Capacity Development of Local Governance

Capacity Development of Local Governance Institutions in South Asia
Experiences from South Asia
PRIA Global Partnership

42 Tughlakabad Institutional Area
New Delhi – 110062
www.pria.org PRIA Global Partnership | i
Copyright©PRIA, 2011
Readers are welcome to reproduce, free of charge, materials published in this document. We
request clear acknowledgement of PRIA Global Partnership (PGP).
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Since the last decade most South Asian countries have embraced democracy as form of governance.
Along with this, decentralisation of governance functions to the local governance institutions was an
integral part of this democratisation process. Despite the fact that there has been some form of local
governance institutions since the Colonial time in most South Asian countries, these institutions
remained disempowered, weak and fragile. In order to empower the local governance institutions as
authentic self-governing institutions, planned investments in capacity development for these
governance institutions are of utmost importance. This research study was undertaken by PRIA
Global Partnership (the global division of Society for Participatory Research in Asia, India) to develop
a deeper understanding of the capacity development policies, programmes and practices in four
South Asian countries – Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. We hope that the study findings
will help the policy makers and the practitioners of capacity development in the region to improve
policies and practices.
The study was undertaken in partnership with Wave Foundation in Bangladesh, South Asia
Partnership in Pakistan and Federation of Sri Lanka Local Governance Authorities in Sri Lanka. We
acknowledge the contributions of these partners in providing support and guidance to the country
research process.
We deeply appreciate the contributions of Pavneeta Singh, Senior Programme Officer, PRIA Global
Partnership, India who was the main author of the synthesis paper, Akhter Hussain, Professor, Dhaka
University, Bangladesh, Sunil Goonetilleke, Consultant, Federation of Sri Lanka Local Government
Authorities, Sri Lanka, and M. Zahid Islam, Consultant, South Asian Partnership, Pakistan who
authored the country papers and the case studies from the respective countries. We also
acknowledge the contributions of capacity development practitioners and elected representatives
who provided wealth of information and their meaningful insights during the process of research in
each country.
We acknowledge the support and guidance provided by Local Governance Initiative (LoGIn) of Swiss
International Agency for Development and Cooperation to undertake this research study.
We are deeply indebted to Rajesh Tandon, President, PRIA, who provided the opportunity and
constant guidance to undertake this research initiative.
Kaustuv Kanti Bandyopadhyay

Director, PRIA Global Partnership
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Content Page No.
Acknowledgement iii
List of Tables and Boxes vii
Acronyms and Abbreviations viii
Executive Summary xi
Synthesis Paper: Capacity Development of Local Governance Institutions in South Asia 1

1. Introduction 1
2. Capacity Development for Local Governance Institutions 1
3. Framework for Capacity Development 3
4. Methodology 5
5. Capacity Development in South Asia 6
5.1 The Context 6
5.2 Efforts in Capacity Development 7
6. Analysis of the Case Studies 9
6.1 Understanding approaches and methods 9
6.2 Understanding the intervention levels 12
7. Outcome of the Capacity Development Efforts 14
8. Lessons 17
9. Conclusion 22
10. References 23
Country Paper: Bangladesh 26
1. Introduction 26
2. Understanding the Capacity Development of Local Governance Institutions 27
3. Policies and Programmes Related to Capacity Development 27
4. Approaches to Capacity Development 32
5. Actors/Institutions Involved in Capacity Development 33
6. Inclusion 35
7. Challenges to Capacity Development 36
8. Future Policy Recommendations 36
9. Reference 37
Country Paper: Sri Lanka 38
1. Understanding Capacity Development 38
2. The Policies and Programmes on Capacity Development of LGIs 38
3. Approaches to Capacity Development 41
4. Institutions Involved in Capacity Development 43
5. Inclusiveness of Participants 47
6. Challenges 47
7. A SWOT Analysis 49
8. Recommendations 49
9. References 50
Country Paper: Pakistan 51
1. Local Governance System and Capacity Development 51
2. Trainings by State Institutions 53
3. Trainings by Non State Actors 56
4. Training Curriculum 56
5. Challenges to Capacity Development 57
6. A SWOT Analysis 57
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7. Policy Recommendations 59
Case Study 1 - Strengthening Local Governance through Participatory and Responsive Public
Services Project : A Case Study from Bangladesh 60
1. Introduction 60
2. Background and Rationale 60
3. Details of the Project Initiative 62
4. Institutions and Actors 63
5. Inclusivity 64
6. Responses 65
7. Challenges and Lessons Learnt 68
8. Observations/ Comments 69
Case Study 2 - Making Union Parishads Effective through Cascade Based Training: A Case Study
from Bangladesh 70
1. Introduction 70
2. Background and Rationale 71
3. Details of the Initiative on Capacity Development 72
4. Institutions and Actors 72
5. Inclusiveness 74
6. Responses 74
8. Observations/ Comments 76
Case Study 3 - Developing Capacity of Dehiwela Mt Lavinia Municipal Council for Improving
Services: A Case Study from Sri Lanka 77
1. Background 77
2. Capacity Development in DMMC 77
3. Demand Driven Capacity Development Programme by DMMC 78
4. Outcome 80
5. Systemic Problems Identified 80
6. Observations 80
7. Challenges 81
8. Lessons Learnt 81
9. Recommendations for Improvement 81
Case Study 4 - Capacity Development of Local Councils and Community for Managing Solid Waste:
A Case Study from Sri Lanka 82
1. Background 82
2. Capacity Development of Urban Local Governance Units 82
3. Gamin Gamata Programme 83
4. Outcome 85
5. Observations 86
6. Lessons Learnt 86
7. Recommendations for Improvement 87
Case Study 5 - Developing Effective Leadership through Training: A Case Study of City District
Government, Karachi 88
1. Introduction 88
2. Local Governance System in Pakistan 88
3. Local Governance System in Karachi 89
4. Capacity Development Training 90
5. Details of the Effort 91
6. Strategies for Capacity Development 91
7. Key Actors / Institutions Engaged in Training 92
9. Probable Impacts of Capacity Development 94
Case Study 6 - Capacity Development of Women in Local Governance Institutions: Case Study of
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Rahim-yar-Khan and Gujranwala Districts in Pakistan 97

1. Introduction 97
2. Methods of Capacity Development 98
3. Outcome of Capacity Development Programmes on Women Councillors 100
4. Observations 101
5. Some Key Findings 102
6. Recommendations 103
Annex.1: Definitions of Various Approaches to Capacity Development 104

Annex.2: List of Courses Offered by SLILG for 2011 106
Annex.3: List of Trainings Organised by The Ministry Of Provincial Councils And Local Government
And Transparent Accountable Local Governance (TALG) Programme 108
Annex.4: Training Manuals Prepared by LGTI, Sri Lanka From 2001-2009 109
Annex.5: List of Training Materials Designed And Developed by The NRB, Pakistan (2001-08) 110
Annex.6: List of Initiatives for Developing Capacity of Different Stakeholders for Strengthening
Local Governance Project in Bangladesh 111
Annex.7: Capacity Development Programmes Available to DMMC, Sri Lanka 113
Annex.8: Training Programmes Available to Bandaragama PS in Sri Lanka 114
Annex.9: Statistics about Local Governance Institutions in Pakistan 115
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List of Tables, Boxes and Figures Page No.
Table 1: Title of Case Studies 5

Table 2: Gender and Political Affiliation of Union Parishad Lok Morcha Members 64
Table 3: Profession of Union Lok Morcha Members 64
Table 4: Gender and Political Affiliation of Upazila Lok Morcha Members 65
Table 5: Profession of Upazila Lok Morcha Members 65
Table 6: Gender and Political Affiliation of District Lok Morcha Members 65
Table 7: Profession of District Lok Morcha Members 65
Table 8: Improvement in Employee Performance 79
Table 9: Positive Outcome of Capacity Development 86
Box 1: Panchayat Resource Centre 11

Box 2: Pre-Election Voters Awareness Campaign 11
Box 3: Use of Technology in Capacity Development 12
Box 4: Panchayati Raj Jagrukta Abhiyan 14
Box 5: Testimony of Elected Councillor on Training 15
Box 6: Testimony of Councillor on Impact of Training 17
Box 7: Former Women Councillors Continue their Community Activism 20
Box 8: Strengthening Leadership from the Marginalised Groups 20
Box 9: Achievements of Bangladesh Strengthening Local Governance Project 66
Box 10: Development Projects in Karachi 95
Box 11: Punjab Local Government Academy, Lalamusa 102
Figure 1 73
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ADB : Asian Development Bank

AJK : Azad Jammu Kashmir
APISF : Aurat Publication and Information Services Publication
BARD : Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development
BDTI : Basic Democracy Training Institute
BNPS : Bangladesh Nari Progati Shangha
BRDB : Bangladesh Rural Development Board
CADREP : Capacity Development for Recovery Project
CAPART : Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology
CBO : Community Based Organisation
CBSPs : Capacity Building Service Providers
CC : Conciliatory Councils
CCB : Citizen Community Boards
CCHD : Citizen’s Commission for Human Development
CCS : Central Superior Services
CDGK : City District Government of Karachi
CEO : Chief Executive officer
CO : Community Organisers
CSA : Civil Services Academy
CSO : Civil Society Organisation
CTP : Common Training Programme
DANIDA : Danish International Development Assistance
DC : Deputy Commissioner
DDLG : Deputy Director, Local Government
DFID : Department for International Development
DG : Director General
DGTR : District Government Transition Report
DMMC : Dehiwela-Mt Lavinia Municipal Council
DPHE : Department of Public Health Engineering
DTCE : Devolution Trust for Community Empowerment
DTT : District Training Team
EC : European Commission
ER : Elected Representative
ETC : Extension Training Centres
EU : European Union
FATA : Federally Administrated Tribal Areas
FGD : Focused Group Discussion
FES : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
FSLGA : Federation of Sri Lanka Local Government Authorities
GC : Governance Coalition
GND : Grama Niladari Divisions
GoB : Government of Bangladesh
ISO : International Organisation for Standardisation
LA : Local Authority
LADS : Local Authority Development Scale
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LBSNNA : Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration

LGD : Local Government Division
LGED : Local Government Engineering Division
LGI : Local Governance Institutions
LGS : Local Government System
LGIIP : Local Government Infrastructure Improvement Project
LGO : Local Government Ordinance
LGSP : Local Governance Support Project
LGTI : Local Government Training Institutes
LLDF : Local Loans and Development Fund
LoGoPro : Local Governance Project
MDTI : Management Development Training Institutions
MDTU : Management Development and Training Unit
MoLGRD&C : Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives
MoRD : Ministry of Rural Development
MPCLG : Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government
NCLG : National Council for Local Government
NGO : Non-Government Organisation
NILG : National Institute of Local Government
NIPA : National Institute of Public Administration
NIRD : National Institute of Rural Development
NPC : National Programme Coordinator
NRB : National Reconstruction Bureau
NRSP : National Rural Support Programme
NSA : Non State Actor
PEM : Public Expenditure Management
PIC : Project Implementation Committee
PLGA : Punjab Local Government Academy
PLGTI : Provincial Local Government Training Institutions
PMT : Project Management Team
PNGOs : Partner Non-Government Organisations
PPS : Provincial Public Service
PRC : Panchayat Resource Centre
PRC : Peoples’ Reporting Centre
PEVAC : Pre-Election Voters Awareness Campaign
PRI : Panchayat Raj Institutions
PRIA : Society for Participatory Research in Asia
PRJA : Panchayati Raj Jagrukta Abhiyan
PRSP : Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
PS : Pradeshiya Sabha
PWP : Peoples’ Worker’s Programme
RDA : Rural Development Academy
RGNIYD : Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development
RYK : Rahim-yar-Khan District
SAAO : Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer
SAARC : South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
SAP : South Asian Partnership
SATCOM : Satellite Communication Model
SDC : Swiss International Agency for Development and Cooperation
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SIC : Scheme Implementation Committees

SIRD : State Institutes of Rural Development
SLFI : Sri Lanka Foundation Institute
SLGDFP : Sirajgang Local Governance Development Fund Project
SLIDA : Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration
SLIIT : Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology
SLILG : Sri Lanka Institute for Local Governance
SP : Social Protection
SRSP : Sarhad Rural Support Programme
SSC : Scheme Supervision Committees
STRONG PLACES : Sustaining Tsunami Recovery by Organisations Networking at the Grass-roots level
through Promoting Local Accountability and Capacity Enhancement
SWAN : South Western Advocacy Network
TALG : Transparent, Accountable, Local Governance
TMA : Tehsil Municipal Administration
TO : Technical Officers
TOP : Technologies of Participation
ToT : Training of Trainers
UAEO : Upazila Assistant Education Officer
UC : Union Council
UDCC : Upazila Development Coordination Committee
UDSP : Urban Development Sector Project
UNCDF : United Nations Capital Development Fund
UNDP : United Nations Development Programme
UNO : Upazila Nirbahi Officer (Sub-district Executive Officer)
UP : Union Parishad
URT : Upazila Resource Teams
USAID : United States Agency for International Development
UZP : Upazila Parishad
VAID : Village Agriculture & Industrial Development Programme
VGF : Vulnerable Group Feeding
VTA : Vocation Training Authority
WES : Water and Environment Sanitation
WPCN : Workers and Peasant Councillors’ Network
WPS : Women’s Political School
WRC : Women Resource Centres
ZP : Zila Parishad
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The South Asia countries of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are comparable historically
given their Colonial past and also the challenging socio-economic and political conditions post-
Independence. Though India has been more or less stable as a democracy in terms of holding regular
elections, the same cannot be said about its neighbouring nations. The reasons for this are many
such as the presence of autocratic and military rulers or ethnic violence. Hence, their local
governance institutions (LGIs) and their capacity development have not evolved sufficiently.
Nevertheless, various approaches of capacity development have surfaced across the region in the
effort towards strengthening democratic decentralisation and its institutions. This paper looks at
them in general and a select few are examined more closely, but no effort has been made to select,
assess or showcase only the best capacity development experiences. The aim of this paper is to
share how countries with different contexts have made an effort to deal with the existing challenges
to strengthen the local governance institutions through capacity development. Capacity in the
context of democratic decentralisation refers to the totality of inputs required by the LGIs to fulfil
their purposes. The rationale behind strengthening capacity of the LGIs is that it would help in
deepening local democracy, upholding socio-economic equity and ensuring provisions of public
services to citizens. While the government, civil society, international donors have been
instrumental in addressing the capacity development requirements of LGIs, evidences across South
Asia suggest that only few of such efforts can be considered as ‘effective capacity development
frameworks’.
The study was undertaken by PRIA Global Partnership in partnership with WAVE Foundation in
Bangladesh, South Asia Partnership in Pakistan and Federation of Sri Lanka Local Government
Authorities (FSLGA) in Sri Lankan. Primary data was collected through focused group discussions and
interviews with elected representatives, officials of LGIs and other practitioners of capacity
development from civil society organisations, donors, governments and community based
organisations. Secondary sources include analytical articles, policy papers, reports and case studies
(especially from India) prepared by government, academic institutions, civil society organisations
and donors agencies. The following case studies have been documented and analysed to develop the
understanding of capacity development practices:
Sl. Title of Case Studies Partner Focus of the Case Study
No. Organisation
1. Strengthening Local WAVE Foundation, This project created Lok Morchas or People’s
Governance through Bangladesh Alliance at the Union, Upazila and District levels.
Participatory and Such community based organisations evolved as
Responsive Public watchdog organisations overseeing and
Services Project : A Case monitoring the delivery of public services at the
Study from Bangladesh local level and also to advocate and lobby to
concerned agencies for further improvement in
those areas. For developing the capacity of Lok
Morchas a number of activities were facilitated
by the project.
2. Making Union Parishads WAVE Foundation, The project focused on the Training of Trainers
Effective through Bangladesh and used an organisational strengthening
Cascade Based Training: approach and a leadership development
A Case Study from approach. A cascade-based training module was
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Bangladesh developed and an ‘expert panel’ supervised by

National Institute of Local Government (NILG)
was constituted to prepare the Local Governance
Support Project (LGSP) training module and
training material.
3. Developing Capacity of Federation of Sri In this project the training needs were assessed
Dehiwela Mt Lavinia Lanka Local after identifying the core problems and their root
Municipal Council for Government causes by the LGI employees. Thereafter, the
Improving Services: A Authorities, Sri employees were involved in a multi-level
Case Study from Sri Lanka Lanka programme of awareness building, collective
problem identification, agreeing on institutional
solutions for implementation.
4. Capacity Development of Federation of Sri In this project ‘solid waste management’ was
Local Councils and Lanka Local identified as a priority problem issue to be
Community for Managing Government managed through the integrated management
Solid Waste: A Case Study Authorities, Sri efforts of citizens and Pradeshiya Sabha (PS)
from Sri Lanka Lanka officers. Intervention was made at individual and
societal level, as both elected representatives
and PS officers were provided training and
programmes were conducted to involve the
community at large to bring about a system
change.
5. Developing Effective South Asia In this project an intervention was made at the
Leadership through Partnership, institutional level through an active interplay of
Training: A Case Study of Pakistan the state actors and non-state actors, making use
City District Government, of the approaches of partnership and networks,
Karachi organisational strengthening, and blended
learning and exposure. The trainings were
provided at three different levels: first, formal
trainings were imparted by official departments
and state actors; second, a set of trainings was
imparted by non-state actors; and third, a set of
practical sessions were conducted for the
councillors.
6. Capacity Development of South Asia This project focused on the capacity
Women in Local Partnership, development of women elected representatives
Governance Institutions: Pakistan in LGIs which enhanced their leadership role not
Case Studies of Rahim- only in LGIs but also in community at large.
yar-Khan and Gujranwala Under this project partnership and networks
Districts in Pakistan approach and leadership approaches were
applied.
Capacity development of LGIs aims to ensure that such institutions are able to function as
institutions of self-governance. For this, the intervention can be at individual, institutional and
societal levels. Individual capacity development focuses on enhancing inherent human potential and
aims at developing conditions that allow individuals to build and enhance existing knowledge and
skills, improves learning and helps them to adapt to change. Secondly, institutional capacity in LGIs
refers to the ability of these institutions to develop and manage its systems and procedures by
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aiding and modernising the pre-existing institutions; promoting mechanisms of transparency,

accountability and participation; improving LGIs ability to relate to the external environment to find
innovative mechanisms to promote ‘smart privatisation’ and hold private service providers
accountable to the poor. Thirdly, societal capacities development aims to be inclusive of all the
actors and stakeholders of LGIs, particularly including the citizens, the poor and marginalised, as the
primary stakeholders of LGIs. Hence, at the societal level capacity development initiatives need to
establish more interactive public administration that considers people’s feedback, and removes
societal and institutional constraints to allow people’s involvement in affairs of LGIs.
In Bangladesh, the government and the CSOs are both involved in providing capacity development
support to LGIs. The government provides capacity development support through different
government institutions to elected representatives and related government officials by providing
training on the roles and management of the LGIs. The CSOs focus on improving governance at the
local level. The CSO approach is more inclusive, intensive and wider in which the local communities
are also included in the capacity development activities.
In Sri Lanka, under the National Policy on Local Government, 1999, capacity development was
viewed as a requirement to make LGIs an integral part of the system of representative government.
Sri Lanka Institute for Local Governance (SLILG) is responsible for planning and implementing the
national programme for capacity development of LGIs throughout the country. This national
programme includes preparing and delivering annual training programmes for skill development and
also preparing, educational courses and conducting training programmes in response to specific
requests.
In India, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) through
identified national institutes, plans and organises training of trainers programme for all the State
Institutes of Rural Development (SIRDs) faculty members. They in turn train both the elected and
non-elected functionaries of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) in every state. Apart from these
various CSOs also provide capacity development support.
In Pakistan, capacity development training was mandatory under the Local Government Ordinance,
2001. Following the ordinance, various training programmes were organised by the Provincial
Governments for the elected and non-elected LGI functionaries in collaboration with the National
Reconstruction Bureau (NRB).
The case studies have been analysed with a view to understand the use of innovative pedagogy and
customisation of training to the needs of learners, the quality of trainers and facilitators, the quality
of participation by the learners; the focus on leadership development for marginalised groups, the
optimum use of technology and the creation of opportunity for networking and partnership in
relation to capacity development at individual, institutional and societal levels.
Considering people’s participation as an important factor in making LGIs as truly democratic
institutions, in Bangladesh’s Strengthening Local Governance project, a large section of society’s
participation was ensured by fixing the criteria of gender, political affiliation and profession to
determine the membership to Lok Morcha or ‘people’s alliance’ at Union, Upazila and district levels.
The marginalised sections were represented with participation of farmers and workers. However,
participation of women in the Lok Morchas was limited. This project involved a partnership networks
approach, communication approach as well as the leadership development approach.
Sri Lanka’s Managing Solid Waste project used coaching-mentoring, customised training and
communication approaches. The study revealed that the nature and activities of the programme
enabled participation of women including elderly women heads of the households and differently-
abled persons. The success of the programme also benefitted them financially. Sometimes,
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particular organisational problems can lead to innovative and customised methods to capacity
development. For instance, in both the Sri Lankan projects, coaching-mentoring approach and
customised training approach was incorporated. In the above mentioned project trained members
of Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) and officers formed a core team to identify solid waste management as a
priority problem issue to be managed through the integrated management efforts of public and PS
officers. Communication approach was blended with the above two approaches in this project. In Sri
Lanka’s Dehiwela Mt Lavinia Municipal Council (DMCC) project, first training needs were assessed
after identifying the core problems and their root causes. The organisation’s employees were then
involved in a multi-level programme of awareness building, collective problem identification,
agreeing on institutional solutions for implementation.
Improving pedagogy and quality of facilitators is a necessary requirement for the success of the
capacity development effort. Bangladesh’s Cascade Based Training project focused on the training of
trainers (TOT) and used organisational strengthening approach and leadership development
approach. A cascade-based training module was developed and an ‘expert panel’ supervised by
National Institute of Local Government (NILG) was constituted to prepare the Local Governance
Support Project (LGSP) training module and training material.
Knowledge management is another concern in the capacity development of LGIs. The ‘Panchayat
Resource Centre’ initiative in India is an example of addressing this concern in which four different
approaches of partnership approach, communication approach, leadership approach and knowledge
management approach were utilised.
A good example to address a capacity development need that requires building partnerships and
networks is the ‘Pre-Election Voters Awareness Campaign’ (PEVAC) in India. In this the approaches of
partnership and networks, and communication were utilised.
Use of technology is evident in the ‘satellite communication model’ (SATCOM) of Gujarat, India,
where the e-learning approach to capacity development, has had an extensive reach.
Leadership development is a very crucial part of capacity development in LGIs. ‘Panchayati Raj
Jagrukta Abhiyan’ (PRJA) in India - a campaign on awareness building for the elected representatives
of LGIs is an example of this where communication and leadership development approaches were
made use of in this project.
In Pakistan’s Capacity Building of Women in Local Governance Institutions: Gujranwala and Rahim-
yar-Khan District project, partnership and networks approach and leadership development approach
were applied. Besides the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) which trained a group of master
trainers, who further trained district based groups of local trainers, three other organisations were
involved in imparting training to women councillors and three groups of councillors representing
workers and peasants’ communities.
In order to ensure that LGIs are effective institutions of self-governance, capacity development
interventions can be at individual, institutional and societal levels. As is evident, in Bangladesh’s
Strengthening Local Governance project, the initiative of creating Lok Morchas at all three levels of
Union, Upazila and District enabled horizontal and triangular linkage of LGI, public officials and local
community and further helped in developing a micro-macro linkage between local and national
levels. Hence, interventions at the institutional and societal levels created linkages and mobilised the
local society, which helped to establish a participatory and accountable local governance system.
Sri Lanka’s Managing Solid Waste project is an example of intervention at individual and societal
levels where both elected representatives and PS officers were provided training and programs were
also conducted to involve the community at large to bring about a system change in solid waste
management. The Developing Effective Leadership in Karachi City District Government project,
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Pakistan was an intervention at the institutional level through an active interplay of the state actors
and non-state actors.
However, in the other three case studies, the intervention was only at the individual level. The
Bangladesh’s Cascade Based Training project provided training to the Upazila Parishad functionaries,
which included the UP chairperson, members and secretary. In the Sri Lanka DMMC project the
municipal council employees were encouraged to identify causes for a high number of complaints
and thereafter encouraged to find institutional solutions to it. Pakistan’s Capacity Development of
Women project focused on the capacity development of women leading to their greater and
stronger role in the local bodies, thus creating a space for their leadership.
In the case studies under consideration, Bangladesh’s Strengthening Local Governance project has
been found to be the only demand led initiative. Both case studies from Sri Lanka that of Managing
Solid Waste and DMMC and Karachi City District Government project from Pakistan are supply led
capacity development initiatives. The best examples of capacity development initiatives have been
the ones which have had the interface of both demand and supply led effort. Pakistan’s Capacity
Development of Women project and India’s SATCOM and PEVAC models of capacity development
are such examples.
The outcomes of the capacity development efforts have been viewed in terms of the impact on
participation of people for improvement of services, participatory decision making at LGIs, revival of
dormant institutions, improvement in services, degree of inclusion of the marginalised, space for
women leadership, participatory planning and lobbying and meeting of personal and material
requirements at the LGIs.
Pakistan’s Capacity Development of Women project, created spaces to develop women elected
representatives as community leaders. The number of women elected as heads of representative
local councils increased tremendously and women councilors were also seen actively pursuing
various community problems.
The participatory process of planning and decision-making were also found to be established in the
Bangladesh’s Strengthening Local Governance project. For instance, the three standing committees
in focus - education, health and agriculture - started holding regular meetings in 93 out of 112
Unions selected and as many as 654 decisions of the UP standing committees were elevated to the
Upazila level. Planning and budget meetings started to take place in the wards of all 112 Unions,
ensuring participatory decision making. 106 UPs began to hold regular UP-NGO-GO coordination
meetings, strengthening the micro-macro link. Sri Lanka’s Managing Solid Waste project, designed
for participatory planning and solid waste management in Bandaragama PS, started with awareness
building programmes for religious leaders, CBOs like youth organisations, women’s organisations,
etc. and thereafter the community at large was trained with the help of these leaders and
organisations. This led to increased public participation in the project.
People’s participation and effective inclusion is crucial for making a truly democratic LGI and
therefore people’s mobilisation becomes an integral part of capacity development efforts.
Bangladesh’s Strengthening Local Governance project ensured huge participation and inclusion of
people by fixing the criteria of gender, political affiliation and profession to determine the
membership to Lok Morcha at Union, Upazila and district level. In Sri Lanka’s Managing Solid Waste
project too, majority of the participants were women, along with elderly women heads of the
households and differently-abled persons as the nature of the programme enabled them to
participate. On the other hand, in Pakistan’s Karachi City District Government project, despite a
strong interplay of both state actors and non-state actors, the lack of formal collaboration between
the two could not sufficiently mobilise citizens to form Citizen Community Boards (CCBs).
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Capacity development efforts in the Bangladesh’s Strengthening Local Governance project helped to
revive some dormant institutions that of standing committees of health, education and agriculture
bringing positive changes in their service delivery. The institution of ‘gram adalat’ was reinstated.
The Lok Morchas also helped to solve many personnel issues through continuous lobbying and voice
articulation. The issue of transparency was addressed in all the three committees and services were
found to be better. An improvement in services was also observed in the Pakistan’s Karachi City
District Government project, offering exemplary services even during natural calamities.
Sri Lanka’s DMMC project helped the municipal employees to identify problems of poor service
delivery and feasible pragmatic solutions, which enhanced their living standards and led to better
service delivery with respect to provisions of infrastructure facilities by the Council.
A holistic strategy of capacity development for the LGIs needs to include the three broad dimensions
of – institutional changes i.e. capacity development to bridge the gaps in the relationship between
central government and local government; governance indicators i.e. capacity development to
accomplish governance functions; and performance capacities i.e. capacity development on new
skills, attitudes, actions among local governance stakeholders to render implementation and
accountability.
The Upazila Resource Team (URT) trainings in the Bangladesh’s Cascade Based Training project
suffered on several fronts as it lacked a proper planning and monitoring system. However, in Sri
Lanka’s Managing Solid Waste project, the training course was designed to meet a specific
requirement, where field level awareness sessions and joint training programmes for elected
members and officers emerged as best practises among the successful programmes.
Hence, effective capacity development initiative needs to begin with systematic training-needs
identification supported by a detailed authentic database. A range of mixed methodologies, use of
technology tools and media can be effective in trainings. Further, a range of training topics need to
be included and the programme needs to be customised as per the location and needs of the
people, along with a sound monitoring mechanism.
Inclusion of all stakeholders is an important factor for a successful, holistic capacity development
programme. As evident in the case of Bangladesh’s Strengthening Local Governance project,
involvement of all the key stakeholders which included the local communities, the LGIs and the
government line departments along with formation of community watchdog organisations ensured
better achievement of goals and objectives.
With participation comes the concern for equitable participation and inclusion of all sections of the
society in the process. In Bangladesh’s Cascade Based Training project despite mandatory provisions
for active people’s participation no specific provision was made to ensure the participation of the
women, poor and the ethnic or religious minorities. Therefore, as marginalised sections are usually
deprived of involvement in the process of governance; methodological innovations in capacity
development are required, which promote inclusion of marginalised groups. Capacity enhancement
for developing individual leadership is particularly relevant for women, lower castes and tribals.
In India, despite constitutional provisions of reservation for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes,
their role in the governance systems remains weak. The need, therefore, is to mobilise support from
similarly marginalised groups in favour of such candidates so that their tenures in the electoral office
truly reflect the interests they represent.
It is imperative that LGIs have strong mechanisms of participatory monitoring which would lead to
transparency and accountability as was seen in Pakistan’s Karachi City District Government project.
PRIA Global Partnership | xvi

Establishing vertical and horizontal linkages and enabling interface between the people and the
governance institutions is an important component for the success of local governance units. Power
to the grassroots will come only if this link is made strong, and capacity development has a crucial
role to play in this. Such linkages were developed in in Bangladesh’s Strengthening Local Governance
project and proved to be an effective tool in bringing the desired level of change.
Hence, capacity development cannot be viewed through a narrow prism of training of individuals but
also needs to focus on developing capacity at institutional and societal levels, with a particular focus
on building horizontal linkages. Further, effort needs to be made for enhancing the material base for
the sustenance of LGIs which requires capacity enhancement interventions that focus on mobilising
local resources.
For promoting effective participation, the need is to build networks and collaborations of different
actors at regional and local levels to take up issues of participation and accountability through local
government. Hence, capacity development has to be an integrated approach.
Other focus areas need to include developing individual local leadership, developing skills that are
necessary to functions in LGIs, programmes for promoting attitudinal change in officials at all levels,
creating institutional mechanisms so that the LGIs function as transparent and accountable
institutions,; and most significantly building an active, engaged and informed citizenry.
PRIA Global Partnership | xvii

Synthesis Paper
Capacity Development of
Local Governance Institutions
in South Asia
- Pavneeta Singh, PRIA Global Partnership, India
1. Introduction
The South Asia countries of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are comparable historically
given their Colonial past and also the challenging socio-economic and political conditions post-
Independence. Though India has been more or less stable as a democracy in terms of holding regular
elections, the same cannot be said about its neighbouring nations. The reasons for this are many
such as the presence of autocratic rulers, military rule or ethnic violence. Hence, the Local
Governance Institutions (LGIs) and their capacity development in these countries have not evolved
sufficiently. Nevertheless, various approaches to capacity development have surfaced across the
region in the effort towards strengthening democratic decentralisation and its institutions. This
paper will look at them in general and a select few will be examined more closely, but no effort has
been made to select, assess or showcase only the best capacity development experiences. The aim
of this paper is to share how countries with different contexts have made an effort to face the
existing challenges to strengthen the LGIs through capacity development, in order to take a more
sure and stable step towards `power to the people, of the people, by the people’.
Capacity in the context of democratic decentralisation refers to the totality of inputs required by the
LGIs to fulfil their purposes. Despite having diverse views on the motivations and rationales for
promoting decentralisation, there is a growing consensus that the LGIs’ purpose is three fold: (a)
deepening local democracy; (b) up-holding socio-economic equity and justice; and (c) ensuring
provisions of public service to the citizens. Viewed through this perspective, capacity in LGIs means
that these institutions are capable of realising these core purposes. Capacity development is
therefore a systematic process of providing such inputs holistically and organically so that the LGIs
are enabled to effectively realise these purposes. As a considerable number of countries in the
global south have embarked upon reorganising their governance structures and processes through
democratic decentralisation it is expected that commensurate efforts are made to enhance the
efficiency of such new institutions through capacity development policies, programmes and
interventions.
The governments, civil society organisations (CSOs), international donors, and other development
actors have made considerable efforts to address the capacity development requirements of LGIs.
However, a critical review of capacity development practices across the global south suggests that
only a few such examples would cross the bar that could be considered an ‘effective capacity
development framework’ when compared to the collective knowledge harnessed on capacity
development over the last two decades.
PRIA Global Partnership | 1

2. Capacity Development for Local Governance Institutions

LGI refers to the entire gamut of interactions between different players at the local level, ranging
from local government, to CSOs, community based organisations (CBOs) and the local people.
Effective local governance is brought about by a set of institutions, mechanisms and processes
through which citizens and groups can articulate their interests and needs, mediate their differences
and exercise their rights and obligations at the local level. It involves effective citizen participation,
transparent flow of information, and functioning accountability mechanisms (UNDP, 2006). Local
development is not just development that happens locally, it is a process that leverages the
comparative and competitive advantages of localities, mobilises their specific physical, economic,
social and political resources and institutions (UNDCF, 2006) and is embedded in national
development processes and frameworks.
Capacity development as applied to local bodies ensures that such institutions are able to function
effectively as institutions of self-governance. For this the interventions of capacity development can
be at three levels: individual, institutional and societal. The elected representatives (ERs) at the local
level usually represent a cluster of rural or urban units. In some ways, this LGI is the first and most
direct representative body of local self-governance. In order to understand the autonomous and
basic democratic nature of LGI as a collective decision making body, most of the significant
interventions have focused on preparing this collective identity. Such interventions are aimed at
developing a common perspective and intellectual appreciation.
For local development, local actors need to be empowered and capacitated to improve their
situation, either through direct action or indirectly through voice mechanisms. This can be promoted
by, and in turn promotes institutions for good local governance; thereby contributing to greater
accountability, transparency and efficiency in decision making; which furthers better policy making
and implementation. This calls for capacity enhancement to build mechanisms for conducting
meetings, preparing minutes, sharing information with the community at large, securing
participation and contribution of the people, developing participatory micro plans, procedures and
systems, effective implementation and monitoring of these plans, securing and mobilising resources
and maintaining transparent systems of financial management etc. The capacity development
intervention at this level also needs to address the question of enhancing the material base of the
LGIs, to make them financially autonomous and sustainable entities. Capacity enhancement
interventions in this area are particularly focused on mobilising local resources from the villages.
The most significant intervention in capacity enhancement has been focussed on developing
individual leadership of each of the ERs. This has been particularly relevant for women and the
backward classes. Since these newly elected leaders were experiencing political participation in a
public space for the first time in their life; they required capacity enhancements in several ways.
Therefore, capacity development interventions aimed at individual empowerment of new leaders
has been a fundamental challenge in LGIs. Given the different tiers of LGIs, vertical linkages across
them also needed to be strengthened. One of the most significant areas of strengthening was to
enable horizontal linkages between different tiers of local bodies and commensurate tiers of local
administration.
Sensitisation and attitudinal changes are also major arenas of capacity development for political
leadership at all levels. Barring a few individuals, the political culture in most political parties and
among active and elected politicians is one of disregard for the activities and motivations of ordinary
people to take responsibility for local level development.
The orientation and attitudinal change for government functionaries at all levels has also been a
major challenge in working with responsive and accountable bureaucracy. A primary vehicle for
bringing this about is through civil service training institutions at the district, state and national

levels. This may imply improving pedagogy and quality of facilitators in such government civil service
training institutions. The second area of capacity enhancement for government functionaries has to
do with specific skills that they may need to work with the LGIs. For example, in the system of top-
down development interventions, the lowest level government officials have no skill in planning and
monitoring, since all of that has been centralised. They need to learn skills in promoting micro plans
(including budgeting) as well as social audit and community monitoring of the implementation of
these plans.
3. Framework for Capacity Development
The UNDP defines capacity development as a long term continual process of development that
involves all stakeholders, including ministries, local authorities, non-governmental organisations,
professionals, community members, academics and more. Capacity development uses a country’s
human, scientific, technological, organisational, institutional and resource capabilities. The goal of
capacity development is to tackle problems related to policy and methods of development, while
considering the potential, limits and needs of the people of the country concerned (UNDP, 2006).
Capacity development takes place on an individual level, an institutional level and societal level
(Tandon, 2001; Tandon & Bandyopadhyay, 2004). Individual capacity development refers to the
inherent human potential as its focus (ibid). The development of ethical political leadership and
skilled human resources are an integral part of such capacity development in LGIs. It not only
includes developing technical, managerial and administrative skills but also developing broader
perspectives on democracy, governance and citizenship rights. In the past, however, techno-
managerial capacities received a lopsided emphasis driven by narrow perspectives on the service
delivery roles of LGI representatives. It must be underlined that while the ERs need a general
appreciation of the technicalities associated with the planning and delivery of various services like
health, education, sanitation etc., the prime responsibility of democratically elected representatives
includes prioritisation in planning, resource allocation and holding techno-bureaucrats and officials
accountable to the citizens. A critical aspect of capacity development at the individual level includes
a focus on enabling the meaningful participation of marginalised groups like women, indigenous
people and minorities in the affairs of LGIs. As most such groups have been historically excluded
from the public decision making structures and processes and are represented for the first time in
these governance institutions, they inevitably need long term hand holding support from within and
outside the LGIs.
Institutional (ibid) capacity in LGIs refers to the ability of these institutions to develop and manage
systems, procedures, structures, staffing, decision making, planning, implementation and
monitoring. Two issues may particularly require special attention in this regard. The first is the
capacity deficit in LGIs to promote participatory bottom up planning. Decades of ‘centralised expert
driven planning and resource allocation to local development’ paradigms are still dominant across
the governance institutions from the local to the national level. Specialised para-statal planning and
developmental agencies created and perpetuated by the national and provincial governments have
largely remained unaccountable to the elected LGIs and therefore to the citizens at large. This has
either eroded the existing planning capacities or by-passed any further investment to develop the
capacities of LGIs. The second is the non-functioning of institutional mechanisms and lack of political
will to promote citizen led mechanisms for transparency and accountability in the LGIs. Due to the
lack of appreciation of participatory democratic practices and citizen’s rights and entitlements, any
organised civic engagement is looked at with suspicion and considered a political conspiracy against
the ‘democratically elected representatives’. This is quite contradictory to one of the core purposes
of LGIs – deepening grassroots democracy. A combination of developing right perspectives and
institutionalisation of social accountability mechanisms in LGIs would go a long way in achieving the
democratic objectives of the LGIs.

