LGCDP at a glance - IIlgcdp.gov.np/sites/default/files/media_docs/lgcdp-newsletter-english… · LGCDP at a glance Local Governance and Community Development Programme (LGCDP) is

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LGCDP at a glanceLocal Governance and Community DevelopmentProgramme (LGCDP) is a national programme with anoverarching goal to contribute towards poverty reductionthrough inclusive, responsive and accountable localgovernance and participatory community-led development.LGCDP is executed by the Ministry of Federal Affairs andLocal Development (MoFALD) with technical and financialassistance of development partners. It is a nationalprogramme framework for local governance and communitydevelopment in Nepal. As a framework, it encompassesall programmes, actors, institutions in local governanceprocess through enhanced networking, collaboration andcoordination mechanisms and systems in order to achieveits outcomes and outputs.The geographic coverage of the programme is 75 districts,217 Municipalities and 3157 Village DevelopmentCommittees. It is supported by 14 development partners.The proposed budget of LGCDP II is USD 1362 million ofwhich the commitment of GoN, JFA, SPMP/ADB, andPPSF are: GON = USD 1126 million, JFA = USD 78 million,SPMP/ADB = USD 25 million, PPSF= USD 14.1 millionrespectively.The purpose of the programme is to improve localgovernance for effective service delivery and citizenempowerment. The four programme components are:policy: governance reform, supply: service delivery andcapacity development, demand: citizens’ empowerment,local development: socio economic and infrastructuredevelopment.

Mid term Review of LGCDP - IIThe Mid-Term Review of the Local Governance andCommunity Development Programme II was carried outin April-May 2016 to review the relevance, effectiveness,efficiency and sustainability of LGCDP II against its resultsframework and objectives as well as to providerecommendations for necessary adjustments in order toadapt to the rapidly changing context, and to provide designoptions for a follow-on or new local governance reformprogramme in the new political context.The review provides a relatively comprehensive overviewof LGCDP’s achievements and challenges along withgeneral recommendations on possible future focus in whichthe Government of Nepal and development partners couldengage in order to strengthen local governance over thecoming years.The review shows that LGCDP has made tremendouscontributions in improving the relation between citizensand state through the Ward Citizen Forums and CitizenAwareness Centers, and hailed the social mobilization

component as ‘silent revolution’. Moreover, LGCDP hasstrengthened local level planning process, awarenesscreation and community engagement which are integralpart of local governance, participatory and inclusivedevelopment through meaningful participation of citizensand communities.The review has indicated that the political context is changingrapidly, and that future support will inevitably requiredprioritizing enormous demand of the transition to newconstitutional arrangement. It is also indicated that mostattention has gone to aspects of social mobilization, whichare highly relevant and important, but to be able tosustainably institutionalize the impact of social mobilization,work needs to be done on local government structures.The main recommendations of the review are communitydevelopment and local government reform deserves to betreated separately, support for social mobilization needsto find its natural niche, next phase/new programme tofocus on establishment of local government structure, useJoint Financing Arrangement as indicator based financingmechanism, and relatively small dynamic technicalassistance set up. The review has suggested to extentthe programme with one year to facilitate the transition tothe new system.

JAN - JUN 2016 Asadh 2073 Volume 1, Issue 1

Message from Honourable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister - Ministryof Federal Affairs and Local Development Mr. Kamal Thapa 2Outcomes and Output Areas 3

Output Achievements at a glance 3

Case Studies 6

7th National Advisory Committee (NAC) meeting 10

Norwegian Government provides an additional fund

of USD 3 million to LGCDP 11

Government of Denmark provides an additional grant support ofDKK 20 million (USD 4.0 million) to LGCDP) 11

An observation from Ranibas VDC Sindhuli district 11

Mapping of the Capacity Development Plan of Local Bodies 12

Minimum Condition and Performance Measure (MCPM) 12

LGCDP Emergency Grant Support in Earthquake

Affected Districts 12

Training on Fire Control and Rescue 13

Training on Building Bylaws 13

Update on District Periodic Plan (DPP) 13

Information Communication Training (ICT) Conducted 14

Artice: Local Governance and Accountability Facility in Nepal 14

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Government of NepalMinistry of Federal Affairs & Local DevelopmentLocal Governance & Community Development

Programme - II(LGCDP)

Chief EditorChhabi Rijal

Under SecretaryNational Programme Manager

Editorial TeamRamesh Sharma (Administrative Officer)CP Sigdel (Social Mobilisation Specialist)Ek Raj Sigdel (Environment Specialist)

Reshu Karki (Communication andDocumentation Officer)

ContributorsProgramme relevant staffs

Layout and DesignBidur Kumar Khatri

ICT Volunteer

For comments and suggestionsEmail: [email protected]

AddressLocal Governance and CommunityDevelopment Program (LGCDP) - II

Program Coordination UnitBabarmahal

Tel: (977-1) 4257389/363/596Fax: (977-1) 4256248

Websitewww.mofald.gov.npwww.lgcdp.gov.np

Message from Honourable Deputy PrimeMinister and Minister - Ministry of Federal Affairsand Local Development Mr. Kamal Thapa

Local Governance and CommunityDevelopment Program (LGCDP) has beendesigned to implement commitment ofthe Government of Nepal towardsensuring quality and transparent services,strengthening downward accountability,economic and social transformation viasocial mobilization thereby improvingcitizens’ lives. The program is a nationalframework for strengthening decentralizedgovernance and implemented at locallevel through local bodies.The first phase of the program was implemented from 2008 to 2013.Based on results and learning of the first phase, a second phase of theprogramme was designed from 2013 to 2017. MoFALD has beenimplementing the second phase in partnership with 14 developmentpartners (bilateral, multilateral and UN agencies) in all Districts,Municipalities and Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Nepal.In the present context, whereby elected local bodies representativeshave been absent for more than 13 years, the program via its socialmobilization component has been found instrumental for establishingand strengthening linkage between local government and citizens. Theprogramme has established grassroot organizations such as WardCitizens Forums (WCFs) which has been instrumental in institutionalizingparticipatory plan formulation, civil monitoring of large number of projectsand initiatives by the government and non-government organizations atthe local level, ensure quality services and increase social accountability,mitigate social evils, and successful implementation of national campaignsat local level thereby contributed in fulfilling commitments made by theGovernment at national and international arena. It empowers membersto claim their rights, especially socially and economically backwardcommunities including women, children, and disadvantageous group indecision making process. It has become a forum for members to participateand contribute in identifying and prioritizing local needs, ensuring identifiedpriorities are implemented.Likewise, the programme via its social mobilization component identifiespoor and disadvantaged groups in the most deprived settlements withthe establishment of Citizen Awareness Centers (CACs) at thosesettlements. CACs constitutes 84% women participation and conductsregular discussion on citizens’ rights and concerns; empowering themto speak for their rights. It has been instrumental in raising awarenessagainst social evils (child marriage, racial discrimination, domesticviolence, dowry, witch hunts, etc) via Social Mobilization tools such asREFLECT. Thus, the programme has successfully reached the mostdeprived community and has been working rigorously to improve theirlives; including livelihood support leading to economic empowermentthereby contributing to overall poverty reduction. Moreover, the recentMid Term Review (MTR) of LGCDP hailed Social Mobilization aspect ofthe programme as “Silent Revolution”.Likewise, the programme has been advocating and creating a forum for

