Dlgnews july 2014 issue 13

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dlgnews

dlgnews

Democratization, Decentralization and Local Governance Network

EDITOR’S NOTES

July 2014, Issue No 13

We are pleased to present you herewith the thirteenth issue of the dlgnews. It contains a great variety of contributions from different members and colleagues, making it a rich publication.

It is great to see how our newsletter has grown and how thanks to the contribution of many of you, we are able to provide you with current network news; our different network activities around thematic und knowledge building and up-to date information about training opportunities and publications related to our field of work.

The Network News section starts with “The Aftermath of Floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its lasting damages to Livelihoods and Service – Delivery”; it also gives an account on “Macedonia’s nerve – racking elections” and then presents the report on “Revenue Predictability and Sustainability of local governments in Albania”. Furthermore, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation shares how Swiss Experiences on Social Accountability are being shared in the framework of the Global Partnership for Social Accountability.

From the Ukraine, the DESPRO team of Skat Consulting provides a reflection on the “Political Changes in Ukraine and Decentralisation”. This section also includes a “Summary of the E-Discussion on Civic Engagement in local governance: Beyond the usual suspects?”.

This section finishes with Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation’s article on “Improving water governance through participatory governance self-assessments in Kyrgyzstan”.

The section of Thematic Knowledge Building presents the Democracy Barometer; a summary of the Regional DLG workshop in Latin America; the new dlgn Learning Project: Engaging with “thus far less targeted” actors in local democracy; the Regional DLG Workshop of the Western Balkans Division; a DeLoG learning event: “Enhancing development effectiveness in decentralisation and local governance reforms” and concludes presenting a learning program on “How to make change happen: Political Economy for Practitioners”.

Training Opportunities from the World Bank, Swiss Peace and The Hague Academy are also included in this issue, as well as fourteen new publications relevant to Decentralisation, Democratisation and Local Governance; their respective links are also listed in the Publications section.

We thank everyone, who has contributed to this issue and we hope it provides you with information you are looking for.

With warm regards, Corinne Huser Focal Point DLGN, Western Balkans Division SDC

Inside this Issue Editor’s notes .................................. 1 Network News ................................ 2 Thematic Knowledge Building ..... 9 Training Opportunities ................ 15 Publications ................................... 16

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The Aftermath of Floods in Bosnia & Herzegovina (B&H): Lasting Damages to Livelihoods and Service-Delivery From Snezana Misic and Alma Zukorlic In May 2014 massive flooding affected B&H, mainly the northern, eastern and central parts bordering with Croatia and Serbia. The floods are said to be the worst in 120 years and have brought enormous destruction and suffering in the country that is still recovering from the consequences of the 9295 war and that suffers from chronic political and economic instability.

The natural disaster affected about 40% of the country’s territory and about one million people, which is more than one fourth of the country’s population. According to EBRD, preliminary estimates of damage in B&H amount to approximately USD 1.8 billion.

Around 1.300 - 1.400 persons are placed in collective centres.

Immediate reaction to direct damages The demand for emergency and recovery support is enormous. Besides the humanitarian support provided by the Swiss Government in materials and water and sanitation expertise, the SDC cooperates with national institutions and provides support to affected people and institutions via ongoing projects. The Integrated Local Development Project (ILDP) is a joint initiative of the SDC and UNDP in B&H working directly with 40 local governments country-wide.

Among these, ten were severely affected by the recent floods. As high flood waters receded, a number of challenges emerged, such as: landslides, debris, deteriorated public services and infrastructure, destroyed houses, dislocated mines, contaminated water and soil, and many people lost their jobs.

In such extreme circumstances, development priorities in the affected local governments have greatly changed: local resources now need to be shifted towards economic recovery and normalization of public services. The ILDP is conducting a rapid needs assessment within its partner localities, so as to identify the most pressing priorities and assist municipalities in restoring vital public services. As an immediate support to partners, within the first week of the post-crisis situation, the project provided technical equipment and supplies to 10 local govern-

ments to contribute to drying and disinfecting public and private buildings. In parallel, the project will allocate approximately USD 200,000 to contribute to restoration of public facilities and infrastructure, such as, water and sanitation infrastructure, health centres, schools and business infrastructure.

Long-term problems beyond physical destruction In the months and years to come citizens of B&H will feel the long-term impact of the floods due to destroyed archives, data, equipment and premises, for example. Local authorities will not be able to offer efficient administrative and communal services, to ensure equity in the provision of health and social services and to organize normal school activities either. For example, citizens in the most affected regions are not able to get their personal documents (IDs, passports), register cars, send children to school, buy food, use banking services, get medications, and go to court. These services were disrupted and are being organized in alternative ways. Additionally, many businesses and agricultural facilities have been destroyed. Local companies suffered from the destruction of premises resulting in the closure of more than 90 % of local businesses as well as an abrupt increase in unemployment rates and poverty in some of the flood-affected municipalities.

The extent of adverse impact will highly depend on the ability of various stakeholders to mobilize significant funding for reconstruction. Targeted reconstruction efforts, coupled with support to governance systems, are needed to address the burning development constraints. The following video shows the damage in Doboj: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rYbZfBy Gcc

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Macedonia’s nerve-racking elections

By Ibrahim Mehmeti The last spring in Macedonia was largely in the sign of elections. Presidential elections were planned, but early Parliamentary elections were also held due to difference of opinions among governmental coalition’s partners. Tensions around election are proverbial in Macedonia, but their intensity depends on different circumstances linked with the political context. Even though polls showed a comfortable advantage of the ruling coalition parties representing the two major ethnic communities in the country, Macedonians, respectively Albanians, the split between them linked to the presidential candidate, and the already existing sharp rivalry between the parties within the same ethnic communities, was a strong reason to expect tensions. The failure of the government coalition VMRO-DPMNE (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonia National Unity) and DUI (Democratic Union for Integration) to come up with a consensual presidential candidate, was a sign that high tensions between them which marked the local elections in 2013, might revive. Soon after VMRO-DPMNE announced the current President as its candidate for a second term, DUI declared that they will boycott presidential elections. At the same time they initiated early parliamentary elections, which were contentedly accepted by VMRO-DPMNE.

