The project aims to make governance work for all segments of society. It therefore empowers the poor to claim their rights and entitlements, and to benefit from effective public services provided by the local governments in Rajshahi and Sunamganj.
Enhancing citizen's engagement in Bangladesh
Citizen’s engagement in local governance shall be enhanced in Bangladesh by strengthening capacities of local governments to involve its citizens and developing tools for better transparency and accountability. HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation Bangladesh furthermore aims to improve the coordination between the local government institutions and other local authorities. The project works at all three levels – community, regional and national - and emphasises that the poorest, women and marginalised people need to be specifically involved in the project activities in order to benefit from improved local governance.
HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation generally acts as a facilitator and provides technical as well as methodological backstopping support to partner NGOs, unions and citizens in the field of local governance. The project is elaborating and using innovative tools such as governance self-assessment, community planning (ward), open budget meetings, and transparent tax assessments. Open budget meetings for example are held after the Ward plans have been elaborated and integrated into the local government plan. Everybody is invited and there is usually a high interest of the population, especially women.The chairperson explains the budget to the public and then allows for the audience to ask questions to the union.
In addition, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation supports coordination meetings between government and civil society, promotes the Right to Information Act, and facilitates horizontal learning among local governments. It strives for elaborating, documenting and sharing its experiences with other relevant stakeholders (national training institute, donors, national government departments).
This is a project mandate implemented on behalf of SDC
HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation generally acts as a facilitator and provides technical as well as methodological backstopping support to partner NGOs, unions and citizens in the field of local governance. The project is elaborating and using innovative tools such as governance self-assessment, community planning (ward), open budget meetings, and transparent tax assessments. Open budget meetings for example are held after the Ward plans have been elaborated and integrated into the local government plan. Everybody is invited and there is usually a high interest of the population, especially women.The chairperson explains the budget to the public and then allows for the audience to ask questions to the union.
In addition, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation supports coordination meetings between government and civil society, promotes the Right to Information Act, and facilitates horizontal learning among local governments. It strives for elaborating, documenting and sharing its experiences with other relevant stakeholders (national training institute, donors, national government departments).
This is a project mandate implemented on behalf of SDC
Project impact 2012
67'625 people attended a course or workshop on decentralisation, democratization and local administration.