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dialogue via social audit, public hearing, and public auditto ensure downward accountability. The programme hasbeen providing technical and financial aid to explorepossibilities of increasing internal revenue of local bodiesand implementing integrated property tax. Similarly, reducingfiduciary risks and public financial management is one ofthe main priorities of the programme.Substantial progress has been made in orienting localbodies towards Child Friendly Local Governance andEnvironment Friendly Local Governance. The programme

is also supporting in policy dialogue for effectiveimplementation of federalism.Finally, the programme has made noteworthy progresses.Nevertheless, the programme can be further improvedaddressing the shortcomings. I am confident that thisNewsletter will serve as important information source forstakeholders. I congratulate the programme coordinationunit for revitalizing the publication of the Newsletter andwish for its continuation in the future as well.Thank you

Output achievements at a glanceOutput 1: Citizens and community organizations

empowered to actively participate and asserttheir rights in local governance

This output focuses on the empowerment of citizens,especially women, children and disadvantaged groups,and their institutions {Citizen Awareness Centers (CACs),Ward Citizen Forums (WCFs), Integrated PlanningFormulation Committees (IPFCs), District Social MobilizationCommittee (DSMC)/Municipal Social MobilizationCommittees (MSMCs) and Child Friendly LocalGovernances (CFLGs)} so that they can meaningfullyparticipate in local planning, budgeting, monitoring anddecision making processes and have access to the servicesavailable at local level. Major achievements under thisoutput during this period include: As per the target ofestablishing WCFs in all wards of local bodies via SocialMobilization process, 99.7% target has been met. Despitethe absence of elected local bodies representatives, dueto the active role played by WCFs, 81% VDCs and 83%of Municipalities have completed participatory planformulation and completed the council on time. Similarly,in order to ensure that children’s concerns are heard andincorporated in the local planning process, a ‘Balbhela’organized in 2142 VDCs and 169 Municipalities. Women’sparticipation has increased significantly in the local level

decision making process. Similarly, encouraging progresshas been made in the area of school enrollment, vaccinationcampaigns, vital registration while incidents of child marriage,child labour, witch hunts, racial discrimination and‘chhaupadi’ has gone down significantly. WCFs have beeninstrumental in creating awareness on such issues andhave been widely acknowledged for their roles in mitigatingsocial evils.As per the provision of Social Mobilization Manual, 2071,out of 31,414 Ward Citizen Forums (WCFs), 25,052 (79.7%) replaced ¼th of members whereby 1, 56, 575 newmembers have taken responsibility. Therefore, the totalmembers of WCFs currently are 7, 59, 568. Likewise, asper WCFs classification, 23400 WCFs have been hailedfor its very important role played in communities while 4300are medium and rest progressing. This year as per thetarget of establishing 5000 CACs in socially andeconomically deprived settlements, 4167 CACs have beenestablished by the first week of June which brings the totalcount of CACs at 8484. Out of the total 2,09,264 CACmembers, 84% are female. Furthermore, 63 CACs federatedinto cooperatives. Although the number is satisfactory,there are number of works needed to be done in this regard.Likewise, Underlying Causes of Poverty Analysis (UCPA)conducted in 2,803 VDCs and 1,796 settlements. Moreover,training courses on Basic Social Mobilization, ReFLECTand Local Resource Person reviewed and detail training

There are four outcomes areas of LGCDP that encompassescitizen's empowerment (demand side improvements),capacity development (supply side improvements),enhanced service delivery, integrated planning processes,and citizen-centric policy development. All together thereare nine outputs under these four broad outcomes. Theoutcome areas are: 1) Outcome 1: Citizens andcommunities hold their local governance actors accountable.Under this two demand side outputs are included: i) Output1: Citizens and community organizations are empoweredto actively participate and assert their rights in localgovernance ii) Output 2: Accountability mechanism for localgovernance is in place. 2) Outcome 2: Local Bodies aremore responsive to citizen’s demand. This outcome includesthree outputs: i) Output 3: LBs' access to resourcesincreased, ii) Output 4: Public financial management system

improved iii) Output 5: Institutional and human resourcecapacities of LBs and central agencies involved in localgovernance strengthened. 3) Outcome 3: All citizens areprovided with efficient and effective local service. Twooutputs are included in this outcome: i) Output 6: Accessto and quality of local infrastructure and other socio-economic services administered by LBs are improved. ii)Output 7: Strengthened integrated planning, budgeting,monitoring and evaluation and coordination amongst localgovernance actors.4) Outcome 4: Strengthened policy andinstitutional framework for devolution, sub-nationalgovernance and local service delivery. Following two outputsare included in this outcome: i) Output 8: Refined policyon local governance and improved inter-agency cooperationii) Output 9: Policies developed for devolution andfederalism.

Outcomes and Output Areas

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course have been developed based on the identifiedcapacity gap of SM stakeholders.

Output 2: Accountability mechanism forlocal governance are in place

Output 2 focuses on strengthening and maintaining stateinstitutions (Local Bodies) accountable to citizen throughmore civic engagement. In this regard, promotion ofDownward Accountability of Local Bodies and monitoringof their compliance on policy and legislative requirementis being practiced through contracting out with Civil SocietyOrganizations (CSO); one in each 66 districts while rest 9districts are monitored via Strengthening the Accountabilityof Local Governments (SALGP) by SDC. Local GovernanceAccountability Facility (LGAF), a mechanism under GoodGovernance Promotion Section of MoFALD, has beenendowed with the responsibility of facilitation andmobilization of these CSOs.In this regard, Compliance Monitoring of Local Bodies byCSOs has been conducted in 66 districts while 1613 VDCsand 185 Municipalities. In course of CSOs' mobilization forcompliance monitoring of local bodies, 249 CSOs' staffswere provided refresher training on the procedures ofcompliance monitoring with use of accountability tools.Likewise, to develop the ownership by Local Bodies andcoordination with the CSOs, all Local Development Officers(LDOs) and Executive Officers were provided orientation ondownward accountability, role of the CSOs' and compliancemonitoring procedures. Similarly, 38 Planning, Monitoringand Admin Officers, 66 Social Development Officers, 47District Governance Experts (DGEs) and 38 UrbanGovernance Experts (UGEs) were a part of compliancemonitoring, oversight and grievance redressal orientation.Social Development Officers, 47 District GovernanceExperts (DGEs) and 38 Urban Governance Experts (UGEs)were a part of compliance monitoring, oversight andgrievance redressal orientation. Grievance ManagementOperational Guidelines for Local Bodies, 2015 andAccountability Bulletin also have been published anddisseminated to the Local Bodies in this endeavor.Likewise, all DDCs and Municipalities have placed orupdated citizen charter and notice boards, nominated theinformation officer, help desk, nodal officer and startedredressing public grievances. To date, 333 VDCs, 110Municipalities and 53 DDCs have started to publish monthlyincome and expenditure report. Likewise, 1879 VDCs, 151Municipalities and 68 DDCs have functionalized their ownrespective project monitoring and supervision committeesalong with subsequent feedbacks. Furthermore, 918 VDCs,148 Municipalities and 72 DDCs have completed secondpublic hearing. Up to the second trimester, 16% of VDCs,9% of Municipalities and 14% of DDC related projects havecompleted the public audits and rest of the projects is underimplementation.Local Bodies have started the grievance redressal of theircitizens. In the second trimester (Dec 2015-March 2016),