Societal (ibid) capacities refer to a systemic view of capacity development which is inclusive of all the
actors and stakeholder of LGIs. The primary stakeholders of LGIs are the citizens and from an
equitable and inclusive development perspective, the poor and the marginalised. There is growing
evidence that the capacities of citizens particularly the middle and upper economic and educated
classes are increasing in many developing and emerging economies. However, this is far from true
for the poor and the marginalised. Their capacities to participate, contribute and hold the LGIs
accountable are constrained by institutional norms and prejudices. Patriarchal values, ethnic and
religious biases, traditional beliefs all contribute to perpetuate such constraints. Systematic and long
term investments in capacity development for the poor and marginalised, promoting strong
collectives and citizens’ organisations and removing such societal and institutional constraints must
find a prominent place in the capacity development framework to make LGIs accountable to such
social groups. Societal capacity development also refers to other actors such as academia, media,
civil society organisations etc. and sensitising them on the democratic and developmental values of
strengthening LGIs.
Applied to local bodies, capacity development ensures that such institutions are able to function
effectively as institutions of local self-governance in the perspective elaborated above. The capacity
of such institutions can be seen in three distinct though inter-related aspects (ibid): Intellectual
capacity in LGIs refers to the perspective through which LGIs and their leadership view, analyse and
reflect on their identities. How do the LGI representatives and the leadership identify with these
institutions? Do they really view them as autonomous governance institutions with relevant vision
and mandate or only as the lowest tier of public service delivery administration? Unfortunately, very
few capacity development interventions make such an endeavour to develop the political visionary
leadership in the LGIs. This is clearly one of the reasons why the quality of politics in the local
democratic processes has not evolved satisfactorily. It has also led the ERs of LGIs to believe that
these institutions are inferior as compared to the higher tiers of governance which adversely
impacted the political negotiations between LGIs and provincial or national governance institutions
with regard to the devolution of power and authority to the former.
Institutional capacity in LGIs refers to the ability of these institutions to develop and manage
systems, procedures, structures, staffing, decision making, planning, implementation and
monitoring. As in most countries of the global south LGIs were created much after the consolidation
and centralisation of decision making powers by the national governments, these capacities are
largely dependent on the de jure devolution of power and authorities to the former by the latter,
effected through some kind of policy or legislative interventions. However, many such provisions
have not been translated in to de facto devolution of power leaving the LGIs at the mercy of the
national and provincial governments. As democratically governed institutions, institutional capacities
also include mechanisms to promote transparency, accountability and participation. This is one of
the most significant but much neglected aspects of capacity development in LGIs throughout the
global south. In recent years, however, renewed efforts have been made to strengthen the
capacities of LGIs, particularly in relation to ‘institutional’ as well as ‘social’ accountability
mechanisms. The other aspect of institutional capacity refers to the ability of LGIs to relate to the
external environment, other stakeholder institutions and citizens at large. In the context of market
driven economy and associated pressure for privatisation of public service delivery, the LGIs are
constantly being challenged to uphold one of their most critical mandates of promoting social
welfare and equitable development. A good one third to half of the poorer citizens in most countries
of the global south (irrespective of their status as under-developed or emerging economies) are
dependent on public social welfare and are often excluded from the market driven service delivery
mechanisms. The LGIs must be capacitated to find innovative mechanisms to promote ‘smart

privatisation’ but also to hold private service providers and themselves accountable to the most
poor and marginalised citizens.
Material capacity primarily refers to the ability of LGIs to mobilise and utilise financial resources to
optimise their performance. In most countries in the global south with some exemplary exceptions
the capacity of LGIs to mobilise their own financial resources is abysmally low. A combination of
factors like least autonomy to determine the sources and rate of taxes, non-taxes, levies and user
charges, weak and non-pragmatic tax administrations, lack of control over natural resources, and
highhandedness of higher tier control lead to weak material bases of the LGIs. Most LGIs remain
dependent on the national or provincial governments for the financial resources through ‘grants-in-
transfer’. This fiscal dependence not only adversely affects the overall ‘autonomy’ and ‘self-
determination’ of the LGIs, but also seriously impedes the responsiveness to the emerging
aspirations of citizens. The capacity to utilise the available resources for optimising performance is
dependent on the ability to be informed, make decisions, and deliver according to the needs of the
citizens. This is to a large extent dependent on the institutional capacities of LGIs.
4. Methodology
The objective of this study is to explore the theme of `capacity development in LGIs’ through the
following questions.
What are the multiple approaches and methods to address intellectual, institutional and societal
capacity development needs?
How can multiple actors and institutions be included to address both the supply and demand
side of democratic governance and facilitate their interfaces?
What can be the long term, organic and flexible approaches to respond to the emerging capacity
needs of various actors?
What steps can ensure explicit commitment to support the special capacity needs of the poor
and the marginalised?
What positive changes have been brought about through capacity development initiatives across
the countries in the Asian region?
What lessons could be drawn from capacity development practices across the countries in the
Asian region?
Which positive experiences could inform future capacity development policies and
programmes?
For primary and secondary data for south Asia, PRIA partnered with WAVE Foundation in
Bangladesh, Federation of Sri Lankan Local Government Authorities (FSLGA) in Sri Lanka and SAP in
Pakistan to prepare the country report and two case studies each on capacity development. For
primary research the method of data collection was focused group discussions (FGDs) and interviews
with ERs; with officials of LGIs and external actors, e.g. civil society organisations (CSOs), donors,
government departments, and community based organisations. However, this regional synthesis
document has used secondary sources, case studies especially from India and other analyses e.g.
reports prepared by academic institutions, CSOs and donors agencies. This synthesis paper will take
a systemic view of capacity development to analyse and synthesise the processes and results of
capacity development mechanisms in the given countries.
Case studies from India have been liberally referred to as a source of secondary data. The following
case studies have been identified from the three nations.
Table 1: Title of Case Studies
Sl. No. Title of Case Studies Partner Organisation
1. Strengthening Local Governance through Participatory and Responsive WAVE Foundation,

Public Services Project : A Case Study from Bangladesh Bangladesh

2. Making Union Parishads Effective through Cascade Based Training: A WAVE Foundation,
Case Study from Bangladesh Bangladesh
3. Developing Capacity of Dehiwela Mt Lavinia Municipal Council for FSLGA, Sri Lanka
Improving Services: A Case Study from Sri Lanka
4. Capacity Development of Local Councils and Community for Managing FSLGA, Sri Lanka
Solid Waste: A Case Study from Sri Lanka
5. Developing Effective Leadership through Training: A Case Study of City SAP, Pakistan
District Government, Karachi
6. Capacity Development of Women in Local Governance Institutions: SAP, Pakistan
Case Studies of Rahim-yar-khan and Gujranwala
Districts in Pakistan
5. Capacity Development in South Asia

5.1 The Context
The South Asian region which includes the eight SAARC countries and Afghanistan has nearly 1.5
billion people. This means a population which is more than three times the total population of the
European Union, living in an area which is half of that of China. If we see India, Bangladesh, Pakistan
and Sri Lanka together, they constitute almost 96 per cent of the total population of South Asia. Of
this, India constitutes 80 per cent of the population. This means when local elections are held in
India, the total number of ERs is a whopping 20 million.
Most of these countries with the exception of Sri Lanka are primarily patriarchal societies. Women
have not been the decision makers even at the household level. Considering this, their involvement
and participation at the local governance level has been poor. In India, after the introduction of the
73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, the involvement of women in the local governance
has gone up, but barring a few exceptions the increase in number is not very significant. There is
huge scope for mobilising and preparing women for leadership at the LGIs. South Asia’s illiteracy rate
is the highest in the world at 45 per cent and among the females this illiteracy percentage is even
higher.
In the practical context of Asia’s reality, its society increasingly faces the challenges of inflated
population, rampant illiteracy and deep social divides. In such a context it is a colossal challenge to
bring awareness, mobilisation and participation of the people in the processes of self-governance
through their LGIs. The degree of participation of the people in the capacity development and the
extent of inclusion of every section of society are very important factors in making LGIs a truly
democratic instrument. In the traditional supply led government approach, the scope of people’s
participation has been very low. Though some demand led or civil society led capacity development
initiatives have built spaces for people’s participation, it does not guarantee inclusion of the
marginalised.
A divided society means divisions around caste, religion, ethnicity and gender. In such a context the
systemic obstruction of authentic information (e.g. about rights, populist political processes that
undermine the tradition of collective responsibility, top-down development delivery nurturing
extreme passivity etc.) is a major impediment to informed and active citizens in many local areas.
Most of the newly elected local body members are in the public arena for the first time. They need
to have access to authentic information about LGI, its roles and responsibilities and the financial
resources available. Given the poor education standards, in many cases the ERs are illiterate or semi-
literate. This poses an enormous challenge for the process of information dissemination.

`Devolution’, involving the transfer of political power and authority from the central government to
LGIs, has been the main focus of decentralisation in Asia. The central government has not been
willing to transfer powers despite creating constitutional provisions for it, but the citizens’
expectations to see the LGI as units of democracy providing opportunities for citizens’ participation
in governance are on the rise. Voices for greater accountability–political, administrative, financial
and social and development through decentralised arrangements have been growing louder. The
nature of societies in Asia is multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and diverse. LGIs in such a situation act as
strong instruments of decentralisation and citizen participation.
5.2 Efforts in Capacity Development
In Bangladesh 1 , the government and the CSOs are broadly involved in providing capacity
development services in the area of local governance. However, the approaches pursued by them
are quite different from one another. The government provides capacity development support
through different government institutions like, the National Institute of Local Government (NILG),
Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), and the Rural Development Academy
(RDA).The ERs, staff and other related government officials are provided orientation and training on
different aspects of the roles and management of the LGIs. The training modules are prepared by
these institutions and the trainings are delivered by the designated faculty members and invited
resource persons (mostly government officials) having perceived expertise in those particular areas.
However, in recent times the government has been receiving funding support from the World Bank,
United States for International Development (USAID), United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Danida and other donors for a lot of
good governance areas in local governance including capacity development.
CSOs are also involved in the capacity development of the LGIs. These CSO initiatives are mostly
funded by various development partners focussing on improving governance and service delivery at
the local level. However, the CSOs approach is more intensive, wider and project-objective driven. It
is intensive in the sense that the local bodies selected by the projects are directly facilitated by them
for capacity development. It is wider in the sense that other stakeholders especially the local
communities are also included in the capacity development activities. The CSOs perceive that the
local communities have an important role to play in the functioning of the LGIs as there are legal
provisions for their participation in those bodies. So their capacities also need to be developed for
effective participation which in turn will ensure transparency and accountability of the LGIs.
In Sri Lanka2, the National Policy on Local Government came into effect in December 1999. Under
this, the policy makers viewed capacity development as a requirement to make LGIs an integral part
of the system of representative government. This was done with the aim of enabling the LGIs to fully
exercise their authority to mobilise local strengths and resources. The Preamble of the policy states
that the ‘the capacity will be built through collective vision, participatory governance, rational
review of powers and functions, allied legal and statutory reforms and also the development of
necessary infrastructure and human resources’. The policy includes ‘building the capacity of Local
Authorities (Las) to fully exercise the powers assigned to them to harness local strengths and
resources’ as one of the aims. Also, capacity development of human resources is particularly
emphasised by stating that ‘local governance capacity development will, therefore, receive highest
attention and support for skills development training and regular performance assessment.’ The
policy emphasises skill development of LGI personnel through networking with training institutions,
technical agencies, universities, LGI experts and academia specialising in LGI and participatory
planning and development. The policy has provided for bottom up and demand driven approach in
1
Bangladesh Country Paper (see in this paper)
2
Sri Lanka Country Paper (see in this paper)

capacity development of human resources by including participatory planning specialists in the

network of institutions and persons to be involved in the skills development of LGI personnel.
The Sri Lanka Institute for Local Government (SLILG) is responsible for planning and implementing
the national programme for capacity development of LAs throughout the country. This national
programme includes preparing and delivering annual training programmes for skill development,
educational courses and preparing and conducting training programmes/courses in response to
specific requests. In addition SLILG also coordinates with other regular training programmes for LA
capacity development such as the training conducted by national agencies such as the Sri Lanka
Foundation Institute (SLFI), SLIDA and provincial government authorities as Management
Development Training Institutions (MDTI) etc. SLILG adopts a top down approach to capacity
development where the capacity development programmes for the LA personnel are pre-planned
and designed through an assessment process conducted every few years. According to SLILG, the
last comprehensive needs assessment was done in 1999. SLILG also conducts regular training needs
assessment workshops where the administrators of LAs such as the Secretary participate, with a few
Section Heads of selected LAs. The most recent of these workshops was held in 2010. The capacity
development programmes supported by donor agencies such as the ADB, UNDP, USAID have
adopted the bottom-up approach since most of these programmes were preceded by a field level
needs assessment.
In India3, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has identified three national institutes viz.
National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), Hyderabad, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of
Administration (LBSNAA), Mussorie, and the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New
Delhi to plan and organise Training of Trainers (ToT) programmes for all the faculty members of the
State Institutes of Rural Development (SIRDs). They in turn train both elected and non-elected
functionaries of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) in every state. The MoRD also provides financial
assistance through the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART)
to the CSOs with a proven track record for conducting training and awareness generation
programmes on Panchayati Raj Institutions.
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Youth Affairs and Sports has identified the Rajiv Gandhi National
Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD) as a Panchayati Raj Institutions and Youth Affairs (PRIYA)
division with which IGNOU organises a Certificate Programme in Panchayat Level Development and
Administration. The Certificate programme is addressed to development functionaries,
administrative and technical officials working with various line departments spread over the three-
tiers of panchayats. At present there are 28 State Institutes of Rural Development (SIRDs) and 90
Extension Training Centres (ETCs). Apart from these, various CSOs have worked on the issue of
capacity development over the years. Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), Sahbhagi
Shikshan Kendra, Samarthan, Sahayi, UNNATI, CASA, Centre for World Solidarity, The Hunger
Project, Young Women’s Christian Association, Ahmedabad Study Action Group, Institute of Social
Studies etc. are a few examples.
In Pakistan4, capacity development training was mandatory under the Local Government Ordinance,
2001. The relevant Section 189 of the ordinance stated - “The Nazims, Naib Nazims and members of
the Councils shall attend training courses for such periods and in such manner and at such places as
may be prescribed by the Government from time to time.” Following the Ordinance, various training
programmes were organised by the provincial governments for the elected and non-elected LGI
functionaries in collaboration with the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) set up at the federal
level, during the first term of the LGIs (August 2001 to June 2005) under Pervez Musharraf’s military
3
Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Govt. Of India; ‘Annual Plan 2009-2010’
4
Pakistan Country Paper (see in this report)

regime. In total more than 119,000 directly elected councillors were trained. Capacity development
programmes were successfully conducted by the provincial governments during April - September,
2001. The training of Nazims/Naib Nazims at the district and Tehsil/town level and indirectly elected
councillors at these levels were also conducted. Moreover, six workshops were held at Islamabad,
Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar to train 343 provincial government officers for preparing Tehsil
Transition Reports. The NRB also had provided technical support to the provincial governments to
organise workshops for the Executive District Officers (Literacy) at the provincial headquarters. A
two-day orientation session for Zila and Town/Taluka Nazims of Sindh was held at Karachi in
October, 2001.
For the second term of the LGIs, which started in December 2005, all provincial governments
organised basic orientation courses for the newly elected members. The NRB developed training
modules and shared these with the provincial governments. Nearly 2,200 Master Trainers and key
trainers were prepared by NRB to handle the countrywide training activity organised by the
provincial governments. All Union Councillors attended the orientation workshops as well as the six
day training programme held across the country.
6. Analysis of the Case Studies
6.1 Understanding Approaches and Methods5
Several years of practices in the area of capacity development and the quests for the most effective
tool have led to the development of various approaches and methodologies. These approaches were
formulated at various stages of the evolution of capacity development as a theory and practice to
meet various challenges. In Asian societies, inequalities are manifested in different forms, which can
be attributed to social constructs (gender, race, ethnicity, religion etc.), geographical disparities,
non-inclusive economic policies and non-participative political systems or a combination of these
structural elements. Such inequalities have resulted in the exclusion of various social groups and
individuals in appropriately using social relations and institutions for better participation in the
society in which they live. More often, the existing social systems and structures push groups or
individuals in to multidimensional disadvantages and deprivations. These case studies have been
analysed keeping in mind the challenges of scope and outreach, pedagogy, customisation of training
quality of trainers, degree of participation, leadership development from the marginalised groups,
optimum use of technology, need to network and partner; demands of training of trainers;
organisational strengthening etc.
The degree of participation in capacity development and the extent of inclusion of every section of
the society is a very important factor in making LGIs a truly democratic instrument. In the traditional
supply led government approach, the scope of people’s participation has been very low. Most of the
demand led or civil society led capacity development initiatives that address intervention at the
societal level, have inbuilt space created for people’s participation. Yet, this need not necessarily
convert into a high degree of inclusion. Under Bangladesh’s ‘Strengthening Local Governance:
Innovative Efforts of People’s Alliances and NGOs’ project, a large section of society’s participation
was enabled by fixing the criteria of gender, political affiliation and profession to determine the
membership to the Lok Morcha or ‘People’s Alliance’ at the Union, Upazila and District level. This
created a huge space for participation and inclusion as well. Statistics show that under the project,
the participation of women in the Lok Morchas stayed on the lower side with 24 per cent at the
Upazila Parishad level, 19.5 per cent at Upazila level and 20 per cent at the district level. In terms of
participation from the marginalised section, out of the eight categories selected, two represented
the marginalised section, i.e., farmers and workers. Here at the UP level, their participation was 27.6
per cent, at the Upazila level it was at 18.8 per cent and at the district level it was as low as eight per
5
Pearson (2011)

cent. This project involved a partnership networks approach, communication approach as well as the
leadership development approach. The CBOs representing the local interest (Lok Morcha) were
intended to be watchdog organisations to oversee and monitor the delivery of public services at the
local level. Their aim was also to advocate and lobby the concerned agencies, on the areas of
improvement. In Sri Lanka’s ‘Capacity Development of Local Councils and Community for Managing
Solid Waste’ project coaching-mentoring, customised training and communication approaches were
used. This case study was about the success of the participatory waste management programme.
The majority of the community participants in the programme were women. This was because they
had the time and opportunity to participate in the programme activities as compared to the men in
the households. Vulnerable groups such as elderly women heads of the families and differently-
abled persons also participated in the programme as the nature of the programme activities i.e.,
segregation of household waste; enabled them to participate. What was unique was that this
marginalised groups not only participated, but also benefited financially from the success of the
project. Awareness programmes for the public were held to tackle the specific problem of waste
management. Individual houses were visited; documentaries, handbills, leaflets, placards, posters
and banners were used. Practical field training was done for the segregation of waste material. The
earnings that came from saleable disposable material went up by 20 per cent in the fourth month
and 40 per cent by the fifth month. The sale earnings from compost showed an increase of 20 per
cent by the fifth month. This was shared with the community participants.
Sometimes particular organisational problems can lead to innovative and customised methods to
capacity development. For example, in both the Sri Lankan projects, the coaching-mentoring
approach and customised training approach were incorporated. In Sri Lanka’s ‘Capacity Development
of Local Councils and Community for Managing Solid Waste’ project, eleven trained members of
Pradeshiya Sabha and twenty trained officers formed a core team to identify ‘solid waste
management’ as a priority problem to be managed through the integrated management efforts of
the public and Pradeshiya Sabha officers. The two together held awareness programmes for the
public to tackle the specific problem of waste management. Individual houses were visited;
documentaries, handbills, leaflets, placards, posters and banners were used. Practical field training
was given on the segregation of waste material. The communication approach was also blended with
the above two in this project. In ‘Developing Capacity of Dehiwela Mt Lavinia Municipal Council for
Improving Services’ project of Sri Lanka, the training needs were first assessed by looking into the
urban infrastructure services complaints record. Some core issues were zeroed on and then studied
to understand their root causes and the measures required to tackle them. The organisational
employees were then involved in a multi-level programme of awareness building, collective problem
identification, agreeing on institutional solutions and selection of some feasible ones for immediate
implementation.
Improving pedagogy and quality of facilitators is a necessary requirement for the success of the
capacity development effort. Bangladesh’s ‘Making Union Parishads Effective through Cascade
Based Training’ project also strives to focus on the above through ToTs. Under this organisational
strengthening approach and leadership development approach were used and a cascade based
training module was developed. This four level cascade had an ‘expert panel’ supervised by the NILG
and was constituted to prepare the LGSP training module and training material. The ‘Master
Trainers’ attended five days of ToT workshop, conducted by the expert panel; the ‘District Training
Team’ was assigned the task of conducting the Upazila training programme; and the Upazila
Resource Team (URT) became the frontline trainers for Union Parishad functionaries. The training
curricula included the topics of Local Governance and LGSP; Participatory Planning and Budget;
Environmental and Social Impact of the Scheme; and Financial Management and Procurement
Management.

Knowledge management is another issue in the capacity development of local bodies. The
‘Panchayat Resource Centre’ initiative in India6 is an example of addressing this concern in which as
many as four different approaches namely partnership approach, communication approach,
leadership approach and knowledge management approach were utilised.
Box 1
Panchayat Resource Centre
Five main goals of the ‘Panchayat Resource Centre (PRC)’ were the training and capacity development of
panchayat elected representatives; facilitation of micro-planning; mobilisation and strengthening gram sabhas;
horizontal networking among elected members, community groups and organisations and information
dissemination. The main aim of this Centre was to be able to develop informed citizens who can make
informed choices and demands that would enhance transparency, accountability and good governance. The
material that the PRC brought out ranged from newsletters, cassettes, games, booklets on schemes relevant to
panchayats, maps of the block, simplified version of Constitutional Acts, addresses of the elected members etc.
In support of the marginalised groups (women and dalit) capacity development was carried out through small
group meetings, sammelans, trainings, coalition-building etc. The drive to strengthen the PRI gave an
opportunity to the CSOs to come together on a platform for the purpose of information dissemination,
capacity development, campaigns and even advocacy.
Source: Bijlani, 2004
A good example of addressing a capacity development need that requires building partnerships and
networks is the ‘Pre-Election Voters Awareness Campaign’ (PEVAC) in India. In this the approaches of
partnership and networks, and communication were utilised.
Box 2
Pre-Election Voters’ Awareness Campaign
‘Pre-Election Voters Awareness Campaign’ was implemented by PRIA in partnership with other voluntary
organisations, the State Election Commissions and local bureaucracies. Massive educational interventions
were carried out on various aspects of the local governance election including how to cast votes. The campaign
approach included street plays, street meetings, distribution of posters, pamphlets, etc. and door-to-door
educational interventions. After the election, a series of orientation meetings explaining the roles of the gram
sabha (people’s assembly consisting of all voters above the age of 18 years) as a collective entity were
organised. The other purpose of these meetings was to discuss the problems and issues and to identify the
needs and priorities of the people. These orientation meetings also served the purpose of initiating dialogue
between the various marginalised groups and contestants of PRI elections with special focus on the gram
panchayat. Special attention was given to organising the marginalised families and groups in articulating their
needs and aspirations. One of the primary requirements of strengthening the gram sabha was the conducting
of meetings at regular intervals to discuss and develop local development plans. However, in most cases
citizens particularly the marginalised were not aware about where and when such meetings were to be held.
So, campaigns were organised to inform the local citizens before the actual gram sabha meetings.
Informational and educational materials (like posters, handbills, leaflets, brochures etc.), folk performances
(like folk songs, street plays, mimes etc.), video film shows and rallies were extensively used to give
information about Gram Sabha meetings.
Source: Nambiar, 2001
The ‘satellite communication model’ (SATCOM) of Gujarat, India is a good example of the e-learning
approach to capacity development, that has had an extensive reach and wide coverage area.
6
By PRIA

Box 3
Use of Technology in Capacity Development
Under ‘satellite communication model’ a training programme was designed using Satellite Communication
(SATCOM) whereby all 25 districts of Gujarat were covered through 38 SATCOM centres. A district level
training facilitating team was engaged with the participants promoting horizontal learning and transmitting the
knowledge base into practical learning. The complete programme was designed in a participatory manner to
meet the participant’s learning needs. Around 850 gram panchayat elected representatives, primarily
sarpanches, were covered in each of the six rounds of SATCOM training on different themes of local
governance. The participants of the first round were repeated in all the six rounds. The training rounds were
spaced in such a way that after each round of training the participants could go back to their respective
panchayats and try to implement their learning. This would give them the opportunity to clear their doubts or
hindrances in the implementation at the field level in the following round of SATCOM training. Sessions
transmitted through the studio also used various mediums like lectures, pictorial slide presentations and short
films developed on particular themes to hold the attention of the participants and motivate them to think
about issues, their repercussions and also what could be done to address them.
Source: UNNATI, Gujarat
Leadership development is a very crucial part of capacity development in LGIs. ‘Panchayati Raj
Jagrukta Abhiyan (PRJA), India, a campaign on awareness building for Panchayati Raj, is an example
of this. Under this, a one day orientation on the PRI Act, and the roles and responsibilities of ERs was
arranged for the newly elected representatives. Exclusive events were organised for women, tribal
and dalit ERs. In many of the intervention areas large conferences were held for ERs particularly to
enhance their confidence. Structured interface between LGI officials and women ERs was also
facilitated. Efforts were made to form networks of ERs at the block, district and state level. The
purpose of these networks was to negotiate with the state for further devolution of power,
functionaries and resources. Hence the approaches of communication and leadership development
were made use of in this project. In Pakistan’s ‘Capacity Development of Women in Local
Governance Institutions: Gujranwala and Rahim-yar-Khan District’ project, the partnership and
networks approach and leadership approach were applied. The NRB first trained a group of Master
Trainers, who further trained district based groups of local trainers by using the same manuals and
tools. A second group of trainers was prepared by the Women’s Political School, an Islamabad based
NGO established by the Federal Government in collaboration with UNDP. This NGO imparted
trainings only to the women councillors. They developed their own training staff and covered similar
topics and themes as found in the NRB modules. A third organisation that was involved was the
Devolution Trust for Community Empowerment (DTCE), that was set up as a subsidiary of NRB, but
which later started functioning as an independent training institution. It had developed its own
manual. The fourth NGO was SANGAT-Lahore, which had trained three groups of councillors
representing workers and peasants’ communities in both districts. SANGAT used its own training
manuals.
Organisational strengthening was achieved in the efforts of ‘Developing Effective Leadership through
Training in City District Government, Karachi’ project in Pakistan. The trainings were provided at
three different levels. First, formal trainings were imparted by official departments and state actors.
These consisted of orientations on official procedures, operational modalities and basic human skills
etc. This was mandatory for every ER. Second, set of trainings was imparted by Non-State Actors
(NSAs), supported by the international organisations. These trainings covered mainly orientation on
key civic and governance related issues and themes. They involved very limited numbers of ERs,
mostly belonging to the marginalised sections of society. The third set of trainings was not based on
formal sessions or any specific set of manuals, but was designed as practical sessions for the

councillors. Hence, the approaches of partnership and networks, organisational strengthening and
blended learning and exposure were made use of in this.
6.2 Understanding the Intervention Levels
Capacity development as applied to local bodies ensures that such institutions are able to function
effectively as institutions of local self-governance. For this the interventions of capacity development
can be at three levels (Tandon, 2001; Tandon and Bandyopadhhay, 2004): Individual level capacity
development requires the development of conditions that allow individual participants to build and
enhance the existing knowledge and skills. It also calls for the establishing of conditions that will
allow individuals to engage in the process of learning and adapting to change. Institutional level
capacity development should involve aiding pre-existing institutions. Institutional capacity in LGIs
refers to the ability of these institutions to develop and manage systems, procedures, structures,
staffing, decision-making, planning, implementation and monitoring. Societal level capacity
development should support the establishing of a more interactive public administration that learns
equally from its actions and from feedback it receives from the people at large. Capacity
development must be used to develop public administrators that are responsive and accountable.
Usually any approach of capacity development initiative tackles the problem at more than one level.
In Bangladesh’s ‘Strengthening Local Governance: Innovative Efforts of People’s Alliances and NGOs’
project, the initiative of creating Lok Morchas or People’s Alliance was at all the three levels of
Union, Upazila and district. This enabled a micro-macro link between the LGIs and the higher levels
of Upazila and district administration; a horizontal link between the local community through the
People’s Alliance (Lok Morcha) and the LGIs; and a triangular link between the local community, the
LGIs and the higher level government service providers. Such links helped to influence policy
decisions in favour of strong LGIs. So the interventions were made at the institutional and societal
levels by creating linkages and mobilising local society. This helped to establish participatory and
accountable LGIs. Sri Lanka’s ‘Managing Solid Waste’ project of Bangaragama Pradeshiya Sabha is an
example of intervention at the individual and societal level to bring about some system changes.
While at one level the ERs and the officers of the Pradeshiya Sabha were trained in the processes of
participatory planning and integrated solid waste management, on the other hand public awareness
programmes were also conducted to involve the community at large to bring about system change
in solid waste management. Pakistan’s ‘Karachi City District Government’ project is an example of
intervention at the institutional level thorough an active inter play of the state actors and non-state
actors.
As seen in the other three case studies, the intervention was at only one level – individual. The
‘Bangladesh Cascade Based Training’ project followed the cascade based model of training, which
involved five steps. The first four were preparatory phases for the delivery of the final capacity
development training to the Upazila Parishad functionaries, which included the Upazila Parishad
Chairperson, members and Secretary. The five levels involved in the training design were – panel of
experts, pool of Master Trainers, District Training Team, Upazila Resource Team, Upazila Parishad
functionaries. The Upazila Parishad functionaries were the final recipients of the training designed
for capacity development. In another project in ‘Dehiwela Mt Lavinia Municipal Council, Sri Lanka’
the municipal council employees were first encouraged to identify the causes for the large number
of complaints. Once these were identified, they were encouraged to find institutional solutions to it.
Pakistan’s ‘Capacity Development of Women’ project is an example of focused capacity development
initiatives leading to the greater and stronger role of women in the local bodies and thus creating
space for their leadership.

Box 4
Panchayati Raj Jagrukta Abhiyan (PRJA)
Panchayati Raj Jagrukta Abhiyan (PRJA) a campaign on awareness building for Panchayati Raj in India is an
example of individual and institutional level intervention. Under this capacity development needs assessment
was first carried out for the ERs and consequently relevant modules were designed. Training and workshops of
various durations on the perspective of local governance were extensively used as capacity development
methodology. Besides structured educational events, on-site support was provided for undertaking
participatory micro planning and budgeting exercises, administration and financial management of gram
panchayats. Informational materials like posters, handbills, manuals were prepared in local languages to guide
the ERs. A simplified version of the State Act was prepared and disseminated among the ERs. In many of the
intervention areas, joint meetings with ERs from all three tiers were organised and facilitated and issues
related to organic linkages between the three tiers were discussed. In order to up-scale the capacity
development interventions, along with the fact that the government had shown tremendous apathy to
investing in the capacity development of ERs of LGIs, PRIA(Participatory Research in Asia), in collaboration with
other voluntary organisations, organised capacity development events in a campaign mode. This campaign was
called the Panchayati Raj Jagrukta Abhiyan. This one day orientation on the PRI Act, the roles and
responsibilities of the ERs was primarily meant for newly elected representatives. Exclusive events were
organised for women, tribal and dalit ERs. In many of the intervention areas large conferences were organised
for ERs particularly for women, to enhance their confidence. Structured interface between LGI officials and
women representatives was also facilitated. Efforts were made to form networks of ERs at the block, district
and state level. The purpose of these networks was to negotiate with the State for further devolution of
power, functionaries and resources. In many locations exclusive networks of women, tribals and dalits were
promoted.
Source: PRIA Report, 2006
Government-Citizen Interface - All initiatives of capacity development that arise due to community
needs and activism and led by civil society organisation are demand led initiatives. On the other
hand capacity development initiatives that are initiated by the government for better functioning of
LGIs are supply led initiatives. In the case studies under consideration, Bangladesh’s Strengthening
Local Governance Project has been found to be the only demand led initiative. Both case studies
from Sri Lanka, on ‘Solid Waste Management’ and ‘Dehiwela Mt. Lavinia’ and Pakistan’s Karachi City
District Government projects are supply led capacity development initiatives.
The best examples of capacity development initiatives have been the ones which have had the
interface of both demand and supply led effort. Pakistan’s ‘Capacity Development of Women’ project
and India’s ‘Satellite Communication Models’ project and ‘Pre-Election Voters Awareness Campaign’
are examples of capacity development designed to promote supply-demand interfaces.
7. Outcome of the Capacity Development Efforts
In the above case studies the success of capacity development efforts have been studied in terms of
its impact on participation and voice articulation by the citizens for improvement in services,
participatory decision making at LGIs, revival of dormant institutions, improvement in services,
degree of inclusion of the marginalised, space for women leaders, participatory planning and
lobbying, and meeting of personnel and material requirements of the LGIs.
Making people conscious of their rights is a crucial part of capacity development. Their mobilisation
and participation has to be an integral part of the capacity development efforts. This will also
effectively address the issue of inclusion. The degree of participation of the citizens in the capacity
development and the extent of inclusion of every section of society is a very important factor to
make LGIs a truly democratic instrument. Under Bangladesh’s ‘Strengthening Local Governance’
project, a large section of society’s participation was ensured by fixing the criteria of gender, political

affiliation and profession to determine the membership to Lok Morcha or ‘People’s Alliance’ at the
Union, Upazila and district level. This created a huge space for participation and inclusion as well. In
terms of participation from the marginalised section, out of the eight categories selected two
represented the marginalised section, i.e., farmers and workers. At the Union Parishad level their
participation was good at 27.6 per cent, at the Upazila level it was at 18.8 per cent but at the district
level it was low at only eight per cent, but such efforts could not ensure gender parity in
participation. Women’s participation was generally low, with the best level at the Upazila Parishad
level at 24 per cent. At the Upazila and district level participation in the Lok Morchas was poor at
19.5 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. In Sri Lanka’s ‘Solid Waste Management’ project women
were the main participants. This has been due to the fact that they had the time and opportunity to
participate in the programme activities more than the men in the households. Vulnerable groups as
the elderly female heads of families and differently-abled persons also participated in the
programme as the nature of the programme activities such as the segregation of household waste,
enabled them to participate. What was unique was that these marginalised groups not only
participated but also benefited financially from the success of the project. The earnings that came
from the sale of the disposable material went up by 20 per cent in the fourth month and 40 per cent
by the fifth month. The sale earnings of compost showed an increase of 20 per cent by the fifth
month. This was shared with the community participants. On the other hand, in Pakistan’s ‘Karachi
City District Government’ project, despite the strong role played by both state actors and non-state
actors, no formal collaboration between the two could be established. The citizens could not be
mobilised enough for the formation of Citizen Community Boards (CCBs). While 150 CCBs were
registered in 2005, only 50 were finally setup. Though the Karachi government had formed local area
committees of the local activists, they were mainly from one party and the committee was also
associated with the government.
Box 5
Testimony of Elected Councillor on Training
Riaz Hussain Abassi former Labour Councillor of the Union Council Liaqatpur, Pakistan shared that before local
governance system of 2001 a person from lower class could never think about becoming a part of
administration but this new system has paved the way for labour representation. According to him, trainings
have played a very important role in clarifying the concept of local governance, creating awareness and
popularising the idea of community mobilisation. These trainings enabled them to actually exercise true local
representation.
Source: Capacity Development of Women in Local Governance Institutions: Case Studies from Gujranwala and Rahim-yar-
Khan District, Pakistan (see in this report)
Leadership as seen in Pakistan’s ‘Capacity Development of Women’ project, post the Local
Government Ordinance 2001, spaces were created to enable women ERs to exercise their leadership
through capacity development efforts. During 1997, there were only six women elected as heads of
the respective local councils, but by the first term of 2001 the number was increased to 23 and they
all were directly elected on the main positions of the various tiers. On observing six Tehsils and
towns of two districts, at least six former women councillors were identified and found to be actively
pursuing various community problems by holding dialogues with authorities and leading activist
programmes. Their courage, commitment and level of skills were found to be high. They were
recognised and supported by the community for their contribution. In the area studied, not a single
Union Council was found (even of the smallest unit comprising 2000-2500 population) where one or
two former women councillors were not actively engaged in some public activity, development
activity, semi political or social work activity.

In Pakistan under the Muslim Family Laws 1961, the Union Council heads are empowered to set up
Conciliatory Councils (CC) in each UC level to address matrimonial conflicts. Usually the head of the
UC appoints him/herself as Chairperson to that council or he/she may ask any other councillors to
act as the officiating head of the CC. After the inclusion of women councillors in the UC, it was
commonly found that women councillors became the arbitrators between conflicting families. In
Pakistan’s Gujranwala district, many cases were resolved through interventions by women
councillor. Very interestingly in the village of Aroop, Sialkot Road, people with conflicts requested
the UC Nazim to assign women councillors as conciliatory council heads.
The participatory process of planning and decision making were also found to be established in
Bangladesh’s ‘Strengthening Local Governance’ project. For instance, the three standing committees
on education, health and agriculture started holding regular meetings in 93 out of 112 Unions
selected and as many as 654 decisions of the UP standing committees were elevated to the Upazila
level. Planning and budget meetings started to take place in the wards of all 112 Unions, ensuring
participatory decision making. 106 of the UPs began to hold regular UP-NGO-GO coordination
meetings, strengthening the micro-macro link. Sri Lanka’s ‘Solid Waste Management’ project was
also specially designed for participatory planning and solid waste management in Bandaragama
Pradeshiya Sabha (PS). Awareness building programmes were first held for religious leaders (village
leadership), CBOs like youth organisations, women’s organisations, sports associations etc., and
thereafter the community at large was trained with the help of these leaders and organisations. The
result was that there was a steady increase in public participation in the project from 25 per cent in
the second month to 65-75 per cent by the fourth month. This led to great results in terms of the
collection of solid waste. For example, waste collection in separate containers within the house
increased to 20 per cent in the second month itself and to 50 per cent by the fifth month. With
regard to the disposal of separated solid waste in public bins, there was an improvement of 35 per
cent by the fifth month. All this happened because of active citizen mobilisation and participation.
Some dormant institutions were revived through the capacity development efforts in the
Bangladesh ‘Strengthening Local Governance’ project. The Standing Committees of health, education
and agriculture were revived and many positive changes were observed in their service delivery. The
institution of ‘gram adalat’ specified in the Constitution as the responsibility of the Union Parishad,
was reinstated. An overwhelming number of Union Parishads had not established these courts either
due to the lack of resources or due to the lack of legal knowledge. Towards the end of the project 83
out of 112 Union Parishads were found to be conducting village courts on a regular basis. In the rest
it was more irregular. Sixty six per cent cases filed in the ‘gram adalat’ were solved, 14 per cent
cases were dismissed, 420 were sent to the higher court and the rest were still under process when
recorded. The higher courts also referred a total of 1281 cases to the village courts. Many personnel
issues were also solved through continuous lobbying and the vocal articulation of the Lok Morcha.
Seventy six vacant positions of Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officers and 97 positions for doctors were
filled. In 102 Unions, a redistribution of the 487 teachers was done to ensure consistent student-
teacher ratio. In 101 Unions, as many as 107 community teachers were recruited to fill in the gaps.
Material and infrastructural gaps were addresses by lobbying for new soil-testing machines in 77
Unions and for upgraded irrigation facilities in 42 Unions. Eighty two out of the 112 Unions were
provided proper health instruments. Necessary furniture was also made available in as many as 243
schools of the Unions under the project.
Transparency was another core issue that was addressed in all the three committees. The Union
Health and Family Centres of 96 Unions started the process of putting up the list of medicines
available with them on the notice board. The Health and Family Welfare Centres of 104 Unions also
had regularly started sharing information with the Lok Morcha and standing committee members on
the medicines available for patient consumption. Many committees also took steps to set up Union

Parishad Complex Offices at the Union as given under the Regulation Act. The Agriculture Committee
set up such complexes in 83 Unions and the Education Committee in seven, thereby improving
vertical communication and linkage.
Services became better. It was found that Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officers were providing regular
services in at least 110 Union Parishads at the ward level. The Health and Family Welfare Centres of
108 Union Centres were also found to be providing quality services. Above all 87.5 per cent of the
Unions now had 100 per cent sanitation coverage. An improvement in services was also observed in
the Pakistan’s ‘Karachi City District Government’ project. The CDGK was the only LGI of Pakistan,
which was awarded the ISO 2009 certification. Its service quality and reaction time has also been
exemplary during natural calamities and disasters, e.g., during heavy rains in Karachi, it is normal to
find flooding caused by the rain water, which hinders the normal flow of traffic and disturbs routine
life for days, however, after capacity development interventions CDGK has been very responsible
and prompt in dealing with these problems.
Sri Lanka’s ‘Dehiwela Mt. Lavinia’ project was specifically designed to create awareness among the
municipality employees with respect to the organisation’s poor service delivery and the link it had
with the employee’s behaviour. This behaviour was also contributing to their own downfall and
impacting their families. The employees identified the problems and suggested some feasible
pragmatic solutions to the problems. This instilled in them a sense of participation and ownership
which further compelled them to implement the solutions. These solutions not only enhanced their
living standards, but also led to better service delivery with respect to provisions of infrastructure
facilities by the Council. In quantifiable terms there was a 45 per cent improvement in attendance by
the end of fourth month after the project’s inception. The probability of employees staying for work,
for the whole day, improved by 15 per cent by the end of the second month and 35 per cent by the
end of the fourth month. Better team work was also observed, increasing up to 30 per cent by the
end of the fourth month. The complaints, coming in from the employee’s families, decreased by 15
per cent by the end of the second month and by 35 per cent by the end of the fourth month. The
complaints, coming in about drunkenness also decreased by 10 per cent by the end of the fourth
month. In terms of services, public complaints on solid waste collection and street cleaning reduced
by 30 per cent by the end of the second month and 50 per cent by the end of the fourth month.
Box 6
Testimony of Councillor on Impact of Training
Shabnam Qadir, former District Council Member RYK, Pakistan said that capacity development trainings made
women aware about their place in the LGIs and motivated them to participate at the local level governance.
She shared that the trainings also encouraged them to work towards women’s issues by establishing
Vocational Training Centres for women, an organisation named `Seva’ for the welfare of women and provision
ofelectricity to far off villages.
8. Lessons
LGIs are important for the simple reason that because of their closeness to a location, it can provide
certain services far more efficiently than the national government. With its superior knowledge
about local issues it can plan better than the central government for the social, economic and
manpower development. It can ensure better accountability of public officials to the citizen, because
of its closeness to the people. By virtue of its position, LGIs can also be effective communication
channel between the Centre and the people, thus providing an institutional mechanism for peoples’
participation even in national governance.

