Following the Agenda for Prosperity, the Government of Sierra Leone engaged in wide consultation to develop Education for Development, Medium Term National Development Plan (MTNDP), 2019-2023. In support of this process, the government requested the support of the UN Development Programme through the New Deal to undertake a development finance assessment (DFA). Building on lessons from previous plans, the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development wanted to strengthen the means of implementation in this plan, to think about new ways of mobilising and investing public resources, and to consider the role that private finance plays and could play in advancing national sustainable development objectives.
The DFA is a tool that has been developed by UNDP to build on the principles articulated in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda internationally about how the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals will be financed. It aims to build a process of dialogue and consultation among a wide constituency of stakeholders at the national level about financing for sustainable development. The DFA uses an analytical framework that builds a holistic picture of public and private financing and of the policies, institutions and partnerships in place to support financing for sustainable development. Through a process of informed dialogue it aims to build consensus about steps that can be taken to strengthen financing for sustainable development.
The Sierra Leone DFA ran from October 2018 to February 2019, in line with the process to finalise the national plan. Consultations were held with a wide range of stakeholders over this period, notably including a workshop to discuss and refine the emerging findings and recommendations in December 2018.
This report presents the findings and recommendations developed through the DFA process. It starts by analysing the financing landscape, considering the trends and trajectories in public and private resources. It looks at the integration of financing policies with the MTNDP, considering the alignment of the budget with the national plan and opportunities to mobilise greater volumes of public financing. It analyses opportunities to mobilise greater volumes and greater impact on the national plan from private financing, considering how public policy and partnerships can mobilise and unlock new streams of private investment. And it considers the systems in place for monitoring and review, as well as transparency and accountability, and the role that they play in boosting the effectiveness of public and private financing on sustainable development outcomes.
