DeLoG (2009) Reference Document on Capacity Development for Local Governance and Decentralization
This Reference Document provides guidance and practical recommendations on the five steps of the capacity development (CD) cycle: (i) engage with stakeholders; (ii) assess capacity assets and needs; (iii) formulate capacity development responses; (iv) implement capacity development responses; and (v) evaluate change in capacity, and ensure sustained national capacity development. The document also analyses the different principles, approaches and strategies of development assistance and aid modalities deployed by the members of the DeLoG, and provides a collection of good practices and lessons learnt by development partners in enhancing capacities for effective local governance and decentralization through research and analysis of empirical evidence and knowledge base.
UNDP Oslo Governance Centre (2009) A Users’ Guide to Measuring Local Governance
This UNDP Guide provides guidance to practitioners on the different tools and methods used by donors to measure, assess and monitor governance at the local level. The purpose is to compile existing knowledge on decentralization and local governance measurement and provide a platform for understanding and navigating the array of assessment tools that exist, focusing on particular issues such as:
Policy Practice (2009) Carrying out a Joint Governance Assessment: Lessons from Rwanda
This policy brief reflects on the experience of Rwanda, the first country where a joint governance assessment was conducted in 2008. It draws lessons from the advantages and risks of undertaking a joint approach to governance assessments and offers practical guidance on how such a joint approach might be adopted elsewhere.
Train4dev Course (2011): Harmonisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance: Case study: Rwanda Joint Governance Assessment
The Rwanda Joint Governance Assessment case study was presented during the Train4Dev training on Harmonisation; Decentralisation and Local Governance. JGA is a good example of a case in which the principles of harmonisation and alignment are built into an assessment, and it illustrates the opportunities and difficult challenges involved.
DANIDA (2010) Fiscal decentralisation and sector-funding principals and practices.
This paper provides a general introduction to Fiscal Decentralisation (FD) and shares lessons learned from a number of developing countries. It also explores the links between FD and sector funding and discusses the use of various aid modalities for support to FD, based on experiences from countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. A number of technical annexes provide more detailed information on some of the core issues.
Train4dev (2011), Harmonisation, Decentralisation, Local Governance: A checklist for sound fiscal decentralisation (Background material).
This checklist covers the assignment of functions and expenditure responsibilities, the assignment of revenue sources, the provision of intergovernmental fiscal transfers and subnational borrowing. It also includes a description of a fake country case for training purposes.
Commonwealth Secretariat (2011) Resource Guide on Decentralisation and Local Government. Commonwealth Secretariat Local Government Reform Series Number 3.
Estimates suggest that decentralisation is currently being pursued in over 80 per cent of developing countries worldwide. For many people, local government is the part of government that most directly impacts on their lives, particularly via the provision of local services like water, sanitation, primary education and primary healthcare.
Train4dev (2011), Harmonisation, Decentralisation, Local Governance: Guidance for Political Economy of Decentralization Analysis (Background material).
This document makes suggestions for Terms of Reference and an outline for Political Economy of Decentralisation Analysis (PEDCA) studies.
This document has been extracted and adapted from Eaton, K. et al, (2010) “The Political Economy f Decentralization Reforms Implications for Aid Effectiveness”, World Bank, Washington D. C.
World Bank (2010) The Political Economy of Decentralization Reforms. Implications for Aid Effectiveness.
This volume presents a preliminary framework designed to help international development partners consider the relevance of political economy issues for their programmatic support to decentralization and local government reform.
USAID (2009) Democratic Decentralisation Programming Handbook.
The Democratic Decentralization Programming Handbook conceptualizes decentralization as a reform that advances the exercise of political freedom and individual economic choice in a context of stability and the rule of law. Decentralization invests new actors with public responsibilities. The newly involved actors that decentralization empowers (or should empower) include appointed officials in subnational administrations, elected officials in subnational governments, and increasingly engaged citizens themselves.
