• About
  • Home

African Praxis

~ Politics, Policies and Projects shaping Africa

African Praxis

Tag Archives: community development

Good Governance and Community Improvements in Nepal

01 Thursday Aug 2019

Posted by Joseph Sany, PhD in Policies and projects, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

community development, Good governance, Nepal

Authors: Joseph Sany and Alex Levy

Development practitioners know that governance matters, but what is good governance and how can it be measured? FHI 360’s Good Governance Barometer (GGB) is a social accountability and development planning tool designed to bring together stakeholders, ranging from local government officials to community members, to jointly identify problems – such as improving the management of a health clinic – and determine the actions needed to resolve them. In addition, the GGB process produces action plans that strengthen and help measure the effectiveness and performance of local governance.
FHI 360’s Civil Society: Mutual Accountability Project (CS:MAP), funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, partners with civil society and media organizations to foster an accountable, resilient Nepali civil society. The project team is using the GGB to achieve this goal.
Recently, we traveled to six villages in three rural districts in Nepal – Sindhupalchowk, Rukum and Gulmi – to learn how these communities are using the GGB to improve their public services and achieve this goal. Though the communities we visited were different, we saw some commonalities. Local officials often encountered service delivery challenges for reasons such as limited capacity or resources. When citizens and public officials were empowered to work together using the GGB, however, solutions were more likely to be identified.
For example, the GGB helped a community in western district Rukum recognize that some of their members, namely women and people with disabilities, faced barriers to accessing the health clinics. After identifying this problem, the community prioritized the need for disability-friendly structures and separate toilets for men and women.
In Gulmi, one farming community cultivates coffee, rice, millet and oranges, but only the wealthiest individuals had been receiving seeds. The GGB helped a diverse stakeholder group decide to organize a farmers committee to ensure the equitable distribution of the seeds. Now, the entire community is able to grow crops for sale or consumption.
In Sindhupalchowk, a village that was severely affected by earthquakes in 2015, the GGB helped the community to identify important deficiencies in the local education system. The GGB’s stakeholder group developed an action plan that resulted in five secondary schools installing machines to check the arrival and departure times of teachers and staff in response to complaints about absences. This new system significantly reduced teacher absenteeism. The stakeholder group also installed complaint boxes in the schools, which are reviewed regularly by a joint group of teachers, students and parents.
One of the GGB’s greatest strengths is its adaptability to different cultures and contexts. The GGB has also been used in Guinea, Mali and Senegal, where each country modified it to fit local needs. The tool enables communities, regardless of location, to better understand the root causes of service delivery challenges, identify common goals and develop plans to achieve them. Most importantly, the GGB supports efforts that are sustainable because they are locally owned and led.

This blogpost was originally posted in FHI 360 Degrees

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • Good Governance and Community Improvements in Nepal
  • Trends in Civil Society Organizations — A Visual Perspective on Data
  • New research aims to understand how positive youth development interventions facilitate resilience
  • Conflict management training for peacekeepers – Lessons and recommendations
  • Conflict sensitive education: A brief conversation

African Conflicts

  • African conflicts (15)
  • African politics (2)
  • Policies and projects (6)
  • Uncategorized (4)

RSS Latest analysis

  • Good Governance and Community Improvements in Nepal August 1, 2019
  • Trends in Civil Society Organizations — A Visual Perspective on Data May 3, 2019
  • New research aims to understand how positive youth development interventions facilitate resilience June 29, 2018
  • Conflict management training for peacekeepers – Lessons and recommendations December 11, 2017
  • Conflict sensitive education: A brief conversation November 21, 2017
  • Islam and Terrorism: A Risky Topic of Conversations. May 30, 2016
  • Integrated development through the prism of governance (audio) February 19, 2016
  • Ménage à Trois: Boko Haram, Oil Prices and Climate Change February 8, 2016
  • Boko Haram: Will Nigeria and the Neighboring Countries Win the Fight but Lose the Peace? June 2, 2015
  • Presidential elections in Nigeria: A lesson of fair-play! April 2, 2015

Politics

  • African conflicts (15)
  • African politics (2)
  • Policies and projects (6)
  • Uncategorized (4)

Policies and projects

  • African conflicts (15)
  • African politics (2)
  • Policies and projects (6)
  • Uncategorized (4)

Security assessment -Safe travels

  • African conflicts (15)
  • African politics (2)
  • Policies and projects (6)
  • Uncategorized (4)

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Archives

  • August 2019
  • May 2019
  • June 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • May 2016
  • February 2016
  • June 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • September 2014
  • March 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013

Recent Comments

Rodrigue on Islam and Terrorism: A Risky T…
Joseph Sany, PhD on Ménage à Trois: Boko Haram, Oi…
Olek Netzer on Ménage à Trois: Boko Haram, Oi…
Susanne Riveles on Boko Haram: Will Nigeria and t…
rodrigue on Is the fight against Boko Hara…
Joseph Sany, PhD

Joseph Sany, PhD

Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping Consultant. Former Research Fellow at the Kettering Foundation, USA.

View Full Profile →

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • African Praxis
    • Join 51 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • African Praxis
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: