CARE Bangladesh recently shared its model of integrating social accountability mechanism with Local Government for making local budget and services pro-poor, gender-sensitive and inclusive in the International Academic Conference on Social Accountability in South and East Asia: Experiences, Lessons and Challenges. the conference The conference held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on September 19 and 20, 2017, was organized by National Academy of Governance of Mongolia in collaboration with LOGIN Asia and brought civil society representatives, Government officials and NGOs from India, Cambodia, Bhutan, Myanmar, Mongolia and Bangladesh.

1. Strengthening Local
Government Through
Social Accountability
19-20 September, 2017
National Academy of Governance,
Mongolia
Anowarul Haq
Director - Extreme Rural Poverty Program
CARE Bangladesh

2. Bangladesh: Governance Structure at a Glance
Parliament
Elected 345
Constituency reserved
(45 Women)
Division
Avg Population
18.7 Mil
Bureaucracy led by
Divisional
Commissioner
Districts
Avg Population
1.8 Mil
Zila Parishad Chairman
Elected by Upazila
Chairmen
Upazila
Avg Population
230000
Upazila Parishad
1 Chairman
1 Woman Vice Chairman
Elected by People
Unions
Avg Population
25000
Union Parishad
1 Chairman
9 Elected Members
3 Res Women Members
1 Secretary
Elected by People
64 Districts
490 Upazilas
4,451 unions
59,990 villages
160 million population
Bureaucracy led by
Upazila Nirbahi
Officer
Bureaucracy led by
Deputy
Commissioner

3. UP Participatory
Planning Cycle
MARCH
JANUARY
SEPTEMBER
JUNE
Ward
Shava
Ward
Shava
Open
Budget
Midterm
Budget
Review
Budget
Formulation
Central Level
Disbursement
Review the
Planning
Progress
Identification
of local
demands and
needs
Information
Dissemination
SA
SA
NL, WC, CSO
Information
Dissemination
UP Self
Evaluation
UP Self
Evaluation
Review the
Planning
Progress

4. Key Areas for Civic Engagement in Local Planning
•Ward Shabha
•Union Parishad Open Budget
•Union Coordination Committee Meetings
•Union Information & Service Centres
•Union Parishad Help Line
•Village Court

5. Present Challenges in Local Governance Context
 Marginalized and the poorest with limited knowledge on UP (Union Parishad)
activities specially about tax revenue, financial management and committees.
 UP Representatives with little understanding of annual and five year’s plan
 UPs struggle to ensure 5% of voters in ward shava with very low attendance of
women
 Allocation for women in LGSP is not distinctive which is supposed to be 30%
 Vulnerable and poor communities receive fewer local government services
 Their ability is very low to negotiate basic infrastructure development
 The demands for safety net programs by the poor and marginalized are neglected
and the government standards were not met

6. What CARE Bangladesh Has Done
Union Parishad public finance management systems are strengthened, transparent and
aligned with the Local Government Act 2009
Component 1
• Develop capacity and
leadership skill of the poor
and marginalized women
• Developed skill on social
accountability mechanism
• Emphasize cross learning
Objective 3
Constructive collaboration and
effective network established
Objective 2
Budget information systems are
strengthen and accessible to citizen
Objective 1
Poor and marginalized groups are
empowered
Component 2
• Enhance information
sharing mechanism (open
display, UP Information
Centre)
• Strengthen knowledge
dissemination system (folk
song and radio station)
• Develop capacity of local
journalist
Component 3
• Enhance social
accountability by social
audit, community score
card, self evaluation,
participatory planning)

7. Our Strategies Focusing
on
Emergence
of
Leadership
from PoorPolitical
Economy
Analysis
Capacity
Building of
Grassroots
Civil Society
Citizens
Engagement
Using SA
Tools
Use of
Existing
Policy
Framework
Collaboration
with Existing
Projects
Constructive
Engagement
with
Government

8. Local Government Support
Project,
Local Government Division
Our Collaboration
BRAC Institute of
Governance and
Development
Bangladesh NGOs Network
for Radio
and Communication
(BNNRC)
LOGIN BangladeshMass-Line Media Centre
Horizontal Learning
Program with National
Institute of Local
Government
Our Collaboration:

9. 25% issues came from poor women
55% issues came from poor
51% Participation of women
68% Participation of poor
12% of voter attended
Our Impacts: Participation

10. Our Impacts: Inclusive Resource Allocation
 24% of total budget distinctly allocated for the poor communities
 Safety nets allocation increased from 40% to 51% for the poor
 Cash for work allocation rise from 38% to 55%
 Access to LGSP schemes increased for the poor community:
 21% in 2014-15
 40% in 2015-16
 LGSP performance ratings increased from:
14 in 2014-15
19 in 2015-16
 6 UPs obtained PBG in 2014-15, which rise to 9 in 2015-16.

11. THANK YOU