a total of 560 grievance cases registered in VDCs, 5140cases in Municipalities and 244 cases in DistrictDevelopment Committees (DDCs). Out of total cases,100% cases got settled at VDC, 94% at Municipality and99% at DDC level. Likewise, Good Governance PromotionSection in MoFALD has registered 472 cases fromCommission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA),70 cases from National Vigilance Center, 905 from HelloSarkar and 27 from MoFALD. Redressing has been initiatedin 370 cases from CIAA, 60 from NVC, 899 from HelloSarkar and 27 cases from MoFALD out of the registeredcases. Further, actions have been taken against 25 people(Under Secretary- 5, Section Officer-7, Nayab Subba-5,Kharidar-6, Offices Assistant-1, Mukhiya-1) and prosecutedin Special Court.

Output 3: Local Bodies’ access toresource increased

The main objective of output 3 is to increase the accessto resource of local bodies in Nepal. In order to achievethe objective, various capacity development programshave been implemented focusing on DDCs andmunicipalities. Specifically, DDCs and municipalities aresupported for preparing revenue improvement action plans(RIAPs). The orientation programs were carried out toExecutive Officers and chief of the Revenue Section ofnew municipalities on the implementation of IntegratedProperty Tax. Besides these, few study reports wereprepared i.e. designing Fiscal Federalism Roadmap andformation of National Fiscal Commission in the context offiscal feder National Fiscal Commission in the context offiscal federalism and grant equalization formula of localbodies. The Local Body Fiscal Commission (LBFC) haspublished and disseminated the financial analysis reportincorporating internal revenue and grants (conditional,unconditional and others) provided by Government ofNepal. Similarly, the procedures of Minimum ConditionPerformance Measure (MCPM) assessment system ofDDCs, VDCs and Municipalities have been updated andrevised (draft). Out of the total 159 new municipalities,orientation on MCPM indicators for 73 municipalitiescompleted. Similarly, 110 Municipalities implementedIntegrated Property Tax (IPT) and house land tax that haveresulted for increasing internal revenue. The local bodieshave been able to increase more than 10 percent internalrevenues in 2014/15 compared to 2013/14.

Output 4: Public Financial Management (PFM)

The main objective of Output 4 is to improve financialmanagement system by providing training to internalauditors, developing the Audit Observation Record andTracking System (AORTS), reducing fiduciary risk at localbodies, improving accounting system, supporting the Officeof Auditor General and local bodies, enhancing theprocurement and bidding system, and strengthening thefinancial reporting system of MoFALD.Some of the major achievements made in this output during

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the period include: Out of 3157 VDCs, 1,196 VDCs haveinstalled Accounting Software and more than 1500 staffhave been trained at local level. It is reported that 217VDCs have been using the software. Similarly, DDCFinancial Administration Management Package (FAMP)has been used in 71 DDCs. Training on the FAMP hasbeen provided for 15 DDCs’ internal auditors using ownsources. Audit Observation Record Tracking System(AORTS) has been implemented in 2 DDCs (Gulmi andBhajhang) and assessment of audit suggestion of 15 DDCshas been started. Similarly, other achievements includeFinancial Compliance Monitoring completed in 5 DDCs, 9municipalities and 5 VDCs. Local PEFA report shared withall stakeholders and forwarded to PEFA Secretariat.

Output 5: Institutional and human resourcecapacities of LBs and central level agenciesinvolved in local governance strengthened

This Output focuses on strengthening institutional capacitiesand human resource capabilities of MoFALD, DoLIDAR,LBFC; local bodies line agencies and other local governanceactors. This includes actions aimed at implementingorganizational, procedural and process reforms. LGCDPhas endorsed the concept of capacity development toempower individuals, institutions and societies/communitiesvia both demands led and supply led approach. FormulationGuideline revised and Pro-poor Green recovery plan onMyagdi and Kavrepalanchowk prepared and beingimplemented in selected Village Development Committees.Likewise, Environment Friendly Local Governance hasbeen implemented in 14 Districts, 54 Municipalities and 60Village Development Committees. Furthermore,performance based climate resilient grant mechanism hasbeen piloted in selected six village development committeesof Dhading and Rupandehi districts.LGCDP has endorsed the concept of capacity developmentto empower individuals, institutions and societies/communities via both demands led and supply led approach.To date, 138 VDCs, 18 Municipalities and 22 DDCsintroduced Performance Contracting system for their staffs.Similarly, 58 Municipalities and 53 DDCs assessed capacitydevelopment needs and updated the existing CapacityDevelopment (CD) plan as per the national CD strategy.Various capacity enhancement trainings were conductedat local level. Such as, Local Development Officers andExecutive Officers (195) participated in 7 days orientationtraining on Local Governance and their roles andresponsibilities. Likewise, 5,949 Local Body staff and 11,120stakeholders (NGOs, and political parties) participated intrainings on Result Based Monitoring (RBM), and crosscutting issues such as Child Friendly Local Governance(CFLG), Gender Equality and Social Exclusion (GESI),and Environment Friendly Local Governance (EFLG). Inaddition, 1,143 local bodies’ staff participated in ICT-basedsystem training. Moreover, LDOs and VDC secretaries'handbook prepared. Result shows only 14 percent VDCsecretaries are taking responsibility of more than one VDC.

To promote the transparency and accountability, many LBshave installed digital based notice board (Citizen Charter).The report depicts that 18 Municipalities and 15 DDCshave already installed digital notice board for public notice.

Output 6: Access to and quality of localinfrastructure and other services improved

This output addresses the various activities that will beundertaken to ensure effective and efficient delivery ofMoFALD’s core services related to local infrastructuredevelopment, vital registration, social security paymentand community mediation.In this regard, major focus has been in the reconstructionof VDC buildings in the earthquake affected districts.Construction of 25 VDC buildings out of 178 VDC buildingsunder construction has been completed. Likewise, qualitylab with lab equipment and lab technicians established inDolakha, Kavre, Dhading, Lamjung, Surkhet, Rukum, Rolpa,Banke, Sarlahi and Dailekh. Similarly, draft Water, Healthand Sanitation (WASH) Approach Manual for local bodiesand on Local Infrastructure Development works has beenprepared. Similarly, other accomplished activities include;i) Social Protection Operational Manual approved, ii) 68municipalities prepared draft Municipality Transport MasterPlan (MTMP), iii) Training Manual on social protection (SP)and vital event registration (VER) completed whereby 46local body staffs of 2 DDCs, 2 Municipalities and 6 VDCstrained. Likewise, Memorandum of Understanding signedwith Central Bureau of Statistics for initiating NationalSurvey on Vital Event Registration (VER) completedwhereby 46 local body staffs of 2 DDCs, 2 Municipalitiesand 6 VDCs trained. Likewise, Memorandum ofUnderstanding signed with Central Bureau of Statistics forinitiating National Survey on Vital Event Registration andtrainings to be organized soon. Community MediationCenter established in 100 VDCs which has been successfulin settling disputes at local level. Likewise, basic trainingon firefighting and rescue provided to 34 fire fighters of 14municipalities, and 56 municipality engineers trained while26 Municipal i t ies implemented bui lding code.

