PWB Consult

PWB Consult

Areas of expertise and examples of projects

Drømmevilla
Governance and Accountability

Good Governance is key for a democratic government system and GG was addressed in several WB projects in the Middle East working with transparency and accountability. In Libya a project with Tripoli and Banghazi local councils worked with municipal visioning and peer to peer learning was established with the government institutions from Turkey, Lebanon and Tunisia. This way officials form Libyan ministries and local councils got a first hand impression from the other three countries on such issues as local governance, public participation and municipal management.

Libya - Supporting Local Governance
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Municipal Finance

Sustainable financing for local service delivery is key when building up a local government system. In Bhutan Mr. Bottern developed the Municipal Finance Policy in a participatory process with all stakeholders as part of Danish support. The MFP is now under implementation.

In 2020 PWB Consult and Oxford Policy Management conducted a Global Evaluation of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs' (SECO) projects within Public Financial Management, which also dealt with some municipal PFM projects..

Bhutan - Municipal Finance Policy
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Municipal Development

Development of infrastructure for municipal service delivery is another key issue for municipal development. In Saudi Arabia support was provided to institutional and organizational development of key government institutions for urban development in a World Bank/Saudi Arabia project. Likewise in WB led municipal development programmes in Palestine, focus on institutional and organizational development was central for municipal infrastructure development.

Palestine - Municipal Development
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Evaluation and Project Formulation

Conducting evaluations is crucial to understand interventions and their results and to design new programmes and projects properly. With PEM Consult a global evaluation of the Danish Strategic Sector Cooperation was finalised in July 2020 and evaluation work has been carried out for UNDP/UNCDF's local development programs in Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Solomon Islands. With the French Government a new intervention was formulated in Palestine to support 19 smaller village councils in 2019.

Ukraine U-LEAD Mid-term Evaluation

Areas of Expertise and Examples of Projects

Drømmevilla
Planning and Participation

Local development plans with participatory planning processes to select key investments are highly needed. In Nicaragua, as part of a Danida project, Mr. Bottern lead the development of a system, where local leaders consulted in their communities and presented community needs to the municipal council. Thereafter all information was compiled into municipal draft development plans, which were consulted in public meetings.

Nicaragua - Planning and public Participation
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Gender Mainstreaming and inclusiveness

Gender mainstreaming is a part of any project to ensure that men and women are addressed properly. Mr Bottern has in such countries as Bolivia, Nicaragua, Palestine, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Tanzania worked to ensure proper participation of women and youth in local planning processes. An example is strengthening inclusive planning processes in small fragile communities in a project financed by AFD (France) on the West Bank.

Palestine - Rural Development Project
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Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

Addressing Climate Change is essential with the more extreme weather conditions we are facing. Local governments are in the forefront for mitigation and to address some of the consequences. CC needs to be considered in any project, and particular actions were for example incorporated in a project in Palestine, financed by AFD, to support village councils. In 2025, on Solomon Island PWB Consult supports the implementation of the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) in all 9 provinces.

Palestine - Rural Development Project
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Public Service Delivery

To improve living condition and combat poverty systems are needed to finance, maitain and deliver municipal services. In Saudi Arabia financing of public services (waste management, public spaces and facilities) were analysed and a proposal for their financing discussed as part of a World Bank/Saudi Arabia project. Similar analysis have been carried out in other countries e.g. in Sierra Leone, when the Fiscal Decentralisation Strategy and its proposals for financing of services through sector grants was assessed.

Sierra Leone - Institutional Reform and Capacity Building Project

Libya - Supporting Local Governance through P2P

As Team Leader in the World Bank, Mr. Bottern managed and facilitated a program to support the emerging municipal system in Libya by i) a study on the financing of municipalities; ii) implementation of a south – south exchange and capacity building program to Tunisia, Turkey and Lebanon and iii) specific support to Tripoli and Benghazi city councils’ preparation of a vision for their development. The exchanges included government officials from the four countries, who successfully shared experiences on devolution, public service delivery and public participation during three exchanges. In Lebanon a visit was also carried out to Byblos focusing on municipal and touristic development. The project succeed in framing the emerging municipal system in Libya and devolution of in particular solid waste management to municipalities in the Western part.

