Suchergebnisse

Social protection is emerging in Nepal as a key state instrument to reduce social exclusion and inequality by providing cash and social transfers to the most vulnerable households, targeting the socially excluded and challenging inter-generational poverty. In 2016-17, over 2.2 million persons in Nepal benefitted directly from government social protection, for which NRs 32 billion were allocated. When these activities are linked to broader state-building processes, social protection can shape the social contract between citizen and state. It can reduce inequalities rooted in relations based on caste and ethnicity, countering elite monopolisation of political, social and economic capital. However, if handled merely as a technocratic approach to the effects of exclusion and marginalisation, then social protection can risk supporting an existing political settlement that maintains the positions of political, economic and cultural elites. In that Nepal retains caste and ethnic forms of social exclusion and that these have a central role in reproducing entrenched inequalities, is social protection merely a new means for supporting an old political settlement?

Assesses the role of local institutions in rural development in India, in an effort to improve their effectiveness & contribute to the development of better aid policies by external organizations. From the institutional perspective, two arguments are discussed, one for more effective, accountable, & participatory local government, focusing on the Panchayati Raj institutions. The other asks for a reduction in the state's involvement in development, ie, for a greater role to be played by the market. Local Indian nongovernmental organizations figure in these arguments both for their ability to cushion some of the short-term effects of the new policies & to create a strong civil society that can counterbalance the state through the political incorporation of a greater number of its citizens, particularly those previously excluded. It is suggested that complementarity & mutual support replace competition in the generation of aid policies. Adapted from the source document.

The potential of grass-roots production cooperatives in India's agrarian economy is assessed, based on 7 months of field research. Cooperatives in 4 districts of West Bengal involved in fishing, land cultivation &/or leasing, irrigation, milk, & manufacturing (eg, cloth) were examined. All shared common problems & risk dependence. All but one had local leadership by activists. Most used traditional forms of cooperation. Capital investment from members tended to cause division along lines of wealth, which can lead to institutional breakdown. Strong leadership combined with a democratic structure contributed to success, as did the use of sanctions against corruption. Problems faced by the cooperatives were lack of skills (especially organizational, management, & financial), marketing difficulties, & party politics. Support from the central & local state & from nongovernmental organizations contributed to success. 2 Tables, 2 Diagrams, 18 References. Adapted from the source document.

ABSTRACTSince 1978 the Left Front government in West Bengal, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) — CPI(M) — has pursued a strategy of decentralized planning through locally elected panchayats (councils) in the countryside. The stated ideological commitment of the CP1(M) is to support and eventually empower the poor and oppressed and this has resulted in Panchayati Raj assuming the status of not just a state sponsored decentralization strategy, but the institutional forum for the mobilization of the poor and the expansion of the party's base. However the CPI(M)'s strategy is to some extent ambiguous in that it combines a need to maintain an electoral status as a party leading a state government within the Indian Union and a political status as a party promoting the conditions for, and the transition to, a people's democracy and thereby socialism.

The government that followed the 2014 Maidan revolution in Ukraine has pushed a decentralisation agenda. After decades of Soviet style top-down governance, the status and role of local governments - hromadas - has been pushed to the fore. If implemented successfully, it could increase local development and political engagement, ultimately contributing to increased political stability in Ukraine and Europe. Yet the significance of decentralization reforms is often lost in the noise surrounding Crimea, the secessionist conflict in the east, and the political power struggles in Kiev. For legal reasons, the current decentralisation process is "voluntary", with local communities having to agree to the changes. This has introduced unintended challenges, but also a bottom-up political dynamic to the process. At the same time, uncertainty and opposition to decentralisation reforms remain, perhaps understandable given a rapidly shifting political and legal landscape, the diverse political and personal interests involved, and the fear of political fragmentation that could benefit Russia. Denmark is one of several EU countries supporting the reform process. This DIIS Report focuses in on the processes unfolding in local communities and political arenas, affecting peoples' lives, their hopes, and their relationship to the state from local to national level.

This book starts out from the deep concern with contemporary tendencies towards depoliticisation of public issues and popular interests and makes a case for rethinking more democratic popular representation. It outlines a framework for popular representation, examines key issues and experiences and provides a policy-oriented conclusion

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper is a relatively new term in Bangladesh development assistance yet it possesses the characteristic of much else in the aid industry, namely being donor driven, locally produced, and of indeterminate ownership. In line with a number of other developing countries Bangladesh prepared first an Interim-PRSP and thereafter a full PRSP in 2005. Subsequently a second PRSP was drafted. The paper argues that introduction of the PRSP in Bangladesh replaced the earlier Five Year Plans but it did not change the approach towards dealing with development. Rather, the PRSP process transformed the way planning is done, budgets are coordinated, and policy implementation monitored. The impact has been more about the process of policymaking than its substance. The new government that came to power in the recent elections held in January 2009 had declared in April 2009 that it intended to return to a 5 year planning process in 2011. More recently it also decided to realign the PRSP document with its election manifesto. Thus it appears that a PRSP and a 5 year plan will co-exist in the coming years, but this is taking place in a context of the declining importance of aid in the Bangladesh economy.

The purpose of this brief note is to provide guidelines for the screening of local governments. In doing so choices among different options for implementation arrangements are made explicit and "effectiveness, participation, sustainability and accountability" are promoted. (DÜI-Hff)