The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) is to give more than Rs 2.2 billion (pound 18 million) to support citizens' engagement with government through devolution in Pakistan. The grant funding will be provided to the Devolution Trust for Community Empowerment (DTCE) and the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB).
The funds will be administered by UNDP Pakistan, said a press release issued on Thursday. The aim of the programme is to support increased accountability of the state to its citizens. It will achieve this by supporting increased citizens participation, and improved utilisation of district development funds in local governments in Pakistan.
The four-year programme will help DTCE to broaden its interventions to promote the establishment of citizen community boards (CCBs) and other citizen entitlements as provided by the provincial Local Government Ordinances of 2001. A key focus for this programme will be to increase support for women and the poor to take a more prominent and meaningful role in local government.
Elements within the programme will also facilitate local government departments in the provinces to help monitor and evaluate CCB formation and other aspects of citizen and community participation in decision-making.
One of the innovations of this programme is the establishment of a Citizen Engagement Research Programme (CERP). CERP will support research in Pakistan that is linked to the participation of citizens in decision-making.
Mikiko Tanaka, Country Director, UNDP welcomed the support from the UK government and DFID and emphasised the need for empowerment of communities and stakeholders at the grassroots level. Dr Yusaf Samiullah, head of DFID Pakistan, said DFID Pakistan was working on a new Country Assistance Plan, through which the UK would spend nearly Rs 58.2 billion (pound480 million) over the next three years.-PR
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