Citizens Voice Project Program Description Cycle-10

Transcription

1 Citizens Voice Project Program Description Cycle-10 Thematic Area: Enhancing the Capacity of Elected Representatives and Strengthening Citizens Engagement for Transparent, Responsive, Efficient and Accountable Local Governments

2 Thematic Area: Enhancing the Capacity of Elected Representatives and Strengthening Citizens Engagement for Transparent, Responsive, Efficient and Accountable Local Governments I. Background Local government election is a legal obligation of the state under Article 140-A (1) of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 which states, Each province shall, by law, establish a local government system and developed political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of the local governments. A new Article, 170(2), ensures independent audit of local governments by the constitutionally appointed Auditor General. The public expectations from the new local government systems and the reinforced oversight structure under article 170(2) demands capacity and performance from the elected representatives including the ones that are/will occupy elected offices for the very first time. In Pakistan, local government (LG) elections have been conducted in two provinces i.e. Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after almost 10 years. The temporal gap and variations in the respective provincial LG systems underline the need for multipronged interventions to help the system work optimally for the citizens. Newly elected representatives especially women, youth and minorities are comparatively less likely to have familiarity with the new or amended laws, rules and procedures of the LG systems; administrative hierarchy and delegation of powers. It is imperative to build the capacity and enhance understanding of the elected representatives to promote effective and efficient local government systems. As elected representative of the marginalized and under-represented segments of the society, the need for enhanced capacity of LG members on reserved seats for women, labor, youth and minorities cannot be overstated. Sensitization of the LG systems, structure, functions and policies to the needs of these segments is critical for improvements in resource allocation and service delivery for ensuring responsive, inclusive and representative LG systems. The grants cycle 10 aims to contribute to the capacity building of elected LG representatives from female, youth, labor and minorities segments in key areas i.e., participatory planning, financial resource generation, transparent budget processes and developing formal and informal engagement platforms with citizens. These will contribute to transparent, responsive, efficient and accountable democratic systems as per the established standards. II. Grant Cycle Objectives Projects will be funded in support of the grant cycle objective 1 and objective 2 and/ or 3.The interventions under objective 1 are mandatory. Objective 1: To strengthen and support the local government system by capacitating the newly elected LG representatives ( female, youth, peasants/workers/labors and minorities) by building their capacity preferably by engaging LG related training/research institutions in the public or private sector.

3 Objective 2: To enhance transparency and accountability in the LG systems by capacitating the citizens understanding of the LG system. Objective 3: To enhance the responsiveness of the LG system to citizens needs by strengthening formal and informal mechanisms for citizens engagement with LG representatives and in LG processes. III. Results and Intermediate Results Expected Grants under this cycle are being awarded to contribute to the following higher level results: Citizens confidence in political and electoral processes; and Improved governance as characterized by accountability, greater inclusivity, enhanced public participation in decision- making; and stronger legal, administrative and policy frameworks. The applicants must design their projects with a clear focus in order to achieve intermediate results contributing to serial number i and ii below (mandatory) and at least one of the rest of the following: i. Newly elected local government representatives have enhanced capacity on participatory planning, financial resource generation, and transparent budget processes; ii. The female, youth, peasants/workers and minorities elected representatives at all tiers 1, have better understanding of their respective local government system; iii. Citizens have greater knowledge of rights, responsibilities and working of local government system; iv. Citizens have greater capacity to discuss local issues and key governance challenges being faced by them and are able to engage in advocacy with community and the local government; v. Improved interaction between civil society, academia and private sector to institutionalize local government/citizen engagement; vi. Broadened citizens participation and inclusiveness in law-making and executive oversight functions at all tiers; vii. Greater transparency in the activities and performance of elected representatives as well as local government bodies; and viii. Voice and complaints of citizens related to LG system are more easily heard and responded by relevant local government representatives/officials through effective complaint redressal mechanisms. 1 Number of trainings is subject to the number of members elected for the reserved/designated seats at all tiers of LG in the proposed district.

4 IV. Illustrative Activities Several broad categories with illustrative activities for achieving the objectives are listed below. Please note that the applicants must remain within targets, where specified. Illustrative Activities under Objective 1 (Mandatory) Building capacity of the newly elected LG representatives for respective tiers of LG in each province by conducting three trainings each. All relevant training material (manuals /modules) will be provided by TDEA; Facilitating training workshops for the elected LG representatives (female, youth, peasants/workers/labor and minorities); and Engagements/Partnerships with LG training institutes or rural development academies. Illustrative Activities under Objective 2 Facilitating the formation of citizens groups; Establishing local workshops/seminars to educate citizens on their rights and roles and responsibilities as well as the working of LG system; Conducting awareness raising activities about citizen and LG accountability; Organizing public forums to provide opportunities for positive citizen-government dialogue, developing citizen/community reports on local issues and key governance challenges being faced by the citizen; and Facilitating citizens voice and demands, as articulated through evidence-based and participatory methods. Illustrative Activities under Objective 3 Advocacy for the adoption of mechanisms by the relevant LG tiers to allow for public hearings on important issues of local development, proceedings of important committees, among other key decision making processes; Advocacy for adoption of mechanism for pool of experts and key stakeholders input in the development and assessment of development plans, public oversight of development and service delivery systems, etc.; Developing government/civil society working groups; Using Information and Communication Technology (such as websites etc.) for increased transparency; Creating or strengthening of linkages between academia, private sector and NGOs to institutionalize government/citizen engagement; Evidence based research for developing and strengthening complaint redressal mechanisms; Developing performance metrics for line departments in conjunction with government and civil society; and Developing citizen reports on performance of LG representatives, budget tracking etc.

5 Note: In all above activities wherever applicable, the applicants will focus on marginalized populations including women, youth, religious minorities and people with disabilities. Activity types that will not be supported under this solicitation include: Partisan activities or the ones which encourage or support sectarian, linguistic, religious and racial divides; Legal fees for court cases against public bodies; International travel; Scientific non-applied research; Direct service delivery; Activities that are in violation of national laws; and Any other activities, which cannot be justified in view of the selected theme or project objectives. V. Preferred Organizations Civil society groups, academic/training institutions, other professional organizations, NGOs and organizations with established capacity building track record in similar interventions/areas. Due to the distinctive nature of this solicitation with respect to local government systems, it would be important to maintain non-partisan policy and TDEA will not fund entities where staff and management are affiliated with political parties. Awards will be subject to undertakings by heads of organizations submitting applications that neither the organization nor its key staffs are engaged in active political activity on behalf of any political party. VI. Geographical Focus Applications are invited from organizations working in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh as well as Islamabad Capital Territory. The applicant shall specify ONE district in which it would implement the project. If an applicant is interested in more than one district, a separate application for each district is required although TDEA will finally decide the district where the successful applicant should work. This cycle does not cover Gilgit-Baltistan, PATA (where LG elections have not been held), FATA and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. VII. Number of Grants It is expected that 50 grants will be awarded. VIII. Average Grant Size Up to PKR 5,500,000 on average per grant. IX. Duration Up to 5 months.