Time to leverage

municipal assets in
support of the SDGs

Daniel Platz, Ph.D.

United Nations
Department of Economic
and Social Affairs
 What are Municipal Assets?
2

Municipally owned and/or managed government

properties like infrastructure facilities, buildings and land
that serve a community, such as:

 Real estate
 Natural assets – forests, lakes, parks
 Roads and transportation networks
 Water and wastewater utilities & equipment
 Flood control systems such as dykes and levees
 Energy supply systems
 Parks and recreation facilities
 Telecommunication networks
 Street lights
 Ports and port facilities
 Information technology and systems
3 What is Municipal Asset Management?

The objective of asset Coordinated activities

management is the use and systems of Asset management is
of assets to meet a municipal governments accomplished through lifecycle
required level of that monitor and asset management and portfolio
service, in the most maintain things of management
cost-effective manner, service value
4 The challenge: Asset
management in the broader
context of the SDGs

 Local governments will play a critical role in

making or breaking the SDGs but their
implementation capacity is restricted by
insufficient funding, particularly in the
development countries lament.

 There is one potentially significant but often

overlooked source of SDG implementation – the
existing local government assets ranging from
equipment and machinery to public land and
infrastructure.
5 Fundamental questions for asset managers:

 The 6 Whats:
 What do you own and where is it?
 What is it worth?
 What is the condition?
 What is the remaining service life?
 What is the deferred maintenance, - i.e. what
needs to be done to meet the level of service?
 What do you fix first?
 What will it cost and what is the acceptable level
of risk?
 Is it affordable?
6 What are the benefits of effective asset
management for Municipal Governments

Greater revenue Environmental

potential of Sustainability
existing assets

Social Equity Greater service

reliability

Improved Investment Transparency for

climate Government
7 Why should the Central Government support
more effective municipal asset management ?

Reduced,
Increased private responsibilities,
investment liabilities and
administrative burdens

Increased Increased oversight

creditworthiness of federal funds

Increased citizen
Reduced migration to
satisfaction that results
the capital and larger
in greater overall tax
secondary cities
payer compliance
8 United Nations Project on
Municipal Finance
 Expenditures and investments in sustainable
development are being devolved to the subnational level,
which often lacks adequate technical and technological
capacity, financing and support (Addis Ababa Action
Agenda, para 34)
 Local governments struggle to deliver quality services
because of the limited financial resources given the
decreasing allocations from the central government and
their own limited revenue base.
 More effective management of the assets that they
already own (land, buildings and infrastructure facilities) is
vital
 However, many local governments lack complete asset
registers, as well as comprehensive guidelines and skills for
lifecycle and portfolio management of their assets
9 United Nations project on
Municipal Finance
 Aimed to support local governments in the
application of comprehensive municipal asset
management
 Implemented by UNDESA and UNCDF
 Work in 4 pilot countries (in response to demand from
their central governments)

 Nepal Uganda

 Bangladesh Tanzania
10 New tools developed by UNDESA and UNCDF for
more effective municipal asset management:

(1) Diagnostic Tool on municipal asset

management

(2) Municipal Asset Management Action Plans

(AMAPs)
 (1) Diagnostic tool
11

• Based on
• ISO 55000 Asset Management standard
• International Infrastructure Management Manual 2015
• Three parts
• Part 1 - Self-assessment completed prior to assessment
visit
• Part 2 - Questionnaire delivered during onsite
visit/interview
• Part 3 - Evaluation completed by assessor post-visit
• Can be done through formal assessment
• Can de done as self-assessment prior to visit or as an asset
management ‘health check’
12 Diagnostic tool-Evaluation
follows interviews
Awareness

Basic Elementary Progressing Advanced

Question

Asset 
Management 
Section 1 2 3 4

Understanding and Defining Requirements
1 Asset Inventory  The local government  Basic physical information Information is collected  Complete and accurate data 
Data understands the need to  electronically. In addition to  is available for all assets, 
(e.g. location, size, type) is 
collect asset data and may  recorded manually or  physical information,  including new assets. Data 
have started to collect it.  electronically in a spread information such as  is easily accessible to all 
sheet.  The date and time  replacement costs,  who require it. There is a 
of collection, who it was  approximate age, asset  land  high level of confidence in 
collected by and how is  value, etc is also gathered.  critical asset data.  
also recorded. Assets are classified by  Valuation is based on 
groups, classes, service  market value or 
provided, by holder or a  replacement cost.
combination thereof.
2 Asset  Asset condition and  Asset condition, use,  Condition and performance  Condition and performance 
Performance performance are  and/or suitability data and  information is used to plan  information is used to 
understood may not be  information are gathered  maintenance and renewals  estimate future demand 
quantified or documented. and used to monitor asset  over the short term.  and long term needs.
performance.
13 Diagnostic tool-Results
14 Diagnostic tool-Recommended
interventions
Recommended intervention:
Actions the municipality can take
to work towards target score,
which then become the basis
for AMAP
 15 (2) Municipal Asset Management
Action Plans (AMAPs)

Step 1: Build Step 2: Identify Step 3: Review Step 4: Gap Step 5: Address
Framework stakeholders practice Analysis the Gap

Establish Identify stakeholders Review current Identify areas Formulate and

municipal asset in managing priority methods and where current implement
management asset and set technologies used practices can be concrete set of
policy/framework performance goal to manage asset improved to meet actions for all
for priority assets in performance goal stakeholders to
line with municipal
asset management
improve
framework and performance of
national guidelines assets
for asset
management

Guidance from Diagnostic Tools

UN-DESA/UNCDF assessment
for of individual municipal asset
management needs
16 Results thus far

 The workshops resulted in several tangible commitments at the

national and municipal levels:
 Participants agreed to identify asset management focal points in
each participating municipality and to devise AMAPs for
additional priority assets.
 The central government of all four target countries committed to
apply the diagnostic tool to other local governments and to
provide support to local governments in the implementation of
AMAPs.
 At the policy level, central governments committed to develop
coherent policy frameworks that will promote effective asset
management at the national and municipal level.
 Feedback provided at the end of the workshops underscored
that participants found the training to be highly educational and
practical for strengthening asset management, both from a
strategic angle and from the perspective of daily operations.
17 Country example: Uganda
 The Ministry of Local Government and the Ministry
of Finance formed a Joint Committee to oversee
the application of the diagnostic tool in 22
municipalities and provide support through regional
teams to local governments in the formulation and
implementation of AMAPs.
 The AMAPs are now a integrated in EU funded
Development Initiative for Northern Uganda.
 At the policy level, the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Planning and Development has worked
on the development of the National Framework
and Policy for Asset Management.
18 Policy lessons

o Effective and proactive asset

management is a question of political
will. Only with top-down and bottom-up
support will AMAPs be implemented.
o Municipal asset management must be
embedded in a conducive regulatory
framework at the national level.
o Very important to link the AMAPs to the
broader vision of municipal
development.
 19

Thank you!

Daniel Platz
platz@un.org