phase of Sierra Leone. As the government continues to implement the Agenda for Change (PRSP II) 2014–18 NaCSA’s role has coalesced around two priority areas: (1) continued implementation of inherited resettlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction programs transiting to development, and (2) intensified social protection programs in line with the adopted social protection strategy launched by the president in May 2015. The NaCSA needs to decide and reposition itself in order to define and distinguish its areas of focus, within its mandate, where it would play a lead role and where it would play a supportive but nevertheless important role. The review of programs has shown where government ministries, departments, and agencies, NGOs and CSOs, and private sector stakeholders have been leading implementation, while the NaCSA provided specialized support services (annex F). Going forward, enabling institutional and organizational adjustments need to be put in place to strengthen that operational shift. NaCSA’s focus on developing, implementing and monitoring social protection systems financed under the SSNP in support of the operations, e.g. funded by the Islamic Development Bank, being implemented by government ministries, departments, and agencies, CSOs, NGOs, and the private sector represents a growth area post 2018. Proposed institutional and organizational changes that advocate for a decision to define and adopt the NaCSA’s core functions and staff’ financed by the government would be consistent with that thrust. Specific Findings and Recommendations Legal Status and Strategic Focus 42  There may be a need to revisit NaCSA’s legal mandates to reflect the successor to the PRSP III and the country’s next development priorities as the Agenda for Prosperity draws to an end in 2018.  NaCSA’s mission and objectives should be articulated clearly in the agency’s core documents as they are refined following the envisaged changes post-2018.  Whereas the government has spelled out NaCSA’s strategic focus as resettlement, rehabilitation, reconstruction, and broadbased social protection, including safety nets for the extreme poor and vulnerable, PRSP IV may call for a sharper focus on social protection and streamlined programs to achieve greater impact.  While focusing on defining and supporting interventions that address the needs of the extreme poor and vulnerable, NaCSA’s role in promoting economic growth requires that NaCSA also coordinate and rationalize its implementation responsibilities and accountabilities among various active sectors (government ministries, departments, and agencies). This coordinating role would include oversight in poverty targeting, the management of payment systems, including to remote areas, capacity building, promoting greater accountability, and overseeing mechanisms for grievance redress.  A champion is needed to foster NaCSA’s strategic vision, which is acknowledged as a function of the designated core staff who are government funded as custodians of the institution. Institutional Framework and Organization for Social Protection  The president declared that “social protection is anchored in my office and I have designated my chief of staff as champion of it in 2011,� in the Foreword to the Social Protection Strategy and Implementation Plan, 2013 to 2018. The NSPIAF, chaired by the chief secretary and comprised of ministers, CSOs, labor representatives, and the NaCSA, is therefore the apex body in social protection (see table 4). As secretary to the NSPIAF, the NaCSA, though accountable to a Board, becomes the key actor through the implementation of safety nets for the extreme poor and vulnerable and the coordination of sectoral social protection programs and through links to promotion platforms of economic growth such as infrastructure, agribusiness, microfinance,. and others.  The social protection policy review exercise under way will resolve the institutional issues, which include the current dual accountability to the NSPIAF and the NaCSA by the NSPS. Organization of the NaCSA  Whereas there may be some negative perceptions about NaCSA’s wide coverage, NACSA remains relevant as an executing agency that works efficiently, effectively, and with speed. Its role is pivotal for the recovery phase that Sierra Leone is entering at the end of the Agenda for Prosperity 2018.  Defining NaCSA core staff functions, appointing core staff as custodians of its mandate and institutional memory, and mobilizing funding for them should be a government priority. The staff would include the finance director, human resources manager, procurement director, and administrator. 43  The NaCSA has the capacity to provide core services using core staff and systems designed, owned and managed by the government in support of government ministries, departments, and agencies in implementing social protection activities as well as broader development interventions. Besides the technical ones, such participatory rural appraisals, extended participatory rural appraisals, appraisals, procurement, accountability, M&E, GSM, and so on, these include the design and provision of standard project and subproject cycles, defining and articulating qualification criteria, and so on.  