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Mozambique - Municipal Development in Mozambique : Lessons from the First Decade - Full reportMunicipalities in Mozambique were established by law in 1997 and elected in 1998 for the first time, only a few years after the peace agreement. Most inherited archaic and dysfunctional remnants of colonial and central government systems and infrastructure, and as such limited progress was achieved in transforming them into functioning local governments during the first mandate (1998-2002). During the second mandate (2003-2008), however, significant improvements were seen as municipalities began to grasp the nettle of local governance and some service delivery challenges. By the end of their first decade most municipalities have reorganized themselves to some extent and a number have undertaken initiatives that are beginning to bear fruit. There remains a long way to go, however, before municipalities will be robust enough to deliver quality local services to meet growing demand. There is a danger that the pace of municipal technical and financial capacity development will be overtaken by the growing municipal population and by transfers of additional mandates. Municipalities, central government, and the Association of Municipalities (ANAMM) need to support municipalities to perform their potentially significant role in improving living conditions, stimulating growth and cementing meaningful democracy in Mozambique. This study provides the first integrated assessment of the challenges of local development and service delivery through a municipal lens. It diagnoses the underlying systemic constraints facing municipalities, discusses some of the specific service delivery challenges of the municipalities, and it sets out recommendations for both central and municipal governments to tackle some of these constraints within an integrated and systemic framework.
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City Development Strategy South Asia Region : Progress ReportThis report highlights the discussion,
 processes, lessons learned in examining innovative options
 for participation by all stakeholders in seeking new social
 and economic contracts between civil society and urban
 governments. The improvement in relationships is geared
 towards providing better services for urban poor and
 directly contributing to urban poverty alleviation. The
 report attempts to capture the new wave of enthusiasm and
 entrepreneurial inclination to city management that is more
 transparent and responsive to citizens as 'customers'.
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Financing Indian Cities : Opportunities and Constraints in an Nth Best WorldThis paper examines international
 experience with mobilizing funding for both capital and
 recurrent costs for municipal infrastructure with a view to
 identifying areas where India could improve its system of
 financing infrastructure in cities. Based on international
 data, the analysis shows that there is indeed a wide range
 of models for funding municipal infrastructure across a
 group even as relatively homogeneous as the European Union.
 Although a number of different models operate in countries
 with very good services, important features of India s
 municipal finance system stand out. The spending per capita
 is exceptionally low, even when compared with local
 governments with few functions. The real estate sector
 generates meager tax revenues, but transfers from higher
 levels of government are also meager. Turning to cost
 recovery models for services, the paper examines
 international evidence on cost recovery. In practice, a
 surprisingly large number of countries, including
 high-income countries, subsidize basic municipal services,
 particularly in water supply and sanitation. Analysis shows
 that these subsidies often have perverse distributional
 effects. Likewise, pricing schemes designed to skew
 subsidies to low-income households often have unintended
 distributional effects. Again, evidence from urban India
 suggests that cost recovery is exceptionally low, not only
 in absolute terms but relative to the experience of other
 low and middle-income countries. The paper concludes with a
 discussion of some of the measures that should be considered
 for improving finances in Indian cities, including land
 monetization and capital grants systems designed
 specifically for reaching secondary cities and towns.