LOCAL SERVICE DELIVERY AND GOVERNANCE

Combined with Denmark’s long-standing development cooperation with decentralisation programmes in partner countries, this domestic experience provides a particular vantage point for Danish support in this area, as well as for the dialogue with partner countries and other development partners. Local Service Delivery & Governance is chosen as one of the three components in the policy document “Effective and Accountable Public-Sector Management: Strategic Priorities for Danish Support for Good Governance” prepared in 2007.

Reforms aiming at improving local service delivery and governance are currently being implemented in the majority of developing countries, including Danish partner countries. The nature of reforms varies greatly, ranging from mere technical adjustments of the public administration, mainly in the form of de-concentration, to radical devolution of political power to relatively autonomous local governments.

Decentralisation in Danish bilateral development assistance mainly takes the form of sector programme support (primarily within education, health, environment, agriculture, roads and water), but Denmark also supports specific ‘decentralisation/local governance reform programmes’ in a number of countries.

Donor agencies have increasingly recognised the importance of working with decentralisation, either through direct support to decentralisation reforms, as part of support to wider public sector reforms or good governance programmes, or as part of sector programmes. In many countries, however, support to decentralisation is still mainly provided in the form of individual projects supported by different donors, and only few efforts have been made to pursue better-harmonised and better-aligned programmatic support in line with the statements of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

Against this backdrop and within the overriding objective of poverty reduction, the following principles guide Danish support to local service delivery & governance:

• Support the development of effective accountability mechanisms. Cooperation will be tailored to match the needs of government organisations (supply side), associations of local governments, CSOs and other non-state actors (demand side).
• Push for increased donor coordination and harmonisation at the partner-country level
• Pursue alignment of support for local service delivery and governance, and, as far as possible, support the level of local government through existing systems.
• Push for and support activities that promote gender equality in local service delivery & governance and decentralisation
• Ensure that all Danish sector programme support (education, health, environment, etc.) is in line with the overall Danish approach to local service delivery and governance
• Take account of the two other core areas in Danish support to Public Sector Management – public financial management and anti-corruption – in Danish support for local service delivery and governance, whenever relevant, seeking to maximise the synergy between efforts in the three areas.
• Actively promote the development of, and agreement on, common guidelines and good practices for support in this area, and generally promote the aforementioned principles in relevant international and regional organisations.

We depend on you! Please give your feedback and share relevant information from the field of local service and delivery with us continuously. Write to Susanne Wendt.