JP Bangladesh Union Parishad 

ObjectivesFund scope

The Union Parishad Governance Programme strove to improve governance systems in the Union Parishads in Bangladesh by promoting civic participation in the planning and budgeting, implementation, monitoring, supervision and evaluation of development activities. Other components of the joint programme were delivering improved and enhanced basic services to citizens, increasing local resource generation to complement government efforts, promoting women’s participation in the Union Parishad, and strengthening parishad capacities to perform necessary community-facing, governance functions.

The programme piloted and evaluated innovative actions, which lead to improvements in the functional and institutional capacities of Union Parishads and in increasing citizen engagement. Using MDG indicators as a guide, programme stakeholders succeeded in improving the democratic accountability of Union Parishads through citizen engagement, pro-poor and MDG-oriented planning and financing, and boosting national capacities for effective policy review and capacity development of local government institutions.

A comprehensive, localized approach to local governance development supported relevant ministries in effectively addressing various dimensions of an integrated local governance framework. Stakeholders learned decentralization needs to be underscored as a prime objective when supporting local governance, alongside aligning plans and programmes with national development plans and when transitioning to SDG implementation frameworks.

Projects

JP Bangladesh Union Parishad

JP Bangladesh Union Parishad is currently supporting count_projects ongoing projectscount_globalInterregional and count_countries country-specific. This table shows the most recently approved ongoing projects.

All project financial information can be found in the Financials section, including delivery analysis by organization, theme and project; project financial status by country and by theme.

JP Bangladesh Union Parishad

Results

Ward Shavas (local meetings) were institutionalized in accordance with the Union Parishad Act of 2009 and emerged as a strong community platform for participatory planning and where citizens can influence decision-making at the Union Parishad level. All 564 unions were technically and financially supported, which helped activate 5,076 Ward Shavas. Roughly 80% of Union Parishads hold Ward Shavas twice a year in all nine wards where 464,012 community members participated in 2016, contributing to their local development plans.

Significant improvements in union ‘own-source’ revenue collection was seen with an average increase of 115% compared to 75.6% between 2012 and 2016. This led to greater spending on services that are pro-poor and responsive to the needs of citizens. It also resulted in more robust “financial discipline” in the Union Parishads where 98% now have updated tax assessment and collection registers and another 81% maintain a tax default register.

464,012 community members contributed to local development plans

Citizens have better access to information and are more aware of the roles and responsibilities of local government institutions. Systems, processes and activities of unions was improved and new provisions made to the Union Parishad Act of 2009 were enacted, with many well on their way to sustainable institutionalization. The programme applied a combination of capacity building support and performance incentives to promote accountability and transparency. Direct fiscal transfers to Union Parishads was seen as an effective approach to strengthen local government institutions. It also resulted in the launch of extended performance-based grants that stimulated healthy competition among unions to improve their performance. Co-financing proved to be an effective tool for developing innovative and broader development schemes.

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