Solution Exchange India

What is Solution Exchange for the Decentralization Community?

The Decentralization Community brings together individuals who are concerned with strengthening the institutions of local self government- the Panchayats and Municipal Bodies- to enable them to govern more effectively.

Solution Exchange helps Community members to address the day-to-day issues they face, and to increase the effectiveness of their individual efforts. By tapping into the collective knowledge of diverse practitioners across this field, Solution Exchange connects colleagues who share interests and concerns, and who would like to learn from each other’s knowledge and experience.

What are some of the issues to be covered by the Community?

The Decentralization Community focuses on issues related to decentralized governance in the light of the 73rd and 74th Amendments and on challenges and opportunities resulting from this framework for delivering services and programmes in different sectors and through various governmental and non-governmental channels:

1. Renewing public interest and political buy-in for establishing effective local bodies as per the 73rd and 74th Amendments- awareness generation, community mobilization and peoples’ participation, especially women and marginalized groups
2. Devolving powers and resources from central and state authorities, for ensuring adherence to existing laws, including issues relating to fiscal decentralization
3. Ensuring clear accountability lines- functional boundaries and responsibilities of line agencies vis-a-vis  local authorities; transfer of functions and functionaries; interrelationships between bodies working with similar objectives at various levels
4. Building capacities for decentralized planning of urban and rural local bodies- collection of information/ data and providing access to information for responsive and effective governance and sound programme implementation and management
5. Impact of decentralization on local economic development and poverty reduction- the effectiveness of decentralization interventions in various sectors of the economy, with special focus on the participation of women and marginalized groups
6. Elections to local bodies

 Who can become a member of this Community

 Decentralization Community members are practitioners from a wide range of public and private organizations who share an interest in decentralization and local governance:

1. Government and semi-government functionaries working in policy planning or policy implementation in a decentralized set up
2. Local level functionaries and elected representatives at all tiers of local government both rural and urban
3. Representatives of multilateral and bilateral donor agencies supporting projects and programmes on decentralized development, or otherwise interested in local governance and decentralization
4. Members of NGOs working in local governance and/or decentralized development
5. Academics and researchers working on decentralization or local governance
6. Other stakeholders and professionals concerned with decentralization and local governance

 Who are the leaders of this Community?

 The Community is guided by a Resource Group of authorities representing key agencies in the field of decentralization and local governance:

1. Government of India and State Governments
2. UN Agencies
3. International Donor Agencies
4. Non-governmental Organizations
5. Academicians
6. Local government functionaries (both rural and urban)

The Resource Group and Community is facilitated by UNDP.

For further information on the Decentralization Community contact:

Resource Team

Email : se-decn@solutionexchange-un.net.in

Ongoing Discussions:

 MoPR Guidelines for PRI CB&T - Experiences; Advice. Reply by 12 March 2012

To respond to the query write to se-decn@solutionexchange-un.net.in