Local Governance and Community Development Program-Social Mobilization Services

Start date: 
January, 2015
End date: 
December, 2015
Beneficiaries: 
3500households
Project District : 
Chitwan
Client: 
DDC-Chitwan/Bharatpur Sub-metropolitian City
Type of project: 
Past_Developmental
Introduction: 

Local Governance and Community Development Programme is one of the Flagship and ambitious programme of the Government of Nepal. The main executing agency is the Government of Nepal Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development and financial and other technical assistance would provide by donor agency. The Goal of the programme is to contribute towards poverty reduction through better local governance and community development and the purpose of the programme is to improve local governance for effective service delivery and citizen empowerment. Similarly the main outcomes of the programme are Citizens and communities hold their local governance actors accountable.Local Bodies are more responsive to citizen's demand.All citizens are provided with efficient and effective local services. Strengthened policy and institutional framework for devolution, sub-national governance and local service delivery. The output of the programme are Citizens and community organizations are empowered to actively participate and assert their rights in local governance.

Accountability mechanism for local governance are in place. LBs’ access to resources increased. Public financial management system improved. Institutional and human resource capacities of LBs and central agencies involved in local governance strengthened. Access to and quality of local infrastructure and other socio-economic services administered by LBs are improved.Strengthened integrated planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation and coordination amongst local governance actors. Refined policy on local governance and improved inter-agency cooperation. Policies developed for devolution and federalism. The programme is designed to participatory way and covered all the DDC, MC and VDCs of Nepal. The program has Twenty Two Thematic areas and Sixty nine major programme with 169 local level activities. LGCDP is conducting various programme for the welfare of the poor, dalit, women, children, disabled and disadvantage group of community.

Fri-PAD Intervention

Fri-PAD recruited and takes over social mobilisers to undertake grass roots level implementation of social mobilisation in their Respective VDCs and wards of municipalities. Experience has shown that individual social mobilisers who are disempowered themselves cannot challenge existing power structures unless strongly supported by Fri-PAD and others both morally and technically. This needs to be considered during social mobiliser selection and recruitment process.
To build the capacity of social mobilisers to enable them to follow a transformational. Capacity building for social mobilization coordinator shall be undertaken by a national service provider. Fri-PAD need to contribute to developing the capacity of selected and taken over social mobilisers for VDCs and municipality. The social mobilizers deliver all programme activities that referred in manual at the villages. So the social mobilizers required some technical backstopping while implementing the social mobilization activities at the villages, Fri-PAD in partnership with DDC, LGCDP/Cluster/Local Governance Expert need to backstop through orientation program at district headquarters. It is anticipated that capacity building and technical backstopping of SM is a regular process of Fri-PAD.

Key achievements: 

The knowledge and skills of citizens, especially poor and excluded, enhanced and participate actively in local governance processes. In addition to this, the trained cadres in social mobilization developed for commencing similar social mobilization activities at the district. More specifically the service during the year helped to achieve the outputs are as follows;

  • Citizens and community organizations are empowered to actively participate and assert their rights in local governance;

  • Access to and quality of local infrastructure and other socio-economic services administered by LBs are improved;

  • Strengthened integrated planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation and coordination amongst local governance actors. Social mobilisers recruited and mobilize for each participating VDCs;

  • Social mobilisers fully understanding their roles and tasks and having enhanced capacity to implement these, according to the needs of an extensive social mobilisation programme (transformational approach) in selected VDCs;

  • Local leaders, community groups and networks having a better understanding of the social mobilisation approach (transformational approach, the role of social mobilisers and the strategy of LGCDP);

  • An in-depth understanding of the current situation of the VDC and a data set that can be used for future monitoring and evaluation;

  • An understanding of the institutional and organisational landscape of each VDC. An understanding of who is doing what and where within the VDC (list of organisations and their activities);

  • Forums (ward citizen forum and community awareness centers) at VDC level that is socially inclusive and that has the capacity to engage with local government bodies especially VDC and Integrated Planning Committee;

  • A locally understood picture of the areas/settlements within the VDC where resources are most needed, and an understanding of DAG distribution and needs. This consists of a series of PRA and preparation of social maps;

  • Identifying and mobilizing local individuals who become and act as the community facilitators;

  • Prepare proposal from each ward identifying poverty pockets and priorities for addressing the needs of DAGs;

  • Poor community members have an enhanced understanding of the causes of poverty and have a commitment to play a role in addressing these;

  • DAG households in the VDCs/wards identified by name and with their location recorded;

  • Citizens and CBOs with an enhanced understanding of the requirements for managing projects/programmes being implemented with funds coming from local government;

  • Citizens with enhanced capacity to monitor plans/programmes and thus better able to hold local government to account; An understanding of what has been achieved through the social mobilisation programmes and an understanding of the gaps and remaining issues;