TOWARDS A LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENDA: LESSONS AND CHALLENGES DGP-NET E-DISCUSSION 27 AUGUST – 16 OCTOBER 2007 TOWARDS A LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENDA: LESSONS AND CHALLENGES DGP-NET E-DISCUSSION 27 AUGUST – 16 OCTOBER 2007 TOWARDS A LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENDA: LESSONS AND CHALLENGES DGP-NET E-DISCUSSION 27 AUGUST – 16 OCTOBER 2007 December 2007 E-Discussions and the Process E-Discussions are time bound electronic discussions designed to facilitate dialogue and debate on timely issues relevant to the practice. E-discussions allow members of the Democratic Governance community of practice to pro-actively address topics that present challenges or opportunities to the practice, identify UNDP strategic niches and ground ‘practice agenda setting’ documents or events in country level experience. An e-discussion can serve as an effective tool to complement other means via which community members communicate, and their extended duration allows a deeper level of reflection and learning on the subjects discussed. In reality, thematic e-discussion on the Democratic Governance Practice Network (DGP-Net) acts as virtual ‘policy forum’ for the democratic governance practitioners. About the DGP-Net E-discussion Process The process of identifying DGP-Net e-discussion themes for 2007 started with an analysis of queries and consolidated replies posted during 2006 in the DGP-Net. The analysis identified knowledge gaps and members’ demand. The analysis was followed by a Virtual Focus Group Discussion (December 2006-January 2007) with the active participation of 20 top contributors to the network in 2006. The VFGD provided critical inputs in refining the 2007 e-discussion priorities identified through the network analysis. A brief assessment of past e-discussions and knowledge products across the Practice also informed the process. The identified themes were subsequently put to a vote in the network “priority poll” to assess further interest, share information, and ensure community ownership of the process. The DGP-Net priority poll identified local governance and decentralisation as one of the priority themes to be discussed in the DGP-Net in 2007. 4 E -D ISCUSSIO N Table of Contents 1. Introductory Note ........................................................................................................... 6 2. E-Discussion Pre-Launch Message ................................................................................. 8 3. E-Discussion Launch Message ...................................................................................... 10 4. Consolidated Reply ....................................................................................................... 14 5. List of Contributions .................................................................................................... 43 6. Closing of E-Discussion by The Moderation Team ...................................................... 522 T OW A R D S A L O C al G O V E R nan C E and D E V E L O P ME N T A G E nda : L E S S O N S and C H all E ng ES 5 1. INTRODUCTORY NOTE 6 E -D ISCUSSIO N 1. Introductory Note This document represents the compilation of the most participatory E-discussion in UNDP networks since their establishment in 1998. The Democratic Governance Practice Network received 153 substantive contributions over a period of two months. The contributes embody opinions of colleagues from UNCDF, UNDP, UNFPA, UN-HABITAT and UNICEF; from the networks of the United Cities and Local Government (UCLG) – the largest association of cities, local and regional authorities; but also regional banks, research institutes, universities and NGOs from several continents in the South and in the North. The variety and content of the contributions, as well as the number of countries to which they have referred to, reflect the importance and relevance of local governance and decentralization both as a broad thematic area and, a substantive development process. They benefited from the active participation of all those involved with international development, poverty reduction and the improvement of democratic practices with appropriate level of regional and local settings. This E-discussion is also representing an unprecedented effort of interagency coordination and collaboration. Although promoted and hosted from the UNDP Bureau for Development Policy, this forum was organized and implemented together with the participation of colleagues from UNCDF, UN-HABITAT and UCLG. The diverse experiences have served together with other parallel processes to prompt the establishment of an inter-agency knowledge sharing and networking platform for the exchange of knowledge on local development and local governance. This (DGPNet-Local) will