8th JPO Workshop - Dakar, 23-27 January 2006

Decentralised Governance and Development
e-discussion

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Discussion:

As part of the 8th JPO Workshop on Decentralised Governance and Development (DGD) to be held on 23-27 January 2006 in Dakar, Senegal, we are pleased to invite you to join an e-discussion that will run for a period of three weeks from Monday 28 November to Friday 16 December 2005, hosted on the JPO Service Centre website (see instructions below on how to access the site to participate).

This dialogue shares the purpose of the workshop: to strengthen knowledge of UNDP’s global policies, lessons and experience on decentralisation, local governance and urban/rural development (DLGUD); provide an opportunity for participants to reflect on, seek advice and share their own knowledge and experiences with each other; and inspire and motivate participants to do things differently in designing and implementing country programmes and products that can be shared globally.

To give you time to reflect on your contributions, we are posting below three questions, one for each week. Please refrain from posting contributions ahead of schedule. Questions for Weeks 2 and 3 will be reposted on their respective dates.

There is an urgent need to localise the MDGs to promote basic infrastructure and service delivery to poor communities in rural areas. To achieve this, there has to be a greater understanding of how to most effectively and efficiently decentralise delivery responsibilities, taking into account the country's real constraints. Decentralisation reforms are envisaged to result in community governments, NGOs, CBOs and the private sector working together and owning the responsibility of delivering public services, with the idea that they understand the particular needs of local residents better than central ministries. What experiences, lessons, challenges, success stories, insights, or analysis can you share in this regard? Make recommendations for pilot interventions that could generate further lessons on the roles that local/community councils might play in the provision of services especially in the rural areas.

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Although elections to local government are intended to lead to a fair representation of the constituents in any given community, this has not been a consistent outcome. In your experience, are there systems in place that increase representation of women, minorities, the youth and disadvantaged? If not, can you elaborate on what the obstacles are and make specific suggestions as to how UNDP can support community empowerment, citizen participation and the promotion of human rights?

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Enabling frameworks at both national and sub-national levels are needed in clearly defining and affirming the relationships between decentralised governance and its goals, as well as the relationships between the various stakeholders. Such enabling frameworks also serve as vehicles for providing needed resources, capacities and accountability arrangements. Based on what you’ve experienced on the ground, or in your general opinion, does UNDP have the capacity to bring local issues to the national level to effect policy change and contribute to an enabling environment for decentralisation and local governance?

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