Local Governance Mapping THE STATE OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE: TRENDS IN MANDALAY Photo credits Paul van Hoof Mithulina Chatterjee Myanmar Survey Research The views expressed in this publication are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of UNDP. Local Governance Mapping THE STATE OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE: TRENDS IN MANDALAY UNDP MYANMAR Table of Contents Acknowledgements II Acronyms III Executive Summary 1 1. Introduction 11 2. Methodology 14 2.1 Objectives 15 2.2 Research tools 15 3. Introduction to Mandalay region and participating townships 18 3.1 Socio-economic context 20 3.2 Demographics 22 3.3 Historical context 23 3.4 Governance institutions 26 3.5 Introduction to the three townships participating in the mapping 33 4. Governance at the frontline: Participation in planning, responsiveness for local service provision and accountability 38 4.1 Recent developments in Mandalay region from a citizen’s perspective 39 4.1.1 Citizens views on improvements in their village tract or ward 39 4.1.2 Citizens views on challenges in their village tract or ward 40 4.1.3 Perceptions on safety and security in Mandalay Region 43 4.2 Development planning and citizen participation 46 4.2.1 Planning, implementation and monitoring of development fund projects 48 4.2.2 Participation of citizens in decision-making regarding the utilisation of the development funds 52 4.3 Access to services 58 4.3.1 Basic healthcare service 62 4.3.2 Primary education 74 4.3.3 Drinking water 83 4.4 Information, transparency and accountability 94 4.4.1 Aspects of institutional and social accountability 95 4.4.2 Transparency and access to information 102 4.4.3 Civil society’s role in enhancing transparency and accountability 106 5. Conclusions 108 6. Annexes 114 Annex 1: Citizen report card interviews 115 Annex 2: Community action plans 117 Annex 3: Composition of management, support and coordinating and committees in the three townships in Mandalay region 119 3.1 Management committees 120 3.2 Coordination committees 121 3.3 Support committees 122 Acknowledgements UNDP would like to thank the Region Government and the people of Mandalay Region for their unrestricted support and participation in the process of mapping and information gathering. The mapping in Mandalay Region would not have been complete without the cooperation and the strategic direction of the General Administration Department, Ministry of Home Affairs. This report was developed under the leadership and guidance of Christian Hainzl, Team Leader, Local Governance/Local Development, UNDP Myanmar. Several individuals and organizations have made contributions in the production of this report. Paul J. M. van Hoof led the analysis of the empirical data, undertook township-level mapping and drafted the report. The community-level mapping and data analysis were undertaken by Myanmar Survey Research (MSR). Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU) has been very helpful in production of the data maps for the report. The report has benefited from the substantive contributions of Anki Dellnas, Mithulina Chatterjee and Marcus Brand. Special thanks to Aye Lwin and Khin Kyaw for their technical contribution to the Local Governance Mapping. The Local Governance Mapping being undertaken as part of UNDP Myanmar’s Local Governance/Local Development Programme is funded by the Government of Japan, Government of Sweden, DANIDA, and UNDP. II The State of Local Governance: Trends in Mandalay - UNDP Myanmar 2014 Acronyms CD Community Dialogue CDF Constituency Development Fund CRC Citizen Report Card CSO Civil Society Organisation DMA Department of Municipal Affairs DoE Department of Education DoH Department of Health DoP Department of Planning DRD Department of Rural Development DTA Deputy Township Administrator GAD General Administration Department GoM Government of Myanmar HoD Head of Department INGO International Non-Governmental Organisation LGM Local Governance Mapping MoHA Ministry of Home Affairs MoLFRD Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development MoNPED Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development MDRI-CESD Myanmar Development Resources Institute-Centre for Economic and Social Development MSR Myanmar Survey Research NGO Non-Governmental Organisation MoAI Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation MoE Ministry of Education MoH Ministry of Health PRF Poverty Reduction Fund RDF Rural Development Fund RHC Rural Health Centre SLRD Settlements and Land Records Department SRHC Sub-Rural Health Centre TA Township Administrator TMAC Township Municipal Affairs Committee TDSC Township Development Support Committee TEO Township Education Officer TFMC Township Farmland Management Committee TLO Township Land Record Officer (Settlements and Land Records) TMC Township Management Committee TMO Township Medical Officer TPIC Township Planning and Implementation Committee TPO Township Planning Officer UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund VT Village Tract VTA Village Tract Administrator VTA/WA Village Tract or Ward Administrator VTA/WDSC Village Tract or Ward Development Support Committee WA Ward Administrator The State of Local Governance: Trends in Mandalay - UNDP Myanmar 2014 III Executive Summary This report outlines the results of the Local Governance Mapping conducted by UNDP in Mandalay Region. Based on the perceptions of the people and local governance actors, the mapping has captured some key aspects of the current dynamics of governance at the frontline of state-citizen interaction like participation in local development planning, access to basic social services and transparency and accountability in local governance. In consultation with the Mandalay Region government, it was agreed that the Local Governance Mapping would be conducted in three townships, namely, Meiktila, Thazi and Thabeikkyin between August and November 2014. Mandalay Region Mandalay City and its surrounding Region have always played an important role in the political, economic and cultural history of Myanmar. After Yangon, Mandalay is the second most important economic hub in the country, contributing substantially to its National Product. Despite being one of the economic centres, Mandalay Region’s overall poverty incidence was 27 percent in 2010 (14 percent in urban and 32 percent in rural areas), which was slightly above the national average of 26 percent. This indicates that economic development is geographically rather unevenly spread over the Region with some parts benefiting more than others. On most of the social indicators Mandalay Region as a whole fares similar to the national average of Myanmar. On access to safe drinking water and sanitation, on education and immunization Mandalay is doing slightly better than the national average, while on malnutrition it scores slightly below the national average. Also on these indicators some parts of Mandalay tend to do much better than others, with the more remote rural villages lagging behind substantially. According to the 288 people interviewed as part of this survey, not much has changed over the last three years in the food and income situation of their households. Slightly more respondents recorded an improvement in their food security situation (27 percent) than those who recorded deterioration (13 percent), but for the majority (59 percent) not much had changed. Safety and security was not a concern for most people as 92 percent of the respondents felt safe in their village tract or ward and mentioned that this has either remained the same over the last three years or even improved. Any concerns mentioned were related to issues in the community and not to national peace and safety matters. Another aspect of safety, which the research addressed, is the perception of freedom of expression. The researchers asked the respondents whether they feel free and safe to express their opinion about government in public. Almost half of the respondents (47 percent) mentioned that they feel free to say whatever they want about government, while more than half of the respondents (51 percent) feel in some way restricted to express themselves freely, being afraid of the possible repercussions this might have. This indicates that people still don’t have full confidence in government respecting rule of law and basic human rights. Unfortunately, since this is only the first time that this mapping is conducted, no trends could be established over time, providing an indication whether this situation is improving or not. The State of Local Governance: Trends in Mandalay - UNDP Myanmar 2014 1 In terms of improved services, improvements in education were noted most often by 42 percent of the respondents, followed by road improvements (27 percent) and improved access to drinking water (24 percent). Remarkably, especially if compared to other States and Regions that participated in this research, only 7 percent of the respondents mentioned an improvement in health services. Also important to note is that 27 percent of the respondents mentioned that government had not made any major improvements over the last three years in their village tract or ward. There were however significant differences between the three townships and communities that participated in the research. Also regarding the major problems in the village tract or ward a diverse picture emerged. Overall, four important problems stood out that were mentioned by almost 20 percent of the respondents each: poor health services, poor roads, lack of jobs and no access to clean drinking