Uganda Intergovernmental Transfers Training
At short notice, the International Studies Program at the Andrew Young School designed and provided an in-country training program on intergovernmental fiscal transfer issues for central and local government officials in the Republic of Uganda. The program addressed issues of fiscal decentralization, the uses and objectives of grant and transfer systems, the analysis of grants and transfers, and the opportunities for own-source revenue generation. Four separate programs were designed and delivered during the five-week training program. These programs included: (1) two two-week training programs for local government finance officials; (2) one four-week training program for training personnel; (3) one two-week training program for central government personnel; and (4) a one-day symposium for the 12 permanent secretaries. All courses were delivered in Entebbe, Uganda, beginning within one-week of contract signature.
With the purpose of raising the capacity of central and local governments to establish and maintain appropriate transfer mechanisms, to enhance a mutual understanding of revenue sharing issues and to enhance local ability to increase reliance on own-source revenues, the intergovernmental fiscal transfers (IGFT) training program focused on providing training to central government officials as well as local government officials.
Program 1 was a "train-the-trainer" program. This four-week program of study developed the skills of Uganda finance officials from central and local levels of government in the core concepts and applications of intergovernmental fiscal transfer mechanisms, revenue mobilization, and other key issues in intergovernmental fiscal design. This training program aimed to enhance the ability of the Government of Uganda to independently duplicate the current training throughout Uganda.
Program 2 was a two-week training program for central government officials from those mainline ministries most directly affected by decentralization. This program addressed the specific needs of central government officials in designing, implementing, and administering intergovernmental fiscal transfer mechanisms, with lectures on intergovernmental transfers, revenue and expenditure assignments, public finance and budgeting, and governance issues.
Program 3 was a two-week program that focused on the specific responsibilities and activities of local government officials in intergovernmental fiscal systems. The program emphasized the accounting and auditing mechanisms for intergovernmental transfer systems and the need for local governments to actively participate in the design of the intergovernmental system, including expenditure and revenue assignments as well as the system of grants and transfers. This program was conducted twice.
Finally, Program 4 was a one-day roundtable for Permanent Secretaries from the mainline ministries most directly affected by fiscal decentralization. This roundtable allowed high ranking officials to discuss the achievements and obstacles that various ministries are experiencing in the decentralization effort thus far and find ways to overcome such obstacles.
| Project: | Uganda Intergovernmental Transfers Training |
| Date: | October-November 1999 |
| Project Director: | Prof. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez |
| Project Manager: | Dr. Mark Rider |
| Location: | Entebbe, Uganda |
| Contractor/Donor: | World Bank and Uganda Ministry of Local Governments |
| Funding: | $ 300,000 |