Capacity development for LGIs is important so that it can deliver on all the above stated fronts. A
holistic strategy of capacity development for the LGIs needs to include the three broad dimensions
of institutional changes i.e., capacity development to bridge the gaps in the relationship between
the central government and LGIs due to the changes in decentralised/devolved structures, functions,
responsibilities and powers; governance indicators i.e., capacity development to determine and
accomplish visible and measurable governance and performance indicators; and performance
capacities i.e., capacity development on new skills, attitudes, actions among LGI stakeholders to
render implementation, accomplishment and accountability.
Training methodology and approaches: In the URT trainings as seen in the Bangladesh’s ‘Cascade
Based Training’ project, the focus was only on providing information and knowledge about the
operational procedures of the Local Governance Support Project (LGSP). The other important aspect
of skill development in providing training was not given attention. Here it needs to be pointed out
that the Upazila Resource Teams (URTs) are the ultimate delivery vehicle for the capacity
development of the Union Parishad functionaries, one of the primary stakeholders and field level
implementers of the LGSP. There was no monitoring mechanism to ensure quality and consistency of
the ToTs and the five day training programmes were completed in two to three days. No provision
was made to build the capacity of the communities to effectively participate in various functions and
activities of the Union Parishads. Feedback from the stakeholders revealed poor planning and
coordination in the project with no space for participants’ evaluation after the completion of the
training programme to find out relevance, suitability of methodology and appropriateness of the
training modules and manual. It was found that the URTs only consisted of the government officials
who provided training with the help of the LGSP training manual. The participants mentioned the
poor performance of many trainers. Speaking about the training methodology, it revealed that the
trainers in most of the cases relied on the lecture method. Participant’s participation was rare and
the modules on Financial Management and Procurement and Environment and Social Impact of the
Scheme seemed difficult to understand and apply in real life situations. In Sri Lanka’s ‘Solid Waste
Management’ project, the training course was designed to meet a specific requirement. Hence, the
field level awareness sessions, facilitating knowledge sharing between the public and officers, and
elected members and the joint training programmes for elected members and officers, emerged as
best practises among the successful programmes conducted by the Pradeshiya Sabha.
Training needs assessment: Any capacity development initiative should begin with first systematic
training needs identification. The capacity development needs should be professionally assessed. For
this, a good and authentic database is imperative. The training module could then follow a range of
mixed methodologies such as classroom training, on-site training, group discussions, role model type
interactive sessions and distance learning. It is found that comprehensive training of this type can be
quite effective, as has been observed in the case of women elected representatives in Uttar Pradesh
and in West Bengal in India. These could be further helped by the use of other technology oriented
training strategies, e.g. e-learning and use of learner friendly training materials (e.g. pictorial
material) for illiterate trainees. Capacity development experiences in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh in
India also show that post-training handholding and facilitation by the local CSOs can prove to be very
helpful in sealing the positive effects of trainings.
Training content: Topics for training need to include the issues of self-governance and social
mobilisation, participatory monitoring and social audit, gender sensitisation, leadership,
communication, stress management, public relations, accounting rules and procedures etc. Special
training modules need to be developed for the training of women ERs for leadership development,
improving communication skills, stress management, for gender sensitisation and for bringing the
marginalised forward. Developing the problem solving skills in ERs is important. Some
recommendations are:

Networking of all training institutes for pooling of information, human resources and
methodological resources;
Sketching a well-defined strategy for the ToTs;
Building a monitoring mechanism to assess the quality of trainings;
Ensuring feedback and evaluation of trainees on the relevance of training and manuals and
refreshing the curriculum accordingly;
Customisation of the capacity development programme as per the location, available resources
and the needs of the public in the particular area;
Trainees should be assessed by observing their functioning at the work site, in order to
understand the impact of capacity development trainings already done;
Use of media and technology tools to make trainings more effective;
Instituting a rewards and recognition scheme as a follow-up of training.
Inclusion of all stakeholders: The inclusion of all stakeholders is a very important factor for a
successful, holistic capacity development programme as seen in the case of Bangladesh’s
‘Strengthening Local Governance’ project where the stakeholders were local communities, local
bodies and line departments of the government. Holistic participation in the above project ensured
the achievement of the goals and objectives as all participants were involved in the process of
implementation. The formation of community watchdog organisations at different tiers helped in
ensuring better service delivery at the local level, as all these tiers are interlinked in the process of
service delivery. These watchdog organisations advocated, lobbied and networked with
organisations located at different tiers. The community watchdog organisations not only worked for
the benefit of the local community, but also helped the service delivery organisations like the Union
Parishad and other government departments in effectively implementing their projects and
programmes. The micro-macro linkage between the local and national level that was thus created, is
essential for creating a support base for a strong local governance system and decentralisation in the
country.
With participation comes the concern for equitable participation and inclusion of all sections of
society in the process. In Bangladesh’s ‘Cascade Based Training’ project there were many mandatory
provisions for the active participation of the local community like the planning and budget
preparation process, development of schemes, their implementation and supervision by the people
through committees like Scheme Implementation Committees (SIC) and Scheme Supervision
Committees (SSC). However, no specific provision was made to ensure the participation of the
women, the poor and the ethnic minorities. Also, to effectively participate in these processes, the
participants need to have competencies. This again depends on their level of information,
knowledge and skills. These issues did not get addressed in the project. There were no provisions to
build the capacity of the communities for their effective participation in the various functions and
activities of the UPs.
Inclusion of marginalised: Marginalised sections are usually deprived in multiple ways, be it
deprivation of authentic information, illiteracy, lack of social and economic status etc. These act as
major impediments to their inclusion in the process of governance. Methodological innovations in
capacity development like, audio-visuals, folk forms etc. are required to build ‘collective-identity’.
Exposure visits, learning new skills of preparing village plans, keeping accounts etc. needs to be
made part and parcel of the capacity development programmes. A significant intervention in
capacity enhancement at LGI is required at the individual leadership level. This is particularly
relevant for women, lower castes and tribals. As seen in Pakistan’s ‘Capacity Development of
Women’ project, the women trained in the period of 2001-08, had made significant achievements in
their role as emerging leaders.

Box 7
Former Women Councillors Continue their Community Activism
In Khanpur of District Rahim-yar-Khan, Pakistan, the complete city observed a shutter down strike against the
unscheduled load shedding of electricity in response to the call made by two young women, one a former
district council member and other a former Tehsil council member. Media reports from the other parts of
Pakistan have also highlighted the role played by former women councillors in leading large mobilisations and
agitating for their demands.
Besides this, in Lahore two former women councillors groomed themselves as trade union leaders. Similarly
many former women councillors have set up non-profit organisations or the CSOs to work closely with the
community on pressing issues.
In India, dalits (Scheduled Castes) comprise about 16.2 per cent of India’s population and their
contribution in terms of labour and to culture is enormous and significantly larger than their share in
the population. Similarly, Scheduled Tribes comprise 8.2 per cent of India’s population. Together
both dalits and tribals constitute 24 per cent of the country’s population (Census 2001). What is
disproportionately lower relative to their size in the population is their ownership of land and
property, their access to education and employment of a serious, meaningful and gainful nature,
more importantly their limited and weak role in the entire governance system. Article 243 (D) and
243(T) makes provision for the reservation of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in
every panchayat and municipality in proportion to the population in that area. Despite the
reservations provided for women, dalits, and tribals in panchayats, a large proportion of candidates
from such marginalised groups, are perceived to be ‘proxy’ for elite groups or male kin (in the case
of women) in rural communities. There is a clear need to mobilise support from similarly
marginalised groups in favour of such candidates so that their tenures in electoral office truly reflect
the interests they represent. With the defunct status of Social Justice Committees (standing
committee), cases of atrocities and subjugation of dalit rights even with dalit ERs are still present;
there is a strong need to work on the activation of the Social Justice Committees. With greater
emphasis on capacity development for LGIs, it is expected that the panchayats will become more
active in establishing social justice.
Box 8
Strengthening Leadership from the Marginalised Groups
PRIA was working with CBOs towards building a cadre of potential dalit and tribal leaders in the community.
For this purpose, some districts were identified through state level meetings, where the community
engagement would be of intensive nature. Interventions were designed with the objective of supporting the
potential SC and ST candidates for contesting elections on unreserved seats and for the dalit and tribal
community in general to participate actively in the LGI elections. CBOs (focus on: Women and Youth Groups)
were to anchor the campaign in these areas. These CBOs were provided handholding support by local
organisations working on dalit and tribal related governance issues. They were equipped in terms of basic skills
(to negotiate, mobilise, campaign), knowledge (election procedures, voting rights, legal implications etc.) and
attitude (to deal with the issues of exclusion, discrimination, caste hierarchy) to support the candidates from
the SC community in contesting elections on reserved and unreserved seats.
Similarly, linkages with the district and state administration were also established for getting basic information
– related to electoral rolls, dates of elections, compositions of dalit and tribal voters, sensitive polling booths
etc. and also to exchange information and experiences about the practices adopted during elections at
different levels. PRIA made an effort to prepare a pool of volunteers for playing a vigilant role in the entire
election process. This pool of volunteers identified sensitive polling booths in order to report impediments in
the participation of dalits in the entire election process.

SC and ST elected representative’s lack of confidence to participate in panchayats stemmed from their sense of
insecurity in the village. Their insecurity intensifies primarily due to the absence of any organised structure
within their community as a whole. In the absence of people’s base, dalit and tribal ERs face difficulty in raising
voice for the community issues. Hence it was imperative to build strong community leadership at local level.
Members of the community were made aware of their situation, especially about the vicious cycle in which
they were trapped. Hence, prolonged and sustained community-based action to build awareness needed to be
undertaken. New forms of leadership needed to be developed from within the community and existing
organisations.
PRIA organised training of trainer programme at state level to create a pool of trainers and campaign anchors
that in turn would provide handholding support to dalit and tribal leaders and CBOs at local level.
Source: PRIA, 2009
Participatory monitoring: It is imperative that local governance units are institutional systems with
strong mechanisms of participatory monitoring which would lead to transparency and
accountability. This means inculcating mechanisms for conducting meetings, sharing information,
developing participatory micro plans, procedures and systems, effective implementation and
monitoring of these plans, securing and mobilising resources and maintaining transparent systems of
financial management etc. The lack of an effective monitoring system was a weak point for all the
case studies analysed. In Pakistan’s ‘Karachi City District Government’ project, it was found that, in
CDGK there were 23 monitoring and standing committees (comprising 12-14 members in each), in
the house of 274 as compared to the various other district governments. In most of the councils
these monitoring committees were not functioning regularly but the monitoring in CDGK was good.
A total of 23 observations were made by the 12 committees over the period of one year.
Horizontal and vertical linkages: Establishing and enabling vertical and horizontal linkages, and
interfacing between the voice of civil society (thus of the citizens) and the governance institutions is
a very important component for the success of LGIs. Power to the grassroots will come only if this
link is made strong, and capacity development has a crucial role to play in this. In vertical linkages,
structured mutual learning and decision making opportunities need to be created between the tiers
for a better understanding of roles. In horizontal networking, building relationships and support
mechanisms with other elected representatives and organisations need strengthening. Only then
will the LGIs be able to demonstrate innovative exemplars of transparent and accountable use of
development resources, in favour of the marginalised and excluded. Capacity development
initiatives should also focus on strengthening civil society engagement with the process of
democratic decentralisation and the active pursuit of collaborations and partnerships between
various stakeholders like civil society, citizens and the government across different institutional
settings.
Such linkages were seen in Bangladesh’s ‘Strengthening Local Governance’ project in which the ‘Lok
Morchas’ created an interface between LGIs, local community and government service providers.
The formation of a three tier Lok Morcha linking the three tiers of local administration, viz., Union,
Upazila and district; enabled the much needed horizontal and triangular linkage of local governance,
local administration and local community to establish a participatory and accountable local
governance system. This further helped in developing a micro-macro linkage between the local and
national level. This was done by identifying issues at the local level and sharing them at the national
level with policy planners and champions of strong LGIs through dialogue sessions, seminars and
roundtable conferences. The objective of establishing such linkages was to influence policy decisions
in favour of strong LGIs in the country. Recent initiatives of the present government indicate that
this concept and mechanism of micro-macro is an effective tool in bringing the desired level of
change. In Pakistan the local governance Laws and Rules of Business state the various functions and
responsibilities of monitoring and standing committees, of the House.
Learning networks and platforms: People’s participation in LGIs cannot stay limited to just
participation in the elections, something that may or may not be held at regular intervals. It requires
networks and collaborations at the regional and local levels to take up the issues of participation,
inclusion and accountability through LGIs. To achieve this all the possible actors and stakeholders
namely citizens, civil society, government and corporations at the regional and local level need to
come together. The CSOs will need to specify their policy on dealing with LGIs and related issues.
Working groups will have to be formed to critically and systematically study issues, processes and
institutions, which enable citizen’s voice, participation, deepening of democracy etc. Capacity
development has to be an integrated approach. Regional networks can help to take these issues to
larger platforms and make efforts to engage the regional government and policy makers in
dialogues. This would aid policy advocacy at the regional level, the systematic and on-going
monitoring of existing policies, their implementation and reformulation.
Material capacity: Enhancing the material base of the LGIs is another critical requirement for its
sustenance. This includes the devolution of resources from the higher tiers, as well as power to
strengthen its own revenue generation powers. This is a major challenge since the effective
devolution of resources and financial powers is an issue highly debated and resisted by the layers of
the entrenched politico-bureaucratic system of higher tiers of government. Capacity enhancement
interventions in this area particularly focus on mobilising local resources from the village, from the
infrastructure, physical assets, natural resources, tax revenues etc.
9. Conclusion
Traditionally, capacity development was viewed through the narrow prism of the training of
individuals, which did not serve the purpose. Capacity development now needs to be seen as a
process of performance enhancement driven by the results and impacts to be achieved, rather than
the input based capacity development of individuals. This needs simultaneous capacity development
at the individual, institutional and societal levels. The focus has to be on building individual
leadership of each of the ERs. This is particularly relevant for women and other marginalised groups.
Since many of the newly elected leaders are experiencing political participation in a public space for
the first time in their life, they require several types of capacity enhancement. Therefore, capacity
enhancement interventions aimed at individual strengthening and empowerment of new leaders
has been a fundamental challenge in LGIs. Given the different tiers of local bodies, vertical linkages
across them also need to be strengthened. One of the most significant areas of strengthening is to
enable horizontal linkages between different tiers of local bodies and commensurate tiers of local
administration. In addition, orientation and training to change the attitude of government
functionaries at all levels has also been a major challenge in developing a responsive and
accountable bureaucracy. The second area of capacity enhancement for government functionaries
has to do with specific skills that they may need when they work with the LGIs. For example, in the
system of top-down development interventions, the lowest level government officials have no skills
in planning and monitoring, since all of that has been centralised. They need to learn skills for
promoting micro plans (including budgeting) as well as social audit and community monitoring of the
implementation of these plans. Thereafter, interventions are required to create institutional
mechanisms so that the local bodies function as transparent and accountable bodies. This includes
mechanisms for conducting meetings, preparing minutes, sharing information with the community
at large, securing the people’s participation and contribution, developing participatory micro plans,
procedures and systems, effective implementation and monitoring of these plans, securing and
mobilising resources and maintaining transparent systems of financial management etc. The
capacity development intervention at this level also needs to address the question of enhancing the
material base of the LGIs, to make them financially autonomous and sustainable entities.
Effective functioning of local self-governance also requires:
Active, engaged and organised citizenry;

Enhancing the intellectual capacity of CBOs, to share the perspective of LGI and institutional
capacity to manage these CBOs in synergy with the ERs;
Perhaps the most important aspect of civil society is the intermediary development NGOs. Most
of them have a package of development programmes, which they implement in local areas.
Hence, their orientation and sensitisation to the socio-economic-cultural needs of the people is
important;
Public education for society at large so that different individuals and institutions such as the
media, academic institutions, youth groups, human rights organisations and others are
sensitised and oriented to the challenges faced by the LGIs.
Policy advocacy for a variety of initiatives - structured dialogues, lobbying, campaigning and
public education; this would put immense pressure on the national governments to give a legal
face to capacity development.
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Country Paper: Bangladesh
- Akhter Hussein, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
1. Introduction
Bangladesh is a unitary state with a Parliamentary form of government. The Constitution of the Republic
made explicit provisions for Local Governance Institutions (LGIs) at different tiers of administration. The
different Articles of the Constitution clearly delineate the nature and character of the LGI that the
country ought to have. Article 59 specifies that the local governance in every administrative unit of
the Republic shall be entrusted to bodies composed of persons elected in accordance with the Law
and Act of Parliament shall lay down the functions of the LGIs, which may include administration and
the work of public officers, the maintenance of public order and the preparation and
implementation of plans relating to public services and economic development; and Article 60 states
that for the purpose of giving full effect to the provisions of Article 59 Parliament shall by law confer
powers to LGIs to impose taxes for local purposes, to prepare their budgets and to maintain funds
(GoB, 1998).
Currently in Bangladesh, there are two different and separate systems in place; a de-concentrated
government that includes Divisions, Districts (Zila) and Upazila (UZP) and a local governance system
that includes the Union Parishad (UP), Municipality (Paurashava) and the City Corporation. Besides,
in the country, there are more than 40 indigenous groups with a total population of about 1.8
million. They are mostly concentrated in three hill districts under Chittagong Division. A separate
system of local governance was established there in 1989. The Act 19 of 1989 (later amended in line
with the Chittagong Hill Tracts Treaty, 1997) has established three Local Government Councils (LGCs)
in three districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts. Under the provisions of the Act 22, government
departments have been transferred to the local governances (GoB, 1997). The LGC consists of one
Chairman (tribal) and thirty councillors, out of whom ten are non-tribal and 20 are tribal. Both the
tribal and non-tribal members of the LGC are directly elected by the people of the district. The
declared objectives were to promote the development of the area, protect the cultural heritage and
minimise the sense of deprivation among the tribal people (EC, 2005).
A study on the functioning of local governance units in Bangladesh reveals that these have all along
been under strict administrative control and supervision of the public bureaucracy with limited
power, functions and access to resources. As a result, these local governance bodies could not
emerge as true self-governing bodies with adequate capacity to discharge their assigned roles and
functions efficiently. Consequently, LGIs have always been institutionally and financially weak,
poorly managed and lacked social and political credibility (Khan and Hussain, 2001).
However, at different points of time, various reforms were undertaken to strengthen these bodies.
In recent times, the initiatives on capacity development of the local bodies have been intensified as
there have been some positive developments with respect to the further decentralisation especially
of service delivery functions to the LGIs in Bangladesh. These efforts are supported by the
government, the development partners and civil society. It is perceived that well-functioning local
bodies with the right kind of capacity will ensure good governance at the local level by ensuring
peoples’ participation, transparency and accountability.
2. Understanding the Capacity Development of Local Governance Institutions
Earlier the term capacity development used to mean institution building and organisation
development. In the 1950s and 1960s these terms referred to community development that focused
on enhancing the technological and self-help capacities of individuals. In the 1970s, following a
series of reports on international development emphasis was put on developing technical skills and
also in the administrative sectors of developing countries. In the 1980s the concept of institutional
development was expanded even more. Institutional development was viewed as a long term
process of building up a developing country’s government, public and private sector institutions, and
NGOs (Smillie, 2001). In the 1990s the term came into prominence in the international arena as new
emphasis was placed on capacity building for promoting participation and empowerment (Eade,
2005). In Bangladesh, the capacity development aspect in the context of LGIs also received impetus
with the advocacy movement gaining momentum for a decentralised system of administration with
greater powers and functions for the existing LGIs in the country. In this respect the development
partners played a significant role by taking up projects in the broader area of local governance. In
those initiatives Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) were associated with to implement those projects
in the field, including developing capacity of the LGIs and the local communities as well. In the
process, the capacity development providers were included as they also needed increased capacity
to deliver the desired level of services. In the past, the government’s capacity development for LGIs
was limited to organising some form of orientation and training for the elected officials after these
bodies were constituted after elections. Later when the objective changed to ensuring greater
participation of the people and improving the service delivery situation at the local level through the
local bodies, the government also realised the importance of the need for greater capacity
development of the relevant stakeholders concerned with governance at the local level.
In the process, a broad consensus developed among them (government, development partners and
the CSOs) that capacity development in the said areas needs to focus on the following.
The LGIs themselves, as an overwhelming majority of the Chairperson and members, including
officials of LGIs lack knowledge and understanding of the operational procedures and functions
of these bodies. They are also unaware of the intricate rules with regard to planning, budgeting
and resource management.
The relevant institutions responsible for capacity development of LGIs have inadequate facilities;
human resources lack competency and training modules are out dated.
The Local Government Division of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and
Cooperatives (MoLGRD&C) also lacks the capacity to monitor the functions of the local bodies.
The local communities for whom these local bodies have been constituted also lack knowledge
and understanding about their roles and functions and also the capacity to participate in the
affairs of these bodies where there are provisions for such participation.
As such, all the stakeholders concerning good local governance at the local level have viewed
capacity development from the above perspectives. As a result, initiatives in the form of projects
and programmes undertaken so far in this area have tried to address the capacity development
issues mentioned above.
3. Policies and Programmes Related to Capacity Development
In recent times, the government has decided to accelerate the decentralisation process and
strengthen the LGIs in the country. A number of policy decisions have been taken in this direction.

3.1 The Government Policy

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) have recommended a strategic agenda for
Bangladesh for achieving the goal of accelerated poverty reduction that includes, among others,
local governance and decentralisation that needs both attention and improvement. The key targets
identified in this area are strengthening the resource position of UPs and Paurashavas, establishing
of all constitutionally mandated LGIs (Upazila and Zila Parishad), expanding performance based
budgetary support to UPs, and strengthening the participatory role of civil society. The above policy
guidelines indicate a positive attitude and commitment on the part of the government for
decentralisation and strengthening of the LGIs in the country.
The other notable policy development that has been seen in recent times is that under the system of
transfer from the central government, the UPs are entitled to receive one per cent of the land
transfer tax collected by the central government. Earlier the practice was that the fund remained at
the Upazila and the account was managed by the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO). The UPs were
entitled to incur expenditure from this source for paying the salaries of the UP Secretaries, Gram
Police and an honorarium to the UP Chairperson and members. The surplus could be used for
implementing development schemes prepared by the UPs. Now, the UP’s share of the one per cent
of the land transfer tax is directly transferred to the UP account. This has provided the UPs more
control over their transferred resources.
The other positive initiative towards decentralisation and strengthening of local governance is the
introduction of the system of providing direct block grants to the UPs by shifting resources from the
Annual Development Block Grant earlier exclusively channelled through the Upazila administration.
The terms and conditions for the utilisation of the grant have also been somewhat relaxed as
compared to the earlier stringent system thus providing more flexibility to the UPs. At the same
time, with funding from the World Bank and other development partners a nationwide project called
the Local Government Support Project (LGSP) covering all the UPs in the country in phases with the
provision of providing direct block grants and capacity development of all the UPs has been under
implementation. The government has already decided to take up LGSP II after completion of the
LGSP I in June 2011 (World Bank and GoB, 2011).
3.2 Development Partners’ Policy
Recently, the issues of LGIs have been receiving increasing attention from the development
partners. A number of interventions have been made and some others are on with their support for
strengthening LGIs. It needs to be mentioned here that all these initiatives have given due
importance to capacity development of the LGIs, the elected representatives, officials and the local
communities. It has been perceived that the above mentioned constituent elements lack capacities
to discharge their mandated roles and functions as such their capacities are to be developed by
incorporating different interventions in this particular area in almost all the projects funded by the
development partners.
World Bank
In Bangladesh, the World Bank is of the view that decentralisation offers promise to improve
governance in general and LGIs in particular. The World Bank is of the opinion that the
decentralisation programme is not a substitute but a complement to the on-going activities of the
other government agencies and NGOs. In recent times, the World Bank and the Asian Development
Bank (ADB) provided financial assistance for the development of Paurashavas (municipalities).
In line with the above, the World Bank and other development partners have initiated the LGSP and
the World Bank and the government have already decided to take up the LGSP II project after the
LGSP I is completed.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) pursues a sectoral approach in
extending development assistance to Bangladesh. The sectors are health and population, economic
growth and democracy and governance. Local governance falls within the purview of the broad
sector of democracy and governance. In the past, USAID has implemented a project titled
‘Democracy Partnership’ in Bangladesh. The project’s goal and objective was to ‘increase the
responsiveness of local elected bodies and government institutions’. The project was implemented
in partnership with 11 NGOs working in different parts of the country. Of the 11 NGOs, five
(International Voluntary Services - IVS, CARE- Bangladesh, BNPS, WAVE Foundation and Uttaran)
worked exclusively with the UPs and the rest (Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Services - RDRS, Rupantar, CDS
etc.) worked with the UPs as well as with local communities. One of the major focus areas of those
activities was capacity development of the various stakeholders in the local governance process.
The USAID also implemented a project ‘Building a National Constituency for Strong Local
Government’. The project was developed on the basis of lessons learned from the earlier project
implemented by them. The project aimed to develop a coalition of different sections of civil society
for advocacy for policy reform for establishing a strong LGI in the country. Various sections of civil
society were included in the project initiative that included politicians, champions for strong LGI in
the bureaucracy, academics, media, NGOs and different associations of LGIs. The specific activities
implemented were action research, rapid field appraisal, seminars and workshops, public dialogues,
exchange visits by LGI functionaries and the use of media especially, folk media. The project
activities targeted people at the grassroots and at the national levels. All these initiatives addressed
the issue of institutional capacity development of the LGIs and their constituencies.
Recently, USAID has launched a new project titled Strengthening Democratic Local Governance
(SDLG). The current project has chosen a number of focus areas for interventions. The LGIs and their
elected representatives are the target groups for capacity development.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
In the area of local governance the UNDP aims to provide improved, participatory local governance
for socio-economic development and poverty alleviation through the delivery of sustainable basic
infrastructure and services; developing capacity of LGIs to plan, finance and manage basic
development activities in a responsive and accountable manner; and drawing lessons on improved
local governance practices with wider relevance in Bangladesh.
The main focus is to pilot systems and processes that would contribute to strengthening LGIs
through greater fiscal devolution, participatory planning and implementation and improved
management and accountability of services in Bangladesh.
Currently, the UNDP is involved in implementing two projects, Local Governance Support Project -
Learning and Innovation Component (LGSP-LIC), which aims at promoting poverty reduction and the
achievement of Millennium Development Goals through developing the basic service delivery
capacities of UPs and Participatory Assistance for Strengthening Upazila Parishad (UZP) through
capacity development initiatives and policy advocacy, for elected councils through capacity
development and policy support activities to improve the capacity of Upazila Parishads so that they
are responsive to local needs (UNDP website, 2011).
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
The SDC in Bangladesh intends to facilitate the decentralisation and devolution of power to LGIs by
working directly with them. In doing so, priority is given to enhancing the role of civil society in
addressing the needs and rights of the poor people. The LGI activities focus on supporting civil

society so that they become a key force in LGI by promoting participation and demanding
accountability; and developing the capacity of LGI so that they can effectively serve the local
population and be accountable to them.
SDC’s strategy and major activities in this particular area are:
Establish an institutional mechanism for the Basic National Training Programme of National
Institute of Local Government (NILG) for improving the basic training materials, carry out basic
national training for resource persons and also establish an effective monitoring and feedback
system to incorporate lessons learned from the field in its basic training programme.
Establish an institutional mechanism for harmonisation and instituting training for UPs.
Establish an effective monitoring system for the Basic National Training Programme.
Mobilise and provide back-up support through resource persons for the Basic National Training
Programme for local bodies.
Develop course curricula for the Basic National Training Programme.
Prepare the criteria for the selection of course curricula.
Review and update the course curricula.
Design and prepare the training manuals.
Review the monitoring system for reviewing the training manuals.
Provide training to resource persons for providing basic back-up support to Upazila resource
teams to provide basic national training to local bodies.
Prepare terms of references for the resource persons.
Conduct training for the resource persons for the Basic National Training Programme.
Create a system for monitoring and evaluation of training courses and regular feedback.
Sharing learning.
Peer-to-peer learning.
Organising regional and national workshops and other events (NILG, 2011).
DANIDA
The DANIDA supports the Local Government Institutions Capacity Building Project (LGICB) which is
one of the components of the Water and Sanitation Sector Programme Support II (WSSPS – II)
project being implemented by the Local Government Division of the MoLGRD&C. The primary aim of
the LGICB project is the capacity development of NILG and the capacity development of LGIs through
enabling NILG as an institution providing high quality training and technical assistance to local
bodies; and to develop the capacity of Ups and Paurashavas as transparent and capable institutions,
so that they can meet the present and future challenges in discharging basic services to meet the
increasing needs of people specially the rural and urban poor (PMID, 2010).
In recent times, with the help of development partners attention has been directed towards
strengthening LGIs in Bangladesh as a response to the crisis in governance particularly in the area of
service delivery. Policy advocacy for decentralised, efficient, accountable and responsive LGIs has
been on-going. At the same time, various interventions are being made at the institution and
community levels to improve the capacities and responsiveness of LGIs. Some of the more effective
interventions are based on the approach to strengthening, LGIs by developing capacity; on the
supply side and on the demand side, developing community through awareness creation (Hussain,
2005).
3.3 Civil Society Organisations/NGOs
Over the years, the CSOs in Bangladesh have been playing an increasing role in various areas relating
to local governance. In the current context, CSOs include community based organisations (CBOs),
NGOs, citizen’s forums and research and advocacy organisations. These institutions and

organisations have implemented a number of different programmes and projects particularly for the
strengthening and capacity development of LGIs and policy advocacy for legal reform for
decentralisation. Here it needs to be mentioned that the efforts of these organisations are primarily
supported by the development partners in the form of financial assistance.
The initiatives made by some of the CSOs that encompass capacity development of LGIs in
Bangladesh are mentioned below.
Wave Foundation
The Wave Foundation has been working in the area of local governance and civil society
empowerment to address issues related to good governance since 1997. Over the years, it has
implemented a number of projects aimed at improving governance at the local level, either directly
or in partnership with other organisations. The broad objectives of these efforts have been to
develop the capacity of the LGIs, CSOs and partners for strengthening LGIs and ensuring responsive
public services and establishing micro-macro linkages at the national level to formulate or reform
policies for strong and decentralised local governance. It also facilitated the process of the formation
of a governance network of NGOs, the South Western Advocacy Network (SWAN). Later, the WAVE
Foundation along with SWAN partners formed the ‘Governance Coalition’ with the motto of
promoting responsive governance and human rights especially focused at the local level. The
Coalition intends to build peoples alliances at all levels to address issues related to good governance
and human rights. The strategic focus of the Coalition is strengthening LGIs through promoting
effective civic monitoring of local level development initiatives and the delivery of services based on
the collaborating framework among the LGIs, government administrative machinery, civil society
and the CBOs. In the light of the experiences and lessons learnt from the implementation of
different local governance projects, the WAVE Foundation developed and implemented the project
‘Strengthening Local Governance through Participatory and Responsive Public Services (Phase I & II)’
with financial assistance from Danida (Wave, 2011).
Democracy Watch
The Democracy Watch perceives that the LGIs in Bangladesh lack capacity and are weak, with limited
powers and functions and are almost completely dependent on the central government for
resources. In view of the above, the Democracy Watch has undertaken and implemented “People’s
Reporting Centre: Strengthening Partnership between People and Local Elected Bodies for Better
Management of Union Parishad in Bangladesh” project in 28 unions under four districts from March
2006 to December 2010. The objectives of the project were:
Poor and disadvantaged people should enjoy access to better services in health, education,
agriculture and alternative dispute resolution.
Involve citizen committees, general people, CSOs, CBOs in budgeting, planning, implementation
and monitoring of UP activities.
Improve the institutional capacity of Democracy Watch staff and partner NGOs to implement the
project.
Democracy Watch implemented this project in partnership with other local NGOs. The project
adopted a multi prong strategy to achieve its goals and objectives. The strategy included the
relevant stakeholders at the local level. These were the local bodies (UPs), the local community
people, local level government functionaries of different line departments and research initiatives to
identify issues that could be taken up for reform particularly be of advantage to the poor and the
disadvantaged. The other component of the said strategy was forging a partnership with local NGOs
for the implementation of various project activities that had been planned to achieve its goals and
objectives (Democracy Watch, 2011).

CARE Bangladesh
Weak governance has been identified by CARE Bangladesh as an underlying cause of poverty and
marginalisation in the country. Furthermore, it is seen as a domain of change in CARE Bangladesh’s
pathways of change for making an impact in the lives of the poorest and most marginalised.
In the light of the above, CARE Bangladesh is implementing a ‘Building Pro-poor, Inclusive and
Gender Sensitive Local Governance Project’ to contribute towards building participatory, inclusive,
pro-poor and gender sensitive governance in two districts. The specific objective of the project is to:
improve the capacity of 35 selected UPs to provide leadership for pro-poor development;
facilitate better access to services and resources for the poorest and most marginalised citizens.
The project is also trying to improve the accountability and responsiveness of LGIs in Bangladesh,
specifically the UPs through a two-pronged strategy of enhancing the capacity of UPs to respond to
the needs and demands of their constituents and to demonstrate pro-poor tendencies in resources
and services allocation and clear developmental leadership; and through enhancing the capacity and
opportunity for citizens, particularly the most marginalised and poorest citizens, to participate in
political and development processes, therefore creating an environment favourable for improved
dialogue and representation of the interests of the extreme poor in LGI decision making at the UP
level.
Simultaneously, CARE Bangladesh is also implementing ‘Social and Economic Transformation of the
Ultra Poor (SETU)’ project in four districts in the northwest of Bangladesh. Among other objectives,
the project seeks to achieve improved capacity, downwards accountability and responsiveness of
the UPs for engaging with and meeting the development needs of extremely poor men and women
(pro-poor governance) and the capacity of project stakeholders for working with the extremely poor
and for influencing wider policy making processes (learning and influencing) (CARE Bangladesh,
2011).
4. Approaches to Capacity Development
In Bangladesh, mainly the government and the CSOs are involved in providing capacity building
services in the area of LGIS. The approaches pursued by them are quite different from one another.
However, when there is partnership among them in the area of capacity development then some
conformity is also seen. The government generally follows the traditional approach of providing
capacity development support through different government institutions like, the NILG, Bangladesh
Academy for Rural Development (BARD) and Rural Development Academy (RDA). The elected
representatives and staff and other related government officials are provided orientation and
training on the different aspects of the roles and management of the LGIS. The training modules are
prepared by these institutions and the trainings are delivered by the designated faculty members
and invited resource persons (mostly government officials) having perceived expertise in those
particular areas. However, in recent times the government with funding support from the World
Bank is about to complete the implementation of a local governance project, LGSP, covering all the
UPs of the country. In the said project the initial plan was to implement the capacity development
component of the project in partnership with CSOs, but later, the plan was shelved and it was done
with the help of the government officials posted at the Upazila level. However, these officials
received training of trainers (ToTs) from the above mentioned government training institutions. Now
the government and the World Bank are designing the next phase of the LGSP and it has been
learned that other than the government capacity building service providers, the private and CSOs
are also going to be involved in the capacity development initiative to be designed for the LGIS.
Besides training, other methods like, peer learning, horizontal learning, study tour etc., will also be
included in the methodology for capacity development.

