Local Governance and Community Development Programme (LGCDP) II

The Local Self Governance Act (LSGA), 1999 has established an important foundation for the provision of socially inclusive services to the citizenry through grassroots democracy. However, governance deficits are at the heart of the challenge, with the absence of elected representatives in local bodies since 2002, these local bodies are headed by the representatives of the central government. The major challenge therefore, is to ensure that the institutions function and minimum levels of service delivery accrue to the people during this difficult transition.

The impact hypothesis of the intervention is “Support to Decentralization, in fact, is to support the political process of change which ultimately contributes to more sustainable and inclusive development by bringing state closer to the people to more inclusive development process”

• All citizens of the country esp. Disadvantaged Groups
• Institutions: mainly MOFALD and Local Bodies of Nepal viz. 75 District Development Committees, 130 Municipalities and 3633 Village Development Committees 

1. Citizens and communities actively engage with local governance actors and hold them to be accountable
2. Local Bodies are more responsive to citizens’ demand
3. All citizens are provided with efficient and effective local services
4. Strengthened policy and institutional framework for devolution, sub-national governance and local service delivery

Principaux résultats attendus:  

1. Citizens and community organisations are empowered and actively participate and assert their rights in local governance
2. Accountability mechanisms for local governance are in place
3. Local Bodies’ access to resources increased
4. Public financial management systems improved
5. Institutional and human resource  capacities of local bodies and central level agencies involved in local governance strengthened
6. Access to and quality of local infrastructure and other socio economic services administered by LBs are  improved
7. Strengthened integrated planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation and coordination amongst local governance actors
8. Refined policy on local governance and improved inter-agency cooperation
9. Policies developed for devolution and federalism

Principaux résultats antérieurs:  

• The Programme successfully reestablished links between citizens and the state in aftermath of the conflict
• New community based civic society organizations like Citizen Awareness Center (CAC) and Ward Citizen Forum (WCF) were established in the absence of locally elected political representatives and they have been quite instrumental for participatory inclusive local governance and also started to function as civic oversight mechanisms.
  
• In particular, women, children and disadvantaged groups have been included in the governance process by the establishment of community institutions such as Citizen Awareness Centers and Ward Citizen Forums (WCF).
•  The block grant guidelines introduced by MOFALD (and inspired by SDC) mandated 35% of the capital budget of the local bodies to be directed to the projects which would be benefitting women and dis-advantaged groups.
•  Allocation of fiscal transfers to local bodies has been rationalized and a performance culture has been introduced and strengthened.
• A recognition emerged that the demand side needs to be strengtened in order to mitigate the increasing fiduciary risks at the local level.
• Government of Nepal has recognised this programme as a framework programme to support decentralisation process in Nepal.

MOFALD, DANIDA, ADB, Norway, DFID, UN Agencies , JICA and GIZ 

All SDC sectoral projects will work within the framework of LGCDP to contribute to local state building; In addition, State Building at Local Level (SBLL) and Strengthening the Accountability of Local Governments (SALG) projects are fully aligned with LGCDP outcomes/outputs.  

Phase 2 16.07.2013 - 31.12.2020   (Completed)