State Reform at Sub-District (Upazila)

People’s access to government institutions and public services is determined by control over economic resources (e.g. land ownership, irrigation systems), social status and the ability to form strategic and political alliances. To improve this situation the government undertook efforts to positively change policies on local governance and strengthening local governance institutions and functions. One tangible result are the elections held at Upazila Parishad level (Sub-District Councils) in 2009, after approval of the Upazila Act. The Upazila Act proposes to re-organise the power structure at Upazila level and comes along with a devolution of power from central to decentralized level. SDC will participate in the Strengthening Upazila Parishads project, mandated by Government, in order to contribute to the project shaping with its strong experience from Local Governance Projects at grassroot level and at policy dialogue level.

The project in brief

Directorate/federal office responsible	SDC
Credit area	Development cooperation
Project partners	Contract partner United Nations Organization (UNO) United Nations Development Programme
Budget	Current phase Swiss budget CHF    6’300’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    6’042’416
Project phases	Phase 2 01.11.2017 - 31.12.2022   (Completed) Phase 1 01.05.2010 - 31.12.2016   (Completed)

Further technical details

• Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation	GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY AGRICULTURE OTHER MULTISECTOR GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY
  Sub-Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation	Decentralisation and support to subnational government (incl. accountability) Agricultural development Rural development Decentralisation and support to subnational government (incl. accountability) Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution
  Cross-cutting topics	Human rights The project takes account of gender equality as a cross-cutting theme. The project takes account of democratisation, good governance and human rights as cross-cutting themes. The project supports partner organisation improvements as a priority
  Type of support	Official development assistance (ODA)
  Type of collaboration	Bilateral cooperation
  Finance type	Aid grant
  Aid Type	Basketpooled multi-donor fund
  Tied/untied aid	Untied aid
  Project number	7F07524