As mentioned earlier, the CSOs especially NGOs, discussed in detail in the next section, are also
involved in the capacity development of the LGIs. These NGO initiatives are mostly funded by various
development partners with the focus on improving governance and service delivery at the local
level. It needs to be mentioned here that that the NGO approach to capacity development is
somewhat different from the government approach. The NGO approach is more intensive, wider
and project objective driven. It is intensive in the sense that the local bodies selected by the project
are directly facilitated by them for capacity development. It is wider in the sense that other
stakeholders especially the local communities are also included in the capacity development
activities. The NGOs perceive that the local communities also have an important role to play in the
functioning of the LGIs as there are legal provisions for their participation in those bodies. As such,
their capacities also need to be built for effective participation, which in turn, will ensure
transparency and accountability of the LGIs. In many cases, national NGOs implement these projects
in partnership with different local NGOs. In this kind of arrangement, there are also provisions for
the capacity development of the local NGO staff in LGIs so that they can implement the projects
efficiently and effectively in the field. In the case of the NGOs, the training materials are generally
prepared by them and they follow a number of methods for the purpose of capacity development,
which include, training, coaching, accompaniment, study visits and peer learning etc.
5. Actors/Institutions Involved in Capacity Development
Recognising the importance of continuous training and research in the LGIs and rural development,
the Government of Bangladesh established three different institutions, in separate locations, under
the MoLGRD&C. These are the NILG, BARD, and the Rural Development Academy (RDA). These
organisations though established at different points of time contributed to building the capacities of
the concerned human resources, both elected and official, for the efficient functioning of the LGIs
and their policy formulation and thereby ensuring good governance at the local level.
It has been mentioned earlier that the civil society organisations/NGOs are also playing a proactive
role in building capacities of the LGIs. Their efforts are also directed to building the capacities of the
other stakeholders including the local communities.
The activities of some of the actors involved in capacity development are discussed below.
Local Government Division (LGD)
The Local Government Division is one of the two divisions of the MoLGRD&C. There are a number of
departments and agencies that are under this Division such as the Local Government Engineering
Department (LGED), the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), Dhaka Water and
Sewerage Authority (WASA), Chittagong Water and Sewerage Authority (CWASA), and NILG. The
LGD is responsible for regulating monitoring, inspecting, and financing LGIs (UPs, municipalities and
City Corporations). In the field the LGD is represented by the Director of Local Government (DLG) at
the Division level and by the Deputy Director of Local Government (DDLG) at the district level. These
officials are responsible for supervising and monitoring the activities of LGIs. The DLG plays a critical
role in policy formulation with respect to capacity development in the area of LGIs. Here it needs to
be mentioned that in the LGSP project that covers the whole of the county, capacity development is
one of the main components. The responsibility of policy formulation and implementation with
respect to the capacity development component lies with the Divisions and other institutions that
are under it.
National Institute of Local Government (NILG)
The NILG is an institution under the MoLGRD&C. It is run by a Board of Governors, which is
composed of a Chairman, a Vice Chairman and 13 members. The Chairman and Vice Chairman are
members of the council of ministers. The Director General (DG) of NILG acts as the Member

Secretary of the Board. The Board formulates policies for the NILG and approves the budget. The DG
is responsible for the overall management. The NILG’s organisational set up consists of four divisions
namely, Training and Consultancy, Research and Planning, Programming and Evaluation and
Administration and Coordination.
NILG performs three broad functions i.e., training, consultancy and research which include:
Training of LGD staff, LGI elected representatives and staff.
Conducting research studies on LGIs, rural development and related areas.
Holding national and international seminars, workshops, and conferences to disseminate
international and national research results.
Publishing books, research reports and journals on LGIs and related subjects.
Providing consultancy services to the government (LGD) and LGIs.
The NILG provides training directly to final beneficiaries. The large majority of trainees are
represented by UP Chairmen and members, and elected officials and staff of Paurashavas. Besides,
government officials working at the field level also receive various trainings at the NILG.
Rural Development Academy (RDA)
The RDA, Bogra was established on 19 June, 1974 as a specialised rural development institution for
training, research and action research. The Academy is an autonomous body officiated with the
Rural Development and Co-operatives Division of the MoLGRD&C. It is governed by a Board of
Governors headed by the Honourable Minister for LGRD&C. The Director General of the Academy is
the Member Secretary of the Board and acts as head of the institution for all practical purposes.
Training is one of the three mandated functions of the RDA. It provides training to the personnel of
nation building departments, people's representatives, NGO personnel and farmers with a view to
creating a cadre of professionals in the field of rural development. The wide variety of training and
related programmes at RDA may broadly be categorised as skill and awareness development; on the
job functional training; orientation, study tours, workshops, seminars and conferences etc.
Research is another mandatory function of the RDA. It conducts research on various issues of rural
development that helps the government’s policy formulation for the rural development sector.
Action research is the other vital component of the Academy’s three pronged strategy for rural
development. The main purpose of undertaking action research is to find out appropriate
solutions for the socio-economic problems of the rural areas and develop replicable models for
rural development.
Apart from these, the RDA also undertakes a series of self-assisted demonstrative agricultural
activities in the different units of its Demonstration Farm.
Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD)
The BARD was established as a training institute to train government officials and representatives of
the LGIs and village organisations in various subjects related to rural development. It is an
autonomous institution governed by a Board of Governors of which the Minister for LGRD&C is the
Chairperson. Administratively, it is attached to the MoLGRD&C. The Board of Governors formulates
policies and the Director General of BARD as the Chief Executive implements the policies and
conducts the day-to-day affairs. The activities of the Academy are carried out by its faculty members
working in nine Divisions, each of which is headed by a Director. The Divisions are divided into two
broad categories, Service Divisions and Academic Divisions. The Service Divisions include Training;
Research; Project; and Administration. The Academic Divisions are Rural Administration and Local
Government; Rural Economics and Management; Rural Education and Social Development; Rural
Sociology and Demography; and Agriculture and Environment.
The mandated functions of BARD include:

training of government officials and others concerned with rural development;
test and experimentation on concepts and theories of development;
evaluation of the programmes and activities relating to rural development;
providing advisory and consultative services to the government and other agencies;
guiding and supervising national and foreign students in their dissertation works;
conducting national and international seminars, conferences and workshops;
helping policy planners in the field of rural development.
The Academy has been conducting socio-economic research since its inception. Research findings
are used as training material by the Academy itself and as information material by the ministries,
Planning Commission and policy makers for drawing up development programmes. In some
particular cases, these are also circulated among the international agencies and institutions.
The Academy is a designated national training institute. Its clientele for training includes both
officials and non-officials. Officials comprise of civil servants and officers of nation building
departments while the non-officials are LGI councillors, local leaders, and members of cooperatives,
students of educational institutions and members of voluntary organisations. A unified approach to
research, training and experimentation in solving the problems of rural development has given the
Academy special significance as a training institution.
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
The NGOs operating in Bangladesh can be divided in three main categories, international, national
and local. Initially their operation focused on the relief and rehabilitation of war affected people.
With time, their activities spread to other areas such as, income generating activities, micro credit,
education and health service delivery, environment and advocacy.
NGOs have strengths and proven experience in successfully mobilising communities, developing
awareness and building capacity of local institutions, and conducting advocacy activities. Some NGOs
such as, Democracy Watch, PRIP Trust, Wave Foundation, Rupantar, South Asia Partnership, Uttaran,
Green Hill, FIVDB have either implemented or are currently involved in LGI projects.
6. Inclusion
Inclusion in the current context means scope or opportunity for the participation of various sections
of society especially the women, poor and marginalised in capacity development concerning local
governance. In the traditional governmental approach, only the elected representatives, LGI staff
members and concerned government officials are included in capacity development initiatives.
There is, in fact, very limited opportunity or scope to include the local community in capacity
development activities. As the local communities are not included, the participation or inclusion
especially of the marginalised sections of the society has been a remote possibility. Yet, there are
provisions in the LGSP I (Government and World Bank project) project for the active participation of
local community members in different activities of the LGIs. Yet, for some reason or other this part
has been ignored and no initiative has been taken to build the capacity of the local community
members. This would have, to some extent, ensured the inclusion of the various sections of the
community in capacity development efforts. However, it is learned that this aspect will be addressed
in Phase II of the LGSP.
The CSOs involved in capacity development at the local level try to ensure inclusiveness of the poor
and the marginalised sections of the local communities. The NGOs, in most of the cases, form CBOs
to act as watchdogs and facilitating organisations in their projects concerning LGIs. While forming
those CBOs, the implementing NGOs consciously include women, poor and marginalised as

members. This inclusion as members provides them the opportunity to raise their voices and also
participate in various activities that are undertaken for capacity development especially of the
members of the CBOs. On the other hand, as CBO members they also interact with LGIs and other
agencies of the government. Such opportunities also help in developing capacities particularly of the
women, poor and marginalised members of the local communities.
7. Challenges to Capacity Development
The challenges could be seen from the following perspectives.
Continued government policy and resource support: The movement for increased decentralisation
and strengthening of LGIs is gaining increasing momentum in the country. The government is also
coming forward with policy support for this purpose as institutionalising the capacity development
initiative in the area of LGIs needs continued policy support. The other reality is that resources are
needed to develop the capacity of various stakeholders. In the coming days the need for resource
support from the government will increase. In view of the above reality, the most important
challenge to capacity development in the area of LGIs is the continued policy and resource support
from the government.
Increasing the capacity of the capacity development service provider: The current capacity
development service providers have limited capacity as compared to the demand for their services.
In the coming days, the demand for such support will increase manifold. As such, it would be a
challenge to increase the capacity of the service providers in catering to the increasing demands of
the LGI stakeholders. The other challenge for the service providers would be to equip them to meet
the demand driven capacity development needs of the LGIs as well as other stakeholders.
Continued development partners’ support: Currently, different development partners are coming
forward with funding support for capacity development for LGIs. They are supporting the
government as well as the initiatives of various CSOs in this particular area. It is worthwhile to
mention here that the donor support depends on their priorities which changes from time to time
with changes in their respective policy perspective. As such, there would always be uncertainties
with respect to continued support from development partners in developing capacities in LGIs. This
fact will always pose a challenge to capacity development initiatives in this particular area.
Increased capacity development of the community to ensure effective participation: Improved LGIs
depends mainly on the active and effective participation of the local communities. This also requires
their capacity development. For this purpose, continued focus and efforts have to be made to build
their capacities in this area. Sustaining this aspect of capacity development efforts for a long time
would also be a challenge.
Create scope for greater inclusion of women, poor and marginalised: Effective participation of
women, poor and marginalised is essential for incorporating their voices and safeguarding their
interests in the LGI process. To widen the scope to include them in this process through supportive
policy and conscious effort will always remain a challenge in any capacity development effort in LGIs.
8. Future Policy Recommendations
In the light of the discussion above, the following recommendations have been made for further
strengthening the capacity development of concerned LGI stakeholders.
A comprehensive capacity development policy, taking into account all aspects of LGIs and the
needs of all stakeholders, should be developed by the government through a participatory
consultative process.

Based on the formulated policy, a plan and implementation strategy need to be developed, in a
participatory manner jointly by the government and other stakeholders including the civil
society and the private sector.
Based on the developed policy, plan and strategy, the training needs assessment of concerned
stakeholders and local bodies should be conducted to develop the curriculum, module and
manual by harmonising training materials/manuals already developed for the capacity
development of various local bodies and stakeholders under different project initiatives. For this
purpose, a network needs to be developed between the capacity development providers and
the recipients of the capacity development services.
A survey needs to be conducted to identify the relevant and competent institutions both in the
public and private sectors from where local governance stakeholders particularly LGIs can also
seek their need based trainings and other capacity development supports.
An initiative should be made to harmonise the efforts of different development partners and the
government so that a unified approach could be followed to avoid duplication and waste of
resources in the area of capacity development.
9. References
CARE-Bangladesh (2011), Evaluation Terms of Reference, Dhaka.
Democracy Watch (2011), ‘Final Evaluation Report of the Project People’s Reporting Centre:
Strengthening Partnership between People and Local Elected Bodies for Better Management
of Union Parishad in Bangladesh’, Dhaka.
Eade D. (2005), ‘Capacity Building: An Approach to People Cantered Development’, UK and Ireland:
Oxfam UK and Ireland.
European Commission (2005), ‘Support to Local Governance in Bangladesh, Project Identification
Mission: Main Report’, Dhaka.
Government of Bangladesh (1997), Chittagong Hill Tracts Treaty, 1997.
Government of Bangladesh (1998), ‘The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh’.
Hussain, A. (2005), ‘Local Governance in Bangladesh: The Emerging Role of the Development
Partners’, Asian Affairs, Dhaka.
Khan, Z. R. and Hussain, A. (2001), ‘Review/Stocktaking of Local Governance in Bangladesh’, SDC,
Dhaka.
Khan, Z. R. and Hussain, A. (2001), ‘The study on Advocacy Issues on Local Level Governance with
Particular Focus on the Union Parishad’, CARE-Bangladesh, Dhaka.
National Institute of Local Government (NILG) (2011), Discussion Note, Dhaka.
PMID (2010), ‘Final Report on the Study on Capacity Building Initiatives under Water and Sanitation
Sector: Opportunities and Challenges’, Dhaka.
Smillie, I. (2001), ‘Patronage or Partnership: Local Capacity Building in a Humanitarian Crisis’, pp. 1–
5, Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.
UNDP Website (2011).
Wave Foundation (2011), ‘Final Evaluation Report of the Strengthening Local Governance through
Participatory and Responsive Public Services Project’, Dhaka.
World Bank and Government of Bangladesh (GoB) (May 2011), ‘Second Local Governance Support
Project: Early Thoughts on Design’, Local Government Division, GoB and World Bank.

Country Paper: Sri Lanka
- Sunil Goonetilleke, Federation of Sri Lanka Local
Government Authorities, Sri Lanka
1. Understanding Capacity Development

Capacity can be defined as the totality of inputs needed by an actor to realise its purpose (PGP,
2010)7. In the context of Local Governance Institutions (LGIs) this would mean that these institutions
are capable of realising their core purpose such as deepening democracy at the local level, up-
holding social and economic equity and justice, and ensuring the provision of efficient public service
to the citizens.
Even if capacity development is often understood to be the provision of training to individuals
through some pre-determined package of inputs, a variety of other approaches and processes such
as providing support to institutional strengthening, institutional learning, study exposures, horizontal
exchanges, coaching and mentoring etc., are other examples of the practical, hands-on and
experiential learning process of capacity development.
Capacity development of LGIs is a long-term process based on systematic learning of new
knowledge, skills and attitudes. Capacity development is a two way process, where the learner sees
the value of, and takes responsibility for learning and the external actors provide a variety of inputs
to accelerate the learning process.
2. The Policies and Programmes on Capacity Development of LGIs
LGIs have a long history, extending to the period of the Sinhalese Kings dating back to the Fourth
Century. Village level organisations called Gam Sabhas functioned under village leaders who had the
power to administer local affairs and also perform judicial functions such as dealing with petty
offences and reconciling disputes. What is understood as LGIS today is an expanded version of such
responsibilities, operating under the democratic system of governance. However, certain functions
such as judicial and agrarian services have been taken over by other authorities.
The central government provides financial transfers to cover salary bills in whole or in part for
employees of LGIs, who are generally assigned and ultimately supervised by the office of the
Provincial Commissioner of local governance or a central government unit. There is no legally
mandated policy governing revenue sharing. Ad hoc decisions are made from time to time by the
central government’s Finance Commission.
The LGIs in Sri Lanka, in its present form, has a long history with some local authorities such as the
Municipal Councils in Colombo and Kandy dating back to 1865; the National Policy on Local
Government came into effect in December 1999. In formulating the policy the policy makers have
viewed capacity development of LGIs as a requirement to make LGIs an integral part of the system of
representative government (Govt. of Sri Lanka, 2009). Their aim of incorporating capacity
7
Research Concept Note

development into the National Policy on Local Government is to enable the LGIs to fully exercise
their authority to mobilise local strengths and resources. The policy makers in the Ministry of
Provincial Councils and Local Government, too, contribute to this understanding of capacity
development of LGIs. While advocating the establishment of a National Strategy on Local
Government Capacity Development the policy makers have emphasised the skill development of
local governance personnel in the policy itself.
The induction training for all island services is undertaken by the Centre, while others are mostly
trained on the job. Some provincial councils, such as those of the Central and North-western
provinces, have their own training centres for LGI employees. There are other central organisations,
such as the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration, that undertakes training. In the
Ministry of Local Government, the Sri Lanka Institute of Local Government assists the LGIs with
training. Since foreign training is a centrally reserved subject, the line ministry has control over the
training of LGI officials.
The National Policy on Local Government published through Gazette Extraordinary number 163/26
of 18 December 2009, was introduced by the Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils
for the promotion and strengthening of local democratic governance.
Capacity development of LGIs has been incorporated into the National Policy as one of the ‘changes
to local governance’ (ibid) required to make LGIs an integral part of the system of representative
government with the highest possible level of democratic decentralisation and autonomy, which is
mentioned as this policy’s overall medium-term objective. In reaching this objective, the policy
provides for immediate measures to develop local governance capacity to gradually assume the new
decentralised role with confidence. The Preamble of the policy states that the ‘the capacity will be
built through collective vision, participatory governance, rational review of powers and functions,
allied legal and statutory reforms and also the development of necessary infrastructure and human
resources’ (ibid). Further, under Section 3: Aims, the policy includes ‘building the capacity of Local
Authorities to fully exercise the powers assigned to them to harness local strengths and resources’
(ibid) as one of the aims. Also in item 4.6.2, capacity development of human resources is particularly
emphasised by stating that ‘local governance capacity development will, therefore, receive highest
attention and support for skills development training and regular performance assessment’ (ibid).
By expecting the Ministry to establish a National Strategy on Local Government Capacity
Development and emphasising that skill development of LGI personnel will be achieved through
networking with training institutions, technical agencies, universities, LGI experts and academia that
specialised in local governance and participatory planning and development, the policy provides for
institutionalising capacity development in LGIs and guidance for the process of capacity
development (ibid). By including participatory planning specialists in the network of institutions and
persons to be involved in the skill development of local governance personnel the policy has
provided for a bottom up and demand driven approach in the capacity development of human
resources.
Notwithstanding that participatory planning is to be employed in personal skill development,
capacity development initiatives for LGIs could be made more effective if a bottom up and demand
driven approach is emphasised for all aspects of capacity development. This is more important
considering the present practise of skill development by the main providers, SLILG and Management
Development Training Institute under the Provincial Chief Secretary, which is usually top down and
supply driven.
The SLILG is responsible for planning and implementing the national programme for capacity
development of LGIs throughout the country. This national programme includes preparing and
delivering annual training programmes for the skill development of LGI staff, educational courses for

LGI staff and preparing and conducting training programmes/courses for LGI staff in response to
specific requests. In addition, SLILG coordinates other regular training programmes for LGI capacity
development such as the training conducted by national agencies such as SLFI, SLIDA and provincial
government authorities as MDTI and IDITI.
The main resource provider for capacity development of LGIs is the Sri Lanka Institute of Local
Government (SLILG) which was established under Act No. 31 of 1999 with the objective of fulfilling
the capacity development and human resources development needs of the provincial councils and
LGIs. Functioning under the Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government (MPCLG) the
main functions of SLILG include providing training for members and officers and members of
provincial councils and LGIs to assist in building up a cadre of competent provincial and LGI officers
and personnel in the country with the idea of ensuring good governance; making available to
provincial councils and LGI services of specialists in improving their organisational systems and
management capabilities; providing a forum for the critical appraisal of provincial and LGI’s
management systems and practices; assisting provincial, management development and training
units (MDTUs) in management development, providing necessary data and information to the
Ministry for formulating national policies on local governance and networking with local and foreign
institutes in disseminating information, holding conferences and seminars and publishing books and
magazines on provincial and local governance. However, the SLILG considers the training of
personnel their main function and they provide personal skills development for LGI employees on a
regular basis8.
Cognisance of capacity development of LGIs by other capacity development support providers varies
with the source and type of support provided. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) evaluation study
of capacity development in Sri Lanka has defined
capacity development as operations primarily aimed at supporting processes through which n
ational organisations and groups become more capable of mobilising and using resources to a
chieve agreed objectives on a sustainable basis (ADB, 2006). In this context capacity development
of LGIs become operations supporting LGIs to be more capable and efficient in the management and
delivery of services to the constituents of the LGIs.
The Local Governance Project (LoGoPro) of the UNDP considers capacity development as developing
the capacity of LGIs to deliver public goods, services and to undertake need based planning, and
providing support for establishing a framework to coordinate the implementation of local
development plans (UNDP, 2010).
The USAID funded Transparent, Accountable, Local Governance (TALG) Programme implemented by
the Asia Foundation and associated partners were aimed at developing the capacity of LGIs through
strengthening democratic local governance and establishing the rule of law (The Asia Foundation,
2005). Although this programme’s emphasis was on identifying, introducing, and demonstrating
effective models of local governance and community participation, assistance was also provided to
individual LGIs in Sri Lanka’s Southern and Eastern Provinces to develop and implement Tsunami
recovery plans.
The Federation of Sri Lanka Local Government Authorities (FSLGA) aims to develop the capacity of
LGIs through the development of human resources including the elected members of the LGIs while
Practical Action, an NGO involved in the capacity development of LGIs considers developing financial
capacity and a regulatory framework, implementation mechanism of policies for infrastructure
service delivery and skills development of personnel as the basics of LA capacity development.
8
Personal Communication with Director and Training Coordinator of SLILG, 3/02/2011.

EML Consultants (Pvt) Limited, a private sector capacity development support provider to LGIs
mainly in the Eastern Province under the USAID funded Local Governance Capacity Building and TA
Component of the Supporting Regional Governance Programme, considers that elevating the
knowledge and capacity of the LGIs in leadership and legislation, project planning and budgeting,
office management, financial management, proposal development, project cycle management, and
participatory governance will develop the capacity of LGIs.
3. Approaches to Capacity Development
SLILG, the main capacity development support provider with the Government mandate for capacity
development in local governance bodies adopts a top down approach where the capacity
development programmes for the LGI personnel are pre-planned and designed through an
assessment process conducted every few years. According to the Director, SLILG the last
comprehensive needs assessment was done in 1999. SLILG also conducts regular training needs
assessment workshops where the administration of LGIs such as the Secretary of the Local
Authorities participates along with a few section heads of selected LGIs. The most recent of these
workshops was held in 2010.
3.1 SLILG
The training programmes conducted by SLILG focuses on improving the capacity of LGIs in financial
accounting, provision of technical services, e-governance, revenue collection, and citizen
participation. Diploma courses on local governance are conducted in the Sinhala medium in the
Colombo centre and recently commenced in the Tamil medium in Batticaloa and Trincomalee in the
East. Management diploma courses have been conducted in the South Province with UNDP
assistance and will commence in the Uva Province. While these courses are open to both elected
members of LGIs and LGI employees the Financial Management diploma has been limited to the LGI
employees. A certificate level training course on computer usage is also conducted regularly.
The SLILG mainly adopts the following techniques in the delivery of the training.
Traditional lecture type presentations with audio visual aids followed by discussions;
Discussions on a group basis and presentation of group work to plenary sessions;
Writing down answers to quick questions raised by the trainers;
Group exercises.
However, on request SLILG trainers visit LGIs for on the job training when funds are made available
by the requested party or other sources.
The SLILG prepares a forward plan of the planned training for the year and circulates it to the LGIs
where the Secretary of the LGI calls for applications from relevant section heads of the LGIs. The
section head in turn calls for applications from employees in his section, which are forwarded to the
Secretary. Depending on the funds required for the training and the number of places allocated to
the LGI, the Secretary decides on the number of participants that could be sent for the training.
In planning the training courses SLILG attempts to incorporate the requirements of LGIs according to
their perception. The participants consulted were of the view even if some courses suited their
training needs, some sections were of no use to them. They felt that the courses were designed as
‘one size fits all’ and the different levels of local governance in Municipal Councils, Urban Councils
and Pradeshiya Sabhas required training programmes that were fine tuned to suit the needs of the
locale and level of LGIs.
Recently SLILG has undertaken a few demand driven training programmes on financial accounting
which were requested by the MPCLG. A complete list of the SLILG training courses is found in the
‘Prospectus 2011’ published by SLILG (see Annex.2).

3.2 Donor Programmes

The capacity development programmes supported by donor agencies such as the ADB, UNDP and
USAID have adopted the bottom up approach since most of these programmes were preceded by a
field level needs assessment. For example, before launching the Transparent Accountable Local
Governance (TALG) programme which focused on 33 LGIs, the Asia Foundation and its associates
assessed all 33 LGIs prior to their selection as partners of the programme. They had employed the
Local Authority Development Scale (LADS) to assess the pre-programme capacity of the LGIs.
In the TALG programme formal training modules were coupled with individualised support
programmes. Technologies of Participation (TOP) were widely used and the training modules were
designed to improve the technical knowhow of LGI officials and to facilitate the identification of
practical solutions to common problems such as service delivery challenges in solid waste
management and roads and storm water drainage maintenance in the partner LGIs. Further, the
training modules were designed exclusively for the benefit of LGIs.
In addition to field visits, group exercises and computer application practice, innovative training
methods such as follow up coaching and support provided by field level Programme Officers
selected and trained by the implementers also contributed to the success of the capacity
development undertaken by the TALG programme.
The Local Government Infrastructure Improvement Project (LGIIP) supported by ADB in 2005
responded to the needs of LGIs in improving basic infrastructure and services. A needs assessment
was conducted as part of the ADB PPTA. In alignment with the government's devolved structure,
LGIs implemented sub-projects in the areas of water supply, roads, drainage and sewerage, and
other municipal facilities including public libraries, health centres, and office buildings, through
financing from the Local Loans and Development Fund (LLDF).
The LGIIP had adopted a bottom up and demand driven approach, where the LGIs were responsible
for identifying, preparing, proposing, and implementing sub-projects. As against the common
practice of grant based financing for basic infrastructure improvement, partial debt financing even to
small LGIs had brought a paradigm shift, providing LGIs with higher ownership and strong incentives
to increase revenue collection and improve financial management, while a revolving fund created
from repayments in the LLDF, would enable further financing to LGIs. Additional financing is needed
to respond to the growing needs of basic infrastructure and services for people's better livelihood.
The approach of the LGIIP in skill development of LGIs and other participating staff is through active
participation in the project’s activities. The skill development of the involved personnel is on:
Local authority governance and management;
Financial reporting and auditing;
English language proficiency;
Infrastructure project identification and development;
Procurement;
Project management.
The approach of the current UNDP assisted LoGoPro is to develop the capacity of the LGIs to
improve their performance in service delivery in a transparent and accountable manner. The project
aims to enhance local service delivery, strengthen local democratic dialogue and support processes
that enable citizens to hold their local governance institutions accountable.
The LoGoPro focuses on developing democratic governance processes and enhancing service
delivery capacity with a focus on: developing inclusive local democratic processes and strengthening
the role and functioning of the provincial and local councils in service delivery (this component of

the project is at present targeted to the Eastern Province), maintaining a focus on the capacity of the
District and Division Secretariat to carry out their service functions with an emphasis on bolstering
the degree of accountability and transparency in the provision of services, and developing the
mechanisms, which would allow citizens to effectively hold their elected local governances and
service providers accountable and the capacity of CBOs and other actors to utilise these.
3.3 NGO Programmes
The approach of the Sri Lanka Federation of Local Government Authorities (SLFLGA) is to promote
capacity development of the institutions through the development of human resources. Focusing on
the development of LGI staff and elected members, SLFLGA conducts programmes on enhancing
revenue collection and financial management, councillors’ roles and meeting procedures, and
preparation of bylaws and implementing Citizens’ Charter. The emphasis of the SLFLGA techniques is
on participation and group activities.
Practical Action an NGO provides capacity development to improve revenue, and regulatory
framework, implementation mechanism of service deliver policies, and skill and knowledge of
personnel in the LGIs. Practical Action, has adopted a different approach to providing capacity
development support to LGIs. They promote collaboration with other government agencies to
strengthen the financial capability of the LGIs which they perceive as a major handicap in providing
infrastructure services to the public. Collaboration with the Divisional Secretary, who is the central
government authority on fund disbursement, through a committee system is being heralded as a
solution to the financial woes of LGIs, particularly in the regional areas.
Practical Action also has adopted an innovative technique in their training programmes. In addition
to the standard training methodology they have used outward bound training techniques, which
include training of ‘champions’ and propagating the training through them.
3.4 Private Sector Programmes
EML Consultants Ltd delivers their capacity development programmes through workshops, in-house
training within the LGIs, and echo workshops which they maintain have been very successful. EML
Consultants Ltd also recommends interactive adult education style training which is used extensively
in their training.
4. Institutions Involved in Capacity Development
The Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government is responsible for local governance policy
and legislation at the national level, while provincial ministers for local governance are responsible
for oversight of LGIs within the province. Accordingly, the policy for capacity development in Sri
Lanka is provided by the Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government and is presented in
the National Policy on Local Government (Govt. of Sri Lanka, 2009) gazetted for implementation in
December 2009. The National Council for Local Government has the responsibility of formulating
and maintaining the National Policy on Local Government and coordinate among national, provincial
and local governances by providing guidance and directives for its effective implementation of
contemporary policy goals. Other responsibilities entrusted to the NCLG are:
Periodically review the implementation of the national policy, with a view to updating the
National Policy on Local Government through a consultative process;
Facilitate intra and inter coordination among national, provincial and local governances with
regard to the implementation of local governance policy;
Liaise with national as well as international institutions and donor agencies interested and
engaged in local governance;

Collect and maintain information and data relevant to the formulation and implementation of
policy on Local governance;
Provide policy guidance and directives to the provincial councils, LGIs and other agencies
functioning under the Ministry in charge of the subject of local governance;
Identify areas which require reforms in the local governance sector and make recommendations
for necessary action.
4.1 Sri Lanka Institute of Local Government
SLILG is the main institution with the mandate to achieve the aims and objectives of the National
Policy on Local Government with regard to capacity development. With resources provided by the
MPCLG, SLILG plans and delivers capacity development support programmes to all LGIs, even if the
provided capacity development support is mostly supply driven. The SLILG’s annual capacity
development programme is prepared through information collected from the LGIs through
questionnaires, interviews and meetings. On receiving an inquiry from the SLILG, the Secretary of
the LA directs its section heads to forward the training needs of the section which is sent to the
SLILG. In addition SLILG conducts workshops to identify and finalise the LGIs’ training needs. The
LGIs’ needs are used in planning new training courses and revising existing courses.
The SLILG provides training programmes on human resource development in the areas of skill
development, awareness building, competency development, and information communication
technology. Under human resource development year-long Advanced Diploma Courses in Local
Governance, are conducted both in Sinhala and Tamil. The recipients of this capacity development
support are elected members and officials of the LGIs.
The Engineering Division of SLILG provides capacity development and knowledge enhancement and
training to engineers, and works supervisors on new technology, technical skill infrastructure
maintenance and community based activities. The participants in these skill development and
training courses are engineers, works supervisors and technical officers of LGIs and CBOs. The
training courses in general management are aimed at developing the managerial capabilities, project
management skills, information use in decision making, participatory approach and planning, and
productivity. The recipients include elected members and LGI officials including field officers.
The training programmes on financial management include the Diploma Courses in Local
Government Financial Management and on the job and practical training in the preparation of
financial statements. Accountants and other accounting staff, finance officers, and Secretaries of the
LGIs participate in these courses.
The Physical Planning Division of SLILG provides training on physical planning, GIS and remote
sensing, disaster management, environment protection and management and urban design. Elected
members, Physical Planning Assistants, Technical Officers, and Environmental Officers are the
recipients of the training.
The legal training provided by SLILG includes publishing notifications, court procedures, property
management laws, council meetings, and preparation and implementation of by-laws. The target
group includes Chairpersons and other elected members, Secretaries and Assessors.
If peoples’ representatives are targeted as recipients in most of the SLILG programmes the inclusion
of CSOs is limited to a programme on community based activities and maintenance where CBOs
participate.
Donor organisations like the World Bank, ADB, UNDP and the Asia Foundation have also provided
capacity development training to LGIs under various funding programmes. However, this capacity
development support has been of limited duration and subject to fixed term funding arrangements.

4.2 Donor Assisted Programmes

Other major players involved in capacity development of LGIs are the donor funded projects and
programmes. The World Bank assisted Municipal Management Programme which instituted
development policy reform through technical assistance and training for municipalities and
infrastructure and service provisions through funding physical investments has been responsible for
giving many training opportunities to well-performing local authorities, their officials and political
heads. The ADB assisted Urban Development Sector Project (UDSP) implemented by the Ministry of
Housing and Construction has assisted 17 selected Urban Local Authorities to increase their
institutional capacity by way of providing facilities and training.
4.2.1 Asian Development Bank
Responding to the needs of local authorities in improving basic infrastructure and services, ADB
approved the Local Government Infrastructure Improvement Project (LGIIP) in 2005. The Project
comprises of three components, Component A includes three key areas: infrastructure development
planning and financial management support to LGIs, project development assistance support to
provincial councils, and strengthening of Local Loans and Development Fund’s (LLDF) fund
management; Component B incorporating basic local government infrastructure and services
delivery is to improve LGI infrastructure and services such as community water supply, roads,
drainage and community sewerage, solid waste management, and basic health clinics, public
libraries, and recreational parks through finance provided by LLDF, while Component C is for
capacity development and implementation assistance which covers project coordination and
administration for MPCLG, provincial councils, LGIs, and LLDF.
Under this project, in alignment with the government's devolved structure, LGIs are implementing
sub-projects in the areas of water supply, roads, drainage and sewerage, and other municipal
facilities including public libraries, health centres, and office buildings, through financing from LLDF.
While local authorities were at first reluctant to contribute seven per cent and borrow thirty three
per cent to fifty three per cent of sub-project costs, the demand has gradually increased and already
surpassed the allocation under the LGIIP indicating the success of the project.
In association with project staff and the staff of the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of
Local Government in the Provinces, the capacities of LGI personnel were developed in the following
aspects through participation in the said activities of the project.
Preparing bid documents,
Call for tenders and tender evaluation;
Manage projects;
Improved management of social and environmental aspects.
To date Community Development Officers, Management Assistants, Planning Assistants, Technical
Officers and Works Supervisors of LGIs have been trained in addition to staff from CLG and ACLG
offices.
4.2.2 United Nations Development Programme
UNDP a longstanding partner of the government in the field of local governance supported extensive
interventions in the tsunami affected districts through its Capacity Development for Recovery
Project (CADREP) and Sustaining Tsunami Recovery by Organisations Networking at the Grass-roots
level through Promoting Local Accountability and Capacity Enhancement (STRONG PLACES) project.
Both projects were in operation from 2005 to 2008.
The CADREP’s objective was to enhance the capacity of provincial, district and local authorities and
improve the overall governance of the recovery process. CADREP played a significant role in

developing the capacities of the District Secretaries by hiring technical staff, providing equipment,
training and setting up systems for recovery and development. STRONG PLACES meanwhile targeted
small pockets of development at the grassroots level, with the aim of having a bottom up impact on
recovery. The immediate objective was to empower CSOs to move from an ad hoc sub-contractual
relationship with development partners to a genuine partnership. Further, in the long term it also
envisaged transforming the attitudes of CSOs, so that they serve the best interest of the
communities on whose behalf they exist. Partners of CADREP and STRONG PLACES included the
Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government, District Secretaries, Sri Lanka Institute of
Development Administration (SLIDA), Vocation Training Authority (VTA), SLILG, provincial councils
and LGIs.
Through the Urban Good Governance project, in conjunction with UNHABITAT, UNDP is also
supporting two Good Governance Units, one in the Ministry of Urban Governance and Sacred Area
Development and one in the Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils. The Units are
piloting good governance practices in areas such as participatory planning and monitoring, with six
LGIs. It is intended that the results of the pilots, will allow the LGIs to give advice on the
development of a national policy for the full institutionalisation of identified best practices.
The LoGoPro has been designed as an overarching project that maps out the current state of local
governance in Sri Lanka and seeks to address the priority needs in a holistic way, taking into account
the existing interventions of UNDP and other partners. This brings together many of the former or
existing projects that touch, either directly or indirectly, on local governance, and supplementing
them with complimentary interventions so as to ensure coherence in the UNDP approach and
synergies, both at the thematic and geographic level.
The LoGoPro focuses on developing democratic governance processes and enhancing service
delivery capacity with emphasis on:
Developing inclusive local democratic processes and strengthening the role and functioning of
the provincial and local councils in service delivery;
Maintain focus on the capacity of the District and Division Secretariat to carry out their
functions;
Developing the mechanisms which would allow citizens to effectively hold their elected local
governments and service providers accountable, and to develop the capacity of CBOs and other
actors to effectively utilise these.
The LoGoPro is an on-going programme where elected members as well as the LGI personnel in the
selected LGIs are expected to benefit from the capacity development programmes embedded into
the project.
4.2.3 USAID
The objective of the USAID funded TALG project was to promote transparent, accountable and
effective local governance in Sri Lanka, to support the transition to a peaceful and democratic
society through the rectification of long standing weaknesses in democratic governance. The project
promoted effective and democratic local governance in 35 selected LGIs by improving their
performance in the areas of (a) good governance and leadership (b) financial management (c)
service delivery and (d) increased community participation. Also, the project strengthened other
relevant agencies, organisations and mechanisms that support good governance and access to
services at the local level. In addition, the project helped empower community organisations, and
support efforts to address policy and system bottlenecks that hinder good governance at the local
level.

As recorded in the Final Narrative Report of the Asia Foundation (2007) the main achievements of
the programme in relation to capacity development of LGIs are:
Increased citizen participation in service delivery
Increased citizen participation in planning, priority setting and budgeting
Increased number of LA-community and LA-private sector partnerships
Improved integrated local planning and priority setting
Enhanced link between planning and budgeting
Endorsement of the participatory medium-term planning process by the MLGPC
Enhanced leadership skills among LA council members and senior administrators
Increased LA revenue from taxes, fees, rentals and non-traditional sources
Increased LA income generation from external sources including donors, NGOs and higher levels
of government
Enhanced technical knowledge among LA staff related to service delivery, especially solid waste
management and roads maintenance
Better working environment for LA technical staff and labourers
Shift from ad-hoc to systematic approach to providing services
Increased coordination and integration of local development programmes and projects
Introduction of a ground-breaking National Policy Declaration on Local Government
5. Inclusiveness of Participants
Most of the capacity development programmes supported by afore mentioned institutions have
been directed towards the elected members and officials of the LGIs without gender bias. However,
the providers of the capacity development support including the SLILG in charge of the national
programmes for capacity development of LGIs, does not appear to have picked up the need for skill
development of employees from the minority groups.
Further, if a few programmes such as TALG and LoGoPro did include employees from the minority
groups in their skill development programmes none of them contained programmes customised to
the needs of these employees.
The few skill development and awareness building programmes for employees from the minority
groups were mainly the efforts of individual LGIs based on the need for such programmes and hence
were successful.
The programmes which included public participation such as TALG and LoGoPro included the socio-
economically deprived groups while programmes as ‘Gamin Gamata’ implemented by the
Bandaragama PS specifically focused on poor households and women.
It should also be noted that in terms of human development and equality between men and women,
Sri Lanka is considered a model for South Asia. However, the level of equality in decision making is
very poor with women making up only a very small percentage of the elected members, particularly
at the provincial and local level.
6. Challenges
Capacity development is interpreted more often than not, as formal training for individuals in public
training institutions. This is true at the local level as well as the national level. It was observed that
most training programmes train the participants as individuals and not as members of teams which
work together. It is common to find one or two members of a section of the LGI being sent for
training. Capacity development is thus confined to those individuals and does not extend to the
whole team of the section, limiting the effectiveness of the capacity development exercise.

