Cote d'Ivoire has witnessed unprecedented instability since 1999 and political tensions culminated in the civil conflict in 2002
while the war seems over, reconciliation has not been easy. The conflict resulted in a massive economic and social impact, affecting the entire sub-region. In July 2003, the respective militaries had signed a formal declaration of the end of war. An amnesty law was passed, overcoming a major roadblock to the disarmament process. Furthermore, there is agreement on a number of elements of the demobilization and disarmament process. Also, during April-August, despite difficulties, the government of national reconciliation has shown that various parties could work together to implement the peace accord. The authorities would like to lay the foundation for a speedy recovery when the peace process is fully consolidated. To set the stage for accelerated recovery, a key policy challenge in Cote d'Ivoire is improving public expenditure management, transparency and controls. This report provides a preliminary and selective analysis of key post-conflict public expenditure management issues facing the new government. This report is primarily an operational document, envisaged to advance the dialogue with the authorities and help strengthen post-conflict public expenditure management and speed the delivery of emergency assistance. It will soon be followed by a companion volume with a more traditional analysis of the structure and efficiency of public expenditures and the social impact. The report is organized around three main chapters, as follows:
- Chapter 1 provides background to the main body of the report (chapters 2 and 3) and briefly reviews the post-conflict situation, including the impact of the crisis, the governance problems (e.g., in the cocoa/coffee sector), and an outline of the report's links with the Interim Transitional Support Strategy (I-TSS) under preparation
- Chapter 2 analyses salient public expenditure management (PEM) issues, inter alia, using standard HIPC assessment indicators
and
- Chapter 3 analyses institutional and operational issues in expenditure control systems.