Output 7: Integrated Planning and Monitoring

Output 7 addresses range of initiatives, such as, integratedadministrative and management processes to cover theactivities of service providers involved in local development,district periodic plan as a basis for coordinating all Sectoralplans and development.To date, a total of 45 districts prepared periodic plan. Intotal, 223 planning related officials including LDOs, Planningand Administrative Officers and Program Officers of 75districts took part in the results based planning andmonitoring training. Similarly, MoFALD revised “DistrictPeriodic Plan Guideline, 2072” making it more resultoriented, inclusive and realistic. Likewise, ParticipatoryAnnual Planning Formulation Guideline revised. Withregards to Environment Friendly Local Governance (EFLG),Pro-poor Green recovery plan of Myagdi and


- Audio, visual materials were produced by incorporatingmajor characteristics of the constitution; awarenessbuilding activities carried out at national and sub-nationallevel. Social Mobilizers played important role in theConstitution dissemination and confidence buildingprocess at the community level.

- The program has prepared criteria/standards and ToRto constitute Local Level Restructuring Commission (asalready established) and technical support being providedto the commission.

- Draft bill has been prepared regarding constitutionalcommissions namely the Dalit, Inclusive, AadivashiJanajati,

Tharu, Muslim and Madhesi Commissions.- Study and consultation process has been initiated to

further detail out and clarify functional assignment acrossthe government. Necessary technical support has beenprovided to Local Level Restructuring Commission andLocal Bodies Fiscal Commission.

- As per the spirit and provision of the constitution,necessary federal legislation (including laws requiredfor holding local election) regarding local level hasalready been identified and initiated to develop conceptsand draft bill to this regard. It is believed that the processwill contribute to effective, efficient and timelyimplementation of constitution, and to hold local levelelection.

Laxmi Chaudhari, a memberof Pipladi Citizen AwarenessC e n t e r s ( C A C ) f r o mKanchanpur Jhalari PipladiMunicipality-1 has beenawarded with 'young talentaward' by Ministry of Youthand Sports. Along with theaward, she also received acash prize of Rs. 50,000. She was selected based ona news article published in the "Karobar Daily" dated6th September 2015 regarding her successful poultryfarming small enterprise which she had initiated withRs. 25,000 loan from the Livelihood Improvement

Ministry of Youth and Sports awards Laxmi Chaudhari- CAC member ofKanchanpur Municipality with 'Young Talent Award'

Programme (LIP) support provided bythe CAC. She garnered a profit of Rs.70,000 annually from the poultryfarming. The award is granted as asource of motivation to youths makingsignificant contribution in the area ofyouth development and in theircommunities.Application was requested on 11th

March 2016. In addition, based on news published invarious newspapers regarding their endeavors, a list of107 was selected primarily. A total of 45 youths (peopleand organization) under the age of 40 were selectednationwide.

Case Studies

Kavrepalanchowk prepared and is being implemented inselected Village Development Committees. Likewise, EFLGhas been implemented in 14 Districts, 54 Municipalitiesand 60 Village Development Committees. Furthermore,performance based climate resilient grant mechanism hasbeen implemented in selected six village developmentcommittees of Dhading and Rupandehi districts. ChildFriendly Local Governance (CFLG) declared in TetariaVDC of Morang district and Biratnagar Sub MetropolitanMunicipality, and 75 DDCs & 58 Municipalities adoptedCFLG. Gender budget audit completed in 13 VDCs, 48Municipalities and 50 DDCs. Central level coordinationmeeting held with Sectoral Ministries on GESI. DPMASand Web based reporting system is being strengthened.

Output 8 & 9: Refined policy on localgovernance & Policies developed for devolution

and federalism

Output 8 & 9 provides policy support in the areas ofdecentralization and federal governance processrespectively. Various activities have been carried out undereach output. The programme has contributed in ensuringdemocratic, autonomous and functional local governancevia engagement at different phases and processes ofparticipatory constitution building.

LGCDP/MoFALD has successfully carried out variousoutreach activities, dialogues with multi-stakeholders atnational and sub-national level. As a synergy, it is worthmentioning that the explicit provisions regarding democratic,inclusive, autonomous and functional local governance areembedded in the Constitution of Nepal. This has createdan important legislative foundation to a greater devolutionof power, functions and resources at the local level. LGCDPnow has prioritized its activities to effective implementationof the provisions regarding local governance and speedytransitioning processes. Major achievements are as follows:

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with 1,500 chicks, required basic training, feeds and otherrequirement.

In addition, a caretaker has been recruited with monthlysalary of NRS 15,000 to look after the poultry farm.

"People interest in self grows when their self awarenessincreases. Interest generates desire that leads to seekingopportunities. Such example set by the participants ofPragati Citizen Awareness Center of Belauri MunicipalityWard no. 7."

Citizen Awareness Center (CAC) situated in the SitanagarCommunity Forest of the Belauri Municipality was formedin 10 March 2011 with the support of LGCDP. Since theinception, CAC members have been engaged in discussionto identify pertinent community problems and scopes ofcommunity development via REFLECT classes. Memberscame to a consensus that causes for the domestic violenceand abuse against women usually stems from alcoholproduction at home and its uncontrolled consumption.Thus, members decided to raise awareness on discontinuingsuch practices from every household.

"Alcohol is traditionally needed for rituals and is considereda part of household hospitality. But it had more malpracticesassociated with it too. Hence, as a community we decidedto stop the practice entirely weighing more negatives thanpositives behind it, assaid CAC member”. CAC membersbegan campaigning to reduce and stop production ofalcohol, starting from their own members.An action planwas pre-pared to remove alcohol from each household.For this, members started door to door campaign explainingcommunities about the negative effects alcohol can bringto individuals, family and communities. However, it wasnot with challenges. CAC members even received threatsthat they were trying to block people’s main source of

income. Nevertheless, CAC members relentlessly continuedtheir effort. Eventually, the whole community became analcohol free zone with the members’ unified effort.

Furthermore, CAC also started penalizing household withNPR 500 if continued with alcohol production in their homeor community. The after effect is reduced domestic violencein families and minimized social disputes. Moreover, thismovement brought out practice women and communitymembers to come together, identify social issues and worktogether to reduce social issues.