In the absence of standard NACSA documents (different project agreements and operating guidelines are currently being used), there is a need to develop and adopt key documents that define NaCSA operating systems, guidelines, and procedures, that is, operational and implementation manuals and supportive handbooks that set out detailed practices on administration, procurement, finance, grievances, and so on.  All NaCSA staff are either on annual government or project-type renewable contracts; issues surrounding tenure and benefits need to be revisited to consider concerns over conditions, pay, and so on. Sectoral Collaboration  The district, regional, and national meetings of the NSPIAF and the SPTSC are being held, minutes taken and distributed, and follow-up actions initiated by NaCSA staff. Staff performance in carrying out these roles and functions are valued by sectoral stakeholders and other stakeholders.  The NaCSA’s strong contribution to the government’s post-2018 development thrust is accentuated by its demonstrated ability to build capacity, coordinate social protection systems deployment and oversee their use and provide technical support to government ministries, departments, and agencies and other stakeholders to execute social protection activities using the subproject cycle. Program Delivery  The NaCSA is pivotal to the attainment of the outcomes of the social protection pillar of reducing extreme poverty and vulnerability under the Agenda for Prosperity. To this end, the NaCSA should adopt a standard planning and programming cycle for use in short-, medium-, and long-term project and subproject cycles of social protection interventions to tackle extreme poverty and vulnerability. The cycles would be available for use in the design of social protection projects that government ministries, departments, and agencies and nonstate actors would use in developing their own interventions.  The NaCSA has a strong comparative advantage and therefore should sharpen its focus on social protection interventions, including safety net interventions where it plays a direct leadership role, such as cash transfers, cash for work, social protection systems and related accountabilities, while continuing to strengthen its coordination and linkages roles of activities falling directly under government ministries, departments, and agencies, nonstate actors, the private sector, and so on (annex F). The impact of the work of the NaCSA 44  Impacts are long term effects of interventions that are best established through evaluations usually at the end of the project life. Only the Youth Employment Support Project has had an evaluation done with positive results.  Where an intervention was designed and implemented following robust results chains that uphold causality and adherence to the hierarchy of results, achievement of desired impacts is reasonably assured. Funding and financing sources and spread:  NaCSA’s good track record in terms of fiduciary compliance attracts donor funding for programs managed by it. However, this leads to other sectoral implementing agencies being starved of funding and thereby withholding their services.  The NaCSA needs to standardize its accountability, fiduciary compliance and reporting documentation based on government legal and operating requirements and move from individual donor reporting formats.  The NaCSA cannot do everything; there is need for it to strengthen its capacity building outreach to sectoral management units to empower the fiduciary compliance of government ministries, departments, and agencies and thereby build the confidence of donor agencies in funding them directly. IX. Next Steps Table 8: Next Steps Step Action By whom When Appoint an institutional assessment Provide terms of reference Commissioner May 7, 2015 follow-up team Prepare list, obtain soft copies Collect and forward documents to Team and Abu and scan hard copies for Ongoing consultant Kargbo, World Bank forwarding Divisions and units respond to Senior directors, questions on, for example, number Gather data, information and Ongoing, until directors, and of established vs filled positions, provide to Team May 30, 2015 managers government financing Draft institutional assessment Consultant, June 15–August Send written Draft for comment report commissioner 31, 2015 Develop strategy to integrate Working group deliberates and Commissioner, programs into sectors, SSNP and recommends to NaCSA September Senior directors, obtain NSPIAF and Board buy-in and management, the commissioner, 2015 director, reparations approval and NaCSA Board Resource mobilization and Advocacy with NSPIAF, NaCSA deployment strategy in support of Commissioner, Board Ongoing Board above Senior