Participatory Budgeting?
Elected women leaders
at the threshold of governance
at the threshold of governance
"PB is still alive!", The Porto Alegre City government repeatedly and publicly claims, as if it is trying to convince itself. There are doubts about the validity of its statement, the most serious of which have been pointed out by participatory budgeting council members themselves.
Affirmative actions in the Panchayati Raj Act have brought nearly 1.2 million Indian women in local Panchayats. As elected leaders they have a huge challenge to face: challenge to safeguard and claim their political space, their way. As women, their journey to this political empowerment is hurdled by essentialism which rather stands as a tricky 'legitimising hurdle'.
Communities develop their power to demand access to water resources for off-season farming from local government in Ghana: Realising that water is a way of improving household incomes and reducing their vulnerability to poverty, the Zawse / Banse communities agreed to advocate for the Bawku Municipal Assembly(BMA) to publicly commit financially to the project.
PTAs making progress in budget tracking and school governance: CALID, a partner, intensifies the tracking of the supply of textbooks to schools, their availability for use by students as well as the management of capitation grant by schools in the Tamale metropolis.
On Peoples Budget Charter: The 'People's Charter on Budget' recently prepared by ActionAid-Pakistan through an inclusive process across the country has ignited a debate on economic and budgetary processes which are usually considered too technical to be scrutinized and analyzed by people.
Economic Justice and Budget Accountability: Awareness and Practice Among Community in Sri Lanka: Mobilising communities in the south of the country, AAISri Lanka, with Siyath Foundation and Centre for Family Services (CFS), discusses the local development in terms of finances and priorities.
Significance of increased women's participation in local governance - story from Cambodia: Women have been denied a right to make decisions in political and economic domains for long. Our partner Khmer Association for Development of Countryside-Cambodia (KAFDOC) works to strengthen womens voice ad their claims in these domains.
Making Ratnagar Municipality accountable: Youth and women of Ratnanagar municipality in Chitwan district (Nepal) unearthed misappropriation in a road construction after getting details of the construction work from the municipal authorities and the users' committee. This took place during a public hearing organized by the local people and facilitated by Sthaniya Swarojgar Kendra.
Letter of support to The Brazilian Landless Peasant's Movement / MST: The Brazilian Landless Peasant’s Movement, or MST needs support to stop a campaign to criminalize all social movement activity in the Rio Grande do Sul State in Brazil.
From The Learner’s Pen: Brief sharing on the ELBA workshops in Malawi, Rwanda, Sri Lanka & South Africa.
Centre for Budget and Policy Advocacy: Budget Analysis and advocacy training.
Pro-poor and democratic
decentralization in Africa
decentralization in Africa
Although a large body of literature already exists on decentralization, especially studies conducted by the World Bank, IMF, UNDP and other development agencies, little effort has been directed at understanding the characteristics and dynamics of decentralization from the perspective of the poor and excluded. This research study done by Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University aims to provide a conceptual foundation for analyzing decentralization in the African region from a people-centered rights-based approach. Drawing on evidence from case studies in eight African countries and Afghanistan, it presents a general framework for practitioners working to promote pro-poor decentralization. The study acknowledges that some gaps in the literature can only be filled through participatory inquiries, providing recommendations for further field work.
The Changing Face of Local Governance?
Community Development Councils in Afghanistan
Community Development Councils in Afghanistan
The relationship of the Community Development Councils as a newly introduced institution in Afghanistan, within the local governance system as a whole is complex and varied. This working paper presents findings from Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit research on sub national governance in Afghanistan, including the role that CDCs play at community levels.