Social unity, participatory decision-making, mutualunderstanding, endless passion and hard work can leadto an attractive income- this saying has been proven rightby the CAC members of Myagdi Tatopani VDC.In the last fiscal year 2071/72, with vigorous discussionamongst the members, the focus was shifted towardseconomic empowerment. Eventually, the members decidedto conduct poultry farming based on available localresources, feasibility, use of local skills and market potential.In order to start the business from establishing a farm tobuying feeds and chicks, a total of NRS 6,20,000 wasestimated.Thus, the CAC members garnered a support ofNRS 4, 15, 000 from the Local Governance and CommunityDevelopment Programme (LGCDP) through its SmallInfrastructure Programme (SIP) and Livelihood ImprovementPlan (LIP) grants via DDC Myagdi. Remaining NRS 2,00,000was collected by the 25 members from various sources.As seen in the picture, a small infrastructure was setup

CAC Members destroying home made alcohol

Reduced alcohol production and consumption leads toreduced domestic violence

Poultry farm at Tatopani VDC

Earned Thousands with Learnings from CAC

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household chores.Babita was no different.Earlier,she was even hesitantto introduce herself.However, after becominga member of CAC, shenot only speaks forherself but also for otherwomen like her, thus hasemerged to be a strongadvocator of women’s plight in her community. She is also

Social Mobilizer Shanti states, “Transparency is maintainedof transactions in an information board”. Likewise, CACcoordinator Buddhi Garbuja proudly reiterates, “So far allthe transactions have been made public. She furtherinformed that until now 17,000 eggs have been sold atNRS 10 each. The amount accumulated has been usedto purchase more feeds and medicines, after deductingthe remuneration, a monthly average income of 1 lakh 15thousand is made. Everyone is immensely proud of thisachievement and expects to increase the egg production.”The members are therefore confident of expanding thebusiness by adding more chickens with increasing profits. This reflects that youth of this country do not need to goabroad for hard labour. Instead, they can earn thousandsby working in their homeland.

We, as human being rely on our close networks, friendsand families to support one another in times of needs.However, it did not hold true for Laxmi Bitaula of ArkhaVDC in Pyuthan District. Her relatives attempted to marryher when she was just 15 years old. She lived with herfather Debiram Bitaula in Arkha VDC ward no 6 in PyuthanVDC.A family friend, an aunt visited her one day and misleadher to traveling to DaringVDC of Baglung tocelebrate a local festivaland attend a fun-fair.Later her aunt was seendiscussing somethingwith another lady ShovaBK. Little she did know,they were making plansof her marriage. ShovaBK lured her to a templeand there she was married to 17 year old Sane BK. Shedid not realize what was happening until her aunt took herto tailors to sew her new clothes. When she realized, sheescaped and ran off to nearby Burtiwang VDC. She wasspotted running aimlessly by a passerby who took her toa house of WCF coordinator in Burtiwang VDC.There, her story was heard by WCF members who then

Poultry farm

WCF & Child Club towards combating child marriage

Babita hails from a society of extremely underprivileged,poor Madheshi community of Terai where there is lack ofproper education and sanitation, and clouded insuperstitions. She became an example coming from sucha community to becoming an active member of the CAC,and an advocate in raising awareness on women’s rightsand against ill- practices. Babita is a member of the CitizenAwareness Center established in Jhojikatiya ward no 8 byDDC with support of LGCDP in 2015.In Babita’s society, that is, rural Madheshi community,women hardly speak in front of others; are always coveredand are restricted to looking after children and doing

ensu red shereaches ArkhaVDC and wasreunited with herparents.After that, thechi ld c lub incoordination withWCF ensuredthat the accusedwere made to

appear at the VDC officeand warned to not repeatsuch offense again. Thechild club in support ofVDC office made theaccused to sign a letterstating not to repeatsuch illegal works and iffound again engaged insuch tasks would be

rec i p i en t o f l ega lpunishment. Given that if

there were no child club and ward citizen forum in VDC,situation of Laxmi would have deteriorated.

WCF discussing the case

Laxmi Bitaula, 15 yrs

Babita leading the way for other women in the community

Babita

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Sane BK, 17 yrs


Masara and Bayalbasti of Narethati VDCs of Baglungdistrict is home to disadvantaged groups of people. As perthe CAC formation indicators mentioned in the guidelinesviz well-being ranking, Underlying Cause of PovertyAssessment (UCPA) and social status, CAC was established3 years ago in these settlements. All thirty female memberattend regular REFLECT session on transformational socialmobilization. Learning and experiences were shared byother participants and social mobilizer. During REFLECTsessions, discussions were held on relevant issues andproblems faced by CAC members.

Among those 30 members was Sushila Pun who had amundane everyday life where she was struggling to meether family’s everyday needs. Sushila mentioned no matterhow hard she worked, she could barely earn enough toprovide meals to her family of six. Due to poor financialstatus, she was unable to invest or do any business hencewas forced to earn on daily wages for her entire family.She received a loan of fifteen thousand rupees which sheused to start vegetable farming.

Over exploitation of drinking water and haphazard irrigationstogether with drought due to climate change has causeddepletion of groundwater resources in Terai. RajkumarDas, Executive Officer (EO) of Golbazar Municipality said,“Until few years back people could pump out drinking waterfrom 40ft- 45ft below the ground but now it needs penetrationof up to 150ft - 160 ft”.

Roof Top Rainwater Harvesting and RechargingGroundwater Technology was an option to be tested toreplenish the groundwater in Terai. Accordingly, RajbirajMunicipality piloted Roof Top Rainwater Harvesting andRecharging Groundwater Technology for recharging groundwater in Rajbiraj Municipality premises in 2015. In thisconnection the Municipality constructed recharge pitstogether with water harvesting tank and made arrangementto pipe water in these pits and tanks from office buildingroofs through financial support of Environment FriendlyLocal Governance Program (EFLGP) that is implementedunder Local Governance and Community DevelopmentProgram of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and LocalDevelopment (MoFALD).

Rainwater Harvesting for Recharging Ground Water

able to write her name owing to literacy classes conductedat CAC.It comes from her own experience in understanding thestruggles of other women. She faced resistance from herhome; her mother in law was not happy with her going outof the house. It took a lot of effort for her to finally convinceher. It was especially hard because her husband wasworking abroad. Not having her husband around was evenmore challenging for her to become outspoken and visiblein the community. People could have easily tarnished herimage.

It stabilized herincome and shewas able to sendher children toschools. Shew a s f u r t h e rsupported withfifty thousandr u p e e s f r o mCACs revolvingfund provided byDDC Baglung.

She added twomore tunnel with that further increased her income. Shecould easily sell her vegetables at the local market. Sheearned atleast 50,000 to 60,000 rupees from each tunnelof vegetable farming. She even got her husband to returnfrom abroad after such surge in her income. The supportwas also received by three other CAC members.

Livelihood Improvement Plan improves peoples lives

Sushila at her farm

According to Rajbiraj Municipality Executive Officer Mr.Bishnu Gurung the project has yielded multitudes of benefitsthis year. Water at the office premises has been rechargedthat can be exemplified from the fact that greenery aroundthe pits has been maintained even in the dry season of2016. Municipality Office adjoining settlements are enjoyingdrinking water benefits from the project as they have beenable to pump water by digging only 30ft.-35 ft ground whichwas not the case before.

