Making innovations work: local government–NGO partnership and collaborative governance in rural Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

This article reports on a local government–NGO partnership in rural Bangladesh. The findings suggest that BRAC’s Strengthening Local Governance initiative, through partnership with Union Parishads (the lowest tier of the existing local government structure), has been successful in strengthening the governance of Union Parishads by changing the mindsets of Union Parishad officials through building their capacity and mobilising people in the community to become involved in the Union Parishad’s service delivery process. As a result, the service delivery process has been streamlined, corruption reduced, and accountability and transparency increased.

Cet article rend compte d’un partenariat gouvernement local-ONG dans le Bangladesh rural. Les résultats suggèrent que l’initiative BRAC de renforcement de la gouvernance locale, à travers un partenariat avec les Union Parishads (l’échelon le plus bas de la structure gouvernementale locale existante), a atteint son objectif de renforcement de la gouvernance des Union Parishads en modifiant l’état d’esprit des représentants de ces derniers avec la consolidation de leurs capacités et la mobilisation de personnes issues de la communauté pour qu’elles s’impliquent dans le processus de prestation des services des Union Parishads. Il en résulte que le processus de prestation des services a été rationalisé, la corruption a diminué et l’imputabilité et la transparence se sont améliorées.

Este artículo informa sobre una asociación entre el gobierno local y una ONG en las zonas rurales de Bangladesh. Los hallazgos sugieren que la iniciativa Fortalecimiento de Gobernabilidad Local de BRAC, mediante la asociación con los Union Parishads (el nivel más bajo de la estructura gubernamental local existente), ha tenido éxito en fortalecer la gobernanza de los Union Parishads a través de cambiar la forma de pensar de los funcionarios de los Union Parishads al aumentar su capacidad y movilizar a los miembros de la comunidad para participar en el proceso de prestación de servicios de los Union Parishads. Como resultado, el proceso de prestación de servicios se ha racionalizado, se ha reducido la corrupción y se han aumentado la rendición de cuentas y la transparencia.

KEYWORDS:

• Civil society – Partnership
• NGOs
• Governance and public policy
• South Asia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributor

Pranab Kumar Panday is a Professor in the Department of Public Administration, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.

Notes

1 CEP aims to empower the poor, particularly women, by increasing their human, social, and political assets so that they are aware of and exercise their rights, can claim their entitlements, resist exploitation, and play a more active role in public life.

2 Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), an international development organisation based in Bangladesh, is the largest organisation in the world, in terms of number of employees as of September 2016. Established by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed in 1972 after the independence of Bangladesh, BRAC works in all 64 districts of Bangladesh and 13 other countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

3 At present, a three-tier local government system exists in Bangladesh. The lowest tier is the Union Parishad, then Zila Parishad at the district level and Upazila Parishad in between the two.

4 Palli Shamaj is a ward-level social organisation made up of representatives from several BRAC VOs and outside poor members. Initiated in 1998, Palli Shamaj is meant to complement the government’s initiative to set up local government bodies at the ward level.

5 UNO is the central government official stationed at the Upazila level.

6 International institutions such as the World Bank, UNDP, African Union, and European Union, have also been enthusiastically promoting the issue of partnership as a mechanism to ensure good governance in the developing world since 2001.

7 The National Rural Development Policy and Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) have recognised the importance of strong local government and people’s participation in service delivery and promoting good governance.

8 As part of SLG’s capacity building initiatives, a three-day training session is held for UP members and chairmen.

9 Upazila forum is a platform that consists of elected female UP representatives of an Upazila who have received capacity development training from BRAC. Members get information, network, share knowledge and challenges around each other’s development issues, and become aware of services at Upazila level.

10 Citizen committees are ward-level committees formed and managed by SLG staff that play the role of civil society organisations.

11 Upazila and district advocacy workshops are a civil society advocacy initiative intended to exert more pressure on respective actors to properly implement existing policy options.

12 The Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) programme enables the poorest rural women and their family members to overcome food insecurity and low social and economic status. The Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme provides food to low-income and other vulnerable groups who cannot meet basic needs for survival due to natural disasters or socio-economic circumstances, such as age or illness.

13 Clause 57 of the 2009 Act provides for the finalisation of the UP’s yearly budget in an open meeting, commonly referred to as open budget.

14 According to Cause 49 (1) of the 2009 Act each UP is supposed to hang a copy of the citizen charter in its premises containing the description, timing, pricing, procedures and the conditions for services to be provided by them.

15 Women’s access to SSN services, income-generating activities for women, and women’s involvement in project implementation.