Furthermore, institutional strengthening requires that other aspects of its functioning, rules and
incentives, organisational structure, technology, be addressed as well.
This may be due the lack of overall vision in the capacity development of local government. While
there are some diverse approaches to capacity development, particularly by the donor assisted
programmes, the programmes offered by public sector organisations is often limited to skill
upgrades and training of individuals.
The SLILG as the foremost institution for capacity development in local government could be the
focus of an exercise to broad base capacity development with a holistic approach. This would not
only make the SLILG programmes more productive, other players providing capacity development
support would also become contributors to the comprehensiveness of the programmes.
Other traits which continually hinder capacity development in local government can be attributed to
contextual factors. Foremost among these is the bureaucratic culture, which allows cadre loyalty to
take precedence over other considerations, permanency in jobs whether efficient or not, lack of
accountability, lack of rewards for good performance and frequent transfers. Transfers cited
frequently both by the recipients and providers of capacity development have become a problem
due to changes in legislation. The Provincial Councils Act 1987 established a Provincial Public Service
[PPS] to which local government officers were transferred from the national Local Government
Commission. In effect there are eight separate Services, since each provincial governor has powers
of appointment, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary control of officers of the PPS. These powers may
be delegated to the Provincial Public Service Commission, which may in turn delegate them to the
Chief Secretary of the Province. In addition to PPS personnel and central government staff are
occasionally deployed to LAs. This though is done on an ad hoc basis.
Other contextual factors such as politicisation of the bureaucracy and corruption have also been
alleged as causal factors.
Awareness building aimed at directing the political will towards efficient local government and
establishing accountability through enhancing capacity of CSOs coupled with in-house capacity
development structures with enforceable procedures for awarding and rewarding of skill
development may be the way forward. A dedicated local government service was proposed to avoid
the adverse impact of transfers on the efficient use of capacity development.
At all levels of local government, strengthening the local planning and monitoring will also go a long
way in realising successful service delivery at the local level. The National Policy provides
opportunities for local level coordination including citizen participation in planning and
management. Capacity and awareness building within and without the LGIs to implement the policy
requirements is the need of the hour, particularly given the insensitivity of the bureaucracy towards
public participation and limited awareness among citizens about their rights to government services.
It is ultimately important that the LGIs are empowered to ensure that services are truly responsive
to local needs and those in-charges with providing services are held accountable by their “clients”.
At the same time, however, the decentralised arm of the central government, the District and
Divisional Secretariats, which receive the lion’s share of development funds, do and will continue to
play a critical role in the delivery of services at the local level. The observed functions of the local
authorities focus more on environmental management and social services. Roads, thoroughfares,
sanitation, health, water supply, solid waste management, sewerage etc., have been the main
functions of the LAs since their very inception. Other development activities such as education,
agriculture, employment generation and poverty alleviation are not directly considered under these
laws. Some of the functions which were originally considered as LGI functions have been
subsequently handed over to some other government owned boards, corporations or statutory

authorities, making the local authorities dependant on those institutions to serve their electorates.
Since these organisations belong to the central government, their policies, operational systems and
management are undertaken with government interests in mind. Therefore, greater influence is
wielded on such organisations by the elected representatives of Parliament rather than the Mayor or
Chairperson of a LGI.
This divided responsibility and imbalance of resource allocation for the delivery of services to the
public will invariably be a hindrance in the efficient service delivery by the LGIs notwithstanding their
capacity development in service delivery. Therefore, the challenge is to ensure that support to the
decentralised arm does not hinder or jeopardise the successful functioning of the LAs. This may be
achieved through a committee system where both the LA and the Divisional Secretary wield similar
authority.
7. A SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Presence of SLILG, a national institute dedicated to training in local government
Ad hoc but significant support for training from INGOs such as USAID, ADB and UNDP
Presence of NGOs such as Practical Action and FSLGA that can leverage external resources for
training
Weaknesses
Inadequate funding for SLILG
Changes in leadership in SLILG with changes in political leadership
Ad hoc nature of external funding
Threats
Depreciation of skilled personnel through retirement
Skilled personnel moving onto other services in provincial or National government
Depreciation of skilled personnel through retirement
Opportunities
Availability of a pool of retired personnel for skills development
Emerging practitioner networks in local government
AD hoc but significant support for training from INGOs such as USAID, ADB and UNDP
8. Recommendations
In spite of all these training programmes, one serious complaint made by the LGIs is the shortage of
senior officials (i.e. accountants, administrative officers, engineers etc.) to service the LGIs. Many
reasons have been attributed for this short fall and weak performance of LGIs, and the provincial
councils, which are new, concentrating on building their institutions and capacities at the expense of
LGIs are considered to be a main causal factor. It is believed that the government initiative for
decentralisation has contributed to this unforeseen problem. In 1987 the government took a major
initiative for decentralisation through the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which led to
the creation of an additional tier of government, the Provincial Councils, in 1988. The amendment
carved out a provincial sphere of governance, specifying an area of legislative, executive, and
financial competence to be exercised by the councils. Through this process, institutions of local self-
government that had operated under a centralised system became a devolved subject of the
provincial council. The operational aspects, such as LGI operation and administration, were assigned
to the provinces.

The National Council for Local Government could review the National Policy, particularly the section
on commitment, to address this apparent subjugation of the LGIs by the provincial councils.
Accountability mechanisms are essential to ensure that local governments are responsive and that
the services they provide are meaningful to their constituents. This requires a two-way
communication system where the local governments ensure that people have access to information
about their visions, plans and priorities through strategic communication and outreach efforts. Vice
versa a system that ensures that people have a voice and that their feedback can be incorporated
into policy processes is equally essential. Consultation mechanisms that solicit the interests and
opinions of the public are one way that this can happen.
A Citizens’ Charter has recently been introduced with the aim to improve local government public
service by making it more accountable and citizen friendly. The Citizens’ Charter is to be adopted by
the LGIs. However, the LGIs need external assistance for this to be fully implemented. A reform of
such nature could not be achieved overnight and has to be done gradually with prodding by
Ministerial directives. While the system will be a step forward towards improving public service
accountability, it will not automatically ensure that citizens themselves are capable of using and
taking advantage of such a system. Awareness among citizens about their rights to government
services is still limited and the public also need to know how to file a complaint within the citizen
charter system.
A monitoring and evaluation system to assess the productivity of the capacity development
programmes conducted by all the institutions is an urgent necessity. This system should be
established within the LGIs under the Secretary of the LGI and without the LGI as a division of the
SLILG. This may be implemented through a Ministry circular which also details the structure and
functions of the system. Further, the monitoring and evaluation arm of the SLILG should be
entrusted with the task of coordinating all public sectors, donor funded, NGO and private sector
capacity development programmes and include all the programmes in their monitoring and
evaluation.
9. References
ADB (2006), Special Evaluation Study on Lessons in Capacity Development: Sectoral Studies in Sri
Lanka, Manila
Government of Sri Lanka (2009), The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, No.
1632/26 - Friday, December 18, 2009; Extraordinary. Part 1: Section 1 - General Government
Notifications, National Policy on Local Government, Cooperative Agreement No. 386-A-00-05-
00013-00, Colombo.
PRIA Global Partnership (2010), ’Capacity Development of Local Governance Institutions in South
Asia: A Comparative Study’, Research Concept Note.
The Asia Foundation (2005), ‘An Overview of 33 Sri Lankan Local Authorities - Politics,
Administration, Finances, and Service Delivery’, Colombo.
The Asia Foundation (2007), ‘Transparency Accountable Local Governance Program, Final Narrative
Report’.
UNDP (2010), Local Governance Project (LoGoPro), Project Document, Colombo.

Country Paper: Pakistan
- M. Zahid Islam, South Asian Partnership, Pakistan
1. Local Governance System and Capacity Development
Before the 18thAmendment of the Constitution in 1973, there were only two lists to determine the
jurisdiction of the federation and the provinces, in relation to legislation for matters of governance
and other administrative affairs. One was the Federal List and the second list was called the
Concurrent List, which is the list that describes the subjects for both federal and provincial matters,
but local government is not mentioned in either of the lists. Therefore, the entire legislation about
Local Government Institutions (LGIs) is an exclusive right of the provinces. Traditionally the Federal
Government under a military ruler has always developed the basic framework for a standard local
government system at the central level, but the provincial governments are advised to make their
own legal promulgations.
For all the areas, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, there are separate
local government laws for each of them, but are all enacted by the Federation. The Federal Capital
city of Islamabad has never had LGIs except for the Union Councils (UCs) in the rural areas of the
district. In the year 2002, the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) had proposed a law for the
capital city, but the Federal Government did not agree to it. This became a point of conflict between
the former NRB Chairman and the government’s Chief Executive officer (CEO). All the cantonments
in Pakistan have 'Cantonment Boards" constituted under the Pakistan Cantonment Board Act, 1924.
According to that Act a sitting army officer; usually the Station Commander is the President while
the Vice-president is elected. For the last many years there has been no elected representation. In
the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), there are no elected local councils presently. In
Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK), there is an older law and in the Northern Areas (now granted autonomy
by instituting provincial status and changing its name to Gilgit-Baltistan), the Northern Area Local
Government Order 1972 has been enforced which is the same as the local government system of
1979.
According to the Constitution, the subject of local government was mentioned in “Principles of
Policy” Chapter 2 of the Constitution, It is stated in Article 32: “Promotion of Local Government
Institutions; the State shall encourage local government institutions composed of elected
representatives of the area concerned. And in such institutions special representation will be given
to peasants’ workers and women". It was mentioned again in Chapter-3, The Provincial
Governments; Article 140-A was added through a Legal Framework Order of 2002. It is stated that
“Each Province shall, by law establish a local government system and devolve political,
administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of the local
governments”.
Every military ruler has tried to protect his actions through some legal and constitutional mandates.
The local government system was sustained for some time because of these legal mandates, but as
soon as the legal restrictions were over the local government system could not be sustained. The
previous Federal Government under Gen. Pervez Musharraf had protected the local government
system of 2001 by making a condition that no amendment could be made to the Ordinance without
the prior consent of the President of Pakistan. The local government laws have been placed under
Clause 27-30 of the 6thSchedule of the 1973 Constitution, but that restriction was removed by the
end of December 2009.
The local government system of 2001 was the only model that has been discussed publicly across
the country. General Pervez Musharraf had presented the first draft of the new model on 23 rd March
2000 and invited people to give their comments and suggestions. That was followed by a series of
consultations arranged by the NRB and many other civil society organisations (CSOs), and national
and international public interest groups. All the major political parties had rejected that model in the
first instance, but later on these parties took part in the elections by granting tickets to their
candidates. On the other hand civil society groups discussed, and did a thorough review of the
model and made many valuable suggestions, some of those were later acknowledged.
The core idea behind the 2001 model was of strengthening LGIs to ensure effective leadership. It
was said that comprehensive training is obligatory in order to develop the capacity of councillors,
officers, and LGIs to ensure the delivery of quality services to the local community. Therefore, for the
effective and efficient functioning of the LGIs capacity development training of its key actors had
been made mandatory under the Local Government Ordinance (LGO), 2001. The said law placed
great importance on the skill training and capacity development of elected representatives (ERs) as
well as functionaries of the local governments. The relevant Section 189 of the said Ordinance stated
that “The Nazims, Naib Nazims and members of the Councils shall attend training courses for such
periods and in such manner and at such places as may be prescribed by the Government from time
to time.”
Following the above mentioned provisions in the LGO, 2001, various training programmes were
organised by the provincial governments through district governments for the elected and non-
elected LGI functionaries in collaboration with the NRB set up at the federal level, during the first
term of the local governments (August 2001 to June 2005). They had trained more than 119,000
directly elected councillors. The capacity development programmes were successfully conducted by
the district governments during April - September, 2001. The training of Nazims/Naib Nazims at the
district and Tehsil/town level and indirectly elected councillors at these levels was also conducted.
Moreover, six workshops were held at Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar to train 343
provincial government officers for preparing Tehsil transitional reports. The NRB had also provided
technical support to the provincial governments to organise workshops for the Executive District
Officers (Literacy) at the provincial headquarters. A two day orientation session for Zila and
Town/Taluka Nazims of Sindh was held at Karachi in October, 2001.
For the second term of the local governments, which started in December 2005, all provincial
governments organised basic orientation courses for the newly elected members. The NRB had
developed training modules and shared these with the provincial governments. Nearly 2,200 Master
Trainers and key trainers were prepared by the NRB to handle the countrywide training activity
organised by the provincial governments. All union councillors had attended the orientation
workshops as well as the six day training programmes held across the country.
Those trainings were held for the following key actors of LGIs.
a) Training of all elected councillors and heads of local councils: Nearly 100,000 ERs belonging to
7000 local councils had been trained. Their training was mandatory under law. Many State
institutions and non-state actors (NSAs) had provided these trainings.

b) Training of women councillors: Nearly 50,000 women councillors including 10,000 elected on
workers / peasants’ seats had received training. Moreover, the women councillors were the only
category that received the maximum number of capacity development trainings, from the
government and non-government institutions including the corporate sector.
c) Training of local government functionaries: Nearly 20,000 Union Secretaries and medium level
officers from TMAs have been trained. Before the Devolution Plans were enforced, each UC had
one Secretary and one Chief Officer acting as Secretary of the Tehsil and District Councils and all
three were trained by professional Local Government Training Institutes (LGTIs). These trainings
were a pre-requisite of their posting, but after 2011 the system was changed because the local
government service cadre was not large enough to appoint three Secretaries in one UC.
Therefore a large number of government employees from other departments were transferred
to the local government services and they did not have any previous training. A list of training
courses and materials developed by LGTI is given in Annex.4.
d) Training of Public Servants: There were more than 1500 public servants belonging to the Federal
and Provincial services but deputed to key positions in the LGIs, who had not received any
specialised trainings except for their routine and professional trainings and the refresher
trainings. These trainings are a usual part of their professional trainings. Previously there were
two main institutions in Pakistan, namely the Pakistan Administrative Staff College and the
National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA) with four campuses in all the provinces,
responsible for these trainings, but after the Devolution Plans these were all merged and named
as the National School of Public Policy (NSPP). These NSPPs have specialised faculty and
resources to train senior and mid-level state functionaries even when they are working with
district governments. The Civil Services Academy (CSA) Lahore is responsible for a common
Training Programme (CTP) and all concerned departments have their training institutes for
professional trainings.
2. Trainings by State Institutions
During 2001-2009, all trainings were imparted through various groups of trainers but under the
supervision of NRB, a supra constitutional set-up by President Pervez Musharraf and headed by a
retired Lt. General.
Special set-ups - there are special set-ups under the supervision of the provincial government. The
PLG&RD training institutes have been established in each provincial head quarter with senior staff
from the Pakistan Public Services and junior staff including instructors from the Provincial Services
and from the local government service cadre.
Government training institutes - these are permanently established training institutes engaged in
various advanced and routine trainings such as NIPA, set up in each provincial capital as an
autonomous organisation responsible for providing training to public service employees, but these
too have provided training to the state functionaries who had been deputed to LGIs.
Following the obligatory provisions in the LGO, 2001, various training programmes were organised
by the provincial governments through district governments for the elected and non- elected local
government functionaries in collaboration with the NRB. More than 119,000 directly elected
councillors were trained by the NRB. The capacity development programmes were successfully
conducted by the district governments during April - September, 2001. The training of Nazims/Naib
Nazims at the district and Tehsil/town level and of indirectly elected councillors at these levels was
also conducted. Moreover, six workshops were held at Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar to
train 343 provincial government officers for preparing Tehsil transitional reports. The NRB had also
provided technical support to the provincial governments to organise workshops for the Executive

District Officers (Literacy) at the provincial headquarters. A two day orientation session for Zila and
Town/Taluka Nazims of Sindh was held at Karachi in October, 2001.
All provincial governments organised basic orientation courses for the newly elected members of
the second term of local governments, which started in December 2005. The NRB developed training
modules and shared these with the provincial governments. Nearly 2,200 Master Trainers and key
trainers were prepared by NRB to handle the countrywide training activity organised by the
provincial governments. All Union Councillors had attended the orientation workshops as well as six
day training programmes, which were held across the country. A list of materials designed and
developed by the NRB and used by all state run training institutions and trainers during 2001-2008 is
given in Annex. 5. In addition, four manuals were developed for the training of all ERs.
2.1 Women’s Political School (WPS)
The Women’s Political School (WPS) was established by the Federal Ministry of Women’s
Development, Government of Pakistan under its project W3P. That project was sponsored by UNDP
and the Norwegian Government. The main objectives included the capacity development of women
councillors and the promotion of an enabling environment. Under W3P the women’s school had
provided training to 24,000 women Union Councillors and 4000 women District and Tehsil
Councillors. The WPS worked under the leadership of the National Project Manager and four
Provincial Managers with the head office in Islamabad. Under WPS a large series of trainings were
completed, almost all over the country. The WPS had developed its own curriculum with a slight bias
towards issues relating only to women. The WPS had trained a large group of Master Trainers who
further trained local trainers amongst CSOs and women activists and finally they provided training to
almost each and every woman elected in all the three tiers of LGIs.
2.2 The Planning and Development Division
The Federal Government’s departments too had received financial support for the capacity
development trainings of ERs particularly in LGIs. This support was not for regular training
programmes but for more specialised trainings such as gender sensitisation of the State
functionaries engaged in LGIs and for creating an enabling environment for women ERs and for
workers’ representatives etc. The relevant government departments had developed their own
training modules and engaged private trainers in order to complete their tasks and they carried out
different projects, such as the gender based governance programme by the Planning and
Development Division. Another programme was implemented in two districts of Abbottabad and
Haripur, executed by the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) through the Sarhad Rural
Support Programme (SRSP) and Aurat Foundation. Under that programme, four objectives were
attempted to achieve, (i) The capacity development of women councillors (ii) social mobilisation as a
support mechanism for women councillors (iii) public forums to identify key issues and (iv) arranging
interface meetings with local authorities.
2.3 Provincial Local Government Training Institutions (PLGTIs)
In the early days in Pakistan, two different training institutions were set up by Pakistan’s Central
Government, one in Khulna in East Pakistan and one in West Pakistan in Lalamusa. The Local
Government Academy, Lalamusa was established in 1953, as a training institute for workers engaged
with the “Village Agriculture & Industrial Development Programme” (V-AID). These workers include
development officers, supervisors & V-AID workers. The duration of the course ranged from three
months to one year and a total of six courses were offered.
In 1960, this institution was renamed the Basic Democracies Training Institute (BDTI) and entrusted
with the responsibility to train the officials and elected members/office bearers of urban and rural
offices, supervisors, secretaries, Union Councils, Urban Local Councillors and ERs. During 10 years of

the BDTI, a total of 64 training sessions were held and 7167 participants were trained. The training
was based on various themes that were spread over 128 courses.
After abolishing one unit, and after the separation of East Pakistan, BDTI- West Pakistan, was
renamed the Punjab Local Government Training Institute in 1972. Similar training institutes were
also set up in Baluchistan, Sindh and KPK in the following years. These institutions were operated by
the provincial local government and Rural Development Department and were supervised by the
concerned ministries. The main assignment was imparting basic training to local government
functionaries, engaged in the Peoples’ Worker’s Programme (PWP), such as Development Officers,
supervisors, Secretaries, UCs, Sanitary Inspectors and functionaries of other concerned departments.
In Punjab a total of 95 trainings were organised for 3543 participants of various categories. Since The
PLGA is the oldest institute in Pakistan therefore, it has always played the main role. However, other
training institutes like BLGRDA have also been engaged in training activities.
From 1971 to mid-2001, these LGTIs were responsible for the training of functionaries of LG & RD
Departments. Besides, training the elected Chairman/Vice Chairman/councillors of the local councils,
training was also imparted to other employees of the local government service (BS 5 to 17).
Trainings were also imparted to the various categories of Senior Development Officers such as
Assistant Directors and local governments, Project Managers, Project Assistants, Accountants Clerks,
Secretaries, UCs, sub engineers, local council’s Chief Officers, Taxation Officers, Sanitary Inspectors,
and Sanitary Promoters under the UNICEF Sanitation Programme. In total more than 500 trainings
were imparted to 8455 participants of various categories through 396 on campus courses and 12122
participants through 329 off campus courses, in a ten year span.
From 1981-2001 the Provincial LGTI (PLGTI) in collaboration with UNICEF has conducted on campus
courses on Water and Environment Sanitation (WES), adult literacy and birth registrations
throughout Punjab.
The status of Lalamusa Academy was upgraded in 2001-2002. A scheme for the renovation of the
Academy building and the provision of the allied facilities was approved but could not be completed.
Since, the introduction of the Devolution Plans in 2001, training for elected councillors, heads of LGIs
and other state functionaries was made mandatory in the LGIs, but the responsibility had been
shifted from the PLGTIs to the newly set up NRB at the federal level. The reason behind this was the
shift of local government from the provincial level to the district level. The NRB had appointed a
special training consultant who had developed four modules for the training of councillors and three
modules for the training of heads of LGIs. In addition special refresher courses were designed for
LGIs employees, whereas, state functionaries coming from other state services had not received any
training. A summary of key areas of training by PLGTIs is given below:
i) Orientation Courses on Devolution and the LGO 2001.
ii) Short Courses for Nazim, Naib Nazim and councillors on the basic concept of local government,
existing laws/rules, operational procedures, financial set up, functions of local councils.
iii) Professional in-service long training courses for local government functionaries on all aspects
of the district government, including orientation on rules of business for various tiers in LGIs.
iv) Specialised training courses (6 to 10 days) duration in the field of local government, finances,
accounts, taxation, planning and development, execution of local development plans, efficient
office management, administration and development, civil engineering, Muslim Family Laws,
registration of births and deaths and special courses in office procedure for the functional
level.
v) General refresher courses (10 to 14 days duration) on laws, by-laws and the working of TMAs.
vi) Practical skill training on development planning, budget making procedures, and identification
of community needs.

vii) Special on campus/off campus courses on water and sanitation/social mobilisation/human

resource development/birth registration/Participatory Rapid Approach (PRA) etc. in
collaboration with international donor agencies.
viii) Workshop on streamlining the working of local governments with regard to the conduct of
business delegation of powers, division of work and monitoring of different departments of
the Local Councils.
ix) Skill training on launching Annual Development Plans in TMAs/Union Administration (UA).
x) Sensitisation on gender issues and on the role of women in local development.
3. Trainings by Non State Actors
3.1 National NGOs
There were many NGOs who were engaged in capacity development training. These included Aurat
Publication and Information Services Publication (APISF) who had set up Women Resource Centres
(WRCs) in all districts and capacity development training was provided through these WRCs. The
Citizen’s Commission for Human Development (CCHD) trained women councillors in six districts, The
Pattan Development Foundation had set up a Network of Women Councillors and they held short
orientation courses. The SANGAT Foundation had set up a network of Workers and Peasant
Councillors Network (WPCN) and through that network capacity development training was provided
to 1000 councillors elected to W&P seats and belonging to 35 districts of Pakistan. Similarly in Sindh,
the Takhleeq Foundation and in Punjab the SARSABZ foundation also had provided trainings to
women councillors belonging to Thatha, Badin and Hyderabad and Faisalabad. The SAP-Pakistan had
set-up Kissan Bhiathaks in 30 districts where peasant and workers’ councillors were provided
capacity development trainings.
3.2 International NGOs
A few international NGOs were also engaged in providing some sort of orientation and skill training
to some select groups of ERs in local councils. These were FNF, FES both German organisations,
Church World Service, Action-Aid, Pakistan and UNDP. Besides these international NGOs many
others supported national NGOs in providing capacity development trainings.
4. Training Curriculum
i) The NRB developed four training modules and one training manual about training
methodology. In addition a large amount of literature was also developed as mentioned in the
section above. The main training was focused on the following - Orientation on local
government system; skills for planning meetings, mobilising communities; communication,
presentation and conflict handling skills; and leadership skills.
ii) The WPS had developed six training modules based on the following themes - Orientation on
local government system; gender sensitisation; serving the electorate; advocacy; allocation of
public resources and utilisation; and monitoring of public resources.
iii) The Planning and Development Division of Government of Pakistan under its project titled,
“Gender based Governance System” sponsored by UNDP. That project was implemented at
the provincial level by the Provincial Ministry of Local Government and Planning Departments.
Under that project two manuals were developed that were based on the curriculum of WPS.
The first manual was developed for Union Secretaries in 2006 and the second was developed
for potential women candidates in 2009.
iv) The Provincial Training Institutes had very formal Orientation Courses on Devolution and Local
Government Ordinance 2001.

5. Challenges to Capacity Development

In Pakistan there is no continuity in the functioning of elected councils; instead the country has
a long history of non-elected local government institutions, where capacity development
trainings have never been considered very important.
The second challenge is making regular capacity development trainings mandatory for all
functionaries in the LGIs, whether they are ERs or state functionaries.
Pakistan’s training programmes usually depend on external support and motivation. The
limited resources, both in terms of finances and human resources are primary concerns that
caused many problems in the continuity of the training programmes. Most of the Capacity
Development initiatives have been dependent on the provision of financial resources and
motivation by external resources. The elected governments and the mainstream political
parties in Pakistan do not give much emphasis to capacity development trainings in Pakistan.
There are very few religious and fundamentalist parties whose training schools can be
observed functioning regularly, whereas other mainstream and popular parties do not have
any plans to provide trainings to their cadres. That is a clear reflection of their attitude
towards capacity development training as a whole.
In the last local government, ERs belonging to various political parties never paid due
importance to capacity development trainings and they were not in the least interested in
attending trainings. As a result of this casual attitude capacity development training was never
given much importance within the ER circles. On the other hand state functionaries too are
not really interested in facilitating capacity development trainings for ERs.
6. A SWOT Analysis
a) Strengths
Although, there were not enough high quality training programmes to some extent these trainings
did benefit a large number of ERs in some areas. A few strengths are being mentioned below.
During these eight years extensive training programmes were held and a majority of women
councillors benefitted through these trainings. A major part of these trainings was based on
basic orientation sessions and the honing of basic human skills necessary to address local
communities and the electorate.
Another aspect was practical and much more pragmatic; a close collaboration of women
councillors had been developed with civil society organisations in other social and
developmental areas or in other programmes. As an outcome of these interactions now a days
there is not even a single UC, the smallest unit comprising 2000-2500 population, where one or
two former women councillors could not be seen actively engaged in various public activities,
developmental, semi political, or social work. Travelling from Gwadaer to Peshawar, or from
Kohat to Behawalnagar, no former woman councillor could be found sitting at home in any
village, town or city. All of them were occupied in some public engagement or social
work/development work.
In spite of the fact that the local government system always has had many structural, financial
and institutional problems, for example, the most accepted local government model of 2001 had
a fundamental structural lacuna, the distribution of various functions became problematic
because according to law the assigned functions to UC were very few and very nominal whereas
there were a large number of elected councillors. They did not have much work because the
main obligations of the local councils had been carried out by the Town Municipal
Administration (TMA) and district government. The women councillors had created some other
functions not explicit in their legal obligations but implied in their role and responsibilities to the
community. During routine meetings of UCs the women councillors had proved the most vocal

and active members of the council. That reflected their level of self-confidence and their
concern. They also had the ability to question authority. The ability to formulate questions and
queries does not necessarily reflect the level of one understands, but the level of their
confidence could be easily assessed. That was one important achievement of the capacity
development training.
A very significant achievement shown by many ERs particularly the women councillors was their
emerging role as community leaders. Not all of them have established the fact that they are new
leaders in their respective communities but many of them are considered new leaders. Six
tehsils and towns of two districts were observed and at least six former women councillors were
found to be actively pursuing various community problems and talking to the concerned
authorities and leading various groups of people. Their courage, commitment, and skill in
advocating with the concerned departments were remarkable. In return people have been giving
them recognition and support. For example in Khanpur of District Rahim yar Khan, the whole city
had observed a shutter down strike against the unscheduled load shedding of electricity on the
call of two young ladies , one former district council member and the other an ex-tehsil council
member. In other parts of the country the media reported about former women councillors who
had led large mobs, agitating for their demands.
Besides these examples, it was also seen that many former local government councillors are now
frontline leaders of their communities.
Close interaction has emerged between LGIs and CSOs, and as a result many women councillors
have started working with other NGOs and CSOs. Similarly some of the women councillors have
joined various political parties and groups after becoming councillors. During the year 1997,
there were only six women elected as heads of their respective local councils, but in the first
term of the 2001 model, the number of directly elected women heads increased to 23. .
Another major strength was the visible engagement of CSOs, participating in local governance.
That created a new group of stakeholders. That is a direct outcome of the practical engagements
during the training and educational activities, organised by various CSOs.
As an outcome of capacity development trainings now many CSOs have a very sizeable set of IEC
material regarding civic and governance issues.
b) Weakness
The standard and quality of capacity development trainings imparted to ERs was another big
challenge. In Pakistan usually there is no particular set of training curriculum or modules. The
training curriculum used in the last tenure (2001-2008) was not up to the mark, it was neither
relevant to the ERs’ routine work nor did it have a realistic approach to designing training
material or developing any suitable training modules responding to local needs.
During the previous tenure of elected local councils most of the training modules were
developed by private consultants, originally belonging to NGOs and international organisations.
Those modules were based on stereotyped material. For example in each set of modules and
manuals one could find training topics about communication skills, leadership skills and social
mobilisation skills, in spite of the fact that every ER had a certain constituency, so he or she had
the proven ability to motivate a definite electorate.
The previous training exercises were mainly dependent on programmes based on orientation
courses, and on governance related information, that would surely enhance the ERs’ knowledge
base, whereas much more was required in order to enhance the ERs’ capacity to use their
knowledge. The skill training was missing or was wrongfully addressed.

The Federal and the provincial government had ignored the substantial role of PLGTIs, instead
the provincial government had tried to co-opt new training advisors who did not have enough
professional experience. That was exactly the case with NGOs who were engaged in capacity
development training, but were employing inexperienced and people without the required
professional expertise.
There are no separate disciplines or departments for local government studies at educational
institutions. During the 70s the Punjab University had a nine month diploma course, which has
now been discontinued. Similarly there are no separate training institutes for the purpose of
capacity development.
The methodology to provide capacity development training is decades old. These have resulted
in poor performance. For example during the last eight year tenure of elected councils, there
were nearly 6064 UCs and a majority of UC members received capacity development training,
but their overall performance was not exemplary enough to be considered a bench-mark.
c) Opportunities
Since, presently LGIs in Pakistan do not have elected local councils and heads, therefore
opportunities for capacity development trainings are very limited.
Provincial Local Government Training Institutions and academies should be reactivated and their
full potential should be utilised, in order to provide trainings to local government functionaries.
A separate department to teach local government as a special subject in universities should be
initiated as soon as possible.
A common curriculum of capacity development trainings for future practices can be developed.
All concerned CSOs are trying to develop such a curriculum and a unified group of trainers.
d) Threats
All of the existing provincial governments have been trying since 2008 to abolish the present
system of local government. If the existing system does not survive then capacity development
training would not be possible.
7. Policy Recommendations
An advocacy campaign should be initiated to ensure the immediate restoration of elected local
councils with more powers and devolved authorities at lower levels.
To develop an effective, efficient and representative local government it is necessary that a new
enactment should be done to redefine the functions, roles and responsibilities of local
government. In Pakistan it is imperative to reform the complete system of local government.
Representation in local government should be enhanced in volume and sector wise.
Training exercises should be revived at all levels of governance and training shall be made
mandatory for all actors in the governance system.
The training manuals and curriculum should be reviewed and upgraded according to present day
needs.
There should be increased opportunities for CSOs to build practical partnerships and
collaborations with LGIs and CSOs.
More empowerment and financial support is required for women activists engaged in local
governance.
Local government training institutes needs overhauling not in terms of their infrastructure, but
in terms of teaching facilities, methodologies and curriculum etc.

Case Study 1
Strengthening Local Governance

through Participatory and
Responsive Public Services
Project : A Case Study from
Bangladesh
- Akhter Hussain, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
1. Introduction
Local Government Institutions (LGIs) are an essential part of the governance process of a country.
These bodies at different levels have the responsibility of delivering services in several areas within
their respective legal boundaries. As these institutions are closer to the community the development
activities and the services provided by them have more impact on their lives and can also ensure
higher productivity, efficiency and cost effectiveness.
In Bangladesh, the Union Parishads (UPs) are the oldest LGIs. They have been in existence since the
early 20th century under different names and nomenclatures. These LGIs play an important role by
maintaining peace and order, planning and implementing local level development projects and
resolving local disputes. Yet, it has been observed that over the years, the UPs could not emerge as
efficient and effective institutions thereby ensuring good governance at the local level. Governance
at the Union level depends on certain component elements. These elements constitute the whole
process of governance. These are, the UP itself; government bureaucracy functioning at the field
level especially at the Union/Upazila level; the local community; and the civil society organisations
(CSOs) functioning at the local level. Harmonious and synergic interactions among the above
elements are essential for good governance at the local level.
2. Background and Rationale
The WAVE Foundation has been working in the area of local governance and civil society
empowerment to address issues related to good governance since 1997. Over the years, it has
implemented a number of projects in improving governance at the local level either directly or in
partnership with other organisations. The broad objectives of these efforts have been to develop
capacity of the local government, CSOs and partners for strengthening local governance and
ensuring responsive public services and establishing micro-macro linkages at the national level to
formulate or reform policies for strong and decentralised local governance. It also facilitated the
process of formation of a governance network of CSOs – the South Western Advocacy Network
(SWAN). Later, the WAVE Foundation along with SWAN partners formed the ‘Governance Coalition’
with the motto of promoting responsive governance and human rights especially focused at the local
level. The Coalition intends to build peoples alliances at all levels to address issues related to good
governance and human rights. The strategic focus of the Coalition is strengthening local governance

through promoting effective civic monitoring of local level development initiatives and delivery of
services based on the collaborating framework among the LGIs, government administrative
machineries, CSO and the community based organisations (CBOs). In the light of the experiences and
lessons learnt from the implementation of different local governance projects WAVE Foundation
developed and implemented the project ‘Strengthening Local Governance through Participatory and
Responsive Public Services’ with financial assistance from Danida. After completing the first phase,
the second phase was taken up and the WAVE Foundation has been implementing it since January
2008 funded by HRGG-PSU of Danida. The project was implemented at 112 Unions in 11 districts
(Chuadanga, Meherpur, Kushtia, Jhenaidah, Magura, Jessore, Khulna, Pirojpur, Barisal, Barguna, and
Rajshahi) in three administrative divisions of the country. The WAVE Foundation as the lead agency
implemented the project through the Governance Coalition partners which comprised of 41 local
CSOs including the WAVE Foundation itself.
The following issues prompted this project.
An incomplete functional structure: Even though there is provision for 13 standing committees,
(more can be formed with approval from the Deputy Commissioner) these have rarely been
constituted and made functional. Lack of necessary skills and knowledge deter the members of the
committees from performing their duties efficiently and effectively. Furthermore, weak coordination
among local elected bodies, administrative officials and policy makers also has an adverse effect on
the local government.
Limited community participation: Under the Law, there are provisions for the participation of the
local community representatives in the affairs of the UPs. But these provisions are seldom used in
the real sense of the term to ensure peoples’ participation.
Poor delivery of services: The access of the people at the local level to various services that include
health, education, agriculture and water and sanitation has always remained very limited. The
service providers operate independently. Therefore, services do not always address the needs of the
poor people and due to a lack of awareness among them the service providers remain
unaccountable for the quality of the services. Weak local government institutions perpetuate the
problem.
Lack of transparency and accountability: The UPs also suffer from lack of accountability and
transparency as the local communities have no monitoring and watch dog function. The absence of
the above makes the central government’s service delivery agencies as well as the LGIs function
independently devoid of any accountability to the community level beneficiaries and the electorate.
In order to address these issues and make LGIs more accountable and aligned with the needs of the
poor people, it is necessary to develop capacities of the concerned stakeholders to establish
transparency and accountability of public institutions including LGIs at all levels. The project
intended to achieve its goals and objectives by enhancing the knowledge and capacity of the
concerned stakeholders, the UPs, people’s alliances (Lok Morchas) and partner CSOs. These are
discussed below. The UPs have been in existence in Bangladesh for more than a century and no
other LGIs can claim to have a longer life span in terms of continuity than the UPs. They have been
functional even under autocratic and pseudo-democratic regimes that ruled the country at various
points of time. Yet, in spite of the above fact, the UP and its functionaries both elected and
appointed lack capacity and competency in discharging the mandated functions efficiently and
effectively.
The legal framework relating to the UP assigned it a number of functions, but without provision of
adequate financial resources to discharge them properly. The internal resources that are generated
by them are so insignificant that these do not enable them to discharge the assigned service delivery

related functions. As a result, the services at the local level are overwhelmingly delivered by the line
agencies of the national government. This practice has resulted in poor satisfaction for the
beneficiaries, corruption, and leakage of public resources. Under the Union Parishad Law the UPs are
to constitute standing committees in different functional areas such as health, education, agriculture
etc. The Union Parishad Law also empowers them to supervise the functions and activities of the
Union-level officials of the service delivery departments and report on their performance to the
higher authorities located at the Upazila level. But it has been observed that in most Ups these
standing committees are not constituted, and even those formed are largely not functional. They
also lack capacity to make them functional even after they are constituted.
For conflict resolution, both criminal and civil, at the Union level, the Gram Adalat system has been
introduced in the country and the UPs have been assigned the responsibility of constituting the
Gram Adalat to try civil and criminal offences. The Gram Adalats are empowered to impose fines on
criminal offences up to a limit of Taka 25,000, but it has been revealed that in an overwhelming
number of cases the UPs do not constitute these courts for lack of resources and procedural and
legal knowledge about the Gram Adalat.
There are provisions in the Union Parishad Ordinance to ensure the local community’s participation
in its affairs. This could be ensured by co-option to the UP standing committees and participation in
the budget preparation process. It has been revealed that in a large number of cases, these
provisions are not made functional for one reason or the other.
3. Details of the Project Initiative
The project under study intended to develop the capacity of the UPs; activate a number of UP
standing committees to improve local service delivery and oversee the functions of the UP; increase
local level conflict resolution by making the Gram Adalat functional and ensure increased and
effective participation of the local community in UP affairs, oversee service delivery by facilitating in
the creation of watchdog organisations, Lok Morchas at the UP, Upazila and district levels.
3.1 Capacity Development of Union Parishads
Capacity development activities for the UPs included the orientation and training of UP
functionaries. Orientation was provided on responsive public services; functioning of UP standing
committees (education, health, agriculture and audit and accounting); transparency and
accountability of UPs.
On the other hand, trainings were organised on the village court (Gram Adalat); gender and
leadership; participatory plans and budget procedures in UP with the participation of UP
representatives and members of the peoples’ alliances (Lok Morcha) etc.
3.2 Capacity Development of Peoples’ Alliances (Lok Morchas)
The project created Lok Morchas at the Union, Upazila and district levels. These CBOs representing a
cross section of people were intended to be watchdog organisations overseeing and monitoring the
delivery of public services at the local level and also to advocate and lobby the concerned agencies
for further improvement in those areas. For building the capacity of these Lok Morchas a number of
activities were undertaken by the project in the mandated areas. These included the orientation of
Lok Morchas on project goals and their roles and responsibilities. The other important activities were
training the UPs for Lok Morchas on transparency and accountability and the strategic role of Lok
Morchas in the future; annual workshops to identify issues on developing advocacy and
communication materials etc.

3.3 Capacity Development of Partner CSOs and Project Staff

The project envisaged a number of outputs under various immediate objectives to achieve its
development objective. The implementation of a number of activities was planned to produce each
of the outputs. Here it may be noted that the partner non-government organisations (PNGOs) were
responsible for implementing these in the field. For this purpose, initiatives were undertaken to
build the capacities of the PNGOs so that they could implement the project activities successfully.
These were orientations and trainings for them on development approaches, governance, advocacy,
local government, standing committees and village courts; workshops on progress, achievements,
strategies and future initiatives; coordination meetings; training for the Executive Directors of
PNGOs on project management and partnership; refresher training for project staff on governance
etc.
4. Institutions and Actors
As mentioned earlier, the project was implemented by the WAVE Foundation in partnership with 39
PNGOs who are also members of the Governance Coalition. Here it should be noted that in some
Unions the WAVE Foundation was also directly responsible for the implementation in the field.
These PNGOs are local level NGOs who have operational areas in selected Unions and at the same
time were interested in implementing local governance related projects within their areas of
operation.
Under the project implementation arrangement, the Project Management Team (PMT) in
collaboration with the Coalition partners was responsible for planning and implementing project
activities. The PMT was responsible for supervising and coordinating the management,
administration and monitoring of the project. The PMT reported to the WAVE Foundation. The
WAVE Foundation on its part was accountable to the Governance Coalition and the development
partner (Danida) for the effective implementation of the project as a whole.
The project adopted a bottom up and three tiered approach, the UP, Upazila and district. However,
the primary focus was at the Union level. It was connected with the Upazila and district level with
the help of the PNGOs who were also members of the Governance Coalition. The national level was
connected through its national secretariat. Currently, at the Union level Community Organisers (CO)
were responsible for working directly with local organisations. They motivated and united
community members to form the Lok Morcha. They mobilised Lok Morchas, UP representatives and
sensitised Government of Bangladesh (GoB) officials at the local level to increase the responsiveness
of public service delivery agencies and institutions. The COs reported to the Programme Officers and
the Executive Directors of the respective PNGOs.
The Project Secretariat in Dhaka coordinated and supervised the overall project implementation at
the Union, Upazila and district level. The project was headed by a National Programme Coordinator
(NPC) who was responsible for overall programme coordination and reporting and reported to the
Executive Director of the WAVE Foundation. He provided expert support in project management and
networking.
There is an Executive Body of the Governance Coalition which provided necessary guidance in the
planning and implementation of the project in the field. The planning and implementation strategy
was determined through a participatory decision making process by the Executive Committee and
General Committee of the Governance Coalition on a quarterly basis. During these meetings, the
field level problems were also shared and decisions were made through open discussions. In
addition, all the PNGOs and field level staff along with the Programme Officers organised district
level monthly coordination meetings and made decisions in a participatory manner considering the
field situation and shared those decisions with the Project Secretariat in due course of time.