Rooftop rainwater harvesting

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Regardless, she continued her participation in the REFLECTclasses at CAC which allowed her to understand reasonsbehind her community becoming poor, what marginalizedgroup mean, about women’s rights, development budgetof VDCs, etc. The knowledge empowered her which gaveher strength to impart that knowledge to empower otherwomen and encourage them to join CAC. Eventually, hermother in law was also convinced of her hard work and isnow a regular participant of the CAC meeting.


The 7th National Advisory Committee (NAC) meeting ofLGCDP, Phase-II was held on 08 June 2016 under thechairpersonship of Mr. Mahendra Man Gurung, Secretary,Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development(MoFALD). The meeting approved annual strategicimplementation plan (ASIP) 2016/2017 and recommendedconstituting a Joint Task Force under the leadership ofMoFALD to work out on the next phase of the programmebased on the areas identified in the MTR report. TheCommittee extended vote of thanks to the Government ofDenmark and Norway for providing additional DKK 20million (USD 4.0 million) and NOK 25 million (USD 3.0million) respectively to meet thefunding gap.

In his remarks, Mr. Gurung notedthat LGCDP has been the largestprogramme in the area of localgove rnance re fo rm andcommunity development. Thus,moving forward in the changedcontext, the programme shouldbe oriented towards capacitatinglocal bodies to implementmandates of the constitution. Itwas underlined that communityinstitutions such as the WardCitizen Forums (WCFs) andCitizen Awareness Centers(CACs) have been instrumentalin empowering people at thegrassroot level which has alsobeen recognized in the Mid TermReview also, and that thiscommunity organization will becomplimentary in the new systemas well. In his final remark, thesec re ta ry acknow ledgedcontribution of donors in makingLGCDP a successful programme.

The committee endorsed 17 decisions based on therecommendation of Sub NAC. Some of the key decisionsendorsed are: ASIP programme and budget 2016/17 FY,MTR report, take adequate steps to implement the FRRAP2015-17, LGAF to analyze all the district good governancereports and provide policy guidance to improve thegovernance system at the subnational level amongst others.

The NAC also felicitated Dr. Urs Herren, Ambassador, theEmbassy of Switzerland in Nepal and DP Chair who wascompleting his tenure in Nepal with a token of love and

conveyed sincere appreciation for his impeccablecommitment and support towards strengthening localgovernance in Nepal.

Ms. Gail Marzetti, DP Co-Chair remarked that the changedcontext provides ample opportunities to shape the courseof future local governance in Nepal. Thus, expressedhappinesss on forming a joint task force between theMinistry and Development partners to look into issue andbegin to sketch out the contours for future engagement.Lastly, the DP Co-Chair assured that DFID would give highpriority to achieve reforms in local governance in Nepal.

The meeting was attended by representatives from FinancialComptroller General’s Office (FCGO), line ministriesincluding Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare,Ministry of Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation. Likewise,Joint Secretaries of MoFALD, and other sector line ministriessuch as Ministry of Finance, National Planning Commission,DOLIDAR and Local Bodies Associations’ representativeslike ADDCN, NAVIN and MUAN were present in the meetingand distinguished delegates and representatives fromDevelopment Partners (DPs).

Events

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7th National Advisory Committee (NAC) meeting

(Left To Right) H.E. Urs Herren, DP Chair/Ambassador Swiss Embassy inNepal (Outgoing), Mr. Mahendra Man Gurung, Chair/Secretary MOFALD,

Ms. Gail Marzetti, DP Co-Chair, Head of DFID, Mr. Rajendra Pd Nepal,Financial Comptroller General


Norwegian Government provides an additional fund ofUSD 3 million to LGCDP

An agreement was signed between Norwegian Ministry ofForeign Affairs and Ministry of Federal Affairs and LocalDevelopment on 17th June 2016 to provide additional 3million USD to support the Local Governance and CommunityDevelopment Programme. The agreement was signed byHis Excellency, Ambassador Kjell Tormod Pettersen onbehalf of Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs while Mr.Mahendra Man Gurung, Secretary, MoFALD signed theagreement on behalf of MoFALD.

A commitment was made by the Norwegian Governmentduring the National Advisory Committee (NAC) meetingheld on 8th June 2016 owing to remarkable results of theprogramme. The Secretary expressed gratitude to theNorwegian Government for the continued bilateral supportto the Government of Nepal and assured that the fundwould be utilized in continuing efforts of LGCDP tostrengthen local government, increasing accountability,

An agreement was signed between Government ofDenmark and Ministry of Federal Affairs and LocalDevelopment on 27th May 2016 to provide additional DKK20 million (USD 4.0 million) to support the implementationand execution of Local Governance and CommunityDevelopment Programme (LGCDP II). The agreementwas signed by Her Excellency, Ambassador Kirsten Geelanon behalf of the Embassy of Denmark while Mr. Mahendra

reducing fiduciary risks while focusing on citizen centricprogramming.

An observation from Ranibas VDC Sindhuli districtNamuna CAC in Ranibas VDC of Sindhuli established in2068 B.S.CAC comprises of deprived community namely"Danuwar settlement" at Ranichuri. The members of CACare aware of vital registration, planning, VDC grant, socialsecurity and citizenship card.During the recent Joint Field Visit, it was observed thatRanibas VDC has implemented few result oriented projectswith the support of annual VDC grant which can be a lessonto others as well.The CAC had received Small Infrastructure Support (SIP)Grant in last fiscal year which they used to build shed forpoultry farming. With that support, the members investedin poultry farming. Eventually, a profit of NRs. 24,000 wasmade from the poultry farming. Now, the members havemade agreement with local businessman to provide chicksand feeds in credit. The CAC members sell their poultryproduce to the businessman on wholesale basis and afinal transaction is settled. The modality has benefittedboth CAC members and the businessman.Similarly, the members are now taking lead in solving theproblem of drinking water at the VDC and has prioritizedit in the fiscal year 2073/74. With their vigorous lobbying,

VDC has allocated a large sum of the budget to maintaindrinking water supply to ward No. 4, 5 and 6 of RanibasVDC. The VDC Secretary noted that the projects areselected based on the rationality, coverage, and priority ofpeople. This year, Drinking Water has been the main priorityand all grants have been mobilized for this purpose. Thisis a noteworthy practice of VDC.

CAC Members of Namuna CAC at Ranibas

Agreement signing between Norwegian Ministry ofForeign Affairs and Ministry of Federal Affairs and

Local Development

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Man Gurung, Secretary, MoFALD signed the agreementon behalf of MoFALD. The funding commitment was madeto meet part of the funding gaps to implement LGCDP IIfor the year 2015/16. The Secretary expressed gratitudeto the Government of Denmark for the continued bilateralsupport to the Government of Nepal and assured that thefund would be utilized based on approved Annual StrategicImplementation Plan (ASIP) 2015/16 and 2016/17.

