citizens participation sea
TRANSCRIPT
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Citizens participationand local governance
in South East Asia
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Citizens participationand local governance inSouth East AsiaMay 2008
1. Summary 3
2. Background 4
3. Contributing to Change 7
4. Regional Priorities 12
5. Challenges 14
6. Conclusions 15
Cover: Advocacy Training in Cambodia, photo rom COMFREL
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Over the last our years something remarkablehas been happening in South East Asia. Awayrom the headlines o military coups, economiccrises and corruption scandals a new orm opolitics has been emerging one that puts poor
people at the centre.
A village in North Begkulu, Indonesia, allocatedmore o their local budget to health care andeducation; a local ocial in Thailand took thebrave decision to speak to the media aboutthe corruption in his local area; or the rsttime civil society in Cambodia developedrecommendations on a new national policythat were recognised and encouraged by thegovernment; and in the Philippines an urban
poor community in Manila challenged the
decision to privatise their water by deciding tomanage their supply themselves.
These and many more small, yet signicantachievements have been the result o a
unique regional initiative supported byOne World Action, unded by the UKsDepartment or International Development.The project Citizens Participation in LocalGovernance (CPLG) implemented acrossthe Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia andThailand has provided exciting opportunities,challenges and risks or all involved. As theproject comes to an end this paper looks at whatchanges have been achieved, what lessons canbe learnt and asks have the risks been worth it?
1. Summary
Workshop o the Network o Progressive Local Government Ofcials,Chiang Dao, Northern Thailand, photo rom Olarn Ongla
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Citizens participation and local governance in South East Asia
Decentralisation the increase or transero power rom national to local politicalstructures can provide opportunities andspaces to revitalise democratic structures,increase citizens participation in politicsand achieve a more equitable allocation oresources to poor and marginalised people.However this potential is rarely realised and isconstantly being undermined and challengedby those who benet rom the current status
quo. CPLG was an attempt to implement andreinvigorate decentralisation by strengtheningthe ability o people citizens, elected ocialsand organisations to seize the opportunitiesoered by decentralisation, to challenge existingpower relationships and, in doing so, to createnew orms o local politics.
CPLG believed that participatory democracy
is a viable, transormative alternative to the
representative democracy that has proved
insucient in responding to the real needs o
people. In these our countries it supported citizens
to claim spaces or participation and take control o
their own political and development path.
Denden Alicias, Institute for Popular Democracy
This has been a unique project because it teaches
people to think about politics to think about
power not as something you seize in the capitalsbut that you build rom the bottom up.
Joel Rocamora, Institute for Popular Democracy
CPLG was implemented by our organisations.The Institute or Popular Democracy (IPD)in the Philippines acted both as project co-ordinator and or two years, implementer othe project in the Philippines, the Campaignor Popular Democracy (CPD) in Thailand,
the Committee or Free and Fair Elections
(COMFREL) in Cambodia and IndonesiaCorruption Watch (ICW).
Filling the gaps
CPLG was a response to the ollowing perceivedopportunities and needs:
The opportunity and necessity to implement
genuine decentralisation in the interests olocal people and communities in South EastAsia.
The realisation that real change can bebrought about through targeting, engagingwith, and monitoring local governmentocials by holding them to account.
The need to strengthen the skills,knowledge and abilities o localocials particularly in engaging with and
meeting the needs o the constituencies theyclaim to represent.
The need to strengthen emergingdecentralisation processes and policies witheective national level advocacy on politicalreorm.
As a rst step to persuade, educate andinfuence civil society, active citizensorganisations (ACOs) and governments at
all levels o the critical role that strong andparticipatory local governance can play ineconomic, social and political development.
As a second step to provide the tools,trainings and expertise to put this orm ogovernance into practice what does it looklike and what steps are needed to take usthere?
The need to support progressive and reormminded local government ocials thatare willing and able to bring about change,
2. Background
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Citizens participation and local governance in South East Asia
and who support policies and practices thatwill contribute to meeting the MillenniumDevelopment Goals. Supporting them bothbeore, and during their time in oce, and
to identiy what strategies and support canbe provided rom civil society to keep thesepeople in oce, and to keep them active andaccountable.