Even though there was little interest of both local and international actors for monitoring the presidential elections, the perspective of having parliamentary elections and the rhetoric to announce the end of the coalition raised concerns. Thus, many international donors, including SDC made a quick decision to support CSOs specialized in the

monitoring elections and in the prevention of the electoral violence and inter-ethnic conflicts. In that sense, the Swiss Cooperation Office Macedonia undertook quick action to support the Citizen Association MOST and the Centre for Freedom CIVIL. For the first round of the Presidential Elections MOST deployed around 600 observers and for the second round and for the Early Parliamentary elections over 1700 observers were deployed, covering around 50% of the Polling Stations. At the same time CIVIL had 110 elections observers, accredited by the State Election Commission. CIVIL established mobile Free Elections Working Groups to serve as long-term observers, as well as short term observers on the Elections Day (including one day before and one day after the elections). CIVIL organized a number of awareness raising media events during the election campaign informing about irregularities registered by its observers. Every time mainstream media, both at national and local levels, were under strong government’s influence, CIVIL raised a critical voice to intimidation and pressure on voters exercised during the election campaign. This voice was widely transmitted by independent media, especially through social media.

During the Election Day, the MOST observers ensured neutrality and security of the voters which resulted in higher level of accountability by the elections commissions and other officials included in the organization of the elections. The high visibility of these CSO actors certainly played an important role in making political actors to be more cautious and to refrain from violence.

Even though SDC’s contribution was rather small, due to the fact that the grantees were also supported in the previous election cycles, they could build on their previous work and effects were considerably high. It enabled an independent view on the election process, but also it helped preventing violence and possible deceptions. After the second round of the presidential elections, which overlapped with parliamentary elections, the absolute winner of both these elections is the main ruling party in the country – VMRO-DPMNE. Its presidential candidate won with a big margin in the second round and this party also won 61 out of 123 seats in Parliament. At the same time,

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with 19 seats DUI won elections in the Albanian political camp, which confirmed a comfortable majority of the old/new governmental coalition. It is worth mentioning the wide spread assessment that the presidential candidate of the VMRO-DPMNE won partly because DUI requested Albanian voters, who were mainly in favour of the opposition candidate, to boycott presidential elections.

As a result of the dissatisfaction with the election’s process, just as the ballot boxes were closed, the biggest opposition party – SDSM (Social Democratic Union of Macedonia) announced that they did not recognize election results. Later on, over 30 SDSM and smaller coalition partners elected for MPs, officially rejected their mandates. However, as the ruling coalition partners won the majority of the seats in Parliament (around 2/3 of the total 120), there is no constitutional obstacle for the Parliament to function and to elect a government. Additional elections for the emptied mandates shall be held in due time, but there is no precisely defined time frame when this should be done. It is not clear if the Macedonian opposition will take part in the partial elections, or if they will insist on full-fledged early elections.

OSCE observer’s mission stated that elections were “efficiently administered” without giving usual qualifications such as “free and fair”. This was widely read as a diplomatic statement reflecting a relatively quiet Election Day, but at the same time, having in mind the unbalanced election campaign, the elections were not seen as free and fair. The OSCE noted that the campaign of the governing party did not adequately separate its party and state activities, which in other words confirmed the allegations that the governmental parties used state resources and especially the pro-governmental media to marginalize the opposition. In any case, there is a wide spread perception that Macedonia has a lot to desire regarding the fairness of the election process, including both the election campaigning and the voting itself. Looking at the figures, it can be concluded that there is a trend of decline in the voter’s turnout and this is linked with the feeling of disappointment, but perhaps even more, it is a result of the feeling of scepticism created by electoral intimidation. On

the other hand, without creating an atmosphere of free choice, the process of citizen participation and effective democratization will be endangered in the long run. Further information at: http://civil.org.mk/report-onthe-observation-conducted-by-civil-of-the2014-presidential-and-early-parliamentaryelections/ or http://most.org.mk/index.php/ en/ongoing-projects/presidential-elections2014

Albania: Revenue Predictability and Sustainability of local governments From Valbona Karakaçi and Erida Dobrushi The goal of this report is to explore the predictability and stability of local government revenues in Albania, identify patterns in revenue assignments and possible impacts of structural changes in the intergovernmental tax system. A sample of around 13% of first tier local government units was selected for the purpose of this analysis; they include 48 local government units, of which 27 are municipalities. The capital city of Tirana and the six largest municipalities in terms of revenues and population were also included.

Even though the Capital Tirana is an obvious outlier in the total sample, some of the findings of the report are equally relevant for Tirana. This report looks at the main sources of revenue at the local level, including the system of transfers as well as the main taxes and fees in terms of the tax base, rate, administrative procedures, and particularly the local autonomy in setting tax rates, which is an important factor of efficiency especially in fiscally relatively decentralized environments. It also looks at possible policy options for improvement in the definition and administration of these taxes and fees in order to enable increased local government revenues, while preserving the basic qualities of efficient taxes, including equity. Furthermore, this report explores the reasons for the underperformance in the taxation of certain sectors of local economies (such as real estate, business taxes or service fees) and attempt to understand the main factors that would support improved tax collections in given administrations or periods, including efficiency of tax collection, fiduciary risks and availability of taxpayers databases.

More information at: http://www.sdcdecentralization.net/en/Home/dlgnews

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Social Accountability: Sharing Swiss Experiences

Political changes in Ukraine Decentralisation

From Sarah Byrne

From Maryna Bryl – Skat Consulting/DESPRO

The Global Partnership for Social Accountability is a coalition of donors, governments and civil society organisations housed at the World Bank Institute, promoting cooperation to solve critical governance challenges in developing countries. To achieve this objective, the GPSA provides strategic and sustained support to CSOs’ social accountability initiatives aimed at strengthening transparency and accountability. Annual global calls for proposals of the GPSA provide an opportunity for CSOs to fund projects in the area of social accountability.

From November 2013, to the end of February 2014, protesters gathered around Kyiv’s central square, in a series of demonstrations known as the Euro-Maidan. These protests faced different stages, culminating in what some analysts called a “national revolution” that forced the stepping down of President Viktor Yanukovythe and his government.

HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation, as a member of the GPSA, organised on 8 April 2014 a platform for a strategic discussion on social accountability with a diverse range of Swiss stakeholders in Bern, Switzerland. The Program Manager of GPSA opened the meeting by presenting the objectives, structure and functioning, as well as the grant system of the GPSA. This was followed by a thematic discussion on how to ensure meaningful participation of relevant stakeholders in accountability mechanisms, and on how to address downward accountability in our own organisations. Furthermore, the participants considered possible ways of collaboration in the area of accountability.

Despite on-going deliberations in existing Swiss governance networks, such as dlgn, and an overall strong interest in the topic of social accountability, the discussions showed that practical experience on this issue is still rather limited among participants. Therefore, Helvetas is currently assessing possibilities on deepening the exchange and discussions on accountability within existing networks, such as the dlgn, as well as on strengthening our own downward accountability through promoting the implementation of the recently finalized internal guidance note.

