Input into Pakistan Devolution Plan and Activities

RSPN has worked with Pakistan’s National Reconstruction Bureau and had input into the drafting of the Local Government Ordinance (LGO, 2001), which is the basis of the Government’s devolution plan. Specific input was on guidelines on the registration and operation of Citizen’s Community Boards (CCBs), a component of Pakista’s devolution plan which seeks to ‘formalise’ organized community groups through their registration with local governments and their access to public funds for community-managed projects. Building on this work, RSPN signed an MoU with the Devolution Trust for Community Empowerment (DTCE), a non-profit company set up to build the capacity of CCBs, to support in forming and training CCBs (period 2004-06).

• As part of its efforts to link the work of RSPs with local governments, RSPN was instrumental in supporting strategic partnerships between RSPs and government. Noted examples were formal agreements between RSPs and local governments of Jhelum and Khairpur under which RSPs mobilized CCBs to access government funds and undertake projects in sanitation and water supply.

• A further innovation spearheaded by RSPN was a USAID funded District Grants Programme under which 37 projects across the country were implemented by RSPs and local governments, with contributions from the private sector