directors, institutional Develop rationale for Core Staff for Legal review and mandate, assessment team, March 2016 NaCSA define posts TORs NaCSA management, Board Appoint Team- TORs for study of Board, Review NaCSA Staff conditions of comparator of benefits in other commissioner, March 2016 service including benefits Agencies government 45 Commissioner, Develop OM/IM and Handbooks for Terms of reference: prepared by Senior directors, December 2015 NaCSA consultancy and the team World Bank task team leader Commissioner, Team Building for NaCSA, NSPIAF, September Appoint Leadership consultant World Bank task SPTSC and NaCSA Board 2015 team leader 46 X. Annexes Annex A: Documents Reviewed 1. Aide-Mémoire, June 8, 2014, Youth Employment Support Project (21052) supervision support mission, May 12–23, 2014 2. Aide-Mémoire, September 2013, Youth Employment Support Project, September 16–24, 2013 3. NaCSA: Fourth Quarterly Report (October–December 2013): Youth Employment Support Project and the labor-intensive Cash-for-Work project component 4. NaCSA: Third Quarterly Report (2013), Youth Employment Support Project 5. Public Works as a Productive Safety Net in a Post-Conflict Setting: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation of Sierra Leone’s Cash-for-Work Program 6. Splash Report on NaCSA cash-for-work payments (May 20, 2015): Payment of Wages through Mobile Phones to Beneficiaries of the Cash-for-Work Component of the Youth Employment Support Project 7. Female Participation Study (2014): Cash-for-Work Program 8. National Commission for Social Action (Amendment) Act 2008 9. National Commission for Social Action (2001) 10. National Youth Commission Act, 2009 11. Refugee Protection Act 2007; Ministry of Foreign Affairs chairs the commission 12. Truth and Reconciliation Act 2000 13. Anti Corruption Commission Act 2008 14. NaCSA Annual Report, 2014 47 Annex B: People Met 1. Hon. Alhaji M. Kai Kai, Minister of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s Affairs 2. Hon. Alimany Karama, Minister of Youth (MOY) 3. Hon. Ms. Fereh Musu Conteh, Deputy Minister of Youth (MOY) 4. Anthony A. Korona, Commissioner, National Youth Commission (NAYCOM) 5. Hon. Karako, Deputy Minister of Local Government 6. B. M. Foh, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s Affairs 7. Khali, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth 8. M.K. Magba-Kamari, Ministry of Local Government 9. Mohamed U. Koroma, Program Manger, NaCSA 10. Ahmadu Bangura, Program Manger, NaCSA 11. Haja Isatu Kamara, Deputy Commissioner, NaCSA 12. Charles B. Vandi, Director of Gender Affairs, Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s Affairs 13. Franas Kabia, Director of Social Welfare, 14. Osman Kanu, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s Affairs 15. Tina Davies, Consultant, Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s Affairs 16. Adams Kayers, Acting Project Coordinator, Integrated Project Administration Unit, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development 17. Momodu Wudie, National Youth Commission 18. Yusuf Kamaro, M&E Manager, NAYCOM 19. Sheku Sesay, PMO, Integrated Project Administration Unit, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development 20. Andrew Williams, Integrated Project Administration Unit, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development 21. Emmanuel Saidu, Integrated Project Administration Unit, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development 22. Gershon Saffa, Integrated Project Administration Unit, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development 48 Annex C: NaCSA Staff Consultation Schedule, May 2015 Date Designation Contract Evaluation Completion Funding Comment Senior director, NaCSA conditions of service, personnel manual, establishment status, register of Support Services committees and attendance registers, resolutions follow-up and implementation, Division, Kevin Dixon compliance register donor government funding ratios Shared consultancy, SSNP higher percentage, Islamic Development Bank, functional Senior director, M&E, World 2010 consistency of the divisions; elaborate information, education, and communication Susan Robett Bank function as program awareness; should procurement remain under finance? NaCSA operational and implementation manual (status unclear); administrative manual in draft from 2000; 2014 SSNP manual approved and in use, applicability Human resources more to project mode than government systems, for example, on procurement; manager, Sorie conditions of service standardization applauded, but finalize the instruments and Ibrahim Turay make them available to divisions and units; maintenance of same critical function of human resources; incomplete staff files; what is the practice to ensure they are complete? Senior director, Vacant Includes strategy and policy development; procurement may be included programs United Nations funding ended 2013; government financing and possible role