WRITTEN QUESTION E-0992/00

by Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler (PSE) to the Commission

(31 March 2000)

Subject: 'Pôles de développement rural' (PPDR) (DG VIII development project in Cameroon)

With reference to the Pôles de développement rural project, can the Commission say:

1. whether the project will be continued?

2. If so, will its aims and guidelines be altered?

On 5 May 1999 the experts commissioned to assess the project (GOPA Consultants, Bad Homburg) submitted a final study suggesting various improvements. Their proposals call for the project to revert unequivocally to its original prime task of changing modes of behaviour with a view to boosting the self-management abilities of the local population. The study also lists measures and results that might help to attain the project's objective, including the point that the potential uptake by recipients and their skills should be taken more largely into account. In addition, it recommends that selected participants be assisted and bolstered.

Could the Commission express a view on the experts' proposals for improvement and say:

- what generally happens to assessment reports, who has access to the reports, and how they can be obtained;

- what has been done with the PPDR report in particular;

- whether the improvements proposed will be taken into consideration when the project is relaunched?

If the answer to the previous question is yes, how does the Commission intend to organise cooperation with local NGOs?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(19 May 2000)

The rural development zones project (PPDR) was launched in 1991 in the Bafut area and in late 1992 in the Saa, Ntui and Sangmélina areas, under a financing agreement worth EUR 10.3 million under the Sixth European Development Fund (EDF). The overall approach emphasises capacity-building enabling the communities concerned to manage their own development and improve their living standards and environment. In the three zones of Saa, Ntui and Sangmélina, prior to the second, four-year phase being programmed there was an intermediate phase in the period 1997/1998, in which the viability and management of agricultural projects and socio-economic infrastructure was stressed.

The Commission and the EDF National Authorising Officer agreed on a mid-term evaluation in 1995 and an evaluation at the end of the 1997/1998 intermediate phase in November 1998. The evaluations highlighted the positive popular impact of the project, the participative ethos of which had enabled the beneficiaries to take charge of their own micro-projects. However, it was found that additional work was necessary to achieve a sufficient level of participation and to build up the community's ownership capacity.

On the basis of evaluations by independent consultancies, emphasis was placed on the viability and management of agricultural projects and socio-economic infrastructure. Project activities have been planned and followed up with reference to two sub-programmes: continuation and new operations. The new programme should start in the first half of 2000.

Evaluation reports financed by the EDF, and not by the Community's own resources, belong to the Government receiving the financing. The Commission is nonetheless making evaluations available by publishing the final versions on the Europa web site of the Common Service for External Relations (SCR) (http://europa.eu.int/comm/scr/evaluation/index.htm). The report on the PPDR

is still provisional and for the moment it is available on paper from the Commission Delegation in Yaoundé, from the relevant Commission department in Brussels and from the EDF National Authorising Officer in Yaoundé. The improvements proposed by GOPA Consultants were taken into account in the new draft of the programme, insofar as they were considered relevant and suited to the specific context and financing of the new phase of the project.

Cooperation with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is governed by Articles 252 to 257 (micro-projects) and Articles 251a to 251e (decentralised cooperation) of the Lomé Convention, which lays down the objective and arrangements for its implementation. The Commission has also published a note on support for decentralised cooperation, which applies to all decentralised cooperation programmes.