Government of Denmark provides an additional grant support ofDKK 20 million (USD 4.0 million) to LGCDP


UpdatesMapping of the Capacity Development Plan of Local Bodies

LGCDP Emergency Grant Support in Earthquake Affected DistrictsImmediately after the earthquake of April 2015, the Ministryof Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD) throughathe Local Governance and Community DevelopmentProgram (LGCDP) providedemergency grant relief forearthquake vict ims 14impacted districts. LGCDPprovided emergency grant ofRs.900, 000 per VDC inhighly affected districts andRs. 450,000 per VDC inaffected districts and Rs.200,000 per ward o fMunicipali t ies in thosedistricts. In total, LGCDPreleased Rs. 504.8 million to580 VDCs and 650 wards of41 Municipalities of those 14districts. In order to smoothlyexecute the relief fund,MoFALD developed the

"Immediate Relief Support in the Earthquake AffectedAreas: Operation Guideline 2015". Based on the guidelines,the local bodies managed the relief funds.

The prov is ion o femergency grant waswidely disseminatedthrough local radio andevery ci t izen wasaware of the fund. Theemergency funds wereutilized to purchaseand distribute of ZIsheet, tarpaulin, and onfood items.

Laxmi Ratna Tuladhar,Chairperson of WardCitizen Forum (WCF),Ward Number 16 atK a t h m a n d uMetropolitan City said,

Minimum Condition and Performance Measure (MCPM)

To enhance the capacity of local bodies, LGCDP/MoFALDhas endeavored to formulate the participatory CapacityDevelopment (CD) plan of all DDCs and Municipalities toidentify capacity gap, resources availability and coordinationmechanism among the stakeholders. In the first phase ofthe LGCDP, 71 DDCs had formulated CD plan. Amongstall, 50 DDCs' CD plans were outdated, and no attemptshave been made for a midterm review and final evaluationof the plan. Concurrently, 21 DDCs' CD plans still remainof their working tenure. Concurrently, 47 Municipalities outof 58 (old) has formulated CD plan.Amongst them, onlyone CD plan (Lahan Municipality) is valid whilst 46 CD

plans had already terminated. None of the Municipalitieshave initiated midterm review, and final evaluation of theplan. Similarly, 159 new Municipalities have not formulatedCD plan.

CD plan is one of the indicators of MCPM which assessesthe performance of local bodies. MCPM results of 2014/15show 4 DDCs do not have CD plan while 50 DDCs' CDplan had already run out. Most DDCs were able to securethe score in MCPM assessment on CD plan. It is a bigchallenge and needs to overcome the critics in policydiscourse.

An aerial view of damaged houses in Gorkha

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The Minimum Conditions and Performance Measurement(MCPM) based on Local Self Governance Act is a methodof measuring the performance of the local bodies annuallybased on certain criteria by the Local Bodies FiscalCommission (LBFC). The Minimum Condition (MC) arelegal provisions based on Local Self-Governance Act andrelated procedures, directivaes, proceedings, guidelinesand other prevailing laws that Local Bodies must abideby. Based on areas of Local Bodies scope of work, minimumconditions indicators are developed. Local bodies have tofulfill these minimum conditions indicators based on whichtheir performance is measured.MCPM in local bodies was introduced in the Fiscal Year2066/67 B.S. Based on the results of MCPM since itsincorporation, there seems to be gradual improvement inDDCs and Municipalities performance. On the other hand,

the performance of VDCs are still very comweak incomparison due to lack of adequate and skilled humanresources, VDC Secretaries work overload, proceduraldelay in the recruitment of VDC Secretary and weak VDCphysical infrastructures. The table below provides a parativedata of MCPM of local bodies of last 5 years.

Source: LBFC MCPM report 2071 B.S.


Training on Fire Control and Rescue

Training on Building Bylaws

although the amount received from MoFALD was verysmall, it was instrumental to coordinate other supports suchas Red Cross, private sectors and civil societyorganizations”. Moreover, he further said, “the support wasvital in building confidence of people towards LBs andgovernment response”.

Until this trimester a total of 45 District Periodical Plans(DPP) updated and others are under preparation process.To assure quality, DDCs have prepared the plans followingDPP Guidelines that were provided by MoFALD. In addition,most of the drafts DPPs were reviewed by the MoFALDPlanning Section. Furthermore, MoFALD has reviewed thegiven guideline to ensure DPP is prepared focusing oncitizen centred development, good governance, inclusive,sustainable, poverty reduction, promoting investment, equity,capacity development, coordination and consensus, proper

land use based ong e o g r a p h y ,i n t e g r a t e dc o m m u n i t yd e v e l o p m e n t ,soc ia l jus t i ce ,d i s a s t e rmanagement, etc.Some of the keyfeatures of theDPP guideline are:adherence to result

based p lann ingprocess, SWOTanalysis, clarity onr e s u l t b a s e dindicators, work planto convert DPP intoa n n u a l p l a n ,p a r t i c i p a t o r yplanning process,regular monitoringprocess based onresult’s indicatorsamongst others.

To make the DPPs more result oriented, MoFALD providedthree days training on Result Based Monitoring to LocalDevelopment Officers, Planning and Administrative Officers,Programme officers in all 75 districts. The training wasorganized at in the five development regions, namelyDhangadi, Nepalgunj, Pokhara, Dhulikhel and Biratnagar.In total, 223 local body officials underwent the training.

Five days basic ‘Fire Fighting and Rescue’ training was conducted atBirtamod Municipality, Jhapa, with technical support from Juddha BarunYantra, Office of Kathmandu Metropolitan City with the initiation of FireControl and Disaster Management Sect ion of MoFALD.The training covered theory and practical sessions on fire control andrescue as well as demo/drill exercise on using various firefighting equipmentsuch as Fire Extinguishers, Personal Protective Equipment, BreathingApparatus, Turntable Ladder, Light Portable Pump, Hose, Nozzle andothers.In total, 20 firefighters of 9 municipalities from Eastern Region participatedthe training.

Trainings on building bylawsand building code wereconducted at Kohalpur andChandrapur For municipalengineers/ sub-engineers ofnew municipalities of Centre,Western, Mid and Far Westernregion. In total, 56 engineers/sub eng ineers o f new

municipalities took part in thetraining. Similarly, TOT onintegrated training manual ofplanning/building bylaws andbuilding code was conductedfor a total of 18 engineers ofsix regions (three from eachregion).

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RBM Training being conducted

RBM Training being conducted

An independent study commissioned by the MoFALD foundthe mandatory involvement of WCFs in relief committeesand management of emergency grant has significantlyincreased the status of WCF in communities and villages,and increased high level of local ownership. The overallfinancial progress of emergency grant was 95%.

Fire fighting training

TOT on Training

Update on District Periodic Plan (DPP)


Article

Since 2008, Nepal’s Ministry of Federal Affairs and LocalDevelopment (MoFALD) has been conducting a LocalGovernance and Community Development Program(LGCDP) to support entire local bodies (LBs), namely,districts, municipalities and village developmentcommittees (VDCs) for effective service delivery throughcitizen participation. The overarching goal of the LGCDPis to contribute to poverty reduction through inclusive,responsive and accountable local governance andparticipatory development. This program is jointly financedby the Government of Nepal and thirteen developmentpartners under various financing arrangements. Theprogram thus far has successfully established citizenempowerment and effective service delivery.

