core sector communique

Supporting the Union Parishads to Enhance Capacity, Improve Service Delivery and Establish Accountability in Governance

 

 

The Local Governance Support Project (LGSP) is incrementally improving service delivery and accountability in Union Parishads (UP) in Bangladesh. Through this project about 99% of the UPs who have clean audit reports became eligible to receive Expanded Block Grants (EBGs) in Financial Year 2010-11. Taka 4.4 billion has been allocated for disbursement as EBGs in two tranches to the eligible UPs in FY 10-11.

Strengthening local governance through the provision of providing discretionary funds to UPs along with community participation and oversight accelerates country’s growth and development. For the first time in Bangladesh, through this project, the UPs are receiving fund allocation and spending according to local priority in a transparent manner. The project has more than quadrupled resources flowing to the UPs and enhanced their authority and ability to deliver local services demanded by their constituents. Approximately, 70,000 community schemes have been implemented by the UPs, while more than 40,000 public officials are now trained in basic matters of local government functioning. The project has also introduced for the first time independent financial and technical auditing of UPs through private audit firms.

The UP chairmen and members finalize the budget for different schemes with the participation of community groups. With increased funds and enhanced skills and management capacity, UPs and communities have undertaken mostly labor intensive community infrastructure. These include construction or rehabilitation of roads, culverts, drainage and embankment system, water and sanitation facilities, school and clinic repairs. These schemes have created thousands of jobs and increased the income of poor households.

Civil society groups have started to facilitate social audits for enhancing downward accountability in the UPs. Available evidence indicates that UPs are fully capable of absorbing increased resources and using these to improve local development. Encouragingly, it was found that many of the small investments generate employment opportunities for the poor and the vulnerable, as well as improve their access to services.

The consultations for LGSP’s successor project were formally launched on October 31, 2010. Representatives from 11 UPs consolidated the findings of the first round of consultations on LGSP and presented their recommendations. The experiences of Ups from LGSP can help to further improve the design of LGSP successor project as well as address other challenging implementation issues that were faced by LGSP. The World Bank is actively considering supporting the Government’s request for the operation of LGSP’s successor project.