For more information, please contact Sarah Byrne at sarah.byrne@helvetas.org.

and

The changing of intentions to sign an Associations Agreement with the European Union after Yanukovych’s visit to Moscow led to the breaking out of protests and demonstrations that expressed disagreement to the actions of the Government and the President. In spite of the peaceful demonstrations that took place, order was given to disperse protestors by force using extreme brutality and violence. This decision resulted in the increase of demonstrations and protests; which according to estimations reached about one million people.

The situation was further aggravated by the fact that the Parliament adopted a package of “anti-protest laws”. These laws limited the freedom of citizens and introduced strong state control over the civil society. These laws heralded the culmination of the Euro Maidan protests and demonstrations shifted direction paying more attention to the corruption of the ruling regime, to the prevalence of oligarchs who had enriched themselves at the expense of the state, and to the lack of reforms. In spite of the support from the EU to ensure provisions to reduce the power of the government, protests increased resulting in violent repression of demonstrators with a total of around hundreds of people wounded and shot.

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Protests continued leading to the fleeing of the President and most of his Cabinet out of Ukraine. Based on the Constitution, the Head of the Parliament was appointed as the acting Head of State. The provisional administration made efforts to continue support decentralisation reforms by approving the document on local self-government and territorial arrangement of power based on the subsidiary principle: http://despro.org.ua/en/news/news/?ELEME NT_ID=1350 In May, presidential elections took place and 54, 7% of voters supported Petro Poroshenko, who won even in the first round of elections. He openly confirmed his full support of the reforms on decentralisation and LSG. Such rapid changes in the country placed the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project (DESPRO) in the centre of the Ukrainian reforms. The project is funded by SDC and implemented by Skat Consulting Ltd. DESPRO has been heavily involved in the process of preparation of key policy documents on decentralization reforms – reform concepts and draft laws, among others.

DESPRO has practical experience in implementing solid waste management projects, and has applied the Swiss decentralisation model in the development of the two main draft laws of inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) and voluntary amalgamation of local territories (the drafts which are first on the Ukrainian decentralisation agenda). The recommendations were prepared and delivered to the Ukrainian Parliament.

The IMC draft law has been considered already in the Parliament and it is expected to be voted soon.

Currently DESPRO is supporting and contributing to the national information and awareness raising campaign for promoting decentralisation. DESPRO in cooperation with the Government of Ukraine is conducting information sessions for local authorities all over the country on the content of the reforms, the steps to be taken, and expectations and outcomes of the decentralisation processes. Trainings are conducted for journalists to build their capacities in providing correct and clear information on the reforms. To provide more effective awareness rising on the reforms, DESPRO created a series of films in the technique of handdrawn info-graphic under the name: “It is Time to Make Big Changes” For more information please see the DESPRO web-site: http://despro.org.ua/en/news/news/?ELEME NT_ID=1345. The film is widely broadcasted throughout Ukraine and used by the government in various gatherings: http://minregion.gov.ua/news/announces/d ecentralizaciya-vladi-i-reforma-miscevogosamovryaduvannya--ch-i-437806/ The activities of DESPRO are the beginning of the full-fledged national information campaign and the actual decentralisation reforms in the country. More information: http://despro.org.ua/en/news/news/?ELEME NT_ID=1382

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Summary of the E-discussion on Civic Engagement in local governance: Beyond the usual suspects?

From Corinne Huser and IDS team, namely Emilie Wilson, Katy Oswald, Jethro Pettit As a continuation of joint learning around the issue of civic engagement and local governance, DLGN and the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) organized a facilitated a two-day e-dialogue on the D-groups platform. All members of the DLGN were invited to take part, as well as, external contributors who could enrich the discussion.

Overall the discussion received 118 contributions, from 43 contributors on day 1 and 29 on day 2. Different examples and tools from different parts of the world were shared reaching the following conclusions: Individual actors as conduits of change: It was argued that local level civil society should not be viewed as a monolithic bloc of organizations, but as diverse engaged individuals, who have their own ethos, motivations, commitment, strength and ways of working. As it was pointed out, local development is about how people relate to each other and their environments and less about NGOs and how they should be structured. In this line of thinking, local government actors have been perceived like citizens themselves, with similar enablers and constraints.

They have the potential to act as change agents too and they also need their powerlessness to be analysed and understood; their voice to be strengthened; and their empowerment to be supported. It is important to have the commitment and buy-in at both ends and, there is a value of political capacity on all sides. Examples mentioned were the so called ‘small-time’ political entrepreneurs, who act as fixers or brokers between communities and government offices.

Non-formalised and locally trusted forms of collective action: Much discussion was centred on opportunities and challenges of working with collective, but often informal groups or initiatives. The examples shared were on working with interest oriented movements, networks and informal associations, with local and traditional forms of collective action or supporting joint problem solving initiatives. All these can be linked to formal structures such as local governments

or established civil society organizations. It was argued that this type of initiatives may even be preferable to work with because of their more precise objectives and needs. The best civil society groups to work with are those that have emerged from local society and were organized by local people with a specific collective purpose. The questions that still remain are: if and how such genuine action can sustain and translate into policy change, and how to best support this without affecting independence and authenticity. Sustaining citizen action could lead to donor-manufactured local participation and patronage networks. These challenges also apply to formal civil society and local institutions, if the project logics condition their actions and not the way around.

The concept of horizontal and vertical forms of citizenship has been presented The first pointing at the associational life of citizens, where mutual networking occurs and people are contributing to community life out of a sense of solidarity, collective interest and civic duty; the second referring to the individual or groups relationship to the state, i.e. participation of citizens in local government decision-making and advocacy for governments attention to a particular issue.

This leads to the issue of Policy influence, which was mostly centred on the question of cooperation versus confrontation. While most discussants expressed preference for cooperation and collaboration, it was also recognized that different strategies may be needed in different moments and contexts, and that there are times of confrontation. At the end citizens have to be aware about existing power dynamics and they have to decide how to apply different approaches for different actors at different stages. Many examples were described how cooperative approaches could work, e.g. with local committees, councils, groups that can act as brokers and enable co-construction, or the presence of open minded officials who are opening spaces, or civil society organizations that are playing the role of intermediaries. There is however always the inherent risks of elite groups to capture and distort representation. Another possibility of leveraging power of citizens emerged with the issue of local taxes, where for example tax-

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paying citizens can increase their decision power about spending and accountability of governments.