To bridge social movements and peoplesorganisations with ormal politics. For manyreasons involvement in ormal politics has notbeen a strategy used by civil society to gainpower. A lack o resources, training, potentialaccusations o co-option, corruption or selling
out, apathy with established or traditionalpoliticians and policies, dierent backgroundsand agendas, and the desire to maintainindependence rom political parties can all bevalid reasons, particularly in countries wheredemocracies are ragile and emerging romauthoritarian rule. However CPLG aimed tochallenge these assumptions by exploringand illustrating the impact that NGOs andACOs could have i they looked beyondtheir more established role, o monitoring,
analysing and critiquing politicians andinstitutions. By highlighting the transormativerole that local politicians could play, with anemphasis on integrity and accountability,once in power, CPLG illustrated that gainingpower through ormal political processes canbe a vital tool to bring about change onethat we as civil society cannot aord toignore.
Although incredibly diverse in history, culture,
political traditions and current policies, themajority o the women and men living inCambodia, Thailand, Indonesia and thePhilippines ace widespread corruption,human rights violations and denial o theireconomic, civil and political rights. In themidst o these challenges CPLG aimedto provide a positive and empoweringramework or ACOs, peoples movementsand local ocials to work together. Despite
the challenges, CPLG aimed to be a catalystor change, to support the emerging patches
o transormative governance across theregion.
CPLG What made it different? Having a southern co-ordinator
Decentralisation in the Philippines is moreestablished and legally ormalised than in theother project countries. Having IPD as theproject co-ordinator enabled Filipino lessonsand strategies to be shared and to take amore political and empowering approach tolocal governance. It also enabled decisionsand management to be closer to the people
and organisations the project was aiming tosupport.
An analysis o power and exclusion thatincludes gender the realisation thatstrengthening womans political engagementand participation must lie at the heart o localgovernance.
A truly regional programme From itsinception the importance o exchanges,
sharing strategies and cross-country learningwas at the heart o the CPLG. All involvedunderstood that i these aspects were to begenuinely realised then realistic time andresources would need to be allocated.
A bottom up approach CPLG partnersbelieve that the democratic participationo local people and peoples organisationsin local politics and governance processesis essential i sustainable and equitable
development is to be achieved. Working with local ocials Partners all
took an approach o constructive (i at timescritical) engagement with local governmentocials believing that stronger relationshipsbetween government and civil society can bebenecial or both sides.
Flexibility Development ailures o thelast decades have shown us the dangers oapplying a one-size-ts-all model to complexprocesses o governance and democracy.
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Citizens participation and local governance in South East Asia
CPLG gave its implementing partners thespace to develop the project in whateverway they elt was most appropriate andallowed them to respond to opportunities
as they arose. For example rewriting o theConstitution in Thailand, the development oa new decentralisation policy in Cambodiaand Indonesias new policy on direct localelections.
The realisation that local governancework should be political and aimed atempowerment.
This project was a gamble that decentralisationhad released enough energy, opened up enough
political spaces and provided us with enough
opportunities or us to enter in these our countries,
to advance poor peoples interests and build
democracy.
Joel Rocamora, Institute for Popular Democracy
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Thailand
For centuries Thailand was a highlycentralised state. This changed in 1997 witha new constitution and the rst mention odecentralisation. In 1998 the rst Tambon councilelections were held and in 2004 municipalmayors were directly elected or the rst time.The Decentralisation Act was passed in 1999,but implementation began in 2001. However,
decentralisation has not resulted in the ormationo popular representative bodies at local level and
research shows that many people, especially inrural areas, eel detached rom local governanceprocesses that are dominated by the interests owell-connected power holders and local elites.