be launched in 2008, hosted by UNDP/BDP in close coordination and collaboration with the Democratic Governance Practice Network (DGP-Net). In preparing this material all efforts have been made to keep the originality of text of the messages as we received it. Minor editorial changes have been made to ensure consistency, however, not at the cost of diversity! The document is prepared in a PDF format with hyperlinks that facilitate electronic navigation. Several electronic links in the text will lead to archives within the UNDP intranet, accessible only to UNDP staff. We do apologies for this limitation. However, many of the linkages included in the text do also lead to webpages in the public domain, and, they will be accessible to all. Monjurul Kabir Lenni Montiel [email protected] [email protected] Knowledge Management Specialist and Senior Policy Adviser DGP-Net Facilitator Decentralization and Local Governance Democratic Governance Group Democratic Governance Group T OW A R D S A L O C al G O V E R nan C E and D E V E L O P ME N T A G E nda : L E S S O N S and C H all E ng ES 7 2. E-DISCUSSION PRE-LAUNCH MESSAGE 8 E -D ISCUSSIO N 2. E-Discussion Pre-Launch Message Olav Kjorven and Richard Weingarten, UNDP and UNCDF 20 August Dear Colleagues, As you may recall, earlier this year, members of the UNDP Democratic Governance Practice Network (DGP-Net) selected “Local Governance and Decentralization” as a priority theme for network e-discussion proposals in 2007. Within this framework, and in response to a growing demand to strengthen the agenda for action on local governance, an online eDiscussion is being organised for colleagues and practitioners to exchange views on ideas, proposals and challenges. Your contributions, discussions and hopefully lively debates will provide critical inputs for the identification of key areas of demand, challenges, and frontiers that are needed to explore and to improve the effectiveness of UNDP and UNCDF in strengthening local governance, promoting local development, and supporting decentralization efforts in programme countries. We will be looking for the experiences, views and strategies of our network members and some selected external experts. The debate will focus on how UN agencies can better support national and local governments in the improvement of local governance, and the promotion of local development. The eDiscussion intends to pro-actively address, through the DGP-Net, topics related to local governance that present challenges and/or opportunities to UNDP staff/ practitioners in the field. We also hope to identify strategic niches for UNDP, UNCDF and the UN System at large by taking stock and laying the ground for further discussions in a community of practice setting. The eDiscussion, “Towards a Local Governance and Development Agenda - Lessons and Challenges” will begin Monday morning, 27 August and will end on Monday, 17 September 2007. It will be moderated jointly by the following team: • Mr. Rafael Tuts, Chief, Training and Capacity Building Branch, UN-HABITAT • Ms. Emilia Saiz, Director of Statutory Issues and Institutional Relations, UCLG • Mr. Kadmiel Wekwete, Director of Local Development, UNCDF • Mr. Monjurul Kabir, Knowledge Network (DGP-Net) Facilitator for Democratic Governance, BDP/UNDP. • Mr. Lenni Montiel, Senior Policy Advisor. Democratic Governance Group, BDP/UNDP The details of the e-discussion will be available next week from the team of the moderators and the DGP-Net facilitator. We look forward to a vibrant and rich discussion that will enable us to improve our programmes, respond to your concerns, and most importantly, better serve our programme countries. Best regards, Olav Kjorven Richard Weingarten Director Executive Director Bureau for Development Policy UNCDF UNDP T OW A R D S A L O C al G O V E R nan C E and D E V E L O P ME N T A G E nda : L E S S O N S and C H all E ng ES 9 3. E-DISCUSSION LAUNCH MESSAGE 10 E -D ISCUSSIO N 3. E-Discussion Launch Message The Moderation Team 27 August Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to launch today the e-Discussion titled “Towards a Local Governance and Development Agenda - Lessons and Challenges”, that was announced last week by Mr. Olav Kjorven, Director of the Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP and Mr. Richard Weingarten, Executive Director, UNCDF. This e-Discussion will run for the period 27 August to 21 September 2007, in the Democratic Governance Practice Network (DGP-Net). This initiative will benefit from participation from UNDP and UNCDF colleagues based at Country Offices, Regional Centres and Headquarters. In addition, we count on participation from colleagues in other UN agencies and a selected group of invited resource persons from research centres and training institutes from all the regions