Political constraints: It was mentioned that it can be difficult and dangerous for citizens when there is a legacy of deep distrust and fear of government, when any attempt to monitor or challenge can lead to violence or ‘unruly politics’. Several contributors suggested that conducting a power analysis of local contexts can help to identify roles, relationships and potential conflict. Another suggestion was to develop an explicit theory of change that is shared by all key stakeholders and well explained. In the case of South Africa this turned out to be a very useful strategy. However, it remains a challenge to address the often intricate web of formal and informal powers that pay at the different levels with conflicts arising.

For all types of citizens action the questions stays, how this can become more inclusive, and better at mediating inclusion: One possible strategy has been mentioned in working with informal and grassroots movements, which can offer new spaces for unorganized actors to become involved.

However they themselves can often exclude certain people such as children and youth, which may require specific targeting. Another factor of exclusion described is poverty itself and the opportunity cost of participation as well as the lack of capacity and confidence of disadvantaged groups. This may require more comprehensive strategies, including individual confidence building and empowerment of those excluded, coupled with their better access to social assistance and improved livelihood options. A summary report can be found at: http://www.sdc-decentralization.net /en/Home/Practical_Learning

Improving water governance through participatory governance selfassessments in Kyrgyzstan

ent on irrigation water for crop production and livelihood security. In Kyrgyzstan, as in other contexts, decisions about water governance are not taken only in the “water sector” but also involve local authorities including the local government and “traditional authorities”. The formal separation of the WUA (water user association), and of the function of irrigation governance, from other local governance institutions and functions does not seem to make sense to the local people who continue to go to the local government institutions when they have problems with water. With the objective of improving local governance of water resources, the HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation supported “Efficient Use of Water” project has introduced a tool for conducting governance self -assessments, linked to action plans and public audits. The tool has three objectives: 1) Identify and analyse the perceived gaps and needs for improving water governance related to irrigation in a participatory way.

2) Create space for dialogue and increase the voice of rural citizens, both women and men, and local authorities.

3) Connect, or strengthen existing connections, between the WUA and broader local government institutions (i.e. Ail Okmutu, Ail Kenesh) and other actors for a more integrated and holistic local governance of water resources.

This method builds on the “Local Governance Self-Assessment Tool” developed by the SDC Local Governance Programme Sharique. Following an initial piloting and adaptation, governance assessments and action plans are currently being developed in each of SEP’s working areas. For more information, please contact Sarah Byrne at sarah.byrne@helvetas.org or Jyldyz Abdyllaeva at Jyldyz.Abdyllaeva@helvetas.org.

Credit for the photo: Lidija Budisa

From Sarah Byrne Increasing water scarcity is a major challenge, both globally and specifically in the context of Southern Kyrgyzstan. In a situation of water scarcity, the governance of available water resources is a key factor in ensuring water security (within the limits of the available resource) for farmers dependA sse ssm e n t o f st a ke h old e r s’ in te r e st in a n d in flu e n c e o n r e lia b le a n d e q u ita b le w a t e r d is tr ib u tio n

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Democracy Barometer

By Harald Schenker How do we measure democracy? This intriguing question is the object of research of a group around Daniel Bochsler and Wolfgang Merkel and affiliated to the Swiss National Centre of Competencies in Research (NCCR) Democracy. While other projects, such as “Varieties of Democracy” (V-Dem) look at categorising democracy, or ranking states according to their levels of democracy, like Freedom House, the Swiss “Democracy Barometer” has developed a different angle. Its researchers try to measure and evaluate the quality of both new and established democracies, while acknowledging that a variety of versions of democracy exist in parallel, each trying to make democratic principles work in a different way. It starts from the assumption that a democratic structure, e.g. a state, tries to find a balance between freedom and equality, while control is the mechanism driving the two arms of this balance. These three democratic principles are fulfilled by a variety of functions: individual liberties, rule of law, public sphere, competition, mutual constraints, governmental capability, transparency, participation and representation. Detailed explanations for each of the three concepts, as well as an in-depth explanation of the functions and their indicators can be found on the project’s interactive website.

What makes this rather theoretical work interesting for practitioners? A growing number of country reports look at the development of democracy in various details and over time. At the same time, data can be aggregated online as graphs according to various criteria: you can compare several elements in one country for various years or over a certain period of time; you can compare countries in one year or over time; and you can compare elements of democracy over several countries in one year. The aggregator produces simple graphs that can be easily used as working tools.

Also, you can access the country data directly and read a variety of publications related to the project, its results and methodology.

The time frame that the project is currently working with is 1990-2012, and expanding closer to the present, while the number of countries assessed is currently at seventy.

Regional DLG workshop in Latin America - peer exchange and learning

By Corinne Huser A regional workshop bringing together DLG practitioners from the Latin America and Caribbean region took place in La Paz, Bolivia, from 1st-4th of April. The workshop addressed the issues of inclusive service provision and citizen participation at municipal level with the main objective to share experience and knowledge on current and planned support strategies in the region to address those two key elements of local governance.

20 participants from Nicaragua, Honduras, Cuba and Bolivia, the thematic program officer of Latin America Division and the DLGN focal point, contributed to the lively discussions, with external expert input from IDS and moderation by ASOCAM. In Central America (Honduras and Nicaragua) local governance is promoted through budget support and technical advice to municipalities for effective and efficient public investments (roads, social services), closely linked to the promotion of citizen participation in planning, implementation and monitoring. The issue of social inclusion is approached with a geographical focus while working with most marginalized communities and focusing on investments which are most relevant for poor households. Active citizenship is a particular challenge in the context of Nicaragua where open spaces are steadily closing. In Cuba, new opportunities for experimenting with bottom up municipal management practices are diffidently emerging in a predominantly centrally planned system. SDC is supporting innovative processes where citizens are invited to express their views and to propose solutions for addressing local concerns. Particular emphasis is given to sensitize municipal authorities and the few existing nongovernmental organizations toward social inclusive local development. Identifying most vulnerable groups and defining special measures is a challenge in a context where the official perception denies the existence of discrimination.

In Bolivia, the notion of citizen leadership, co-responsibility and co-construction with local authorities is a particular feature of the

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local governance program. Active citizenry is promoted through country-wide contests which promote leadership and innovation in addressing and solving local concerns. This approach could be observed during a daylong field visit to different communities nearby La Paz. An interesting example was how to effectively and sustainably address the persistent violence against women through collective action among and partnership between citizens, civil society and public authorities.

