The experience of the PPPUE Programme in Uganda shows the importance of a coherent strategy and of a balance between initiatives that focus, on the one hand, on systemic change and on creating enabling conditions for PPPs and, on the other, on implementing in practice concrete PPPs with immediate tangible benefits for urban poor communities.
The Programme Management Unit adopted a bottom up approach to induce better understanding and appreciation for the PPP approach at the local level. Strong stakeholders participation took place at the local level, thereby building trust and understanding between partners from the public and community sectors. Workshops were organized to help stakeholders obtain information to enrich their knowledge and understanding of the PPP concept and build consensus to move to the implementation phase. The workshops also had a positive impact in helping the stakeholders to form Local Steering Committees to plan and facilitate the implementation and coordination of projects and to work closely with the Programme Management Unit for the selection of local service providers.
Concerning the process of setting up PPP arrangements, in the main the distinctive role of public sector actors at both local and national level should be to co-ordinate, facilitate, act as a broker, and provide advisory and technical support. Similarly, coordination at national level between national ministries regarding PPPs should be explored. Involving other relevant ministries not only removes potential obstacles but also introduces new capacity.
However, in Uganda the Ministry of Local Government failed to play the essential role of ensuring downstream and upstream flows of information through supervision, monitoring, and technical support on policy issues. This is because not enough resources were provided to the Ministry. The establishment and facilitation of policy institutions and agencies for technical backstopping and mechanisms to establish collaboration and coordination with other institutions and related programmes in sector Ministries were not accomplished. Other Ministries that could have provided technical inputs on the basis of their experience with PPP arrangements (e.g. Ministry of Health) were not involved.
At national level, the key role played by the implementation agency, Living Earth Uganda, to some extent crowded out the participation of other stakeholders that should have had a more prominent function in the overall management and coordination of the Programme.
As the Programme tried to introduce innovative arrangements for the delivery of local public services for the poor, it was widely felt that 18 months was not a sufficient period to achieve all the Programme objectives. This also in light of the fact that, in most cases, the phase of pilot project implementation took place in local authorities and involved local actors that had no prior knowledge of PPPs.
All the pilot towns were very responsive in developing a work plan and identifying resources for PPPUE start up funding and local authority counterpart funding. At local level the Programme has also succeeded in mobilizing, organizing and supporting CBOs for urban service delivery.