During the discussions the Coalition members mentioned that the decision making process of the
Governance Coalition was democratic in the sense that all the members participated in the debates
and discussion and the decisions were made on the basis of consensus and in general democratic
norms were followed while making decisions. The Governance Coalition also served as a forum for
information sharing and dissemination. The members were of the opinion that this practice helped
them become aware of good practices and at the same time the constraints that were faced by
other partners in various areas while implementing the project. The other important benefit of being
Governance Coalition members was that they could bring local issues to the notice of all the
members. This helped them to take up these issues for advocacy and lobbying in a concerted
manner with the participation and cooperation of the members. The Governance Coalition members
also increased their capacity level by exchange visits to the areas of other partner members and the
sharing of relevant information about issues relating to local governance.
The project had an interesting arrangement for implementation. The NGOs that were members of
the Governance Coalition are also implementation partners of the project in the field. The
Governance Coalition members who had become PNGOs mentioned that they received all possible
help and cooperation such as, guidelines, materials etc., from the Governance Coalition. They did
not observe much change in their relationship with the Governance Coalition and its Secretariat.
They were of the opinion that by becoming PNGOs their role and status as equals in the Governance
Coalition did not get undermined or diminished. They still played a proactive role in the Governance
Coalition. It was further learned that during the course of the implementation of the project, no
comparative assessment of the capacity of the PNGOs was carried out, but during field visits it was
observed that the project activities were better implemented and yielding better results in some
regions than others. A list of training programmes offered through this project to a variety of
stakeholders is given in Annex.6.
5. Inclusivity
As stated earlier, the project created peoples’ organisations called Lok Morchas at three levels,
namely, Union, Upazila and Zila or district level. While constituting these Lok Morchas due emphasis
was given to make them representative ones. Three specific characteristics or criteria were fixed to
determine the membership to these organisations. These included gender, political affiliation and
profession. These three criteria gave these Morchas an inclusive character in the sense that they all
included every section of society including the poor and the marginalised. A study of the
composition of these bodies created for the various levels demonstrates this fact in the tables
presented below.
Table 2: Gender and Political Affiliation of Union Parishad Lok Morcha Members
Member Age Limit Political Identity
Progressive
Political /
Neutral
Female
Jamat
18-25
26-40
41-60
Party
Male
Total
61---
BNP
Non
AL
JP
696 2189 2885 366 1295 1017 207 840 823 180 45 274 723
AL=Awami League; BNP= Bangladesh Nationalist Party; JP= Jatiya Party; Jamat=Jamati Islami, Bangladesh and
Progressive= Left leaning political parties
Table 3: Profession of Union Lok Morcha Members
NGO Rep..
Represent
Religious
Business
Workers
Teacher
Cultural
officials
Elected
Activist
Farmer
Leader
Others
atives
GoB

600 198 494 207 533 122 162 97 198 274
Table 4: Gender and Political Affiliation of Upazila Lok Morcha Members

Progressive
Party/ org..
Political /
Neutral
Female
Jamat
18-25
26-40
41-60
Male
Total
61---
BNP
Non
AL
JP
140 576 717 82 261 302 72 212 232 49 15 94 115
Table 5: Profession of Upazila Lok Morcha Members:
NGO Rep..
Represent
Religious
Business
Workers
Teacher
Cultural
officials
Elected
Activist
Farmer
Others
Leader
atives
GoB
107 28 219 91 72 21 58 32 70 19
Table 6: Gender and Political Affiliation of District Lok Morcha Members

Non Political
Progressive
Party/ org.
/ Neutral
Female
Jamat
18-25
26-40
41-60
Male
Total
61---
BNP
AL
JP
84 333 417 29 153 194 41 139 119 18 8 64 69
Table 7: Profession of District Lok Morcha Members

NGO Rep..
Represent
Religious
Business
Workers
Teacher
Cultural
officials
Elected
Activist
Farmer
Others
Leader
atives
GoB
27 4 126 58 22 15 34 14 99 18
6. Responses
It has been stated earlier that the aim of the current project was to make the UPs more functional
and responsive to the needs and demands of the local communities. To achieve the above, the
project made a number of interventions. It revealed that the UPs covered by the project have now
become more responsive to the community’s rights and demands. In all these UPs all the UP
standing committees have been formed with cooped members (larger community and Lok Morcha
members). The four standing committees (agriculture, education and health and audit and
accounting) that the project specially targeted for activation were holding regular meetings and
overseeing the activities of the various service delivery agencies that fall under their purview or
jurisdiction. A cross section of the community reported that services in general in the above
mentioned areas have considerably improved. Now, the government officials of these agencies are
more visible in the Unions. Wherever, there are new UP complexes, these officials ensure that they
are present there regularly. It was further learnt that the UP Chairpersons on many occasions even
raised various issues relating to the above mentioned areas in the Upazila Development
Coordination Committee (UDCC) (before the constitution of the newly elected Upazila Parishad).

With respect to the UP budget, it was mentioned that open budget sessions are now held on a
regular basis. People from all walks of lives attend these sessions and also put forward their
suggestions and recommendations to be incorporated in the budget document. Discussion with UP
Chairpersons, members and Lok Morchas revealed that in many cases the suggestions and
recommendations made by the people at large are taken into consideration and an effort is made to
incorporate these into budget documents.
The project created Lok Morchas at various levels, namely, the Union, Upazila and Zila or district
levels. The envisaged role of the Lok Morcha was to facilitate demand driven and responsive service
delivery rather than confronting the local governance organisations as well as other government
service delivery organisations working at the local level. Field observations revealed that there has
been a noteworthy development in the level of understanding, awareness and knowledge of the Lok
Morchas working at various tiers of administration. It clearly appeared that in an overwhelming
number of cases these CBOs now possess a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities
and the functions they need to perform for ensuring better service delivery to the community and
above all how to advocate for these issues with the concerned service providing agencies. The other
important aspect that has been observed is that these bodies now have acquired knowledge and
skills in building a rapport and networking with local governance bodies and government service
delivery agencies working at the field level.
Increased and broad based participation has been another success in this particular area. The
composition of the Lok Morchas of different levels indicated that people from various social strata
and economic standing are more enthusiastic about becoming members and participated in these
organisations for realising their various rights especially relating to various services that are available
at the local level.
It needs to be mentioned here that the project in particular worked to activate four standing
committees out of a total of 13 standing committees of the UPs. Of these four committees three are
related with various services (agriculture, education and health). It was learned that the Lok Morcha
members were co-opted to these standing committees. This particular development indicated that
the UPs recognised these bodies and placed a lot of importance on their participation for mutual
benefit.
Box 9
Achievements of Bangladesh Strengthening Local Governance Project
Union Parishad
Standing committee meetings (especially education, health, agriculture and audit & accounts) are
regularly held in 93 Unions out of 112; 19 Unions are also practicing them but not on a regular basis.
Raised 654 decisions in the UP standing committee meetings in the Upazila Development Coordination
Committee Meetings.
Plans and budget meetings held in 112 Unions at the ward level for enshrining the community’s
participation in the decision making process.
All (112) Unions are holding open budget meetings by ensuring the attendance of all levels of stake
holders.
Out of 112 UPs, 106 UPs are performing UP, GO & NGOs coordination meetings on a regular basis.
Village Court
Out of 112 UPs, 83 Unions are conducting village courts on a regular basis (one day in a week), the
remaining 29 UPs are not conducting them so regularly.
95 UPs openly declare the verdict.

On the basis of information from 112 Unions, 10364 cases have been filed, 6876 cases have been solved,
1603 cases are under procedure, 1465 cases have been dismissed and 420 cases have been sent to the
higher court.
The higher courts have referred 1281 cases to the village court.
Agriculture Services
76 Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer (SAAO) have been posted to the vacant positions because of the
lobbying by the Lok Morcha and UP Agriculture Standing Committee.
77 Unions have ensured that soil testing machines are available in the UP. This is because of lobbying by
the Lok Morcha and UP Agriculture Standing Committee.
110 Sub Assistant Agriculture Officers are regularly providing services in selective places at the ward level.
42 Unions have ensured irrigation facilities because of the lobbying by the Lok Morcha and UP Agriculture
Standing Committee.
Sub Assistant Agriculture Officers are now going to the UP Complex as per regulations in 83 Unions.
Health Services
104 Unions Health & Family Welfare Centres have started to regularly display the medicines available to
the Lok Morcha and UP Health Standing Committee.
97 doctors have been posted to fill in vacancies by the lobbying of the Lok Morcha and UP Health Standing
Committee.
In 108 Unions, Health & Family Welfare Centres are providing quality health services.
Health service related equipment was provided 82 Unions health centres, by the lobbying of Lok Morcha
and UP Health standing committee.
98 Unions have ensured 100 per cent sanitation coverage.
In 96 Unions, Health & Family Welfare Centres are now displaying the list of medicines available on the
information board.
Education Services
102 Unions ensured the equal distribution of 487 teachers (considering the student- teacher ratio)
because of the lobbying by the Lok Morcha and UP Education Standing Committee.
107 community teachers have been recruited because of the initiative of the Lok Morcha and UP
Education Standing Committee in 101 Unions.
Ensured necessary furniture & equipment in 243 Schools because of the lobbying by the Lok Morcha and
UP Education Standing Committee.
The Upazila Assistant Education Officer (UAEO) is present in the UP Complex as per regulations in seven
Unions.
Source: Project Document
The PNGOs have been an integral part of the implementation process of the project. The PNGOs
were the vehicles or the facilitators through which the various stakeholders of the project, the UPs,
Lok Morchas, and the service delivery agencies were to be networked and their capacities built. For
this purpose, the PNGOs needed to have appropriate capacity and competencies to perform their
assigned functions. As such, the project also made provision to build the capacities of the PNGOs.
Field investigations revealed that the PNGOs are now more capable in discharging their roles and
responsibilities. The UPs where project interventions have taken place have constituted all the 13
mandatory standing committees with their active support. They have been especially successful in
activating four standing committees namely, agriculture, education and health and audit &
accounting. The first three are intended for overseeing improvement for better delivery of services
in the concerned areas and the last one for ensuring transparency and accountability of the UPs. It
was found that these committees regularly hold meetings and the resolutions made at the meetings
are documented and they make appropriate recommendations to the UPs for action for improving
the delivery of services in those areas. This activation process is being done with the active
facilitation of the PNGOs. During field visits the concerned stakeholders of this process reported
that the PNGOs have been quite successful in constituting these four standing committees with co-
opted members from the community as well as from the Lok Morcha, making the members aware of
their roles and responsibilities. At the same time, they have also facilitated the process of building
networks with the standing committees and the government service delivery organisations. The
people of the community when contacted also mentioned that the service delivery had improved as
compared to earlier because of the active facilitation of the PNGOs. The above facts show that
building the capacity of the PNGOs has been successful in delivering their project mandated
functions and responsibilities.
The PNGOs were also made responsible for community peoples’ awareness and capacity
development. In the current project, the PNGOs facilitated the process of forming people’s
organisations called Lok Morchas at various levels. As the Lok Morcha members represent various
socio-economic sections of larger society, the community’s awareness level about rights has also
increased on the whole. Discussions with the Lok Morchas at different levels, UP Chairpersons and
members, elected Upazila Chairpersons and Vice Chairpersons and government officials like Upazila
Nirbahi Officers (UNOs) revealed that the PNGOs have played a crucial role in organising the
community and forming Lok Morchas and making them aware of their rights and finally building
their capacity in the broad areas of networking, lobbying and advocacy for realising the rights of the
common people.
7. Challenges and Lessons Learnt
The process of the project’s formulation and implementation has generated a number of challenges
and important lessons. Some of them are:
Innovativeness of the project: The innovativeness of the project was its approach in forming
people’s alliances (Lok Morchas) to interface between local governance institutions, the local
community and the government service providers through a process which on the one hand,
provides them an opportunity to learn the relevant issues by working with the stakeholders
mentioned earlier and on the other, to be oriented with the processes and practices of the local
governance and local service delivery administration by involving them with their activities in
resolving issues faced by the community. This approach appears to be a very useful mechanism
to build capacities at the local level.
The other innovation which has added value to the project is the formation of a three tier Lok
Morcha linking the three tiers of local administration, viz., Union, Upazila and district. This
enabled the much needed horizontal and triangular linkage of local governance/local
administration, and local community to establish a participatory and accountable local
governance system.
The project tried to develop a micro-macro linkage between the local and national level. This
was done by identifying issues at the local level and sharing them at the national level with
policy planners and champions of string local governance through dialogue sessions, seminars
and round table conferences. The objective of establishing such linkages was to influence policy
decisions in favour of a strong local governance system in the country. Recent initiatives taken
by the present government indicate that this concept and mechanism of micro-macro linkages is
an effective tool in bringing about the desired level of change.
A long-term perspective: Institution building, institutionalisation of CBOs and good practices
takes time. This was observed to be true in the case of the Lok Morchas, Union Parishads, the
government’s local level service providers and the wider community as a whole. It is essential
that support currently being provided needs to be provided for longer time duration to have the
desired and sustained impact.

The rights based approach of development in rural areas needs the participation of the
concerned stakeholders. In this case the stakeholders were the local communities, the local
bodies and the line departments of the government. Such participation ensures the better
achievement of goals and objectives as involving all of them in the process of implementation.
Formation of community watchdog organisations at the different tiers helps in ensuring better
service delivery at the local level as all these tiers are interlinked in the process of service
delivery. These watchdog organisations can advocate, lobby and network with organisations
located at different tiers.
Community watchdog organisations not only work for the benefit of the local community but
also help the service delivery organisations like the UPs and other government departments in
effectively implementing their projects and programmes as these peoples’ organisations secure
the peoples support and cooperation.
The institution of the Gram Adalat if properly activated can resolve a large number of disputes at
the local level thus freeing the formal judicial system from the burden of an increasing number
of litigations.
Micro-macro linkage between the local and national level is essential to create a support base
for a strong local governance system and true decentralisation in the country. Concerted efforts
help in achieving results in this particular area.
Sharing and dissemination of information and knowledge help the cause of strengthening the
demand for a strong local governance and decentralisation and also reduces the chance of
duplication of efforts.
8. Observations/ Comments
In conclusion it can be said that the project on ‘Strengthening Local Governance through
Participatory and Responsive Public Services’ was effectively implemented in activating the various
stakeholders to improve services through accountability and responsiveness and produced many
desired objectives. The innovative approach of involving PNGOs, organising peoples’ alliances or
Morchas to assist the UP, monitoring and reporting on some of the basic services is largely
responsible for the project’s effectiveness. The strategy to draw the service providers into the
project activities has also been unique in its success of quick responses from government officials.
The effort to activate an existing mechanism in the local governance structure, the standing
committees, and Gram Adalat has been valuable in strengthening the UPs and its instruments of
ensuring good governance. These are extremely important for sustainability of change in a
traditionally entrenched system of non-participatory and ineffective governance, particularly when it
requires changing not only practices but also attitudes.
The project did not intend to transfer the role of governing and service delivery to other institutions,
rather it aimed at building the capacity of the existing local governance to be able to effectively
monitor and report service delivery performance for the benefit of the community. The objective
was to develop and institutionalise collective leadership both in governance institutions and
community organisations to replace individual elitist ones for more democratic and people oriented
systems.

Case Study 2
Making Union Parishads Effective

through Cascade Based Training:
A Case Study from Bangladesh
- Akhter Hussain, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
1. Introduction
In Bangladesh, the Union Parishad (UP) is an elected body composed of 13 members; one from each
of the nine wards, three women members (from reserved seats – one from each of the three wards)
and the Chairperson elected by the electorate of the UP. The Union is staffed by a full time
Secretary, appointed by the Deputy Commissioner, and local police (1 Dafadar and 9-12 Gram Police
Personnel). The Secretary is responsible for accounting and record keeping and all kinds of
registration e.g. birth, marriage, death etc.
The functions of the UP are wide ranging. In reality, the UPs are mainly involved in the selection and
implementation of infrastructural schemes, local level revenue collection, registration of births and
deaths, social safety net activities such as, distribution of relief goods and vulnerable group feeding
(VGF), preparing lists of widows for pension distribution and organisation of food/cash for work
activities (Kabikha/Kabita); maintenance of law and order including conflicts resolution and
administration of justice (village court). The UPs are also empowered to monitor the functions and
activities of the Union level officials of the central government’s service delivery department.
The UPs are to constitute standing committees (a total of 13) in different functional areas. The other
important aspect of the committee system is that it can ensure community participation by co-
opting members of the local communities into these committees. Besides the standing committees,
UPs are empowered to constitute other committees to transact specific functions and businesses
like, Project Implementation Committee (PIC) to implement local development projects, Tender
Committee for procuring goods and services, Food for Work Committee to create employment
opportunities by undertaking infrastructure development activities etc. There is provision for co-
opting community members especially the poor and marginalised, women and professionals and
other groups into these committees.
The UPs generally have three sources of revenue. They are:
 Own revenue: Own revenue consists of the holding tax (real estate), fees from trade and
business licenses, registry fees and other minor fees.
 Shared revenue: Shared revenue includes one per cent of the land transfer tax collected by the
Land Registration Office at the Upazila level, 50 per cent of market leasing fees for one selected
market within the UP and ferry concession fees.
 Transfer from central government: Transfers from central government include the block grant
allocation at the Upazila level as part of the national Asian Development Bank Programme
(subsequently shared among all UPs) and the UP direct block grant.

However, despite the above mentioned sources, the financial resource base of the UPs is so weak
that they cannot discharge most of their mandated functions because of resource constraints. Local
resource generation is negligible compared to their real needs. In such a situation, they almost
completely depend on central government grants.
2. Background and Rationale
Direct funding to Local Governance Institutions (LGIs) especially Union Parishads is quite a new
phenomenon in Bangladesh. The Sirajgang Local Governance Development Fund Project (SLGDFP)
(funded by UNDP and United Nations Capital Development Fund - UNCDF) first piloted the concept
in Union Parishads that were covered under the project. Inspired by the success of this new
approach, the government also resorted to providing Block Grants directly to UPs from 2004. The
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP, Unlocking the Potential) also made recommendations in
the same direction. The Second PRSP recommended a medium term strategic agenda for Bangladesh
for achieving the goal of accelerated poverty reduction which comprises of seven elements. This
includes, among others, local governance and decentralisation as one of the six areas for
improvement. The key targets identified in the PRSP included strengthening the resource position of
UPs and Paurashavas, establishing of all constitutionally mandated LGIs (Upazila and Zila Parishads),
expanding performance based budgetary support to UPs, and strengthening the participatory role of
civil society.
In 2006, the government with credit support from the World Bank and support from UNDP, UNCDF,
Danida and EC formulated the Local Governance Support Project (LGSP). It envisaged covering all the
UPs in Bangladesh in phases. Among others, the performance based direct fund transfer has been
the most important salient feature of this project.
The goal of LGSP is to strengthen UPs as an agency for effective, responsive local service delivery and
accountable governance. The LGSP has six components, fiscal transfers, institutionalising local
accountability, capacity development, performance review and policy development, social
protection (SP) pilot, learning and innovation.
Component 3 intended to provide information and support to the various actors involved in block
grant implementation under the local Public Expenditure Management (PEM) system and assist the
Government of Bangladesh (GoB) in developing a capacity development framework to meet the
nationwide growing requirement for local governance capacity development. The constituting
subcomponents of Component 3 are:
Information, education and communication addressed to the public at large concerning the LGSP
block grant condition and cycle;
Training and capacity development activities of UPs around the local PEM cycle;
Developing peer learning mechanisms for participating UPs and local officials; and
Providing institutional support for the overall decentralisation process and policy development.
According to the plan the above sub-components were to be implemented under the coordination
of the National Institute of Local Government to ensure consistent quality control, economy of scale
and institutional sustainability. Outsourcing the core training to regional service providers (NGOs,
training institutes and private sector) was to be used to implement the LGSP capacity development
activities. The Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (MoLGRD&C) is
responsible for the direct management of procurement and funds for the component while the
National Institute for Local Government (NILG) is mandated to manage the execution of activities
and coordinate with the MoLGRD&C in monitoring the progress (project document).

3. Details of the Initiative on Capacity Development

Under the capacity development component, the LGSP has organised a number of orientation and
training events, including the training of more than 34,000 public officials. Here it needs to be
mentioned that Component 3 (Capacity Development) was originally designed to provide UPs with
training in the understanding and use of LGSP procedures and processes that included planning,
budgeting, scheme implementation, procurement, financial management; and reporting, etc.
The capacity development component was originally designed to provide UPs with access to training
from private sector (or non-governmental) capacity development service providers (CBSPs). It was
envisaged that the CBSPs were to be contracted by LGD through a competitive bidding process and
then work under the supervision of the NILG to deliver training and other capacity development
services to UPs, but the CBSPs could not be selected for a number of reasons, such as, the CBSPs that
applied for providing the services did not have any earlier experience of providing training to the
local governance bodies; the proposed trainers were not experts in the field and they themselves
would need training of trainers (ToTs); the CBSPs would leave once their assigned job was over. As
such, they would not be able to provide the UPs support that would be needed later; and the public
bureaucracy wanted to have some sort of role in the project.
In view of the above, a cascade based training model was used by using Master Trainers (selected
from a number of national level institutions), District Training Teams (a later addition) and Upazila
Resource Teams (URTs). In this cascade model, the URTs were used as frontline trainers, directly
responsible for providing UP functionaries, both elected and appointed (Secretaries), with training in
the understanding and use of LGSP procedures and processes that included planning, budgeting,
scheme implementation, procurement, financial management and reporting, etc.
With respect to curriculum and training material developments, an expert panel consisting of eight
members was appointed. The whole development process was supervised by the NILG. Regarding
the preparation process, it was reported that due to time constraints, the panel of experts could not
conduct the training need assessment of the UP functionaries in relation to the LGSP. However,
several field visits were undertaken for consultation and to seek the opinion of the concerned
stakeholders.
In December 2007, an orientation workshop on LGSP Operational Manual was organised at 13
district level venues. The participants included the Deputy Commissioners (DCs), Deputy Director,
Local Government (DDLG), Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNOs) and UP Chairpersons and Secretaries. The
main purpose and objective of the workshop was to introduce the project to the participants.
It was envisaged that they were the key stakeholders for the successful implementation of the
project. The other important objective was to publicise the launching of the project at the field level
where it was to be implemented. The earlier selected and trained Master Trainers and officials of the
Local Government Division of the MoLGRD&C acted as the resource persons in the workshop.
It needs to be mentioned here that this workshop was the first activity that was undertaken as part
of the capacity development initiative under the LGSP. No such orientation workshop was organised
again through the tenure of the LGSP. It was learnt that though the launching of the regular capacity
development activities planned under the project were delayed, this activity was organised to make
the relevant stakeholders aware about the operational procedures and modalities of LGSP as the
participating UPs had already received the direct block grant .
4. Institutions and Actors
The training for capacity development under the LGSP cascade based model involves five steps. The
first four steps could be termed as the preparatory phases for the delivery of the final capacity

development training to the fifth phase i.e., the UP functionaries that include the UP Chairperson,
members and the Secretary. The first four steps primarily focus on the training of trainers (ToT). The
UP functionaries are the final recipients of the training designed for their capacity development.
Figure 1
LGSP Cascade Model of Capacity development Training
Panel of Experts
Pool of Master Trainers
District Training Team

(added later)
Upazila Resource Team
UP Functionaries
Source: World Bank, Review of LGSP Union Parishad Training Programme, Local Governance Support Project
(LGSP), Dhaka, 2011
At the top of the cascade was the Pool of Master Trainers. The faculty members of institutions like
the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), Comilla, Rural Development Academy,
Bogra and Rural Development Training Institute, Sylhet including NILG were included in the Master
Trainers Pool. In total, 74 nominated faculty members were inducted into the pool. Besides them
nominated officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Youth Development who had
experience of working as trainers were also inducted in the trainer’s pool. The Master Trainers were
provided five days of ToT in two batches organised at the NILG, Dhaka. The ToT sessions were
conducted by the panel of experts earlier appointed for the preparation of the LGSP training
modules and training manual. The training source materials primarily used in these ToTs were the
LGSP modules and the training manual.
Below the Pool of Master Trainers, a new layer was called the District Training Team (DTT) which was
added later. It was a three member team consisting of the Additional Deputy Commissioner
(General), District Livestock Officer and the Deputy Director, Local Government. The DTTs were
assigned twin functions, monitoring of the URT training programme to ensure the maintenance of
standards and consistency and to also act as trainers in the said programmes. It was also perceived
that it would also establish a mechanism of linkage between the district administration and the
LGSP, which in turn would help in ensuring the cooperation of the Upazila administration in general
and Upazila Nirbahi Officer in particular for the smooth and effective implementation of the capacity
development initiatives at the Upazila and Union levels (URTs and UP functionaries).
For the DTT members five day ToT programmes were organised at the NILG. The LGSP modules and
the training manual were covered in this. The major focus was on transferring information and
knowledge that was included in the modules. The other important aspect of ToT that is imparting
skills to act as trainers was not given due importance.

In the LGSP training cascade, the Upazila Resource Team (URT) is the most important and the final
level for the delivery of the capacity development services intended for the local level functionaries
(UP Chairpersons, members and Secretaries). The URT consists of seven members that include the
Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Engineer, Social Welfare Officer, Agriculture Officer, Rural Development
Officer, Accounts Officer and the last one comes from outside of regular government services. Here
it should be pointed out that excepting for one person, all the members of the URT are Upazila level
heads of different government departments.
The URTs were provided ToTs on four LGSP training modules. The exercise had a twofold objective,
firstly to provide information and knowledge about operational procedures of the LGSP and secondly
to impart the skill of providing training on the acquired information and knowledge. The URT
trainings were organised at 22 venues (21 in different districts and 1 in NILG itself). Here it should be
noted that not all the members of the URTs were called for the ToTs. Four members from each
Upazila of the URT attended the ToTs. In total, 54 ToT sessions were organised for the URTs where
they attended them in batches. A total of 1920 URTs received training. The members of the Master
Trainers Pool and higher field level government officials acted as the resource persons or trainers in
these training sessions.
The UP training was the final step of the LGSP’s capacity development initiative for the UPs under
the LGSP. These trainings were organised at the Upazila headquarters and were implemented in
phases. In the first phase, a total of 2257 UPs were included and the second phase consisted of
another 1123 UPs. Later other UPs were also provided training. The UPs were also included in the
LGSP in phases.
As discussed earlier, the URTs provided the UP training. The training curricula included the four LGSP
modules, Local Governance and LGSP; Participatory Planning and Budget; Environmental and Social
Impact of Scheme; and Financial Management and Procurement Management. The duration of the
UP training was five days. The LGSP training manual was used as the basic resource material for
imparting training.
5. Inclusiveness
The ultimate purpose of LGSP project’s capacity development initiative was to build the capacities of
the UP functionaries Chairpersons, members (both male and female) and the UP Secretaries. The
focus of the capacity development activities was on the four important aspects that have been
mentioned earlier, which are the cornerstones of the whole LGSP project. It should be mentioned
that the elected representatives were all included in the capacity development efforts.
However, under the LGSP implementation mechanism there are many mandatory provisions for the
local community’s active participation like the planning and budget preparation process,
development scheme implementation and supervision. To effectively participate in these processes
the participants need to have competencies that again depend on information, knowledge and skills,
but under the LGSP’s current capacity development system there is no provision to build the
capacity of the communities to effectively participate in various functions and activities of the UPs.
6. Responses
From the responses of the LGSP’s stakeholders it was learnt that the whole capacity development
process was not well planned and coordinated. It also revealed that no in-depth participants’
evaluation was conducted after the completion of the training programme to find out the relevance,
suitability of methodology and appropriateness of the training modules and manual, keeping in mind
the focus of the LGSP capacity development effort and the receptive capacity of the training
recipients down the line.

The training of UP functionaries is the final objective of the LGSP’s capacity development initiative
for the functionaries of the UPs. These trainings were organised at the Upazila headquarters and
were implemented in phases. It was learnt that the URTs only consisted of the government officials
who provided training with the help of only the LGSP training manual. The participants mentioned
the poor performance of many trainers. On training methodology, it revealed that the trainers in
most of the cases relied on the lecture method. Participants’ participation was at a bare minimum in
the training sessions. Regarding training modules it was reported that the modules on Financial
Management and Procurement and Environment and Social Impact of Scheme seemed to be difficult
to understand and apply in real life situations.
The implementation of the cascade based training programme was the joint responsibility of the
LGD of the MoLGRD&C and the NILG. The above observation suggests that there has been a lack of
or limited coordination between them.
In the URT trainings it was revealed that training given was only based on the LGSP module and it
only provided information and knowledge about the operational procedures of the LGSP. The other
important aspect of skill development was not given due attention or ignored during the training.
Here it needs to be pointed out that the URTs are the ultimate delivery vehicle for capacity
development of the UP functionaries, one of the primary stakeholders and field level implementers
of the LGSP. It was found that there was no monitoring mechanism to ensure the quality and
consistency of the ToT. However, it was reported that the training quality particularly in terms of
methodology and quality of delivery was very poor. In many cases it was reported that the five day
training programme was completed in two to three days.
It was gathered that the resource teams only consisted of government officials. The ToTs were only
provided to four out of the seven members of the URT teams and in a large number of cases those
four were government officials. The lone independent non-official was either not inducted into the
team or did not receive any training. The trainers only used the LGSP training manual to provide the
training. In most of the cases, the trainers’ performance was very poor. The trainers had limited
information and knowledge and they also lacked skills in imparting training. Here it should be
mentioned that in all the ToTs organised under the cascade based training programme skill
development in providing training was not given due importance. As a result, the URTs to a great
extent failed to perform optimally as trainers. It was also reported that sometimes trainings were
provided by untrained URT members leaving the trained ones idle.
The important lessons learned were:
The LGSP training cascade had four steps or strata, starting from the panel of experts down to
the UP officials - the final target beneficiaries of the training, but layers cause system loss in
terms of transfer of information, knowledge and skills.
The other lesson learned was that proper importance should be given on the development of
training skills. Otherwise, the initiative will have limited success.
The community members should also be included in the capacity development activities as the
proper and effective implementation of the LGSP needs their active participation as they have to
become members of various committees that play a vital role in the implementation of the
project. Their capacities are also to be built for the said purpose.
For the successful implementation of the cascade based training there should be proper
planning and coordination between stakeholders.

8. Observations/ Comments
Under the LGSP a cascade based training programme is being implemented for the capacity
development of the UP functionaries. So many layers in the cascade caused system loss in terms of
transfer of information, knowledge and skills. There was limited or less importance given to the
development of training skills. However, the proper and effective implementation of the LGSP needs
the active participation of the community members as well, as they will become members of various
committees that play a vital role in the implementation of the project. To participate in those
committees and activities the communities also need to have a certain level of competency, but the
LGSP has not focused on that and kept itself limited to the capacity development of the UP
functionaries only.
The preparation of training materials took a lot of time. As a result, training needs assessment could
not be conducted before the preparation of the training modules and manuals. It was also reported
that other than training modules and manuals no other material was used. Regarding delivery, it was
gathered that in an overwhelming number of cases only the lecture method was used. Also,
learners’ participation was very limited.

Case Study 3
Developing Capacity of Dehiwela

Mt Lavinia Municipal Council for
Improving Services:
A Case Study from Sri Lanka
Government Authorities
1. Background
Dehiwela-Mt Lavinia Municipal Council (DMMC) serves an urban population of 233,290 with 29
elected members including the Mayor. This local authority was selected for the case study due to its
location within the suburban zone in the District of Colombo. The council is housed in a recently built
spacious building providing a satisfactory working environment for the staff. Inter alia, inadequate
financial resources and capacity deficiency were identified as main problems of the council affecting
the satisfactory provision of service delivery to the public and planning and implementing local
development. The capacity development needs were primarily awareness and skills development of
the staff as well as council members.
2. Capacity Development in DMMC
Training of Council staff was mainly limited to participation of selected staff members in training
programmes organised and conducted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Local Government (SLILG) as part
of their annual action plans. Other agencies as the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI), Sri Lanka
Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) and Management Training Development Institute
(MDTI) of the Western Provincial Council also provided training for council employees in addition to
programmes funded and conducted by private sector agencies marketing construction material. In
the consultations it transpired that there had been no training utilising DMM Council funds since
2006 albeit that there were two officers assigned to coordinate training as part of their duties.
2.1 Needs Assessment
Notwithstanding that training needs assessments per se are not conducted regularly, immediate
supervisors/section heads of different administrative and operational sections of the council decide
on training needs and recommend staff for the SLILG training programmes. The council staff is also
involved in course selection as applications are accommodated from all staff by the section head for
the training programmes. The responsibility of determining the course type and the number of
officers nominated for each course lies with the Secretary of the Council. While training provided by
SLILG is supply driven, generally the number of participants participating in a particular training
programme is decided by the training support provider whether it be SLILG or other government,
non-government or private sector organisation.

2.2 Participants
Council staff who participated in training programmes in recent years was the Management
Assistants, and Technical Officers. Except for awareness building programme detailed below minor
employees of the council did not have the opportunity to participate in training programme. The
employees who had participated in capacity development programmes maintained that the training
provided by SLILG, and other organisations as Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration
(SLIDA) and MDTI, have assisted them in improving their capacity in carrying out the duties assigned
to them effectively. Notwithstanding that they had the opportunity to selectively apply and
participate in a training course of their choice from the supply driven training course list sent by the
training providers, they believed that the capacity development programmes should be customised
to accommodate the needs of individual staff and the particular local authorities (LA).
Transfer of trained employees from one LA to another and also within the LA was identified as a
barrier to adopting and utilizing the skills developed through capacity development. This was mainly
due to the reason that in most cases transfers were affected to fill a vacancy and the duties in the
new position would not be the same as the employee’s earlier duties in which he had been trained.
2.3 Training Methodology
All or several of the following methods were employed in the training programmes in which the
council staff had participated.
Class room type lectures followed by discussions;
Presentation of learning material using the power point;
Discussions on group basis and presentation of group work to plenary sessions;
Writing down answers to quick questions raised by the Trainers;
Group exercises;
In addition, on the job training were also employed in some training programmes.
3. Demand Driven Capacity Development Programme by DMMC
A recent awareness building programme conducted by the DMMC to address a need identified by
the council itself and utilising its own resources stood out as a successful programme worth
recognition and adoption.
3.1 Problem Identification
In investigating into the increase in the number of public complaints on infrastructure facilities
provided by the Council poor service delivery in respect to provision of urban infrastructure services
was identified as the underlying cause. Four Management Assistants from different sections of the
council and who had received training on various aspects of local governance were co-opted by the
Council Secretary to investigate into the problem and it was found that a majority of public
complaints were on the following sections of the council:
Sanitation and Solid waste collection;
Maintenance of Roads and Drains;
Maintenance of Street Lighting and Water supply;
Street line and Building Plan approval;
Further investigation revealed that these sections were hampered by
Complains on promotions and pensions;
Absenteeism and excessive leave taking;
Drunkenness during duty hours;
Negligence of duty and petty thefts;

In addition, there were complaints that some employees were not providing for their dependants.
With the participation of the above officials and studying the Attendance Registers, Salary
Increments and Promotions, Gratuity and Pension Payments the problems affecting the above
sections were prioritised and possible solutions it was decided to conduct an awareness programme
for the minor employees who were identified as contributing to the problems.
3.3 Methodology Used
The steps followed in implementing the awareness programme were as follows:
Initially awareness was built through informative lectures on;
- Adverse impacts on the council operations and the employees themselves brought on by the
poor output of the employees;
- Value of a providing good services to the employer and how quality service would result in
benefits to the employing organisation and the employees, too;
Employees were then encouraged to identify problems they have had to face as an organisation
and as individuals, due to the present situation;
Listing and prioritising the identified problems;
Proposing institutional solutions to the problems on a priority basis taking into consideration
duties and responsibilities of employees and legislative basis of employment;
Recommendation of solutions to problems by the employees on a priority basis;
Listing the recommendations and examining them for compliance with institutional legislative
framework;
Selecting feasible solutions for immediate implementation;
Formal presentations were conducted at the end of the interactive sessions to reiterate and
emphasise the benefits for law abiding, punctilious and diligent employees. Ability to get rapid
promotions and enjoy commendations and salary increments, credit facilities and at the end of
service gratuity and timely pension payments were presented as benefits and it was also
demonstrated how these would lead to enhancement of the employee’s social standing, family
life and happiness and children’s education and a comfortable and easy paced retirement. The
opposite situation was also compared in the discourse.
3.4 Monitoring
The impact of the capacity development programme was monitored through examination of
attendance registers, loan applications, personal files and purchase of goods to be paid for by
deducting from salary, by the same officers who were involved in identifying the problem earlier.
The information provided by the officers doing the monitoring is tabulated below.
Table 8: Improvement in Employee Performance
Indicator Percentage Improvement in
Comparison to Pre-programme Values
nd th
End of 2 Month End of 4 Month
Attendance 20 45
Not leaving the work place 15 35
Team work 20 30
Indicator Percentage Reduction in Comparison to Pre-
programme Values
nd th
End of 2 Month End of 4 Month
Complaints from employee families 15 35

Complaints of drunkenness during duty hours 10 10

Public complaints on solid waste collection and street 30 50
cleaning
Source: information provided by DMMC
4. Outcome
As a result of the programme in addition to adverse impact of poor service delivery on the
institution, the employees were able to see how they were contributing to their own downfall and
its impact on their families. The participants were very appreciative of the programme as the
programme was explicit in the plight they were in due to their shortcomings.
Feasible pragmatic solutions to the problems was identified and fine-tuned by the employees
themselves and the sense of ownership propelled them to implement the solutions which not only
enhanced their living standard but also led to better service delivery with respect to provision of
infrastructure facilities by the Council.
5. Systemic Problems Identified
Recruitment of persons without necessary qualifications;
Problems arising when qualified and unqualified employees are treated on equal basis and
assigned to do the same work;
Disruption of team work environment by political appointees who have become a law unto
themselves;
Businessmen and their agents in collaboration with Council officers enticing the employees to
lease consumer goods at unbearable instalments which are deducted from their monthly salary
and thus compelling the employees to work elsewhere to supplement their income
Alcoholism and unsanitary habits affecting employee health;
Lack of safe and efficient equipment and tools in attending to field work;
6. Observations
The two senior officers who have been entrusted the coordination of Training in the DMMC have not
contributed to this training programme. Further, they were not aware of the capacity development
programmes of DMMC.
The awareness programme was conducted with a minimum of training aids although the following
would have complemented the training.
Documentaries from other LAs to share institutional knowledge;
Hand-outs/leaflets;
Publications/booklets on Public and Occupational Health and modern technology on urban
infrastructure maintenance and service delivery
Assistance of a Health Care Provider;
The programme became so popular among the minor employees that there was increasing demand
to participate after the first two programmes were conducted. However, the number of participants
was curtailed to 70 per day and new programmes are planned in February/March of 2011 to
accommodate the employees who could not participate. In total 280 employees participated.
The employees who had participated and were consulted in the study process were in agreement
that on the job training was the best method which should be adopted in training as it provided skill
development while actually doing the assigned duties and could be replicated effectively.
There is no monitoring system or ex post evaluation system to check the success of the training
programmes or capacity development of staff who participated in the programmes. Not only was

there no monitoring system the council administration had no system to even track the participation
of the staff who had been nominated by them to participate in the training programmes provided,
notwithstanding that two officers were assigned coordination of training as part of their duties.
7. Challenges
Challenges faced by the council in implementing the capacity development programme were as
follows:
Funding and training resources
Attendance of elected council members
Difficulty in directing political appointees to collaborative approach
Conducting monitoring/evaluation of the success of the programme in the absence of such a
system in the Council
As there were constraints on obtaining external funding and human resources for the
programme trained officers of the Council and the Secretary who was a competent trainer had
to conduct the training programme.
All minor grade employees including casual employees were the target group of the programme.
As it was difficult to train all employees at one session without disrupting the service delivery of
the Council the programme had to be conducted during 04 days.
8. Lessons Learnt
The awareness programme was conducted successfully due to the personal efforts of a group
consisting of the Secretary and a few motivated officers. The success of the programme was
established by the outcome and also by the increasing demand from the minor employees who
participated in it. However, no system was established to replicate this programme within the
Council or in other Las. The process was not institutionalised and the outcome and experience of the
programme could not get its due recognition by the system.
Planning and delivery of innovative and demand driven capacity development interventions within
the Council depended solely on the Secretary and the group organised by him informally, which
precludes sustainability of such programmes.
Capacity development in the DMMC was only at the individual level, i.e. developing the skills of
individual participants, and not focused on developing the capacity of particular units/departments
of the council.
9. Recommendations for Improvement
The Council staff who participated in capacity development programmes and others consulted
recommended the following for the programmes to be more effective.
Capacity development programmes should be cater to the individual needs of the participants;
Transfer of LA officials to and from other services should be avoided and all new recruits should
be provided training on LA procedures and regulations;
As far as possible capacity development interventions should employ on the job training;
Trained staff should be monitored through an established system to evaluate the adequacy and
success of the training received and need for further training.