Participants worked in groups jointly discussing how to address identified challenges: how to promote active and autonomous citizenship, what instruments and mechanisms can be used to amplify and practice citizen participation, how to promote spaces of consultation and shared responsibility among different participating actors, how to influence public policies promoting inclusive and pluralistic citizen participation, how to identify and address needs of vulnerable groups? Joint reflections and discussion were complemented with ‘learning inputs’ by the IDS expert and DLGN focal point on: 

The local governance assessment tool based on the five good governance principles has been presented as a means to conduct systematic situation analysis at sub-national level,. It can be applied to promote multi-stakeholder analysis and dialogue too. The local governance barometer has been used as an example to illustrate analytical criteria on citizen participation, social accountability and social inclusion. Further, the local democracy assessment developed by international IDEA has been referred to as another source of inspiration.



An important complementary view has been brought in by IDS with its recent work on power analysis. The power lens helps to analyse the root causes of a given situation, to deconstruct different forms and manifestations of power and to find entry points how to deal with these powers. (Inter alia: Power analysis, a practical guide, J.Pettit, IDS 2013, published by SIDA).



Case studies have been presented of the DLGN learning project on different

strategies to promote/foster citizen participation & accountability in different contexts. They describe how available but dysfunctional spaces for participation can be better utilized or how alternative spaces can be claimed, how to prepare citizens to enter such spaces. 

IDS conducted a literature review on debates, examples of social inclusive service provision and citizen participation: Findings indicate that citizen participation per se does not necessarily result in better service provision but depends on the quality of appropriated strategies and adequate consideration of context conditions. A good practice example from Mexico on the right to water for indigenous people has been shared. Another finding highlighted that social inclusion is often not explicit in strategies and programs, but it can, as the SDC Nepal example on harmonized social mobilization indicates.



The use of visual methods as means of citizen empowerment has been explained: In the PADEM project in Bolivia, for example, videos are used as a tool to document and disseminate good initiatives of citizen leadership & action, and to trigger further initiatives. Other examples shared by IDS from Mexico and from Mozambique illustrated how videos can be used to amplify the voice of citizens while sharing their particular experiences.

During the last day participants identified interest for continued exchange and collaboration at bilateral and regional level and with the wider DLG network. From the DLGN point of view it was a great opportunity to learn more about programs and actors in Latin America and the Caribbean and to share actual learning and tools of the DLGN.

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New dlgn learning project: Engaging with “thus far less targeted” actors in local democracy What does working on democracy promotion mean in concrete terms for SDC? The issue has been raised through dlgn in several contexts, including the F2F meetings in Sarajevo and Aswan, as well as recent ediscussions, learning projects and other studies. The lessons learned from these various outputs highlight two key themes. They suggest that working on local democracy as a specific aspect of local governance implies both working: a) more politically than we may have thus far and; b) with a wider range of actors than we have thus far engaged with.

Based on this significant demand from dlgn members, the dlgn has launched a new learning project to understand these two implications better. Implemented in cooperation with HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation, Swisspeace and the Institute for Development Studies, the learning project seeks to answer the following questions: •

What is the range of actors upon which democracy promotion has thus far concentrated, and who are the actors who have been left out of this?

•

In how far is democracy promotion already working ’more politically’?

Where could it do more and what implications does this have?

•

What is the role of thus far less targeted actors with regard to local democracy and in particular with regard to citizen participation, social accountability and social inclusion?

•

What is the role of these actors in influencing policy that enables – or hampers –local democracy?

As with other learning projects, this one proposes a case study approach to analyse selected SDC experiences in greater depth.

As this learning project intends to both widen and deepen the scope of its analysis beyond the “project focus” of previous learning projects, and as the role of “unusual” actors is highly context dependent, an initial mapping of will be followed up with case studies developed through empirical practical research in selected contexts.

In order to complement the information gathered during earlier learning projects and studies, a short questionnaire was distributed to SCOs in June. We hope that dlgn members participate enthusiastically in this endeavour to help us both establish a comprehensive picture of existing practices and to focus in on the specific issues that need further exploration and development. For more information, please contact Corinne Huser at Corinne.huser@eda.admin.ch

Regional Governance Workshop of the Western Balkans Division From Katharina Häberli Harker Regional Governance Workshops of the Western Balkans Division occur on an eight to ten monthly base. Participants of these strategic learning events are National Program Officers responsible for the Governance Portfolio, Swiss Cooperation Office (SCO) management members supervising the Governance Portfolio, Western Balkans desk officers, a member of the Western Balkans division management, selected partners from the Western Balkans invited ad persona by the participating SCOs, and the Regional Governance Advisor, who, in close cooperation with the hosting SCO has been preparing, moderating and backstopping the workshops. Last February, the regional Governance Workshop of the Western Balkans Division took place in Tirana and included the participation of the focal points DDLG. The first day of the workshop focused on SDCs support towards municipal associations in the Western Balkans. Core Contribution support to municipal associations is a major element of the vertical reform dimension in all SDC funded decentralization and local governance portfolios; The modules provided participants with tailor made instruments to evaluate the relevance of municipal associations, their performance as well as options to complement the vertical reform dimension with alternative mechanisms, e.g. Council of Europe moderated platforms for consultation between central and local government, in countries where municipal associations are dysfunctional; Understanding the relevance and performance of municipal associations has strengthened SCOs capacity to monitor and

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steer respective core contributions on the level 1 (municipal association strategy implementation) as well as level 2 (strategic partnership between associations and SDC); A comparative analysis of the performance of the municipal associations by SDC staff concluded that the associations’ advocacy work is a success story; associations are overwhelmed by urgencies and visioning takes second seat; developing a sustainable model of municipal capacity building remains a huge challenge; access to municipal finance data by the associations with the Ministries of Finance is often conditional; political interference is very detrimental to an enabling environment for municipal associations; there seems to be a link between willingness to pay membership fees, benefits to members and service delivery satisfaction; associations are underfunded with membership fees “only” and finally, SDC should also consider the “political” presidency and not only the technical management of municipal associations as its partners.

