“Norway’s support to the national Local Governance and Community Development Programme (LGCDP) is a natural continuation of a decade long support to local governance in Nepal” says Einar Rystad, the Minister Counsellor at the Norwegian Embassy. He recently signed the agreement with the Government of Nepal for the next two years. The grant in support of LGCDP amounts to Norwegian Kroner 80 million (equivalent to NRS.10 Arab 18 Crore 80 Lacs). The Embassy has great expectations that LGCDP may provide access to the basic services and goods at the local level in a transparent and inclusive manner.
What is the Local Governance and Community Development Programme (LGCDP)?
LGCDP is a national programme aiming to contribute to poverty reduction through inclusive, responsive and accountable local governance and participatory community-led development. The programme is executed by the Ministry of Local Development and implemented by Local Bodies (LB).
The programme’s purpose is to improve people’s access to local and inclusively prioritized public goods and services. It has four major components:
· Empowering communities and citizens for engagement in local governance processes
· Enriching Local Bodies (LB) with expanded block grants
· Build the capacity of local governments for effective service delivery
· Policy support at the national level
Building on the Decentralised Local Governance Support Programme (DLGSP)
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Three years ago Sabitri (33) barely had what she needed to eke out a hand-to-mouth existence. All the vegetables she grew went to make the family’s dinner each day. In 2006, however, her situation changed when she and 27 other women in her village formed a savings club, where each saved 5 rupees per week (about NOK 0.50). All together they have saved over 13 000 rupees over a three year period. The club members may borrow money from the fund at an interest rate of 2 rupees per day. First, Sabitri borrowed money to buy a goat, then she took up another loan to open a small kiosk. Today she runs the kiosk, has five goats and has begun to expand her vegetable garden so that she can make some money by selling vegetables.
The Decentralised Local Governance Support Programme (DLGSP) (2004-2009) supported central agencies and local bodies in formulating policies, by-laws and guidelines in order to promote decentralised governance. Through social mobilisation, the programme aimed at enhancing the capacity of local bodies, women, dalits, janajatis and other disadvantaged groups. “Norway has supported the Ministry of Local Development through UNDP and the Decentralised Local Governance Support Programme (DLGSP) since 2004 with several positive results at the local level,” says Einar Rystad, Minister Counsellor at the Norwegian Embassy.
The final evaluation report of DLGSP from July 2009 described the programme as a successful and large scale continuation of previous programmes addressing local governance, social mobilisation, empowerment, and strengthening of sustainable livelihoods in remote and rural Nepal. The programme has maintained its focus on village development throughout the five‐year period of implementation. Some of the results Conditions for programme implementation have been difficult and often hostile due to the armed conflict. Despite this, remarkable achievements have been made, although success has been uneven.
The phasing out of DLGSP runs parallel with the initiation of LGCDP. Norway supported this transition with an additional NOK 10 million. The money was also spent on immediate livelihoods support to the poorest communities in 200 Village Development Committees (VDC) of twenty districts of the Terai and the hills of the Mid West and Far Western regions, through Quick Impact and Peace Support Initiatives (QIPSI). The six month bridging period would also provide a minimum support for social mobilisation in 46 non‐QIPSI districts to support VDCs in bottom up planning and monitoring of VDC block grants and support to link COs in planning cycle of local government.
The bilateral grant agreement in support of LGCDP was signed on the 7th December 2009 by Charge d’Affaires of the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Einar Rystad and the Finance Secretary of the Government of Nepal (GoN), Rameshore Prasad Khanal.The bilateral agreement builds on collective support from several development partners who have signed a Joint Financing Arrangement (JFA), including Norway, the Asian Development Bank and the Government and Denmark. Other Development Partners like Swiss Development Cooperation, DFID and CIDA are considering signing the JFA as well in the next months.