Case Study 4
Capacity Development of Local

Councils and Community for
Managing Solid Waste: A Case
Study from Sri Lanka
Government Authorities
1. Background
Situated within the Western Province and the Divisional Secretary Divisions of Bandaragama and
Milleniya, the Bandaragama Pradeshiya Sabha serves a population of 130,868 and elects 18
members to its governing council. Bandaragama Pradeshiya Sabha was selected for the case study
due its mix of rural and suburban areas while being within the District of Colombo. The main office
of the PS is located in a cramped office building which does not allow much workspace for the
various sections and officers of the PS. The 04 sub offices are situated in Adikaripattuwa,
Thalpitibadde, Munwatte and Galpatha. The Secretary and 06 employees from different
administrative and operational sections of the Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) who had participated in
capacity development programmes and elected PS members were consulted in the preparation of
the case study.
Inadequate financial resources, poor output from minor employees and lack of knowledge on local
governance legislation was identified as the main problems of the PS and the officers were of the
view that capacity development could assist in overcoming most of these problems. They believed
that increase in physical resources as well as income would render the PS more efficient in service
delivery to the public.
2. Capacity Development of Urban Local Governance Units
In addition to Sri Lanka Institute of Local Government (SLILG) Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI),
Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), and Management Development Training
Institute (MDTI) under the Chief Secretary of the Western Province provided regular capacity
development programmes for PS personnel. Occasional technical training for Technical Officers was
also provided by other Government agencies as Road Development Authority and private sector
companies as Holcim and Lanka Marine Cement. Management Assistants and Technical Officers
have been the main beneficiaries of these capacity development programmes. Training is
coordinated by a Management Assistant as part of her duties under the guidance of the PS
Secretary. Training opportunities for minor employees were limited.
Training needs assessments are not conducted by the PS itself but facilitate the participation of
employees in supply driven training programmes conducted by the above mentioned agencies. As

and when SLILG or the Provincial Chief Secretary’s office requests information on training
requirements; the PS Secretary directs its different sections to contribute accordingly. Section heads
of various sections of the PS request the relevant staff of the section to apply for training
programmes conducted by the capacity development support providers and the Secretary
nominates the selected staff for the training. The final decision on the number and type of training
for the PS officers lies with the Secretary of the Council while the number of places allocated for a LA
for a particular training programme is decided by the training support provider be it SLILG or other
government, non- government or private sector organisation.
2.2 Participants
The PS employees who participated in training programmes were mainly the Management
Assistants and Technical Officers (TOs). PS staff who participated in training programmes maintained
that although capacity development support providers as SLILG conducted regular training
programmes the number of employees able to participate from the PSs were not adequate.
Notwithstanding that skills required by all LA employees were similar the training opportunities for
PS employees were very much less than those for Municipal Council and Urban Council employees.
Further, whereas these institutions had the financial capability to train their staff from own funds,
PSs like the Bandaragama PS could not afford to finance their own training as its meagre revenue
was used in other priority areas. For example although they need the services of staff trained in GIS
the Bandaragama PS was unable to find the necessary funds.
Training also has been provided to the elected members of the PS on Good Governance and
Participatory Management, Solid Waste Management, LA Council Meeting Procedures and
Collection of Tax Revenue. All PS Members belonging to the governing party and some opposition
members participated in the training which according to the Chairman of the PS was beneficial.
2.3 Training Methodology
All or several of the following methods were employed in the training programmes in which the
council staff had participated.
Class room type lectures followed by discussions;
Presentation of learning material using the power point;
Discussions on group basis and presentation of group work to plenary sessions;
Writing down answers to quick questions raised by the Trainers;
Group exercises;
On the job training;
The method of choice of all who had received training was on the job training. On the job training
was appreciated not only because it enabled them to learn new skills by using them but also because
the skills learnt could easily be transferred. Further, the technical officers had received laboratory
and field training which they said should be adopted wherever possible.
3. Gamin Gamata Programme
3.1 Background of the Programme
‘Gamin Gamata’ is an innovative programme developed and implemented by the Bandaragama PS
for Solid Waste Management. This programme has been initiated as a result of putting into practise
the training received by the Chairman and three other elected members of the PS from a
programme organised by the Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government and Transparent
Accountable Local Governance (TALG) programme as part of the SAARC Region Pioneer Workshop
on Asian Corporation. The ‘Panchayat’ system of India was a main focus at the seminar and the
Gamin Gamata programme was designed for participatory planning and management of solid waste

in the Bandaragama PS based on the knowledge and experience of the PS Chairman and the
members obtained at the seminar.
3.2 Problem Identification
As the aim was to develop the capacity of the PS to improve its service delivery to the public through
participatory management, the initial step was to select officers and PS members who had been
exposed to participatory planning and integrated management. Elected members who had
participated in the TALG programme on Participatory Management and 20 officers consisting of
Management Assistants who had participated in participatory management programmes organised
by SLILG at Kalutara and Colombo LAs in 2008 and 2009, Technical Officers who had been trained in
Solid Waste Management by programmes conducted by MDTI and EML Consultants were selected
for the programme. Further the Works Superintendent and 02 other officers had been trained in
solid waste management during their tenure at the Colombo Municipal Council.
The Chairman and 11 elected members and 20 officers thus selected then convened to identify the
pressing issues which could be managed through integrated management efforts of the public and
PS officers. The complex problem of Solid Waste Management was agreed upon as the priority issue
and problems contributing to the complexity of the issue was investigated and identified as follows:
Inadequacy of solid waste collection vehicles and other related equipment and personnel;
High cost of solid waste collection and disposal;
Environmental and social problems faced due to severe limitations in availability of sites for solid
waste disposal;
Increasing public complaints resulting from the absence of a proper system for solid waste
management;
Increasing public antipathy contributing to increase in non-payment of taxes and public apathy
towards PS regulations;
3.3 Development of the Programme
Having decided that the participatory planning and management programme should be conducted
as a pilot project in a sample of Grama Niladari Divisions (the smallest administrative unit in Sri
Lanka) the following areas were selected on the basis of the severity of the problem:
i) Bandaragama West
ii) Bandaragama East
iii) Rambukkana West
iv) Rambukkana North
v) Rambukkana South
vi) Veedagama
vii) Kamburugoda
The seven Grama Niladari Divisions (GNDs) included 1800 families and the programme was
scheduled to commence in July 2010. In attempting to obtain required resources for the programme
the programme details were forwarded to several institutions and the Ministry of Environment
responded to provide waste collection bins and bags to collect different types of segregated solid
waste, and placards, banners, posters, leaflets for awareness building, under their ‘Clean Cities’
programme.
3.4 Methodology Used
The first step was a public educating/awareness programme conducted by elected members and PS
officers with the assistance of the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) and Public Health Inspectors
(PHIs). PS officers who had received training on participatory management from programmes

conducted by the Kalutara and Colombo Municipal Councils were employed in the awareness
programme.
Initially the Religious Leaders (village leadership), Community Based Organisations (Death Donation
Societies, Women’s Organisations, Youth Organisations, Samurdhi Societies, Sports Associations)
were educated and informed of the programme and the community in the 07 GNDs were made
aware through these leaders and organisation. This was achieved through:
Visiting individual houses;
Documentaries;
Distribution of handbills and leaflets
Display of placards, posters and banners
Thereafter, PS officers who had received training on sustainable solid waste management conducted
field training programmes on separation of bio degradable non-biodegradable waste and collection
of waste material containing glass/metal/plastic, paper/coconut shells/wood, and food waste
separately within the house itself. Wherever possible, minor employees of the solid waste section
were included in the field training exercises. The following benefits of waste segregation were
presented to all the households in the 07 GNDs.
Financial benefits to the families;
Cost reduction to PS and diversion of funds for improving other service delivery to public;
Environment and public health benefits;
Subsequent to this awareness building the ground level implementation process was initiated with
the following action:
Distribution of bags and bins;
Establishing a centre to purchase recyclable waste material;
Establishing a mechanism to collect recyclable material fortnightly;
Commencing a composting programme for biodegradable matter;
Starting a centre to sell products of household income generation activities;
Establishing a welfare fund from the profits of the centre;
3.5 Monitoring
A system has been put in motion with trained officers monitoring the success of the programme and
also remobilising and motivating the public. The outcome of the programme tabulated below was
prepared from the information provided by these officers.
4. Outcome
Facilitating good governance, building public trust and discovery of innovative pragmatic strategies
to address service delivery problems has been the main outcomes of the programme. In addition the
programme has contributed immensely to building of trust and cooperation between the public and
the PS officers and the elected members. Therefore, PS staff as well as the public who participated in
the programme held the experience and benefits gained from the programme in high esteem
The success of this programme has also been instrumental in the recognition of this PS as the best PS
of the Western Province.
The following table prepared using the information provided by the officials consulted presents
other positive developments of the programme.

Table 9: Positive Outcome Capacity Development

Indicator Increase
nd rd th th
2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month
Participation of public in the Gamin Gamata programme 25% 40% 65%475%
Collection of solid waste in separate containers within 20% 25% 40% 50%
the house
Disposal of separated solid waste in public bins 5% 5% 15% 35%
Earning income from saleable material - 5% 20% 40%
Sale of compost - - - 20%
Reduction in complaints on solid waste management 5% 15% 20% 40%
Payment of past due taxes - 5% 15% 50%
Source: information provided by Bandaragama PS
5. Observations
There is a good rapport between the elected members and the officers which has contributed
immensely to the high level of cooperation in all aspects of administrative and operational work of
the PS. This cooperation and respect for each other has extended to transactions between the public
and PS officers, and the public and elected members, enabling the smooth resolution of problems
emanating from service delivery. In addition, bureaucracy and compartmentalisation was rarely seen
to hinder the service delivery of the PS.
Bandaragama PS does not have a monitoring system or ex post evaluation system to check the
success of the training programmes or capacity development of PS staff. However, in the ‘Gamin
Gamata’ programme described below a rudimentary monitoring system has been adopted to
evaluate its benefits and review the implementation process.
The training received through SLILG and other capacity development support providers assisted the
trained staff to discharge their duties more efficiently, but training courses customised to the needs
of the individual needs would assist the PS more as exemplified by the good governance and
participatory planning programme conducted as ‘Gamin Gamata’ at Bandaragama PS. Transfer of
trained staff from LAs to other services is a common problem, particularly as administrative and
financial procedures in the local governance differ considerably from those of other public services.
However, lately the Bandaragama PS has not been much affected from transferring out of trained
staff.
In the training programmes in which the PS officers participated no attempt was made by the
training providers to evaluate the methodology adopted although in some programmes the
suitability of training was evaluated.
6. Lessons Learnt
Capacity development programmes where the elected members and the officers of the PS were
trained jointly have succeeded more than the individual. Joint programmes have also facilitated
mutual respect and understanding of each other’s duties.
The officers of this PS who had participated in capacity development programmes used their
developed skills in their day to day duties as exemplified in the Gamin Gamata programme. Gamin
Gamata is not only a very successful programme but also is sustainable and replicable because
changes in the elected members or officers would not hinder the implementation of the programme
as a system of good governance and participatory management has been established and the
process institutionalised.

Field level awareness sessions facilitating knowledge sharing between the public and officers and
public and elected members, and Joint training programmes for elected members and officers have
come out as best practises from the successful programmes conducted by the PS.
7. Recommendations for Improvement
The PS officers who participated in capacity development programmes and others consulted
recommended the following for the programmes to be more effective.
Capacity development programmes should be customised with due consideration to the
location/area and the available resources and also the needs of the public in the area;
Training programmes should be held in venues far removed from the PS area to stop the
participants from arriving late and leaving early, and attending to personal and official duties
during the training period;
Responsibility of ensuring the participation of selected officers and facilitating the utilisation of
the developed skill should be part of the duties of the Head of the PS;
All newly elected members and new and transferred-in employees should be trained on
integrated management and good governance;
As far as possible capacity development interventions should include programmes where
elected members and PS staff participate jointly;
The officers consulted also agreed on the need for a system to monitor the practising of the
training received and evaluate the adequacy and success of the training received.

Case Study 5
Developing Effective Leadership

through Training: A Case Study of
City District Government, Karachi
1. Introduction
The local governance system introduced in Pakistan by the last military regime of General Pervez
Musharraf was considered to be one of the best options for the systematic decentralisation of
power. This period also proved to be very beneficial for the capacity development of elected
representatives (ERs) at the local level. In this system it was mandatory to have a series of trainings
to make local representatives familiar with the working of the system. These trainings had a
remarkable effect on the efficiency and effectiveness of the ERs and the local councils in the various
tiers of government. The improvement in their working was discernible through various
developments projects undertook by these ERs. This study aims at evaluating the effect and impact
of these trainings in the performance of various obligatory functions by these institutions and their
representatives in local governance.
2. Local Governance System in Pakistan
The devolution of power and the principle of subsidiary are central ideas to the concept of
participatory democracy. The devolved system of governance opened up opportunities for citizen
participation and articulation of their voices in local governance. The history of local governance has
been a story of political manoeuvring and manipulation by the ruling elites in Pakistan. Out of eight
local governance elections held in the electoral history of Pakistan (1959, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1998,
2001, 2005) all of them with the exception of one (1998) were held by military dictators while the
country was under Martial Law. The reason behind the military dictators’ interest in the local
governance lay in their quest to find political legitimacy and to build a constituency base for
themselves through local governance elections; while the male and elite leadership of political
parties were least interested in strengthening the local governance systems because the perceived
risk of losing control to the local leadership that may have emerged during this process. The previous
model introduced by Pervez Musharraf can be considered to be one of the best systems of local
governance ever introduced in Pakistan.
This new system of local governance had a variety of positive features. This was the only system
which had completed two consecutive tenures. Direct elections on a non-party basis were held in
five phases for members of the Union Councils, Union Nazims, and Naib Union Nazims during 2000
to 2001, and for the second time in 2005. On the basis of these direct elections, indirect elections
were held for Zila Nazims and Naib Zila Nazims and also for Tehsil-Town Nazims and Naib Nazims. In
order to attract people to electoral politics, the minimum age for local governance elections was
lowered from 21 to 18 years. One-third of the seats were reserved for women, workers and
peasants and a minority representation was also ensured by reserving one seat for non-Muslims.

The new system provided a three-tier local governance structure in which there was only one line of
authority in the district and the entire district bureaucracy was responsible to the ERs. More
operational autonomy was ensured at the district level offices. The administrative and financial
powers of the defunct divisional offices were delegated to the district level. The following three tiers
were also the key actors of the local governance system:
The District Government consisted of the Zila Nazim and District Administration. The District
Administration consisted of district offices including sub-offices at the Tehsil level, who were to be
responsible to the District Nazim assisted by the District Coordination Officer. The District
Coordination Officer was appointed by the provincial government and was the coordinating head of
the District Administration. The Zila Nazim was accountable to the people through the elected
members of the Zila Council. A Zila Council consisted of all Union Nazims in the district, which
consisted of members elected on the reserved seats. The Zila Council had its Secretariat under the
Naib Zila Nazim and had a separate budget allocation.
The middle tier, the Tehsil, had a Tehsil Municipal Administration headed by the Tehsil Nazim. The
Tehsil Municipal Administration consisted of a Tehsil Nazim, Tehsil Municipal Officer, Tehsil Officers,
Chief Officers and other officials of the Local Council Service and officials of the offices entrusted to
the Tehsil Municipal Administration. The Tehsil Municipal Administration was entrusted with the
functions of administration, finances, and management of the offices of local governance and rural
development, and other subjects at the regional, divisional, district, Tehsil and lower levels.
The lowest tier, the Union Administration was a corporate body covering the rural as well as urban
areas across the whole district. It consisted of the Union Nazim, Naib Union Nazim and three Union
Secretaries and other auxiliary staff. The Union Nazim was the head of the Union Administration and
the Naib Union Nazim acted as deputy to the Union Nazim during his temporary absence. The Union
Secretaries coordinated and facilitated community development, the functioning of the Union
Committees and the delivery of municipal services under the supervision of the Union Nazim.
3. Local Governance System in Karachi
Karachi is the largest city of Pakistan and the capital of Sindh Province. Due to its strategic location, it
has become the commercial and industrial hub of Pakistan, with its two sea ports, the Port of
Karachi and Port Bin Qasim; it is also the main base on the air route between Europe, South East Asia
and Australia. It has the biggest City District, with 18 Town Municipal Administrations and 178 Union
Councils. It has a population of more than 15 million and a growth rate of 6 per cent per annum, as
against the national growth of three per cent per annum. Due to the high density of population the
burden on its obligatory services has increased tremendously. The city is spread over 3,527 km2
(1,362 sq. mi.) in area, almost four times bigger than Hong Kong. It is locally known as the "City of
Lights" and "The Bride of the Cities" for its joie de vivre.
The existing era of the local governance system, in Karachi began on August 14, 2001. Through the
promulgation of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001, a third tier was added to the previous
two tiers and the earlier provincial administrative units of the divisions, districts and Talukas in Sindh
were replaced with three levels of local governance i.e. district/city district governments, Talukas /
town municipal administrations and Union Councils. The District Governments were assigned 13 more
functions, which were formerly performed by the Provincial Governments including district
development planning, revenue collection, education, health, community development, infrastructure
development, agriculture extension and the development of strengthening the information technology
etc. The Talukas and Town Administrations were made responsible exclusively for municipal functions.
The Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001 was promulgated to devolve political power and
decentralise the administrative and financial authority to responsible local governance for good
governance, effective delivery of services and transparent decision making through institutionalised

participation of the people at the grass-root level. Under the devolution plan the Karachi Metropolitan
Corporation was replaced by the City District Government, Karachi and 18 departments from the
Provincial Government were devolved to the City District Government, besides the merger of various
civic agencies like the Karachi Development Authority, Karachi Water & Sewerage Board, etc. Later on
two authorities were again revived and declared as development authorities and were taken out of
the ambit of the City District Government, Karachi (CDGK).
The coordination between the three tiers is ensured through the following arrangements.
The Zila Council in Karachi was the supreme forum for policy formulations. The CDGK council
consisted of 273 members including 178 Union Nazims from all the unions in the district and there
were 59 women, 18 peasants and workers and 18 minority councillors for the 33 per cent reserved
seats. Similarly, 18 Town Councils were functioning in the city, those consisted of the Naib Union
Nazims of all the unions in each town and women, workers and minority representatives equal to 33
per cent of total seats in one Town Council. This provided vertical linkages between the three tiers of
the local governance institutions. All the Nazims and Naib Nazims were elected as joint candidates to
their respective councils, except in the case of Union Councils, the Nazim and Nab Nazim were
elected directly by the voters as joint candidates. Each Union Council consisted of 13 elected
members against general and reserved seats including the Union Nazim and Naib Union Nazim.
The local governance system envisaged formula based fiscal transfers to the districts through the
Provincial Finance Awards. In addition, local governments were allowed to levy local taxes/fees from
a specified list. To promote trade and commerce in the country no import/export tax or tax on
movement of goods through a district was levied.
4. Capacity Development Training
Effective leadership is necessary for establishing a strong local democracy. It is important to
strengthen and develop the capacity of councillors, officers, and local governance institutions to
ensure that local democracy can enable the local governance to deliver quality services to the
community. Capacity development of the human resources is critical for ensuring the success of the
reforms. Therefore, for the effective and efficient functioning of the local governance institutions,
training was made mandatory under the Local Government Ordinance, 2001 for capacity
development of ERs.
During its second tenure the Provincial Government of Sindh had imparted training to almost every
ER in the local governance councils. The training manuals used were developed by National
Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) during its first tenure. Moreover, NRB had trained nearly 30 master
trainers who further trained the councillors. During their second tenure a set of trainings was
offered to the executive officers from public services who had been deputed to various slots in the
city district government. In addition to that special trainings sessions were organised by the
Women’s Political School and CIDA through two NGOs.
Although trainings were held regularly the members of the upper tiers were not really interested in
attending these trainings due to various reasons, therefore a study of the participants in these
trainings has reflected that in most of the training sessions only new entrants were present. There
could be other reasons for this casual attitude but mainly the curriculum of these trainings did not
attract the participants.
However, the government agencies claimed that the training proved to be a milestone in the process
of the successful implementation of the actual field practices. To this end a research study was
conducted by a federal department to find an answer to the question as to whether these trainings
actually proved helpful in practicing authority at the grass root level by these local representatives or
not? Did the local governance system create some difference or not? A proposition was made that

these trainings set best examples to be followed for capacity development and skills improvement
for better utilisation of power and authority at the local level. In the end the key findings of that
study could not be endorsed positively. On the other hand the new entrants in the various tiers of
local governance councils benefitted in the real sense.
5. Details of the Effort
Since, capacity development training was mandatory under the Local Governance Ordinance, 2001,
therefore during their first tenure each and every elected office holder had to attend training
sessions organised by the provincial government, but during their second tenure the senior and old
councillors did not attend these trainings and only the new entrants went to the training sessions.
Therefore training sessions could not be started immediately after they were elected.
Although, training was mandatory under law and the government was supposed to impart these
trainings the non-state actors (NSAs) simultaneously it made three more moves. Most of these
trainings were sponsored and supported by international communities. These trainings were
imparted only to women, minority councillors and workers / peasant councillors and to a few
selected LGIs. However, NRB remained mainly responsible for training of councillors / Nazims and
mid-level state functionaries. All other state functionaries from the provincial and federal services
received their usual trainings as per their departmental routines and both the governments have
their own training manuals and training institutes.
There were three different sets of trainings that contributed to developing capacities of the key
players in CDGK. These were as under.
Formal trainings imparted by official departments and state actors. These consisted of
orientation on official procedures, operational modalities and basic human skills etc. These were
mandatory for every ER.
A second set of trainings was imparted by NSAs, not facilitated by the CDGK and the government
but with their consent and these were supported by the international organisations. These
trainings mainly covered orientation on key civic and governance related issues and themes.
These had involved a very limited number of ERs mostly belonging to the marginalised sections
of society.
The third set of training was not based on formal sessions or any specific set of manuals, but
focused on the councillor’s practical engagements. These practical activities enhanced their
capacities in many ways. Since the majority of the ERs belonged to one political party MQM, one
could see many former councillors as the most active and skilled political workers of today.
These practical engagements were not limited to one particular party but other political parties
too had had similar benefits. Many civil society organisations (CSOs) too had close allies from
that segment of former councillors.
6. Strategies for Capacity Development
All State and non-State actors agreed on some general objectives of capacity development as listed
below.
a) Equipping them with information about the system and procedures of the LGIs. To achieve that
objective a series of orientation sessions based on related laws, rules, themes, and concepts
were arranged. Common strategies were used by all the trainers’ based on formal lectures,
dissemination of specially developed materials, books or pamphlets etc. Many non-government
organisations (NGOs) had published small informative pamphlets about governance issues, the
system, and about rules of business etc., which were all available in Karachi.

b) All of them agreed that skill training was necessary for ERs. The main objective was to polish the
basic human skills but the topics for the training and the subject matter were not up to the mark
and did not hold the audience’s interest.
c) Beside these generalised objectives, the political groups had some specific objectives; and the
government and the NSAs engaged in training also had some specific objectives, like enhancing
personal capabilities of their partners in order to perform better. To achieve these objectives
skill training sessions were organised where working in groups was the strategy adopted most
often even to impart political training.
d) Political parties and a few CSOs had used a different strategy; the purpose behind this was the
developing of a close relationship. Some selected individuals were motivated and engaged in
practical activities instead of holding formal training sessions. These informal interactions have
given the desired results.
As per previous practice the federally controlled NRB had trained master trainers mainly from
provincial government services and from education departments. Most of these were school and
college teachers and a few were from provincial local government departments and local
governance training institutes. These master trainers were equipped with four specially designed
manuals, on the following themes.
An orientation about the system with exercises on communication skills;
Presentation skills, mobilisation of communities for a purpose;
Assessing real needs and designing projects;
Report writing, documentation activities, drafting letters and resolutions etc.
The trainings were arranged by CDGK and managed by the Government of Sindh. The trainings were
not up to the mark due to many reasons, which were underplayed. The other set of trainings
imparted by NSAs suffered from the same problems. The trainings mostly covered education about
key civic issues, topics and to some extent skills that were necessary in order to develop human
capacities but there was no relevance to the obligatory functions of councillors. Nearly 80-90 per
cent women and other councillors had attended these trainings.
There was no formal collaboration between the State and NSAs engaged in the training activity,
whereas the media was not involved in any activity involved with the trainings.
7. Key Actors / Institutions Engaged in Training
During the local governance’s second tenure the Provincial Government of Sindh trained almost
each and every elected member in the local governance councils. The training manuals used by
these trainers were developed by the NRB during the first tenure. Moreover, NRB had trained nearly
30 master trainers who further imparted trainings to councillors. During the second tenure a set of
training courses were offered to those executive officers from public services, who were deputed to
the various posts in the city district governments. In addition to that, special trainings sessions were
also organised by the Women’s Political School and CIDA through two NGOs namely the Paiman
Trust and the Takhleeq Foundation. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) had provided assistance to
Workers Peasant Councillors Network of Pakistan (WPCN) for training imparted to workers and
peasant councillors. The Citizen’s Commission for Human Development (CCHD) also imparted
training to women and minority councillors. Similarly South Asian Partnership (SAP-Pakistan) had
arranged various activities with workers, peasants and women councillors, which was not skill
training but covered other thematic areas that enhanced their capacities. However, the NRB trained
the maximum number of ERs. Although, these trainings were held regularly most of the members
from the upper tiers were not interested in attending these trainings, therefore the overall
attendance in these trainings was poor and were mostly attended by new entrants. The primary

reason for this is that the curriculum and method of teaching employed were not interesting and did
not hold the audience’s interest, though there may have been some other reasons too.
The key target audience of these trainings included four groups of local governance functionaries.
The elected representatives, including
- The Heads of LGIs, Nazims, Naib-Nazims of three tiers of LGIs;
- The councillors; including general, special interest groups etc.;
The state functionaries in LGIs; these are from three service structures;
- The public servants from the local governance service cadre, the Municipal Officers, TMOs,
union secretaries etc.
- Employees of the provincial government but deputed to LGIs;
- Public servants came from central superior services (CSS) a service cadre controlled by the
federal government.
Besides these direct stakeholders, there were two main groups closely associated with LGIs.
These were;
- Members of Citizen Community Boards (CCBs) formed under the Law of Local Governance,
2001; The CCBs were legal entities responsible for the development work carried out by
involving local communities;
- Members of community organisations functioning closely with CDGK but not formed under
LG law. These were the only functional people’s-groups in most of the city area but not were
not legal entities. Some political parties had objected to their involvement.
Effective leadership is necessary to establish a strong local democracy. It is important to strengthen
and build up the capacity of councillors, officers, and LGIs to ensure that local democracy can enable
local governance to deliver quality services to the local community. Capacity development of human
resources is critical for ensuring that the reforms put in place are successful. Therefore, for the
effective and efficient functioning of the LGIs training has been made mandatory under the Local
Government Ordinance, 2001 for the capacity development and training of ERs.
In 2005-08 there were nearly 2500 ERs in the city of Karachi. The CDGK was the governing body for
the entire metropolis and had many resources and powers, therefore each and every political party
and other interested groups developed close linkages with the ERs. Although there was a legal
obligation that no ER was to have political backing, every political party was openly supporting its
group of ERs in the city council.
In those circumstances every stakeholder was in favour of some sort of capacity development
training with the expectation that the capacity development would enhance the skills of their allies.
The capacity development trainings were quite relevant in terms of building personal capabilities of
the ERs as local community leaders, making them skilled activists in mobilising the community,
advocating for issues or people’s rights etc., but did not help them in becoming a councillor of any
particular tier of LGIs of the CDGK, the training were very irrelevant to their official roles and
responsibilities because of the very limited scope of the LGIs. Karachi was a developing city prior to
the implementation of local governance. When the local governance system took over the
metropolitan city of Pakistan, it was faced with a number of challenges. A few of those challenges
are listed below.
a) Centralisation of powers and the provincial government’s undue control.
b) Lacked an effective system of checks and balances.

c) Union Councils had very limited resources.

d) Nominal public participation in local governance.
e) Insufficient financial resources primarily dependent on grants.
f) Political leaders’ attitude towards LGIs.
g) Inadequate representation of women, workers and non-Muslims through reserved seats.
h) Irregular holding of local governance elections.
i) Lack of sufficient professional and skill trainings on a permanent basis.
j) A high degree of politicisation of LGIs.
k) Too much interference by political parties in the routine matters of the local councils.
l) Undemocratic attitude and intolerance of top and powerful elite among the L G leadership.
Apart from the above, the local governance system in Karachi faced many other challenges.
Everything was in disarray, the infrastructure had been destroyed. The governance structure was in
a mess. There was no Master Plan and there were issues with sewerage, roads, slums etc. After the
CDGK council started functioning, one command and control centre was set up to handle the city’s
problems and coordinate the various efforts to solve those problems. According to a spokesperson
of CDGK, “Development is an on-going process”, so whoever comes into office has to not only
complete the projects initiated by his or her predecessor, but also begin new initiatives. During the
year of 2005 the city of Karachi had two major issues, unplanned traffic mess due to heavy transport
and the supply of drinking water. There was a real need for building a mass-transit system and to
install a number of desalination plants. Due to insufficient financial resources CDGK could not initiate
these projects with its own resources. The second major challenge was due to the non-cooperation
of the political opposition. Fortunately, in Karachi the higher government was supporting the CDGK
therefore most of the development work was carried out with financial help from the federal
government whereas, in many other cities where the opposition had a majority in the local
governance, there was always a contradictory and conflicting situation, which hindered the overall
performance of the local councils.
9. Probable Impacts of Capacity Development
It is difficult to identify the exact relationship between capacity development training and better
functioning or improved service delivery to the people because of many reasons; firstly, capacity
development is not a onetime exercise and a formula based activity that could be measured
numerically, secondly, capacity development trainings are usually more focused and streamlined
with specific purposes, but the beneficiary groups or individuals use these skills in some other form;
thirdly better responses to people’s demands depends primarily on the availability of resources and
the management of any LGIs depending on certain rules and legal framework. Therefore we have to
develop some key indicators that may be used in order to assess the usefulness of any particular
capacity development training.
That formation of the CDGK has led to a more responsive government and one that has worked
on improving many areas of the city. It has an integrated system for a region with a large
population, reflecting a framework that was increasingly being sought by even those nations
which do not have a history of using such methodologies.
Hence, the system of local governance in Karachi, even though it reflects the heritage of a
framework that is rooted in the region’s pre-Independence past also had dimensions that make
it a notable variation of a methodology that was adapted because the needs of the residents had
to be addressed. It is also amazing that the current government too has set a standard that
encourages transparency. In fact, the previous District Nazim of Karachi had invited
Transparency International to see what they could do to help the city, and to implement a
transparent and accountable system from the bottom-up.

Box 10
Development Projects in Karachi
The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) during its four-year tenure completed 2,496 mega development
projects in the city while 126 mega projects were still under process. This list includes only those projects which
have cost more than Rs. 30 million. That was an amazing fact considering that the previous CDGK had been in
th
power for 52 months since it took oath on 5 October 2005. That is it had 1,252 working days out of 1,560 days
of being in power. The city government had completed an average of two projects per day and 48 projects per
month during that tenure.
CDGK had completed 35 flyovers and underpasses in its tenure with 360 major and supplementary roads. The
city government also completed 451 educational projects besides 194 water and sewerage projects and 356
parks while 110 projects were completed in rural areas.
In the transport sector 255 bus stops and 116 pedestrian bridges were completed with the construction of
Pakistan’s first car parking plaza and the intercity bus terminal. The city government also brought 75 CNG buses
on the roads and a total of 337 new machinery and vehicles were provided during this period. The CDGK has
also introduced the Command and Control System; Complaint Centre 1339, Karachi Development Funds and
other projects for the first time to facilitate the citizens of the country’s financial hub.
The CDGK was the first Pakistani city government that has earned an ISO-9001 certificate. It has also completed
the water supply related study for the next 50 years, which would benefit the KWSB for dealing with future
infrastructure related problems.
Under the Revival of Karachi Circular Railway Project, the study of the KCR project was also in the final stages,
and the Government of Japan would soon release 1.58 billion dollars for the project. The Karachi Urban
Transport Corporation (KUTC) being the vehicle for the implementation of the project, had provided all
necessary facilities to the Japanese group, which was busy making a survey report of the existing infrastructure,
locations and evaluation of the needed steps to be taken by their government for the revival of the KCR.
The CDGK is the only LGI of Pakistan which was conferred the ISO 2009 certification.
The CDGK has performed exemplarily during natural calamities and disasters. During heavy rains
in Karachi usually the rain water hinders the flow of traffic and disturbs routine life for days. The
local councils and CDGK have been responsible in improving this situation by promptly removing
the hurdles. This is a way of judging the efficiency and capability of the local functionaries.
Effective, efficient and responsive local governance can successfully manage these situations in a
timely manner. The CDGK has shown that it can perform efficiently in such situations. Its
leadership lead by example and were found to be present at the disaster spots at all times of the
day and night.
The CDGK council was the only district council in the country which had held its sessions
regularly and on time. Similarly, it is the only council across the country where attendance had
witnessed proper representation and the proceedings were usually recorded and displayed for
public sharing. That practice had not been observed anywhere else.
There were 23 monitoring and standing committees in the house of 274 with 12-14 members in
each committee, the functions and responsibilities were mandatory under the local governance
laws and Rules of Business. It was observed that in most of the councils, these monitoring
committees were not functioning regularly but during the CDGK’s tenure the monitoring was
exemplary. There were a total of 23 observations made by 12 committees over the period of one
year. That shows that there was some monitoring but the analysis of the proceedings did not
reveal any report that gave evidence of the redressal of the key findings by these monitoring
committees.

An updated website was found. But it did not have much information. It only provided some
propaganda and promotional information. There are more than 104 district governments in
Pakistan but only four district governments have websites. The CDGK was among a few local
councils where political affiliations could be openly acknowledged.
The CDGK was a positive example of practical cooperation between sitting ERs and local leaders
in local areas, whereas in other areas the ERs were usually in conflict with the local governance
leadership.
The leadership of CDGK were seasoned and well trained political leaders. The District Nazim and
the Naib Nazim had been associated with legislatures, therefore the impact of the capacity
development trainings could be judged by correlating other performances. Hence CDGK could be
considered one of the best examples of a LGI performing its roles and responsibilities efficiently.
The CDGK did not encourage the citizens to form their CCBs in Karachi. A total of 150 CCBs were
registered during the first tenure whereas after 2005 there were only 50 CCBs. Instead the CDGK
formed local area committees comprising of local activists, but mainly from one particular party
and these committees were assigned to associate with CDGK.

Case Study 6
Women in Local Governance
Institutions: Case Study of
Rahim-yar-Khan and Gujranwala
Districts in Pakistan
1. Introduction
According to Pakistan’s Constitution, the subject of local governance is mentioned in “Principles of
Policy”, Chapter 2. Here Article 32 states: “Promotion of Local Government Institutions; the State
shall encourage local government institutions composed of elected representatives of the area
concerned. And in such institutions special representation will be given to peasants, workers and
women". In Chapter 3, The Provincial Governments; Article 140-A, added through legal Framework
Order of 2002 states: “Each Province shall, by law establish a local government system and devolve
political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of
the local governments”.
Pakistan had a local governance system from Colonial times, but post-independence, the various
military regimes introduced new systems of governance. The last one was the “district government
system” introduced by General Pervez Musharraf in the year 2001. This system proved to be
effective in motivating a large number of young activists at the local level and the public in general. It
helped create more opportunities for practical engagement in running local councils. Another
significant aspect was imparting an elementary level of civic education and capacity development
trainings to the ERs which were mandatory to make local ERs familiar with the routine working of
the system and to some extent developing their skills in handling local governance management.
These trainings were conducted by many government agencies and national NGOs. This study is
aimed at evaluating the outcome of these trainings in the overall development and capacity
development of local governance institutions (LGIs), and the key actors engaged with these local
councils.
In Pakistan, since there has been no elected LGI since 14th August 2009; it is therefore difficult to
identify best examples among the existing local governances in the context of capacity development
trainings. Instead this case study has focused on the last two terms from 2001 to 2009, primarily for
two reasons: (a) during these years local governance was experienced through a large number of
elected local councils, more than 100 District Governments, nearly 550 Tehsil and Town
Administrations and 6043 Union Councils; with 150,000 ERs including a sizeable representation of
the marginalised population, and (b) during this period a large number of capacity development
trainings and orientation courses were conducted by the government and the NSAs.

