Strengthening Local Governance through Enhanced Capacity, Citizen's Participation, Service Delivery and Democratic Governance

Democracywatch Starts a project to Improve the capacity of selected Union Parishads, Upazila Parishads and Municipalities to deliver better services to their constituents in participatory, transparent and accountable manner. The Local Government Units (LGU) in Bangladesh operates in an environment which is not conducive either for speedy delivery of goods and services, or for sustainable social and economic development activities. The weak revenue base of Union Parishad is well documented. Their power and authority is minimal compared to field administration units, other semi autonomous and autonomous public organizations. The limited number of staff and low level of their knowledge and skills make it difficult for the local government to act with efficiency and effectiveness.

Democracywatch firmly believes that democracy begins at the local level. Local governments need to be more effective and accountable. For democracy to consolidate, governments must be able to meet their citizens' demands. Discussions on decentralization have begun but real actions need to replace words. The scope of local powers and the provision of resources allocation need to be clarified and expanded.


Summary of the project

Total duration of the action

 blank 2 Years (December 2011- November 2013)

Funded by

 Tetra Tech ARD

Geographical Location

24 UPs, 5 Upazilas and 5 Municipalities in cluster 14

Purpose and Objectives:

Primary objective:

Improve the capacity of selected Union Parishads, Upazila Parishads and Municipalities to deliver better services to their constituents in participatory, transparent and accountable manner.

Immediate objectives:

1. Enhance understanding of elected local government representatives with a special emphasis on women members on local government practices, roles and authorities.

2. Improve capacity of selected local government units to deliver services.

3. Increase ability of selected LGUs to identify appropriate sources of revenue.

4. Greater transparency and accountability of selected LGUs in participatory planning (identifying and prioritizing development scheme through ward shava), open budgeting and democratic decision making.

5. Initiate citizen's participation and watchdog over selected LGUs and government service delivery bodies by formation and activation of Citizen's Participation Forums.

6. Open up windows for knowledge sharing with other concerned stake holders.

Expected project results

1. Increased understanding and expanded capacity of selected local governments to deliver services
2. Increased inclusion of deprived and marginalized sections of the community
3. Increased revenue generation by a minimum of 25 percent in target LGUs
4. Increased numbers of locally elected officials with a special emphasis on women members are trained on local government practices, roles and authorities
5. More transparent and efficient financial management, budgeting and decision making system in place
6. Improvements in the quality and quantity of the essential services i.e. education, health and agriculture as well as other services provided by the LGUs
7. Established commonly accepted practice of citizen participation by the LGUs
8. Improved local decision making, strategic planning, budget formulation and prioritization of development projects as a result of constant citizen participation
9. Networking with government and other service delivery agencies at the local and sub national level
10. Adoption of the PSP approach by the LGUs
11. increased knowledge generation in the area of local governance through innovations