With respect to transparency and predictability in municipal finance, the topic of the second day, the modules intended to give an overview on the spectrum of SDC funded interventions for mutual inspiration in the on-going portfolio development; SDC successfully supports property tax enforcement projects in Kosovo and Serbia with a purpose not only to increase scarce own source revenue of municipalities, but to build a lasting relationship of accountability between local governments and citizens, given that property tax in most Western Balkan countries is the only tax that citizens consciously pay out of their pocket. NALAS, the association of municipal associations in South East Europe (with major SDC funding) has recently worked extensively on improving the predictability of municipal finance through a standard fiscal decentralization data set. In a very short period this set of indicators has not only brought transparency in municipal finance on a regional comparative level, but also generated peer pressure among experts and decision takers to compare with neighbouring countries and improve predictability of the municipal finance system. Finally, the municipal associations of Macedonia ZELS and of Serbia SCTM (both with major SDC funding) have

commissioned municipal finance databases enabling them to analyse municipal finance nationwide as well as over time in great detail with turned out to be a very powerful policy making instrument with central government e.g. against linking transfer payments with political affiliation of the mayor; The sum of these presentations and a panel discussion with Albanian and Serbian Municipal finance experts lead to the conclusion, that there is a great need to increase transparency and predictability of municipal finance systems, in order for municipalities to plan and execute quality public service delivery, but also to fulfil good governance principles along the municipal budget cycle, so e.g. that the expenditure report resemble the budget, which might has been elaborated in a participative manner and set investment priorities according to citizen’s needs.

Generating, disseminating and discussing data on the level of transparency and predictability of municipal finance systems – be it on a regional (NALAS), national (SCTM) or sub national level (DLDP, and SDC funded municipal development program in Albania) - is an important step towards more predictable and transparent municipal finance systems. SDC is supporting a wide range of respective initiatives to address predictability and transparency in municipal finance in the Western Balkans; The third day entirely focused on the EU and related conditionality as a driver of decentralization and local governance reform. EU accession criteria are often one if not the strongest driver of change in Swiss Cooperation partner countries in the Western Balkans. The better SDC staff knows these driving factors, the more effectively SDC can use them to widen the impact of its governance reform portfolio. One of the expert Peter Heil’s conclusions was that decentralization is not an EU accession criterion as such, however all LGUs of an accession or member country must be democratic and free of corruption. If tasks are delegated to them, then LGUs must be able to apply EU law and quality, effectiveness, efficiency, transparency requirements apply as for all other public administration on central government level, too. Additionally, all countries (except Kosovo) in the Western Balkans have signed the European Charter on Local Self Government. As the EU Acquis only indirect-

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ly addresses the topic of the DDLG reform, the Charter is an important alternative guiding principle for accession countries as well as donors. The Cof E is monitoring the implementation of the charter regularly, through detailed country reports. SDC can make use of these reports both for the context monitoring as well as an additional driver of reform, particularly as the charter has a high level of acceptance in the region.

Richard Kohli, at the time deputy head of division of the Western Balkans, concluded the event with a list of outstanding findings and strategic recommendations towards SCOs for their governance portfolio development. A detailed report can be found on http://www.sdc-decentralization.net/en /Home/Community_Affairs/Regions/Wester n_Balkans#Regional. For the latest fiscal decentralisation indicator of NALAS see: http://nalas.eu/cms/Content_Data/Dokumen ti/Fiscal%20Decentralization%20Indicators% 20for%20South-East%20Europe%2020062012.pdf or http://www.sdcdecentralization.net/en/Home/dlgnews

DeLoG Joint Learning Event in Albania: “Enhancing development effectiveness in decentralisation and local governance reforms” From Michelle Soeller th

th

From the 11 to 14 of May, approximately 25 participants from local governments, national line ministries and development partners attended the DeLoG joint learning event in Tirana, Albania, to discuss bottlenecks and challenges as well as the way forward in the Albanian reform process. The course was jointly organised by the Albanian Ministry for Local Government Issues and Albanian School of Public Administration, the Swiss Cooperation Office, UNDP, the Council of Europe, Sida, the Italian Cooperation and the DeLoG secretariat. The Swiss Cooperation Office in Tirana played a significant role in the materialisation of the course. As lead donor of the Decentralisation and Regional Development Sector Working Group in Albania, they facilitated the coordination of DPs and ensured the dialogue with and buy in from the Albanian government to enable the event to become a truly joint initiative.

Since the election of a new government in 2013, the country has embarked on a number of important reforms. To accompany the territorial reform process, which aims to amalgamate municipalities and communes to a small fraction of their current number, an administrative reform as well as a decentralisation reform is being implemented.

To organise a joint learning event where important stakeholders discuss the way forward has thus been a timely initiative. In light of this reform processes and the aim of Albania to become a member of the European Union, the following topics were discussed:        

The link between aid & development effectiveness and DLG; History of DLG reforms in Albania; Territorial reform; Relations between government levels; Fiscal decentralisation; Local governance and EU accession; Monitoring of the decentralisation strategy.

At the end of the course, participants discussed their ideas for the way forward and developed a list of recommendations. These recommendations will feed into the process of developing new decentralisation strategy for Albania which is currently taking place. A final report on the outcomes of this course is currently being prepared and will be made available on the DeLoG homepage as soon as possible.

If you wish to organise such a joint learning event in your country with technical & financial support of the DeLoG secretariat, please feel free to contact Michelle Soeller michelle.soeller@giz.de.

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How to make change happen: Political Economy for Practitioners (PEP) From Stefan Hochhuth Political Economy (PE) has become a key analytical approach in development practice.

A political economy perspective helps in understanding reform and change processes by looking at formal and informal institutions, incentives and the behaviour of different actors. Analysis tools for political economy offer a more structured approach to solve the daily challenges of reform processes but often lack clear guidance on how to do it.

Objective and Content SDC therefore initiated and supports a new joint learning program under the umbrella of the Learn4dev Network. The 3-days course was developed by PE practitioners for PE practitioners. Other than traditional PEA courses this course does not stop at teaching the major analysis tools but explains the full process from identifying the right tools to the implementation of the findings. It presents best practices from various donor agencies and provides a training experience with a focus on learning and sharing practical knowledge.

This learning program helps in finding the right entry points to overcome obstacles to project implementation by learning from other practitioner’s experiences.

The 3-day learning event comprises three main units and will be launched with a first learning course from June 24-26 in The Hague, The Netherlands, hosted by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Additional courses are planned in 2014 and 2015 (funded by learm4dev) and we still look for interested staff in headquarters and COOFs who are interested in hosting such a practitioner course.

For more information please contact Corinne Huser at Corinne.huser@eda.admin.ch. You can also get more information from the website of the Expert Group: http://www.learn4dev.net/expertise/political -economy/

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The World Bank Institute The World Bank Institute is offering an elearning course on Policies for Growth from 04 – 29 of August, 2014. The deadline for applications is 21 July, 2014. For more information on the course and registration: http://einstitute.worldbank.org/ei/course/po licies-growth Another e-course offered is on Sustainable Urban Land Use Planning from 24 September to 11 November, 2014. The deadline for applications is 10 September 2014. For more information follow the link: http://einstitute.worldbank.org/ei/course/su stainable-urban-land-use-planning For other e-learning courses offered by the institute take a look at the following link: http://einstitute.worldbank.org/ei/CourseCal endarCurrent

Courses offered by Swiss Peace Civilian Peace-building Course (CAS) What impact does peace-building have?

