Area-Based

Programming (ABP)
Informing Area Office staff of the basics
of ABP

Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org

 A Practitioner’s Guide to
Main Text Area-Based Development
Used in Programming
This
by Jan Harfst; Sep – Dec 2006
Presentatio
n Download Here

Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org

CONTEXT
s for
or 8 ic ie Es)
l
Priority 1: Governance, D E f Inclusive 9th Priority 2: Enhanced Rule of Law and Priority 3: Inclusive te p o SM
t ( Economic
l d t s u a e n
o
ho ars
Politics andt Reconciliation ini Access to Justice Recovery
a d eqand o
m
pNature-based Solution
s
n y e
n1.1.1. Strengthened in g • o ve l y i
• Output:
C a t r
systems
e r and Output 2.1.1 Strengthened capacity of N
• Output:
d e 3.1.1 Strengthened e t
r capacities
i se of
en a systems and institutions, CSO, Media, S
Federal,
P state and local o v r
governmenta and
institutions at FGS, FMS, is andyelocal P the
P private sector, IDPs, women and youth at sectors developing and nimplementing
government implementingCR relevant
federal, state, districts and community policies and strategies othat promotee
policy, legal and regulatory frameworks g p . id
levels to sustain peace and reconciliation.
in effective-fair
p o market access, value y w
and programmes on inclusive and
m iss of additionof and 1 . 9improved productivityu ntr for
accountable politics andonl y • Output 2.1.2 Strengthened capacity % $ o
s Federal Justice System aand k orFMS 77 eSomalia.
micro-, small-
< and medium
P sc business
restorative/transformative st justice ethe rule of law and across
li v ID verty
exi r institutions promoting s w
i justice, especially for o f
• Output: 1.1.2 l ism e
Strengthened
p institutions at access to equitablea w • Output: 3.1.2.6Empowered
5 ||po public tand
a and
rstate palocal governments f l and vulnerable groups 7 eorganizations
private sector in andg enpeople,
national,
d e n o
the marginalized v r
u accessing
Fe addressing o le especially thoseli in MSMEs, d e
effectively and enforcing anti- Ruthe country;
across resources for investment, n e e economic
ta n c
ood
e s
si creation f
corruption measures • Output 2.1.3 Strengthened capacity of diversification, value
e o pl addition,
a s a re of
• Output: 1.1.3 Strengthened electoral women and youth, especially the decent jobs, and p increasedian productivity.
o u th
M a r y urand e
institutions and systems managing marginalized and vulnerable, to effectively • Output:53.1.3 nit of 3 youth
.2 aEmpowered c
participate/engage and benefit from women with umrelevant ut skillsinand se s
inclusive, democratic, fair, and credible
effective governance, the rule of law and h
opportunities investing2 o t
in resilient
u h i green
elections in all regions in Somalia: access to justice. and blue economy, creating f yodecent
employment and sustaining % o ed
o ylivelihoods..
7 3 mpl
une
Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org
 WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

• Centralized and top-down systems of planning, programming, implementation

and administration have been failing in bringing upon changes
• Security and access challenges
• Issues of legitimacy
• Corruption, inadequate capacity (individual & institutional), inability to raise above the
current zero-sum day-to-day politics
• International actors, development resources, and development planning tends
to be centralized in Mogadishu despite top-down systems not working

Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org

 Opportunities
• These factors do not seem to necessarily impose impediments on the
development of Somalia as a whole; e.g., Puntland
• The greatest untapped potential for strengthening governance in Somalia,
lies at the sub-national (FMS), district or even lower levels of governance,
research concludes. The federal system can take root only if it is built
bottom-up, to complement what has so far been a Mogadishu-focused top-
down process (Alfonso, Shiferaw & Veron, 2019).
• Many donors, including DFID and Swiss Development Cooperation
(SDC), are actively pushing for area-based or territorial approaches to
local development in Somalia (ibid).

Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org

Area-Based Programming
• Area-based approaches take a geographic entity as their starting point
and seek to create a bottom-up dynamic involving a range of local
stakeholders, including public officials, the private sector and
traditional leaders.
• ABP open the door to different forms of cooperation and the
coordination of humanitarian, development and peacebuilding efforts.

Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org

ABD approaches are “participatory” in the sense that successfully tackling the area
ABD approaches
specific
Finally, problem
ABD are “integrated”
requires
Programmes the bein
inclusion
must theand
sense
“flexible” that
thethey
participation
in address
senseofthat area-specific
all stakeholders
they must bein problems
the area
highly
ABD approaches are “inclusive” in the sense that activities target “communities” rather
a holistic
in the
responsive tomanner
process changesthat
that leads fully
into
thethe takes into
resolution
area that mayaccount
ofaffect and takesInadvantage
the problem.
the problem this of interventions
so respect,
that its the complex
successful
ABP CHARACTERISTICS & DEFINITION
than specific target groups within those communities.
interplay
ABD
remain between actors
programmes
relevant. apply and factors inapproach
a bottom-up that area.to development to feed into national
plan/policy
AREA BASED PROGRAMMING
Complex An integrated (multi-sector), I
inclusive (entire community), I
Puntland development participatory (bottom-up) P

problem and flexible (responsive to F

changes) approach
Definition: "targeting specific geographical areas in a country, characterized by
a particular complex development problem, through an integrated, inclusive,
participatory and flexible approach’ (Harfst, 2006).
Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org
 WHEN TO USE ABP APPROACHES?
There are four main situations where the ABD approach has been used
(UNDP/RBEC, 2003):
• Poverty-related: i.e. spatial poverty traps due to geographical isolation,
climate, terrain, demography, etc.;
• Disaster-related: i.e. natural, such as floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, droughts, and man-made, such as land erosion, etc.;
• Conflict-related: i.e. civil wars, spillovers (refugees) from wars in neighboring
countries, terror campaigns, inter-clan tensions, etc.;
• Exclusion-related: i.e. groups/categories of people that feel or are marginalized
and excluded from mainstream society.
• Impaired National Government: i.e. impotent national plans and institutions
Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org
Area-Based Development Programming
A Step-by-Step Approach to ABD Programming

Stage 1: When to opt for an area-based development intervention?

Stage 2: Defining the area-based development intervention
• Step 1: Defining the target area
• Step 2: Assessing the development situation
• Step 3: Defining the main outcome, objectives and outputs
Stage 3: Implementation & management arrangements
• Step 1: Implementation strategy
• Step 2: Programme positioning and management arrangements
• Step 3: Selecting the counterpart institution(s)
Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org
Area-Based Development Programming
Stage 1: When to opt for an area-based development intervention?

• There are basically three main approaches for setting-up a

development intervention, the selection of which depends on the
objectives and scope of the planned intervention. These are:
1. Sector-Based Approach (e.g., Education or Health or Private Sector
Development)
2. Target Group-Based Approach (e.g., Youth, Women, Returning refugees, etc.)
3. Area-Based Approach (i.e., Complex development situation in a particular area
that sets it apart from other areas in the country )
Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org
Area-Based Development Programming
Stage 1: When to opt for an area-based development intervention?

• Deciding on an Area-Based Development Approach: Two

questions:
Am I dealing with a clearly identifiable area that has unique or specific
problems that sets it apart from other areas in the country and therefore
merits special attention?
• If yes, the second question is:
Is the situation complex and multi-dimensional with no clearly identifiable
or heavily interlinked causes and effects?
Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org
 Thank you

Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org

 Download

Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org

 The Somali Federal
Constitution
• Longest Constitution in the
world • 143 Articles
• A preamble and • 3 schedules
• 448 articles, 22 parts, 12 • 15 chapters + two parts
schedules, 5 appendices,
and 115 amendments • 8 years and still counting
• Took to complete 2 years,
11 months, and 18 days
Presenter: Mohamed Ali Farah - mohamed.ali.farah@undp.org