Bhutan. Municipal Finance Policy: 2008 - 2010

In Bhutan Mr. Bottern formulated a Municipal Finance Policy covering all aspects of municipal finance - budgeting, revenues (property taxation, fees and charges), expenditure management, budget execution, accounting and audit. The assignment was carried out with the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement during missions in Bhutan, when five of the seven largest cities in Bhutan were visited. After successive presentations with government officials and development partners, the MFP was approved by the Gross National Happiness Commission and the Cabinet in 2010 and is under implementation. The client was DANIDA.

Link to Endorsed MFP Document

Municipal Development Palestine

Mr Bottern was part of the MDP 1, 2 and 3 with the World Bank in Palestine working in close cooperation with the Ministry of Local Government, the Municipal Development and Lending Fund and development partners. During the preparation of the MDP's third phase he led the re-development of the municipal performance assessment system to cater for better links between municipal performance and the programme's aim to improve institutional performance. In parallel, he was also involved in the design and implementation of a result based programme (P4R) for improving village councils’ service delivery including joint service delivery of several councils, public participation systems and funding arrangements. Both programmes resulted in improved service provision to citizens in municipalities and in the smaller villages.

Link to the Municipal Development Program (WB) - Palestine

Ukraine: Mid-Term Evaluation U-LEAD with Europe

As Evaluation Expert Mr. Bottern was in 2019 part of the team to conduct the Mid-term Evaluation of the U-LEAD with Europe: Ukraine Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme. The U-LEAD is an EU led program to support the regional and local government reform programmes in Ukraine (program volume EUR 106 mill). The assignments included visits to three regions and 7 municipalities and meetings with all stakeholders. The assignment was conducted for ARS Progetti and resulted in a list of recommendations for U-LEAD, which are now under implementation.

Nicaragua - Local Government Development and Public Participation

As Danida-adviser and senior specialist in municipal finance in the programmes: INIFOM-Danida and PRODEMU, Mr Bottern worked with capacity building, strengthening of the local government system, de­centralisation and democratisation in 27 municipalities in North Nicaragua in the late 1990s/early2000s. This included: - Programme management and liaison to ministries, stakeholders and Danida - Municipal planning procedures including medium term financial planning and strategies for building up planning and financial capacities - Improvement of local govern­ments tax collection, accounting and auditing systems - Training of municipal mayors, deputy mayors and staff in mu­nicipal laws, management, finance, planning and tax collection Development of workshops and public campaigns for stimulating public participation in decision-making - Participation in DANIDA missions for better coordination and synergies - Establishment of a regional association with 11 municipalities (AMUNSE)

Gender Equality and Mainstreaming

Considerations about gender equality are important during any development action - basically - and for any action questions about how the action will affect men and women, should be asked. As Team Leader during the Mid-term Evaluation and Feasibility Study of the Rural Development Project in Palestine, Mr Bottern led a team to prepare a new phase of a project (financed by AFD, France) to strengthen the development of 19 communities in area C. The preparation was conducted with MoLG and other PA institutions to reconsider mechanism for e.g. bottom up community planning with equal participation of men and women and selection of projects to benefit all including youth and other marginalized groups. As a final step the project document was fully gender mainstreamed and tools for gender analysis at community level included.

Climate Change

For the formulation of a new phase of the Rural Development Project in Palestine Climate Change adaption and mitigation actions were incorporated as part of the community development process. Mr Bottern led the team to ensure that RDP will work with the communities’ adaptation to Climate Change and if possibly also promote mitigation (CO2 reduction etc.). It will thus promote appropriate climate change actions in the planning and project selection process, implementation of projects and capacity development activities – and, support development of Climate Change Master Plans.

Public Service Delivery

For the citizens quality municipal service delivery is key for improving their living conditions in terms of health, education, sanitation, environment, culture and social service etc. Mr Bottern has worked with many service sectors. An example is a project in Sierra Leone to inter alia improve local councils' service delivery within in particular education and health (the Institutional Reform and Capacity Building Project). In the project he worked with the Local Government Finance Committee to review the implementation of the fiscal decentralisation strategy including the formulae for the transfer of sector grants to local councils. He also worked with the Service Commission to assess the Service Commission’s guidelines for local councils’ human resource management.

Link to the Institutional Reform and Capacity Building Project (WB)- Sierra Leone

Experiences from 35 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America

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