transformation from 2016; need for updated terms of reference, principal policy Director, reparations, 2008 advisor on reparations to the commissioner? Approval of annual plans and Haija Isatu Kamara reporting on progress, transmittal of report to donors; secretary to the National Steering Committee for Reparations; who sits on it? to whom does it report? Director, refugees Director, Social Organization of Educational Practice Project Social protection systems custodian: suggestion that the custodian report to the World Director, NSPS Vacant chief secretary superseded by the need to capitalize on NaCSA experience and Bank institutional memory, expertise, and resource base Procurement officer: vacant; two assistants; first, 2008 as procurement officer; Procurement December 2015 location of the unit is appropriate in light of the procurement system safeguards, manager, Musa Sesay 1, 2012 including requests origination, committee review, and provisions by funders Accounts and finance World Bank project contract: consultant terms, Sun System maintenance manager, Saidu challenges; program managers improve lead time for requests, ensure use of Lawrence Sesay authorized request forms 15 staff in five districts; sectoral collaboration challenges, Ministry of Social Welfare, Regional coordinator, January 2001 Gender, and Children’s Affairs, Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of North, Ousman Turay 2015 Agriculture, Ministry of Works Regional coordinator, January South, Farama 2001 12 staff: district coordinators, capacity building specialists, officers, facilitators 2015 Bangura 8 technical staff; innovative approaches to obtain collaboration and operational Regional coordinator, January support from sector staff, social welfare psychosocial support activities illustrative Southern, Ousman 2001 2015 of practical limitations to collaboration and timely delivery; reports still awaited two Jalloh months after activities Internal audit, Head and two assistants, accountable; staff audit in 2012 and systems review; staff 2012 Ousman Bangura contracts, administrative handbook, and so on Chairman, NaCSA More on-the-ground oversight and collaboration with the Parliamentary 2014 Board Committee; advocacy for a scale-up in coverage of subprojects across all chiefdoms Deputy minister, Build ministry capacity to manage funds nationwide and to execute at all levels with Ministry of Local 2008 respect to specific functions and to mobilize financing from potential funders Government Execution of youth programs to be moved to the National Youth Commission; Minister of youth 2014 NaCSA will provide technical guidance and support During meetings with the two ministers (Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s Affairs; Youth) and the deputy minister of agriculture, she delivered the powerful Deputy commissioner, message that the NaCSA commissioner status was conferred to facilitate execution Haija Isatu Kamara of an urgent mandate to reach the poor and vulnerable through assigned tasks, a role the status of ministry would not have permitted equally effectively Administrative Conditions of service and staff benefits are important for staff morale and assistant, KfW project, 2004 performance Abigail Seisay Advocate for a structure that is less cumbersome in operations and in providing Director, Social services; the NaCSA provides support as policy secretariat to the NSPIAF, to which it Organization of gives strategic guidance. The Social Organization of Educational Practice Project Educational Practice receives program management guidance and administrative support from the Project NaCSA. These arrangements challenge the sources of authority: the NSPIAF, the Parliamentary Committee, and the NaCSA Board. 49 Annex D: Regional and District Staff Movements, 2012–15 Transfer Transfer Staff Year Designation Region District Terminated Resigned Vacant Reason out in total 2012 Regional Coordinator East Kenema 1 7 Performance Regional Engineer East Kenema 1 Performance Adminstragie Assistant II East Kenema No Comment Regional Engineer South Bo 1 6 Performance Adminstrative Assistant II South Bo No Comment Regional Coordinator North Makeni 1 7 Performance Regional Engineer North Makeni 1 Performance District Coordinator Kambia 1 14 Promotion in Place Community Based Spec Kambia 1 Performance Comm Based Facilitatir Kambia 1 Performance Comm Based Facilitatir Kambia 1 Performance Comm Based Facilitatir Kambia 1 Performance District Coordinator Port Loko 1 10 Performance Comm Based Specialist Port Loko 1 Performance District Coordinator Bombali 1 10 Performance Nil Movement Koinagudu 5 Districct Coordinator Tonkolili 1 8 Performance Comm Based Facilitator Tonkolili No Action Comm Based Specialist Kono 7 No Action District Coordinator Kallahun 1 5 Performance District Coordinator Kenema 1 10 Performance District Coordinator Bo 1 Performance Comm Based Specialist Bo 8 No Action Comm Based Specialist Bonthe 8 No Action District Coordinator