For the case study 20 focused group discussions (FGDs) were held with women councillors, heads of
councils and state functionaries of LGIs in two districts of Punjab, Rahim-yar-Khan (a comparatively
rural district in the southern region) and Gujranwala (a relatively urban district in central Punjab).
Training literatures were collected as secondary data. Relevant people in training institutions were
met with in both the government sector and in the private sector. Along with these, six talk shows,
relevant to the issue of local governance, were monitored. The volunteers also conducted personal
interviews with some select women councillors and local governance officials.
This case study will focus on the outcomes of capacity development on women’s participation and
contribution to local governance and on strengthening their leadership in the period 2001-2008.
2. Methods of Capacity Development
Effective leadership is necessary to establish a strong local democracy. It is important to strengthen
the capacity of councillors, officers, and LGIs to ensure that the local governance is enabled to
deliver quality services to the local community. Capacity development of the human resources is
critical for ensuring the success of the reforms. Therefore, training has been made mandatory under
the Local Government Ordinance, 2001 for the capacity development and training of ERs for the
effective and efficient functioning of the LGIs.
During 2005-2008 there were nearly 540 women councillors in the district of Gujranwala and 500
women councillors in the district of Rahim-yar-Khan (RYK). Their capacity development trainings
were organised by state actors and non-state actors (NSAs). The trainings covered topics such as
developing personal capabilities as local community leaders, becoming skilled activists in mobilising
the community, advocating for issues related to people’s rights etc. The trainings were not directly
relevant to the official functions, roles and responsibilities of the councillor of any particular tier of
LGIs, because of the LGI’s limited scope. For example Union Councils have a majority of women
councillors but the functions assigned to Union Councils by law are so limited and nominal that
women councillors have little to do.
All state actors and NSAs agreed on some common objectives to be covered by the trainings. These
included the following.
a) Equipping the trainees with information about the system and procedures of LGIs. To achieve
this objective a series of orientation sessions were arranged, based on relevant laws, rules,
themes, and concepts. Common strategies were used by all the trainers based on formal
lectures, dissemination of specially developed materials, books/pamphlets etc. Many NGOs had
published small informative pamphlets about governance issues; the system, about rules of
business etc., and these were available in all the districts of Pakistan.
b) All of them were in agreement about imparting skill training to ERs. The main objective was the
honing of basic human skills, but the topics for training and the subject matters were not up to
the mark.
c) Beside these generalised objectives, there were specific objectives, e.g. enhancing personal
capabilities in order to improve inter-personnel skills and relationships. Special trainings were
organised by various CSOs to achieve this. Active persuasion by CSOs resulted in regular
participation by the councillors.
There were two different sets of trainings that contributed to developing the capacities of the key
players in both the districts. These were:
a) Formal trainings imparted by official departments and state actors. These consisted of
orientation courses on official procedures, operational modalities and basic human skills etc.
These were mandatory for every ER. A total of 20 sessions were held in the Gujranwala and RYK

districts and 50-60 councillors were trained in each session, whereas separate sessions were
organised for Nazims and Naib Nazims of the district and Tehsil / Towns.
b) The second set of trainings we imparted by the NSAs; and these trainings were supported by the
international organisations. These trainings mainly covered orientation courses on key civic and
governance related issues and basic themes. These trainings were given to a limited numbers of
ERs from the marginalised sections of society. Two NGO were engaged in training women,
workers and peasant councillors.
Since, capacity development training was mandatory under LGO, 2001, therefore during the first
tenure every elected office holder had to attend training sessions organised by the Provincial
Government. During the second tenure the senior and old councillors did not attend these trainings
and only the new entrants attended these trainings. Although, trainings were mandatory under law
and the government was supposed to impart these trainings, the NSAs were simultaneously involved
in them. Most of these trainings were sponsored and supported by the international organisations.
The NSA trainings were imparted only to women, workers, peasants and minority councillors from
select LGIs. However, National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) remained the main institute responsible
for training of councillors / Nazims and mid-level state functionaries. All other state functionaries
from provincial and federal services received their usual trainings as per their department’s routines
and both the governments have their own training manuals and training institutes. Capacity
development trainings were done on a large scale during the first tenure and at select places during
the second phase.
The trainings were designed in the following steps.
a) In both the districts the provincial government organised training sessions where trainers from
provincial departments imparted trainings according to the curriculum developed by the NRB. In
order to train these trainers, NRB first trained various groups of master trainers who further
developed district based groups of local trainers by using the same manuals and educational
material.
b) A second group of trainers was prepared by the Women’s Political School, an Islamabad based
NGO established by the federal government in collaboration with UNDP-Pakistan. They
conducted trainings only for women councillors through their own training module on the lines
of the themes covered by the NRB modules.
c) The third organisation involved in training activities was the Devolution Trust for Community
Empowerment (DTCE) that was set up as a subsidiary of NRB, but later became an independent
training institution (DTCE is still engaged in training activities but its focus is now on project cycle
management training for CCBs only in select districts). The DTCE had developed its own manual,
but DTCE preferred to hire the services of CSOs in order to impart training to CCBs. They hired an
NGO Jag Welfare Movement, working in RYK, which further trained 80 CCBs in the district. DTCE
did not arrange any training activity in the District of Gujranwala. These trainings were
supported by a consortium comprising of five international donors.
d) The fourth NGO was SANGAT-Lahore, which had trained three groups of councillors representing
workers and peasants’ communities in both the districts. SANGAT had used its own training
manuals and had specially developed and conducted 12 training sessions for 60 councillors in
Gujranwala and 30-35 councillors in RYK.
As per the previous practice the federally controlled NRB had trained master trainers mainly from
the provincial government services and from education departments. Most of them were school and
college teachers and a few were from the provincial local government department and local

governance training institute. The master trainers were equipped with four specially designed
manuals, on the following themes.
An orientation about the system with exercises on communication skills;
Presentation skills, mobilisation of communities for a purpose;
Assessing real needs and designing projects;
Report writing, documentation activities, drafting letters and resolutions etc.
These trainings were arranged by the district governments in both the districts and the overall
management was taken up by the Provincial Government of Punjab. Since, NRB, and other NSAs had
used the same methodologies and training material in all the districts of the country, therefore there
were no issues about maintaining quality.
3. Outcome of Capacity Development Programmes on Women Councillors
The functions assigned to the women councillors were not explicit in their legal obligations but were
implied in the form of roles and responsibilities in the community, as community leaders and
advocates. It was mandatory for women councillors to attend Union Council meetings. The Union
Council meetings were supposed to be convened at least once in a calendar month, but due to their
decreasing usefulness these meetings became irregular and the councillors became very casual
about holding them. In these circumstances it was the women councillors who proved to be the
most responsive and persistent in visiting Union Councils and attending the meetings. In District
Gujranwala, the data was collected from the attendance books of five Union Councils, and it showed
that women councillors were the most regular participants. During these meetings the women
councillors also proved to be the most vocal and active members of the council. This reflected their
level of self-confidence, concern and the ability to question authority. Their ability to formulate
questions and queries showed their increasing level of confidence.
a) Best conciliators
According to the rules under the Muslim Family Law 1961, Union Council heads were empowered to
set up Conciliatory Councils (CC) in each Union Council to address matrimonial conflicts. Usually the
head of the Union Council appointed him/herself as Chairperson for that council, but some time
he/she would also ask some other councillor to act as the officiating head of the CC. After the
inclusion of women councillors it became very common for the women councillors to arbitrate
between conflicting families. During interviews in Gujranwala District it was very clear that a number
of cases had been resolved by the women councillors. Interestingly in the village of Aroop, Sialkot
Road, the conflicting parties actually requested the Union Council Nazim to assign one women
councillor as a conciliatory council head, on special duty.
b) Leadership skills
A significant achievement of the women councillors has been their role as emerging community
leaders. In the six Tehsils and towns of the two districts observed, at least six former women
councillors were found to be actively pursuing various community problems and taking action to
address them. Their courage, commitment, and skills of advocating with the concerned government
departments were remarkable. In return, the people have been giving them recognition and
support. For example, in Khanpur of District RYK, the complete city observed a shutter down strike
against unscheduled load shedding of electricity on the call of two young women leaders, one
former district council member and the other an ex-Tehsil council member. Media reports showed
that in the other parts of the country too women councillors have led big mobilisations and
agitations to garner attention and redressal for their demands.

Besides these examples, it was also evident that many women councillors were now frontline
leaders of their communities. In Lahore two trade union leaders are former women councillors.
Similarly many former women councillors have set up non-profit organisations or CSOs.
c) Motivations for social and political work
Many women councillors have been working with other CSOs. Similarly some of the women
councillors have joined various political parties and groups after becoming councillors. During the
year 1997, there were only six women elected as heads of their respective local councils, but during
the first tenure the number increased to 23.
4. Observations
The history of local governance in Pakistan has been a story of political manoeuvring and
manipulation by the ruling elites. Out of eight local governance elections held in the electoral history
of Pakistan (1959, 1964, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1998, 2001, 2005) all of them with the exception of one
(1998) were held by the military dictators. The reason behind the military junta’s interest in the local
governance was in their quest to find political legitimacy and to build a constituency base for
themselves through local governance elections. On the other hand the political leadership of
mainstream political parties who mainly belonged to the elite classes was least interested in
strengthening LGIs. The main reason of their lack of interest was the perceived risk of losing control
to the local leadership. The Devolution Plan introduced by Pervez Musharraf can be pronounced to
be one of the best systems ever introduced in Pakistan, because of four reasons, (a) induction of
district governments with 13 departments devolved from the provincial level to the district level, (b)
increased and enhanced representation, both in volume and segments, (c) enhancing supremacy of
elected heads over state functionaries, and (d) introducing uniformity in the provision of municipal
obligations to rural areas as in urban centres. There were many grey areas and ambiguities in the
structures and functions of the various tiers, but women’s representation was encouraged at all
levels and they too availed this given opportunity. In the first elections under the new system,
40,000 women councillors were elected on reserved seats of nearly 6500 local councils. The majority
of these councillors were elected for the first time, with no past experience or prior connection to
any local leadership.
It was also observed that an active and solid engagement between LGIs and civil society groups
helped women, non-Muslim and workers councillors in their performance. The partnership helped
ERs particularly the women councillors in enhancing their personal capabilities. Some of the civil
society groups were also engaged in imparting skill development and capacity development training
to women, non-Muslim and worker and peasant councillors. There were a number of initiatives
taken by national and international organisations, for example a multi-donor support resulted in the
creation of DTCE and similarly UNDP provided support for establishing the Women’s Political School,
which provided basic training to almost each and every women councillor in the country.
International funding agencies had facilitated Pakistani NGOs in providing training and orientation
on governance to the newly elected women councillors under the LGO, 2001 and 2005. In short
during these eight years, extensive training programmes were conducted and a large number of
women councillors benefitted through these trainings. A major part of these trainings was based on
basic orientation sessions and enhancing basic human skills necessary for addressing local
communities and the electorate.
The practical and very close collaboration of many women councillors with CSOs in various social and
developmental areas or programmes, led to the growth of a new and confident section of women
leaders. There was not even a single Union Council, (the smallest unit comprising 2000-2500
population), where one or two former women councillors could not be seen actively engaged in a
public activity or development activity or semi political activity or social work. When travelling from

Gwadar to Peshawar or from Kohat to Behawalnagar, there was no village, town or city where one
could not find a former women councillor without any public engagement.
Box 11
Punjab Local Government Academy, Lalamusa
The Punjab Local Government Academy, Lalamusa was established in 1953, as the Village Agriculture &
Industrial Development Institute. Its main function was to train multipurpose base level workers of the V-AID
programme, such as development officers, supervisors and V-AID workers. The duration of the course ranged
from three months to one year, and was available for different categories through six courses.
In 1960, this institution was renamed the Basic Democracy Training Institute (BDTI) and entrusted with the
responsibility to train officials and elected members/office bearers of the urban and rural local councils, the
supervisors, secretaries of Union Councils, urban local councillors and other elected representatives. In 10
years of basic democracy, 7167 participants of various categories were trained through 128 courses.
In 1972, it was renamed as Local Government Training Institute (LGTI) and made responsible for training the
functionaries of the Peoples Workers Programme (PWP), such as development officers, supervisors,
secretaries, Union Councils, sanitary inspectors and functionaries of other concerned departments. In total
3543 participants of various categories were trained through 95 courses.
From 1971 to mid-2001, the LGTI was responsible for training the functionaries of the LG & RD departments,
local council service (BS 5 to 17) and the chairman/vice chairman/councillors of the local councils. The various
categories of participants such as ADLGs, project managers, project assistants, accountant clerks, the
Secretaries of Union Councils, sub engineers, local council’s chief officers, taxation officers, sanitary inspectors,
elected representatives and sanitation promoters were trained under the UNICEF Sanitation Programme. In
total 8455 participants of various categories were trained through 396 in campus courses and 12,122
participants through 329 off-campus courses.
From 1981-2001 the Punjab LGTI in collaboration with UNICEF conducted on-campus courses on water and
environment sanitation (WES), adult literacy and skills training used in birth registration at the Union Councils
level throughout the province of Punjab.
The status of Lalamusa Academy was upgraded in 2001-2002. The renovation of the building and the provision
of allied facilities has been approved which is still under execution.
5. Some Key Findings

a) An analysis of the overall performance of key actors functioning in local governance showed
that the former women councillors relatively exhibited the best performance, irrespective of
their background experiences, associations, class, origin or political and social affiliations.
b) The most active and energetic group among all actors in local governance is that of the former
women councillors in general, who have gained momentum by acquiring knowledge through a
series of capacity development trainings.
c) In spite of all the positive gains shown by women councillors, their potential could not be
explored because of the in-built structural, financial and functional limitations of the prevailing
local governance system.
d) It has been proven that the financial burden has been one of the major constraints in the
mobility of women councillors. In a patriarchal set up where the men hold all the financial
strings in the household, this custom spills over to the local governance scenario thereby
limiting the women leaders and forcing them to compromise their potential.
e) The local governance system needs some fundamental restructuring. For example
regularisation of the electoral processes, fresh redistribution of functions among various levels
and tiers, more autonomy to local governance, abolishing financial dependencies, devolving

functions to the local level, redefining the role and functions of the state institutions parallel to
local governance, more power to ERs, increased accountability mechanisms and adopting
more transparent procedures in local governance.
f) Trainings and orientation on civic education were imparted to almost all ERs and many of
them had benefitted from these trainings, but the substance and the content was not up to
the mark. The main subject matter covered by these trainings was about the system, its
structure and the procedures; while new councillors needed some basic knowledge of key
issues in governance and some sort of skill training that could enhance their personal abilities.
g) The NSAs have been contributing to the strengthening of local governance, but their role was
not recognised by the state authorities. Instead the state tried to marginalise the role of NSAs
by minimising their opportunities and thereby making CCBs ineffective.
h) The trainings were not up to the mark due to a number of reasons. The set of trainings
imparted by the NSAs also had the same problems. The trainings mostly covered some key
civic issues and skills; which may be necessary to develop human capacities, but as this is a
programme providing training to councillors, there was no training linked with the obligatory
functions of the councillors.
i) There was no formal collaboration between the state and the NSAs engaged in training
activity. The media was not involved in any activity except for one NGO belonging to media.
The NSA trainings were mostly supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and CIDA-UNDP.
j) Though the capacity development trainings had improved the overall performance of the
councillors especially those who were representing the marginalised sections of society; there
were still many limitations. The problems existed because of the inbuilt flaws in the LGI’s
structures for example; there was no balanced division of compulsory functions between all
the tiers. There were 188 Union Councils in Gujranwala and 122 in RYK; with a total
membership of 4030 ERs. Since most of the legal functions were designated to the Tehsil
Municipal Administrations (TMAs) and district governments, a vast majority of ERs did not
have any significant responsibility in service delivery to the communities.
6. Recommendations
An advocacy campaign should be initiated to ensure the immediate restoration of elected local
councils with more powers and devolved authorities at the lower levels.
To develop effective, efficient and representative local governance it is necessary that new
enactments should be brought about redefining the functions, role and responsibilities of local
governance. In Pakistan it is imperative to reform the whole system of local governance.
Training exercises should be revived at all levels of governance and training should be made
mandatory for all actors in the governance system.
The training manuals and curriculum should be reviewed and upgraded according to present day
needs.
There should be increased opportunities for CSOs to build practical partnerships and
collaborations with LGIs and CSOs.
More empowerment and financial support is required for women activists engaged in local
governance.
Local governance training institutes need overhauling, not in terms of their infrastructure, but in
terms of teaching facilities, methodologies and curriculum etc.

Annex.1
DEFINITIONS OF VARIOUS APPROACHES TO CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT
1. Coaching and Mentoring Approach: Coaching is generally focused on workplace challenges and issues. It is
a time bound approach. Mentoring is generally a long term process of supporting an individual’s career
and personal development. Both are tailored and contextual. It is a focused way to support learning and
performance improvement. As part of leadership development programmes; follow ups are required to
the training activities.
2. Customised Training Approach: These are trainings commissioned for the needs of a specific group,
focussing on the specific needs of participants e.g. for specific technical skills for project implementation;
for system compliance needs etc. The relevance and success depends on the quality of the needs
assessment and design processes, which are often inadequate and not inbuilt to ensure an appropriate
follow up.
3. E-learning Approach: This approach can be a web based learning system or can generally be technology
supported. E-learning can happen across distances and borders or within one organisation and therefore
not necessarily at a distance. It is usually used for learning needs that have high knowledge or technical
components or for working on processes with groups who are geographically distant. It offers individual
and flexible learning opportunities without requiring direct human interaction. So it can be useful for
people who do not have easy access to other learning resources or facilitators; and can be very cost
effective. The challenges are that participants stay isolated; the approach requires a high level of
independent study skills and ability in the language of instruction; needs good quality and affordable
Internet access; and has little scope and support for the adaptation and application of new learning in the
workplace.
4. Partnerships and Networks Approach: Mechanisms through which diverse actors with mutual interests
come together in order to achieve a common goal. This can include clubbing organisations and institutions
with similar mandates, and the same or different levels of capacity. Its challenges are co-ordination;
keeping a balance of power relations; both of which can have a negative impact on opportunities for
learning.
5. Organisational Strengthening Approach: Three inter-related disciplines come under this - organisational
development, change management and organisational learning. This approach involves co-ordinated
learning and change techniques, to help organisations gain the capacity they need, to be effective and to
fulfil their organisational/sectoral mandates. This approach works at the level of the whole system, and
therefore ensures that learning, change and development are simultaneous across the whole organisation
or sector. It is a complex approach that needs an enabling environment, with strong facilitation of multiple
concurrent interventions and the transfer of conceptual and strategic thinking to operational realities.
6. Blended Learning and Exposure Approach: Exposure visits take people to see what others are doing in
work situations similar to their own whereas blended learning is a combination of different training and
learning technologies, activities and events. The blend selected can be problem focused or person
focused; it enables quality assessment; enables rapid roll-out to large groups and can be very cost
effective (depending on development costs). Its challenge is that it needs skilful design and management
to ensure the right balance between the various components of the blend. This requires a high level of
compatible technology and study skills as a prerequisite. So if development costs run high, it may not be
suitable.
7. Communication Approach: This approach can help to develop processes that connect groups and help
harness their collective knowledge and wisdom. This helps in supporting and enhancing learning and
change within those groups. It is a useful approach for working on issues that have a defined stakeholder
group, whose knowledge and wisdom can contribute to the identification and solution of problems within
their circumstances. It is best used for challenges that do not have technical solutions. It focuses on
ensuring that all stakeholders have a voice in decisions that concern them. It empowers participants and
creates ownership and commitment to action. It is considered by some to be a crosscutting element of all
other processes, and by others to be a component of knowledge management.
8. Leadership Development Approach: This approach is specifically designed to enhance the leadership skills
of existing and potential leaders within systems. It is most effective when training modules are combined
with activities such as exposure visits, and coaching or mentoring. It helps fill a crucial gap of development
of the next generation of leaders; especially in a set up where new challenges are emerging for which no
experienced sector leadership yet exists. It further focuses on helping women with overcoming the glass
ceiling that prevents their professional advancement and gives emerging leaders among them, the skills
and confidence to step into leadership roles. Its challenge is that it requires the background political
economy to be such that participants can practice what they learn, in order to bring about change in their
own performance or within their organisations.
9. Knowledge Management Approach: Considered by some to be a crosscutting issue in capacity
development, it is the process by which organisations generate value from their intellectual and
knowledge based assets by documenting what staff and stakeholders know about the organisation’s areas
of interest, and then sharing that collected data with those who need it to enhance their job performance.
It is useful in sectors with rapid advances in knowledge e.g. health; sectors that are knowledge based e.g.
education and training; in multidisciplinary stakeholder processes, such as decentralisation. Enhances
communication and connection within systems to ensure that they are using all the available knowledge
assets to the best effect. Can be very complex and time consuming to implement; requires constant
attention and updating; can become overly technical and dependent on data management systems.
Source:

Annex.2
LIST OF COURSES OFFERED BY SLILG FOR 2011
Course Title
1. Awareness Programmes
2. Soft Skills Development Programme for Newly Appointed Elected Members
3. Competency Development Training Programmes for Officials in PCs & LAs
4. Training Programme on Efficiency Enhancement of Newly Recruited Staff members
5. Training Programme Information Communication Technology
6. Selected programmes/ Activates for PCs & LAs on the Request of Ministry & cooperation with other
Institutes
7. Advanced Diploma in Local Government - Tamil Medium
8. Advanced Diploma in Local Government - Sinhala Medium
9. Management Diploma in Local Government
10. Management Diploma in Local Government/Uva Province
11. Diploma in ICT - Southern Province
12. Diploma in Local Government/Tamil Medium for Northern Province
13. Publishing Newsletters / Sinhala & Tamil Medium
14. Library Development
15. Alumina Association
16. Overseas Training Programme
17. Specialised Programmes for Provincial Engineers
18. Skills Development programmes for Technical Officers - LAs
19. Skills Development programmes for Technical Officers -PCs
20. Training of Newly Recruited Technical Officers in LAs
21. Supporting & Enhancement of Backward LAs in Engineering
22. Training programme for Work Supervisors
23. National Level Local Government Management Competition
24. Specialised Programmes for Northern Province
25. Selected Programme
26. Skills Development Project Implementation and Management
27. Skills Development on Planning & Preparation of Action Plans through participatory Approach
28. Skills development on Office Management
29. Productivity Enhancement Programme
30. Capacity Development Programme (Soft Management Skills)
31. Public Relationship Management
32. Effective Use of Information in Local Government
33. Diploma in Local Government Financial management
34. Certificate Course on Accounting Information
35. Practical Training programme on Preparation & Presentation of Financial Statements for PSs & UCs
36. Physical Planning, Development Activities & Revenue Generation
37. National Training Programme on Disaster Mitigation
38. Programme on Physical Planning - Tamil Medium
39. Skills Development Training Programme on GIS, GPS & Remote Sensing
40. Environment Protection & Management
41. Application of Urban Design Principles for LAs
42. Legal Provisions of Council meetings & Committee meetings
43. Development of Local Government System in Sri Lanka

44. Introduction of Laws Relating to Local Government

45. Publishing Accurate Gazette Notifications & other Notices by LAs
46. Administrative Law for LAs
47. Research Study on Population Growth, density & Physical Planning in LA
48. Research Study on Exercises of Legislative Powers by PCs
49. National Programme on Enhancement of Revenues of LAs
50. Preparation & Submission of the final research report & conducting a National Symposium on
Responsibilities of LAs on Delivery of Public health services before & after child birth
51. Environment Protection & Responsibilities of LA
52. Research Study on Private Sector Involvement for LA
53. Research study on Development Activities carried out by LA
54. Developing Databases for LA
55. Certificate Course in Research Methodology for relevant officials of PCs

Annex.3
LIST OF TRAININGS ORGANISED BY THE MINISTRY OF PROVINCIAL COUNCILS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
AND TRANSPARENT ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNANCE (TALG) PROGRAMME
Course Type Provider Provider

Local Authority Legislation National SLFI
Preparation of Physical Plans in Local Authorities National SLILG
Physical Planning and Implementation National SLILG
Local Government Authorities and Public Participation National SLILG
Solid Waste management Private EML CONSULTANTS
Library Training Provincial DEPT EDUCATION
Asset Management Provincial MDTU
Accounting Provincial MDTU
Planning Tax Revenue Collection Provincial MDTU
Salary Anomalies Rectification Provincial MDTU
Personnel Management Provincial ITRDI
Marketing Development Workshop National SLIDA
Environment Protection and Management National SLILG
Skills Development Programme for Technical Officers National SLILG
Competency Development National SLILG
Efficiency Enhancement of Newly Recruited Staff Members National SLILG
Office Procedures and Employee Performance Development Provincial HRDMTI
Management and Maintenance of Office Filing Systems Provincial MDTI
Pension Payment Procedures Provincial MDTI

Annex.4
TRAINING MANUALS PREPARED BY LGTI, SRI LANKA FROM 2001-2009
1. Orientation Courses on Devolution Plan and Local Government Ordinance 2001.

2. Short Courses for Nazim, Naib Nazim and councillors on the basic concept of local governance, existing
law/rules, operational procedures, financials set up, functions of local councils.
3. Professional in-service long training courses for local governance functionaries on all aspects of district
government.
4. Specialised training courses (6 to 10 days) duration in the field of local governance, finance, accounts,
taxation, planning and development, and the execution of local development plans, efficient office
management, administration and development, civil engineering, Muslim Family Laws, registration of
births and deaths and special courses in office procedure for the functional level.
5. General Refresher Courses (10 to 14 days duration) on laws, by-laws and working of TMAs.
6. Development planning
7. Special on campus/off campus courses on water and sanitation/social mobilisations/human resource
development/birth registration/Participatory Rapid Approach (PRA) etc., in collaboration with
international donor agencies
8. Various types of workshops/seminars shall be conducted (at least 2 in each year).
i) Workshop on improvement of local governance system in Punjab.
ii) Workshop on streamlining the working of the local governance with regard to the conduct of business
delegation of powers, division of work and monitoring of different departments of the local councils.
iii) Seminar on role of women in local development.

Annex.5
LIST OF TRAINING MATERIALS DESIGNED AND DEVELOPED BY THE NRB, PAKISTAN (2001-08)
1. Councillors’ Basic Manual (for facilitators)

2. Councillors’ Basic Manual (for Participants)
3. Add-On Module for Facilitators (for Training of Zila/Tehsil/Town Nazims / Naib Nazims and
Zila/Tehsil/Town Councillors)
4. Add-On Module for Participants (for Training of Zila/Tehsil/Town Nazims/Naib Nazims and
Zila/Tehsil/Town Councillors)
5. Add-On Module on Skills: Bottom-up Planning, Planning and Budgeting, Citizen Community Boards and
Monitoring Committees
6. Add-On Module on Cross Cutting Themes: Community Development, Conflict Management, Decision
Making, Poverty and Gender, Communication and Team Building
7. Training Assessment and Feedback Tools (for Zila/Tehsil/Town Nazims/Naib Nazims and Zila/Tehsil/Town
Councillors)
8. Training Assessment and Feedback Tools (for Zila/Tehsil/Town Councillors) Facilitators’ Guide A Training
Tool Kit.
9. Guidelines for Tehsil Transition Teams and Transition Report on Tehsil Municipal administration
10. Guidelines for Preparing District Government Transition Report (DGTR)
11. Guidelines for City District Transition Teams and Town Transition Teams and Transition Report on City
District
12. The Local Government (Model) Ordinance, 2001
13. The Local Government Ordinance, 2001 (Urdu)
14. Guidelines for Monitoring Committees of Local Governments
15. Guidelines for Citizen Community Boards (CCBs)
16. The District Government (Model) Rules of Business, 2001
17. The Tehsil Municipal Administration (Model) Rules of Business, 2001
18. The Town Municipal Administration (Model) Rules of Business, 2001
19. The Union Administration (Model) Rules of Business, 2001
20. Guidelines for Transfer of Functions through Mutual Agreement by Tehsil Municipal Administration to
Union Administration
21. Guidelines for Transfer of Functions through Mutual Agreement by Tehsil Municipal Administration to
Village and Neighbourhood Councils
22. Guidelines for Transfer of Functions through Mutual Agreement by Union Administration to Village and
Neighbourhood Councils
23. District Government (Model) Rules of Business (Urdu)
24. Tehsil Municipal Administration (Model) Rules of Business (Urdu)
25. Town Municipal Administration (Model) Rules of Business (Urdu)
26. Union Administration (Model) Rules of Business (Urdu).

Annex.6
LIST OF INITIATIVES FOR DEVELOPING CAPACITY OF DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS

FOR STRENGTHENING LOCAL GOVERNANCE PROJECT IN BANGLADESH
A. Capacity Development for Union Parishad

Sl. Title Duration Participants
No.
01. 01 Day orientation for elected representatives of Union 01 Day Elected UP Chairman, Member
Parishad on their roles & responsibilities (Male & Female) and Secretary
02 01 Day orientation on functioning of UP Standing 01 Day Elected UP Chairman, Member
Committees (1.Education, 2. Agriculture, 3. Health, 4. (Male & Female) & UP
Audit & Accounts) Secretary and co-opt member
of the standing committee.
03 02 Day training for UP Representatives & UP Secretary on 02 Days Elected UP Chairman, Member
Village Court (Male & Female) and Secretary
04 02 Day training for UP Female members on Gender and 02 Days Elected UP female Member.
Leadership.
05 01 Day orientation for UP Representatives & UP Secretary 01 Day Elected UP Chairman, Member
on Village Court, ADR & AC (Male & Female) and Secretary
06 01 Day pre budget workshop on participatory plans & 01 Day Elected UP Chairman, Member
budget procedures in each UP with the participation of UP (Male & Female) & Secretary
representatives and Lok Morcha and Lok Morcha Member
07 01 Day orientation of UPs on responsive public services 01 Day Elected UP Chairman, Member
(Male & Female) and Secretary
08 Assisting Union Parishads (Katthgara & Lalshalu, necessary
forms & registers, budget board and notice board) for
activating village court and standing committees as well
ensuring transparency & accountability
B. Capacity Development for Lok Morcha
No.
01 01 Day orientation of UP Lok Morcha on project purposes 01 Day Union Lok Morcha member
and their roles & responsibilities
02 01 Day orientation of Upazila Lok Morcha on project 01 Day Upazila Lok Morcha member
purposes and their roles & responsibilities
03 01 Day orientation of district Lok Morcha on project 01 Day District Lok Morcha member
purposes and their roles & responsibilities
03 02 Days training for UP Lok Morcha on Ups transparency & 02 Days Union Lok Morcha member
accountability and strategic role of Lok Morcha in future.
04 02 Days training for Upazila Lok Morcha on UP’s 02 Days Upazila Lok Morcha member
transparency & accountability and strategic role of Lok
Morcha in future
05 02 Days training for District Lok Morcha on UP’s 02 Days District Lok Morcha member
transparency & accountability and strategic role of Lok
Morcha in future
06 01 Day orientation for active UP Lok Morcha members on 01 Day Union Lok Morcha member
Flip Chart demonstration.

07 02 Days training for pro-active members of UP, Upazila and 02 Days Union, Upazila and District
District Lok Morcha on grass roots organisation’s Lok Morcha member
perspective and responsive governance
08 1 Day workshop with Lok Morcha representatives on 01 Day Union, Upazila and District
project dimension & future initiatives Lok Morcha member
09 Organise exchange visits internally for different level of 02 Days Union, Upazila and District
project stakeholders Lok Morcha member
C. Capacity development for Project Staff and PNGOs
No.
01 Organise 05 days foundation training for community 05 Days All project staff
organisers and project staff on development approaches,
governance, advocacy, local government, standing
committee and Village Court
02 3 Days basic training for programme facilitators on project, 03 Days All programme facilitators
governance & advocacy
03 04 Days training for project staff on governance, RBA and 04 Days All project staff
advocacy
04 02 Days ToT on Village Court 02 Days PNGOs mid-level staff
05 01 Day orientation meeting for project staff on the project 01 Day All project staff
06 01 day orientation for Community Organisers on Flip Chart 01 Day All community organisers
demonstration
07 01 Day workshop with community organisers and project 01 Day All project staff
secretariat staff on progress, achievements, strategies &
future initiatives
08 Monthly coordination meeting at district level (CO,PF, PO & 01 Day/ All project staff and
ED) Month PNGOs ED
09 Organise 03 days Training for PNGOs EDs on project 03 Days All PNGOs ED
management and Partnership.
10 Organise 03 days Training for PNGOs EDs on RBA 03 Days All PNGOs ED
11 02 Days refresher training for project staff on governance 02 Days Project secretariat staff
12 Capacity development training for project secretariat staff As per Project secretariat staff
on LFA, monitoring & evaluation, project management etc. design

Annex.7
CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES AVAILABLE TO THE DMMC, SRI LANKA
Sl. Programme Providers

No.
1 Competency Development Training Programme SLILG
2 Training Programme on Efficiency Enhancement of Newly Recruited Staff Members SLILG
3 Skills Development Programme for Technical Officers SLILG
4 Environment protection and Management SLILG
5 Asset Management Training MDTI
6 Salary Anomalies Rectification Training HRDMTI
7 Marketing Development Workshop SLIDA
8 Office Procedures and Employee Performance Development HRDMTI
9 Local Authority Legislation SLFI
10 Storekeeping Skills Development ICTAD
11 Management and Maintenance of Office Filing Systems MDTI
12 Pension Payment Procedures MDTI
13 Planning Tax Revenue Collection HRDMTI

Annex.8
TRAINING PROGRAMMES AVAILABLE TO THE BANDARAGAMA PS IN SRI LANKA
Sl. Programme Provider

No.
1 Seminar on Local Government Authorities and Public Participation SLILG
2 Preparation of Physical Plans in Local Authorities SLILG
3 Basic Training on Accounting HRDMTI
4 Asset Management HRDMTI
6 Workshop on Physical Planning and Implementation SLILG
8 Pension Payment Procedures MDTI
9 Planning Tax Revenue Collection HRDMTI
10 LA Legislation SLFI
11 Office Procedures and Employee Performance Development HRDMTI
13 Personnel Management ITRDI
14 Library Training Provincial Education Department
15 Solid Waste management EML and CMC

Annex.9
STATISTICS ABOUT LOCAL GOVERNANCE INSTITUTIONS IN PAKISTAN
a) Local Governance Institutions in Pakistan
Tier 1965 1979 2001 2005 2011

Union Councils 7614 3510 6,022 6,131 6,131
Tehsil Councils 630 270 305 389 389
Town Councils 220 NA 30 62 62
District Councils 78 82 92 102 102
City District Nil NIL 4 8 8
Municipal Committees 108 234 Nil Nil Nil
Municipal Corporations 2 LHR-Khci 17 Nil Nil Nil
TOTAL 8632 4113 6453 6692 6692
b) Map of Local Councils
District Council Comprised of all UC heads and 25 % Directly elected heads Speaker
A large number of women, workers and 5% non-Muslims and indirectly elected District Naib Nazim
functions reserved seats
Tehsil / Town Comprised of all UC second heads and Directly elected second Speaker
Council 25 % women, workers and 5% non- heads and indirectly Naib Nazim of
Municipal Muslims elected reserved seats Tehsil or Town
Administration
Union Council Total 13 members Nazim as Head and Naib Speaker as Nazim
Grass level local 4 general seats, 2 reserved for Nazim as second head and his/ her
council women, 2 general seats for workers, 2 Directly elected from a absence Naib
With 13 nominal reserved for workers women, one union territory Nazim
functions non-Muslim
c) Number of Seats in Union Councils During 2001

Category Punjab Sind KPK Baluchistan Total
Muslim General 27584 8439 7656 4144 47823
Muslim General (women) 13812 4310 3828 2072 24022
Peasants & Workers 13812 4376 3828 2072 24088
Peasants & Workers (women) 6906 2188 1914 1036 12044
Minorities 3493 1473 957 518 6441
Nazim/ Naib Nazim 6906 2188 1914 1036 12044
Total 72513 22974 20097 10878 126462
d) Number of Seats in Union Councils 2005
Category Punjab Sind PK Baluchistan Total

Muslim General 13846 4323 3944 2268 24381
Muslim General (women) 6928 2195 1972 1134 12229
Peasants & Workers 6928 2228 1972 1134 12262
Peasants & Workers (women) 6928 2228 1972 1134 12262
Minorities 3474 1280 986 567 6307

Nazim/ Naib Nazim 6928 2228 1972 1134 12262

Total 45032 14482 12818 7371 79703
e) Women Representation in Local Governance 1959-2009
Period Regime (Head of Govt.) Women Representation

1958-1968 Gen. Ayub Khan No special representation- basic democracy
1971-1977 Mr. Zulfiqar Bhutto No special representation
1979-1985 Gen. Zia-ul-Haq 2 seats at UC & 10% at other tiers except NWFP
1985-1988 Mr. Mohammad Khan Junejo 2 seats at UC & 10% at other tiers except NWFP
1988-1990 Ms. Benazir Bhutto Local governance elections were not held
1990-1993 Mr. Nawaz Shareef 10.4% national coverage
1993-1996 Ms. Benazir Bhutto Local governance elections were not held
1997-1999 Mr. Nawaz Shareef 12.7% in Punjab, 25.8% in Baluchistan, 2.9% in NWFP
and 23% in Sindh
1999 onward Gen. Pervez Musharraf 33% reservation at all levels

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Capacity Development of Local Governance Institutions in South Asia

Experiences from South Asia

PRIA Global Partnership

PRIA Global Partnership | ii

Kaustuv Kanti Bandyopadhyay

PRIA Global Partnership | iii

Content Page No.

Synthesis Paper: Capacity Development of Local Governance Institutions in South Asia 1

PRIA Global Partnership | iv

PRIA Global Partnership | v

Rahim-yar-Khan and Gujranwala Districts in Pakistan 97

Annex.1: Definitions of Various Approaches to Capacity Development 104

PRIA Global Partnership | vi

List of Tables, Boxes and Figures Page No.

Table 1: Title of Case Studies 5

Box 1: Panchayat Resource Centre 11

PRIA Global Partnership | vii

ADB : Asian Development Bank

PRIA Global Partnership | viii

LBSNNA : Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration

PRIA Global Partnership | ix

SIC : Scheme Implementation Committees

PRIA Global Partnership | x

PRIA Global Partnership | xi

Bangladesh developed and an ‘expert panel’ supervised by

aiding and modernising the pre-existing institutions; promoting mechanisms of transparency,

PRIA Global Partnership | xiii

PRIA Global Partnership | xiv

PRIA Global Partnership | xv

PRIA Global Partnership | xvi

PRIA Global Partnership | xvii

PRIA Global Partnership | 1

2. Capacity Development for Local Governance Institutions

PRIA Global Partnership | 2

PRIA Global Partnership | 3

PRIA Global Partnership | 4

PRIA Global Partnership | 5

Public Services Project : A Case Study from Bangladesh Bangladesh

5. Capacity Development in South Asia

PRIA Global Partnership | 6

PRIA Global Partnership | 7

capacity development of human resources by including participatory planning specialists in the

PRIA Global Partnership | 8

PRIA Global Partnership | 9

PRIA Global Partnership | 10

PRIA Global Partnership | 11

PRIA Global Partnership | 12

PRIA Global Partnership | 13

PRIA Global Partnership | 14

PRIA Global Partnership | 15

PRIA Global Partnership | 16

PRIA Global Partnership | 17

PRIA Global Partnership | 18

PRIA Global Partnership | 19

PRIA Global Partnership | 20

Active, engaged and organised citizenry;

PRIA Global Partnership | 23

PRIA Global Partnership | 25

Country Paper: Bangladesh

PRIA Global Partnership | 27

3.1 The Government Policy

PRIA Global Partnership | 28

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

PRIA Global Partnership | 29