In the final stages of designing the LGCDP, asemi-autonomous Local Governance AccountabilityFacility (LGAF) was included as a support mechanismto foster positive, constructive and critical engagementof citizens and civil society with LBs and the primaryunits of public service delivery. LGAF is important foraddressing the “downward accountability” of local

Local Governance and Accountability Facility Programme in Nepal

DashrathchandMunicipality ofBaitadi districtconducted threedays ICT trainingto its staff andsocial mobilizers.A total of 23p a r t i c i p a n t si nc l ud ing 10

office staffs and 13 social mobilizers attended the training.Particpants were given training on various subjects likeNepali typing, unicode, email-internet, google tools, officepackages, operating system, mobile technology, virusantivirus, website and social media at local bodies, brief

authorities, which is required to match the substantialincrease in financial resources made available to localgovernment. LGAF is the key to achieving the secondoutput of the LGCDP, which reads, “Increased capacityof citizens, communities and marginalized groups toassert their rights and hold local governmentsaccountable”.

The Role of LGAFLGAF provides grants and capacity developmentassistance to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs),including Community. It advocates for easier and moreinclusive access to better public services and CSOsinvolved in monitoring public expenditure at the locallevel. In addition, LGAF does analytical work and providesinformation on best practices. LGAF is currently operatingin 66 districts in the country. It provides grants to CSOsto monitor LBs’ compliance in accordance with legislativeand policy requirements. CSOs that receive grants arerequired to carry out participatory monitoring to assessLBs compliance with legislative and policy requirementsusing social accountability tools.

introduction tor u n n i n gs o f t w a r epackages atmunicipality, e-governance,cyber law etc.It was realisedt h a t s u c hprogrammesa r e a l s onecessary forthe members of child club. Participants also expressedthat refresher training is required to update on topicsincluded in the training.

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ICT Training

Information Communication Training (ICT) Conducted

Social Mobilizers on training


Main ObjectivesThe objective of monitoring LBs is to increase publicknowledge about LBs and local representatives’ activities,provide internal information for LBs to improve theirperformance and work effectively with district agenciesand CSOs, and help citizens and communities hold theirlocal governments accountable.

If achieved, these objectives will lead to enhancedcompliance, better transparency and accountability,greater participation, and eficient delivery of publicservices and local governance. In addition, the monitoringis expected to support the selected LBs in establishinginternal controls that comply with regulations andmeasure risks. LGAF requires the CSOs to lead andundertake compliance monitoring over a three yearperiod, subject to an annual renewable contract basedon quality performance. The selected CSOs must havecore competencies in good governance, downwardaccountablity, social accountability, local governanceand/or compliance monitoring.

Selected CSOs that obtain competitive grans from LGAFmonitor LBs’ compliance with legislative and policyrequirements such as the Local Self Governance Act1999 (LSGA), Local Self Governance, Regulations 2000(LSGR), Local Bodies Fianancial AdministrationRegulations 2007 (LBFAR), Good Governance Act 2008(RTIR), Public Procurement Act 2007 (PPA), PublicProcurement Regulations 2007 (PPR), and otherguidelines Issued under those statues, including theLocal Bodies Resource Mobilization and ManagementGuidelines 2012 (LBRMMG). These CSOs will berequired to monitor planning, implementation andmonitoring and reporting stages. They are encouragedto engage socially mobilized groups and institutions.

Expected Grand OutputsThere are several results expected from the grantsissued by LGAF. They are expected to enhance thecapacity of the Ward Citizen Forum (WCF), which wascreated under the social mobilization and communitydevelopment component of the LGCDP. They are alsoexpected to help the Community Awareness Centre(CAC) and LBs to translate social accountability tools,

such as public hearings, public audits and social audits,into practice. The grants also seek to increase citizenparticipation in planning, implementation, evaluationand monitoring, enhance the capacity of citizen groupsand communities to old their local goverrnance actorsaccountable, and expand compliance monitoringinitiatives to other LB units.

Monitoring, Evaluation and ReportingFollowing the program implementation, the selectedCSOs are expected to run monitoring, evaluation andreporting procedures. These include checking whetherthe LBs have complied with legislative and policyrequirements and thoroughly followed all applicableguidelines; and monitoring and documenting theformation, function and effectiveness of the VDC,municipality and District Development Committees(DDC), Supervision and Monitoring Committee andMonitoring and Facilitation Committee.

As public auditing is legally mandatory if the projectswill be handed over to the community, CSOs mustmonitor whether LBs made any final payment toconcerned parties without organizing a public audit, andsubmit the public audit report and project completionreport. While organizing public audits, social audits, andpublic hearing to promote responsive, responsible,transparent and accountable local governance, CSOsmust help select LB units adopt good governancepractices. Prior to conducting the monitoring andevaluation process, CSOs need to prepare and finalisea check list, an interview schedule, a perception analysisquestionnaire, and a focus group discussion (FGD)checklist. The CSOs must then vet these with the districturban governance expert and/or regional monitoring,reporting and accountability experts. They will thenreview key indicators relating to VDC findings. Thesepreparations must promote participation in decisionmaking, and provide dedicated funds for women anddisadvantaged groups.

Assessment of the physical and financial aspects ofprograms, projects and works undertaken by the LBsin the review period, including a public audit in order toensure quality of work, is required. CSOs conduct this

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assessment by visiting one third of the constructionsites, with selected members of the related Supervisionand Monitoring Committee, at least four times duringthe implementation of the grant. They then documentand report their findings. CSOs are responsible fororganizing one public dialogue on the state ofaccountability at the end of the year.

In addition, they also prepare and submit an inceptionreport together with financial reports to LGAF Secretariatthrough the LGCDP regional coordination unit office. Atthe end of the project, CSOs develop a detailedcompliance monitoring report, which is submitted to theregional monitoring, reporting and accountability expertand LGAF Secretariat. The report must discuss, amongother things, the gaps and strengths of LBs in terms ofcompliance with legislative and policy requirements.The report also has to provide evidence of compliance

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and non-compliance during the planning, implementationand management phase, and the monitoring, evaluationand reporting phase. Since the last two Nepali fiscalyears (2014-15/2015-16), three Local Body Associations,Municipal Association of Nepal (MuAN), Association ofDistrict Development Committees (ADDCN), andNational Association of Village Development Committee(NAVIN) have conducted CSO compliance monitoringfor MoFALD. According to MoFALD, this practice is vitalfor quality assurance and monitoring the supply anddemand for public services.

(An article by Kalanidhi DevkotaExecutive Secretary, Municipal Association of NepalCredit Source: City Voices, Special Edition,Vol. 07 No. 01www.citynet-ap.org)

Documents

LGCDP at a glance - IIlgcdp.gov.np/sites/default/files/media_docs/lgcdp-newsletter-english… · LGCDP at a glance Local Governance and Community Development Programme (LGCDP) is