How can it be measured? What are the particular challenges of working in fragile contexts? What makes for successful peace mediation and how can a society deal with gross human rights violations? This postgraduate course addresses these questions and is designed for practitioners and academics. It will take place in August and September 2014. The deadline for registration deadline is 30 June 2014. For further information, see: http://academy.swisspeace.ch /cas-courses/civilian-peacebuilding/aimtarget-audience/ Conflict Prevention & Early Warning This postgraduate course, designed for practitioners and academics, provides an insight into key academic findings on conflict prevention; a synopsis of current conflict prevention efforts; and an overview of possible avenues to enhance conflict prevention and conflict early warning. The course will take place the 10-14 November.

The registration deadline is 31 August 2014.

For further information follow the link: http://academy.swisspeace.ch/othercourses/conflict-prevention/aim-targetaudience/

Business, Conflict & Peace Course This postgraduate course, designed for practitioners and academics, explores and analyses opportunities and challenges faced by businesses in conflict-affected contexts. It also addresses the question of how international policies and multi-stakeholder initiatives have developed, and how state, civil society and private sector actors can support companies’ due diligence processes in order to help ensure they are not causing more harm than good. The course dates are: 6-10 October 2014. The registration deadline is 31 July 2014. Further information at: http://academy.swisspeace.ch/othercourses/business-peace/aim-targetaudience/ Peace & Conflict Transformation (MAS) This modular postgraduate program, designed for practitioners and academics, provides insights in current academic findings and critical reflection on on-going peace building practices, and helps in the building of a professional network. Participants can carve out their own study program, selecting optional courses/CAS in: Civilian Peace building; Peace building Methodologies; National Dialogue & Peace Mediation; Fragility, Conflict & State building; Dealing with the Past; Business Conflict & Peace; Conflict Prevention & Early Warning; Gender Equality & Peace building. The course will run from August to September, 2014. Participants can begin the program at the start of any module.

For further information, see: http://academy.swisspeace.ch/masprogram/aim-target-audience

The Hague Academy for Local Governance Integrity and Anticorruption will run between the 27 October and 7 November. The deadline for registration is 29. August and the fee is Euro 3.150.

Local Economic Development will run from 17 to 28 of November. The deadline for application is 19. September and the fee is Euro 2.890.

Further details about the courses offered by The Hague Academy are available at: http://thehagueacademy.com/. The brochure is also available at: http://www.sdcdecentralization.net/en/Home/dlgnews

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Democracy Works, 2014: The Democratic Alternative from the South: India, Brazil, and South Africa

Local Governance inside Syria

Legatum Institute and Centre for Development and Enterprise (March, 2014)

Governing bodies known as local councils have emerged throughout Syria from the chaos of three years of war. The councils fill a critical need for social and governmental organization in areas where the al-Assad regime has relinquished control. This report analyses and evaluates several of these local councils and their related structures in terms of origin, effectiveness, existing needs, and potential. The report can be downloaded at: http://www.sdc-decentralization.net/en/ Home/dlgnews

Democracy works! The evidence from three important rising democracies makes it clear: there is no need to give up individual rights and freedoms in order to achieve growth or to expand opportunities for the majority of citizens. On the contrary, the experiences of India, Brazil, and South Africa demonstrate that the expansion and strengthening of democratic institutions can pave the way for a second wave of reforms needed to ensure steady high growth and to increase opportunities for the poor. If these countries can harness the energy and vitality of democratic processes to push for effective policies, if their politicians adopt and can sell market reforms and sustainable programmes which will expand opportunities further, then a democratic alternative will emerge from these countries in the global South. This publication can be downloaded in the dlgn Shareweb: http://www.sdc-decentralization.net/en/ Home/dlgnews

Institute for War – Peace Reporting (March, 2014)

Work with us: how people and organisations can catalyse sustainable change The Participate Initiative (February, 2014) The Participate Initiative is a network of 18 participatory research organizations working with poor and marginalised groups in 29 countries. The initiative provides high quality evidence on the reality of poverty at ground level, bringing the perspective of the poorest into the global debate on what should follow the MDGs when they expire in 2015.

Participate is co-convened by the institute of development studies (IDS) and Beyond 2015 and collaborates with numerous organisations in the participatory research group committed to participatory research. Since 2012, this initiative has carried out participatory research, communications and advocacy work. In 2013, for example, a synthesis of the evidence from 84 participatory studies with those living in extreme poverty and marginalization has been published, under the title ‘What matters most’. Participate is funded by the UK government. Beyond 2015 is a global civil society campaign that brings together more than 1000 civil society organizations from over the world. It was created in 2010 and ranges from small community based organizations to international NGOs, academics and trade unions. For more information, follow the link: http://participate2015.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/03/ Workwithus_Feb2014_WebLow2.pdf

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Social Media: A practical Guide for Electoral Management Bodies

“Legitimacy & peace processes: from coercion to consent”

International IDEA (2014)

Accord (April, 2014)

Editors: Shana Kaiser Case study authors Erik Asplund, Neil Burron, Andew Limo, S.Y. Quraishi

This publication uses first-hand case studies and expert analyses to map perspectives and experiences of a range of actors engaged in transitions out of violent conflict.

Articles examine processes of national dialogue and constitutional review as two approaches that can help to promote political legitimacy and consensual governance in situations of violent conflict and transitions from military rule. One case study by Karim Merchant and Ghulam Rasoul Rasouli analyses attempts in Afghanistan to use Community Development Councils (CDCs) to roll out a national reintegration programme for ex-combatants at the local level. For more information about this e-book click on: http://www.c-r.org/accordproject/legitimacy-and-peace-processes

This Guide is intended to inform electoral management bodies (EMBs) about the ways in which social media can be used to increase the participation of the electorate, boost communication, engage all members of the community, and improve transparency and trust throughout the electoral cycle.

It is designed to be an introduction to the use of social media and to provide EMBs who have just begun to use these channels or who are about to embark on using them with topics to reflect upon when responding to new communication realities and developing social media strategies. To have access to the publication follow the link: http://www.idea.int/publications/socialmedia-guide-for-embs/index.cfm

What is political voice, why does it matter, and how can it bring about change?

