Donor agencies join hands

New IDB program coordinates with other donor-funded programs in Nicaragua

By Peter Sollis

The IDB’s Atlantic Coast Local Development Program is creating welcome new opportunities for strengthening coordination between development actors working in this region, the poorest in Nicaragua.

The aim of the program is to enhance the capacity of the regional governments of the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) and the South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) to lead development processes and create links with communities and municipal governments. This emphasis on strengthening the capacity of the regional governments complements activities being financed by DANIDA and Sida—the development assistance agencies of Denmark and Sweden—to do the same for the municipalities of the Atlantic Coast.

The program will also hold roundtable discussions with all interested actors to help build a consensus on national standards for the participatory planning process. These standards will be used to identify priority investment projects on the Atlantic Coast. Agreement on basic criteria will reduce duplication of effort and costs that occur when different programs use different participatory planning methodologies, often in the same communities.

Partnership in action. In February 2001 the IDB and Sida undertook the first joint agency mission to the Atlantic Coast, visiting the Mines Regions, Puerto Cabezas and Bluefields. The objective of the visit was to identify the opportunities for coordination between the IDB- and Sida-funded programs and to decide on activities that could be financed by the Sida-IDB Partnership Program.

Three activities identified for funding by the Partnership Program were:

• A health dialogue between Atlantic Coast health providers, the Ministry of Health, and donor community representatives to discuss an action plan for the region.
• The design of a methodology to support the elaboration of an Atlantic Coast Regional Development Plan.
• A study of the demand and supply of microfinance services on the Atlantic Coast to help both Sida and the IDB identify opportunities for program development.

After the conclusion of the mission, a meeting was held by representatives of international agencies that have been active on the Atlantic Coast. The IDB-Sida team presented its report to the meeting, which concluded by creating an Atlantic Coast donors group. Since then, three meetings have been held to discuss ways to improve communication about ongoing programs and future operations and ways to enhance coordination to maximize the development impact of these efforts.