Moyamba 1 8 Performance Comm Based Specialist Moyamba 1 Performance District Coordinator Pujehun 1 Performance Comm Based Specialist Pujehun 1 Promotion District Coordinator Western Area 1 11 Performance Comm Based Specialist Western Area 1 Performance 3 15 7 0 16 0 0 124 2013 Regional Coordnator East Kenema Clerk of works postion excluded 1 6 Transfer Regional Engineer East Kenema 1 Performance Regional Engineer South Bo 1 6 Transfer Adminstragie Assistant II South Bo 1 Transfer Regional Coordinator North Makeni 1 6 Transfer Regional Engineer North Makeni 1 Transfer District Coordinator Kambia 1 11 Transfer Comm Based Facilitator Kambia 1 Transfer Comm Based Facilitator Kambia No Action District Coordinator Port Loko 1 10 Transfer Community Based Spec Port Loko 1 Transfer Comm Based Facilitator Port Loko No Acton From refugee and District Coordinator North Bombali 1 9 resettlement headquarters Comm Based Facilitator North Bombali 1 Promoted Nil Koinadugu Nil National Coordinator Tonkolili 1 8 To HQ? District Coordinator Tonkolili 1 From HQ Nil Kon 9 Nil District Coordinator Kailahun 1 5 Transfer ex-Bo District Coordinator Kenema 1 Transfer in ex-Moyamba District Coordinator Bo 1 Vacant Community Based Spec Bo 1 8 Promoted from SAG Officer -in - Charge Bonthe 1 Retained District Coordinator Moyamba 1 7 Transfer from Bombali Officer -in-Charge Pujehun 1 10 Promotion form Specia District Coordinator Western Area 1 10 Transfer Kenema Program Manager 1 Retained 0 2 19 2 105 50 Annex E: Changing Organizational Structures Figure E.1: NaCSA Organizational Structure, at the Institutional Review, 2008 BOARD COMMISSIONER D-COMMISSIONER TECH ADVISORS EXEC. DIRECTOR SUP. SERVICES Micro Finance CDP PWP Reg. Office Dist Office Figure E.2: Institutional Review 2008 Recommended NaCSA: ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE BOARD COMMISSIONER DEPUTY COMMISSIONER INTERNAL CONTROL PROGRAMMES DIVISION STRATEGY& PI DIVISION SUPPORT SERVICES DIVISION SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POLICY PLANNING & ADMIN / HUMAN RESOURCES OPPORTUNITIES UNIT RESOURCE MOB. UNIT UNIT HUMANITARIAN MONITORING & FINANCE & ASSISTANCE UNIT EVALUATION UNIT PROCUREMENT UNIT LOCAL GOVERNANCE PUBLIC INFORMATION INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CAPACITY BUILDING UNIT UNIT UNIT REGIONAL OPERATIONS DISTRICT OPERATIONS 51 Annex F: Schedule of NaCSA Direct and Indirect Social Protection Program and Project Interventions Program, Intervention Activities Direct Indirect project NaCSA implements and leads (coordinating role), common targeting mechanisms and tools explained by Proxy-means testing SSNP, $7 contract service provider, which by Statistics Sierra Human capacity Cash transfers-targeting, million, World selected and engaged, beneficiaries Leone; the contract investment capacity building Bank identified and registered, district service provider is coordinating teams participate, Anti to effect transfers Corruption Commission participates, skills training for youth Rapid Ebola– Contracts service Human capital Cash transfers, capacity NaCSA implements and leads Social Safety provider to effect investment building (coordinating role) Net transfers Social mobilization, provide Sierra Leone Community capacity support for education, health Community- building, Contract service care, agriculture, microfinance, Driven development of NaCSA leads (coordinating role) providers to microenterprises, roads and Development physical implement activities bridges, water supply, rural Project II infrastructure electrification Pro-Poor NaCSA leads: targeting and screening Infrastructure Spot improvement of feeder Growth for of youth for the program, Contract service development, job roads, construction of grain Peace identification of the works using providers to creation among stores and drying floors, water Consolidation screening criteria, targeting implement activities youth supply and capacity building II beneficiaries (coordinating role) Youth Contracts Employment community Support Job creation among Provision of cash for work, NaCSA leads (coordinating role) oversight Project and youth capacity building committees to cash-for-work implement activities component Combating Provide assistance to Provision of allowances, NaCSA implements and leads Irregular returnees and victims capacity building (coordinating role) Migration of trafficking Contract service Provide assistance to Provide rehabilitation, grants, NaCSA implements and leads providers to Reparations war victims capacity building (coordinating role) implement some activities Contract service Provide protection to Provision of shelter, support, Relief and NaCSA implements and leads providers to refugees and asylum medical assistance, capacity resettlement (coordinating role) implement some seekers building activities Peace and Employment creation NaCSA implements and leads Development among young Internship, capacity building (coordinating role) Corporation graduates 52