ODI (March, 2014)

By Alina Rocha Menocal What political voice is and why and how it matters – and for whom – has emerged as a central area of interest and engagement in international development. Several of the mechanisms and tools of citizen engagement and participation touched upon I this blog will be explored in this series on political voice as part of the Development Progress project. Blogs and other activities will capture insights on the media and its role in promoting accountability, on forthcoming elections in Afghanistan and India, on protests that have emerged worldwide, on the emergence of Arab think tanks women’s empowerment and on transparency and accountability initiatives, among other topics, as we explore some of the many facets of political voice. And as always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions on this critical issue. For more information on this publication follow the link: http://www.odi.org/programmes/developme nt-progress/blog-series/political-voiceelections-democracy-protest

Municipal Finances: A Handbook for Local Governments The World Bank (June, 2014) Editors: Catherine Farvacque-Vitkovic and Mihaly Kopanyi Municipal Finances, A Handbook for Local Governments takes sides. It takes the side of mayors and municipal managers. Few publications on municipal finance target locallevel decision makers and financial staff in such a direct and pragmatic way. This book’s content and key messages are geared to respond to daily concerns and issues that cities and municipalities face in the management of their finances. Municipalities have made it clear that they need access to global knowledge and that they are seeking to be part of a larger community of practice.

A companion e-learning program (“Municipal Finances—A Learning Program for Local Governments”) has also been developed by the same World Bank team. Its online delivery by the World Bank and its partners will help reach out to an even greater number of interested audiences and help create a platform for a larger community of practice. The publication can be downloaded at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en /2014/06/19701224/municipal-financeshandbook-local-governments

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Getting real about politics: from thinking politically to working differently ODI (April, 2014) Alina Rocha Menocal One of the most important lessons to emerge in international development over the past two decades is that institutions matter and that behind institutions lie politics. But making this operational has proven much more difficult: what is needed is a shift not only to think politically but also to work differently. The report can be downloaded at: http://www.odi.org/publications/8325politics-development

Institutionalisation Accountability

of

Social

Participatory Research in Asia (2013) This policy brief talks about Institutionalisation of Social Accountability in Local Government. It was developed by PRIA on the basis of experiences of Bangladesh, Cambodia and India. It can be a useful document for practitioners and policy makers who are working in other parts of this globe. The report can be downloaded at: http://www.sdc-decentralization.net/en/ Home/dlgnews

Livelihoods, access to services and perceptions of governance: An analysis of Uror and Nyirol counties, South Sudan Secure Livelihoods (April, 2014)

Research

Consortium

Daniel Maxwell, Martina Santschi, Rachel Gordon, Philip Dau and Leben Moro This report is based on qualitative fieldwork conducted in Uror and Nyirol Counties, Jonglei State, South Sudan and a household survey conducted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and SLRC in 2012. Together these studies comprise a baseline analysis of livelihoods, access to social services and people’s perceptions of participation and governance. This is the link where one can download the publication. http://www.securelivelihoods.org/publicatio ns_details.aspx?resourceid=294

Non-Western Roots of International Democracy Support Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Rising Democracies Network (June, 2014) This publication examines the complex and revealing relationships between a country’s domestic experiences with democratization and how it goes about supporting democracy abroad, with a particular focus on a number of major non-Western democracies. The authors are members of Carnegie’s Rising Democracies Network, a group of notable researchers from Brazil, Chile, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, and elsewhere who are examining their countries’ foreign policy engagement in democracy and human rights support. For more information about the network, including a list of members and recent network publications, click on: http://carnegieendowment.org/files/non_we st_intl_dem_support.pdf

East African prospects: An update on the political economy of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda ODI (May, 2014) David Booth, Brian Cooksey, Frederick Golooba-Mutebi and Karuti Kanyinga This report provides an update on the political economy of four East African countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda. Based on published research, media reports, the authors’ inside knowledge on certain topics and recent interviews with well-placed observers in the region, it is intended to provide guidance to any practical development organisation approaching a new phase of strategic planning in East African Community (EAC) member states. The report can be downloaded in the following web-site: http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/8383east-african-prospects-update-politicaleconomy-kenya-rwanda-tanzania-uganda

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Governance Metropolitan Systems

and Finance of Areas in Federal

Forum of Federations (October, 2013) Edited by Enid Slack and Rupak Chattopadhyay This volume examines the governing structure and finances of metropolitan areas in federal systems. Taking a comparative approach, each chapter examines two large metropolitan areas in a federal country, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. Through individual case studies, the contributors present the national context for metropolitan and the characteristics of two metropolitan areas in the country. The contributors emphasize how the delivery of services is coordinated across municipal boundaries, the extent to which land use planning is coordinated on a metropolitan-wide basis, how costs are shared throughout the region, the level of citizen access to local government decisions, and the degree of local government accountability. As well, they discuss the role of the federal and provincial/state governments in these large metropolitan areas and, in particular, the circumstances under which the federal government gets involved in metropolitan issues. The publication can be found: http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/97801 99008971.do#.UmUCuVNPQZE,

Civil Society and Democratisation in Societies in Transition MEDAC (January, 2014) Edited by Monika Wohlfeld This collection of essays addresses the issue of the role of civil society and democratization in societies in transition, in the light of the ‘Arab Spring’, and contributes to the debate on this subject. The contributors to this publication are representatives from academia, policy-making, and civil society organizations in North Africa and Europe.

The publication is edited by Dr. Monika Wohlfeld, the holder of the German Chair for Peace Studies and Conflict Prevention at the Mediterranean Academic of Diplomatic Studies. This publication can be downloaded at: http://www.sdc-decentralization.net/en/ Home/dlgnews

Civil Society and Democracy Promotion: (Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century) nccr democracy and Swiss National Science Foundation (2014) Editors: Timm Beichelt, Irene Hahn, Frank Schimmelfennig, and Susann Worschech Democracy faces substantial challenges as st we move into the 21 . Century. The West faces malaise; multi-level governance structures pose democratic challenges; and the path of democratization rarely runs smoothly. This series examines democracy across the full range of these contemporary conditions. It publishes innovative research on established democracies, democratizing polities and democracy in multi-level governance structures. To have access to the publication you can follow the link: http://www.amazon.com/SocietyDemocracy-Promotion-ChallengesCentury/dp/1137291087/ref=sr_1_1? ie=UTF8&qid=1397563995&sr=81&keywords=civil+society+and+democracy +promotion

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If you forgot your password for the Shareweb and want to have it renewed also please contact us. dlgnews Contact Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC Division Cooperation with Eastern Europe Focal Point Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance Freiburgstrasse 130 3003 Bern Switzerland E-Mail: christa.romagnini@deza.admin.ch