 |
|
|
SUBSCRIBE
|
|
Your email address:
|
|
|
Building democracy from the bottom up: Lessons from Latin America
2007
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Strategies for International Development
Creating local governments, giving them responsibility for public works and services, and mandating citizen participation in their decision-making has become a new goal and sector of international development. Decentralization of public works and services to local governments dramatically increases the number of projects that can be carried out. Also, at the local level, citizens can select and supervise public works and services, and discuss and choose local taxes, which builds democratic practice, attitude, and expectation. The poor and sometimes detrimental performance of national governments is an enormous cost to international development, and while national governments may behave poorly for a variety of reasons, one of the principal reasons is the lack of democratic practice and culture in these countries. Latin American countries have made significant advances in building democracy at the local level, and many NGOs choose to carry out projects with local governments both to improve project results and to further build democratic practice and culture. How effective are these partnerships? Are there lessons to be learned from them? And can these lessons be applied in other countries, especially in Africa, where the need is greatest?
A Study of Seven NGO - Local Government Partnerships. Strategies for International Development (SID) studied seven partnerships between Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and local governments to answer two questions.
-
Did the partnerships achieve results that could not have been gained had either partner carried out the project independently?
-
Did the partnerships make a contribution to building democratic practice?
Three of the partnerships are in Bolivia, three in Peru, and one in Guatemala. The partnerships and their projects are:
-
SID/Bolivia and the Municipality of Pucarani:1 Helping 16 associations of farmers to increase their sales of and income from specific crops and products, such as milk, cheese, freeze-dried potatoes, and others
-
Plan International/Bolivia and the Municipality of Ancoraimes: Providing maternal and child health services in 45 rural communities and improving the services and performance of 9 health posts and the municipal hospital
-
Interdisciplinary Center of Community Studies of Bolivia (CIEC) and the Municipality of La Paz: Restoring battered children to good mental health and academic performance and abusing parents to good mental health, as well as helping adolescents with alcohol and drug problems overcome such abuses
-
SID/Peru and the Six Municipalities of the Manco Capac Municipal Association: Increasing rural income by helping residents increase productivity, product quality, and sales of agricultural products, handicrafts, and services to tourists
-
Instituto de Animación Campesina (IAC) of Peru and Three Municipalities in the Province of Chumbivilcas: Increasing farmer income by constructing irrigation systems
-
Caritas-Juli of Peru and the Municipality of Ilave: Increasing farmer income by reclaiming native grasslands and pastures
-
PAVA of Guatemala and the Municipality of San Martín Jilotepeque: Constructing needed infrastructure, such as schools, water systems, and access roads in rural communities.
The study does not analyze the extent to which NGOs in the three countries collaborate with local governments to carry out projects. Nor does it include NGO - local government partnerships that failed due to lack of interest or commitment. It is a description of the types of results that can be achieved when NGOs and local governments are interested and committed to carrying out projects together.
|
|
Download document...
|
|
|
|
| INFORM US |
| Tell us about events relating to social accountability in the region |
|
|
|
|