Since CPLG began in 2004, Thailand haswitnessed a military coup, national elections anda new constitution. The elections in December2007 saw the return o a new ormation othe Thai Rak Thai Party the Peoples PowerParty that had been ousted by the military inNovember 2006. CPD the Thai project partner
3. Contributing to Change Country Overview and Highlights
A notice board in Sainawang Tambon, Cambodia, which displays the local budget, amounts being spent on inrastructureprojects, participatory community plans or the next year and dates o the next community consultation meetings.
Decentralisation in each country gravitates to the Tambon in Thailand, the Municipality in thePhilippines, the Commune/Sangkat in Cambodia and the Kabupaten in Indonesia.
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Citizens participation and local governance in South East Asia
were involved in the Peoples Alliance orDemocracy that led some o the protests againstPrime Minister Thaksin o the Thai Rak Thai Partyin September 2006.
The ocus o the CPLG in Thailand has been about
bringing power down to the people. CPLG allowed
us to do innovative and groundbreaking work
in this area. Forming a people centred politics
and developing democracy to make the country
sustainable is now more essential than ever.
Suriyasai Katasila, Campaign for Popular Democracy
Highlights of CPLG in Thailand
1. Supporting and training TambonAdministrative Ocials. Through co-ordinating democracy schools, seminars andadvising TAOs on issues o decentralisation,participatory planning and budgeting,human rights, election strategies, mobilisingand managing resources, anti-corruptionmechanisms, and strategies or independence
(e.g. pooling budgets). A national assembly o300 Tambon ocials was held in September2006 which developed a decentralisationmaniesto. Training has given local ocialsstrengthened condence and skills to speakout against corruption, gain greater resourcesor their area and to challenge the policies ocentral government, particularly on the plundero natural resources. These initiatives havealso been able to create learning processeswithin and across Tambons, to link ocials withemerging social movements and led to greateracceptance o TAOs by the media.
2. Establishing inormal networks o TambonAdministrative Ocials (approximately 150out o 2000 ocials are members o networksin dierent regions o Thailand). The networkin the North and North East o Thailand, theLocal Government Organisation Ocials othe Peoples Sector, is particularly strong.Some ocials were previously, and continueto be representatives o social movements.
Last year the government ordered local ocials
to bulk buy rom local armers to minimise the
impact o the recent Free Trade Agreement between
Thailand and China on small-scale armers in NorthEast Thailand they also ordered each Tambon to
send and pay or a delegation to travel to a Buddhist
temple to show support or Thaksin. Both these
policies were reused by some local ocials but
they wouldnt have had the courage to question or
challenge them i they hadnt been organised into a
network.
Somkhuan Promthong,
Campaign for Popular Democracy
There is an ocial state sanctioned organisation
called the Association o TAOs but it serves no
benet to the people and is about advancing the
interests o the civil service. Our new network
brings together TAOs with a similar way o thinking
to share views, strategies, pilot projects, exchanges,
mutual learning and support. We meet every two
months and any TAO is welcome to join.
Banrung Kayota, TAO of Sainawang, NE Province
3. Providing inormation and political analysis(written and verbal) to local ocialsto enable them to advocate or change,linking national reorm to issues acing localgovernment ocials.
4. Holding workshops or local ocials and civilsociety to develop joint recommendationson local governance to inorm the new Thai
constitution.
Following the coup there were many concerns about
the violent competition over natural resources in the
localities, the lack o genuine decentralisation, poor
urban communities being orcibly displaced and a
lack o access to inormation. These orums have
been a vital step to ensure public input is included
in the peoples agenda or political reorm.
Suriyasai Katasila, Campaign for Popular Democracy
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Philippines
Decentralisation policies were introduced in thePhilippines during the term o President Aquino
rom 1986 to 1992. With decentralisation, localgovernments were given the power to collecttaxes, borrow money and receive 40% o internalrevenue allocations. The groundbreaking LocalGovernment Code o 1991 recognised the vitalrole that civil society can play and ormalisedthe participation o citizens within dierentaspects o local governance. However despiteprogressive legislation on paper, elite-drivenpatronage politics still continues.
The Philippines CPLG programme was initiallyanchored in the work o the Barangay-BayanGovernance Consortium, a network o around 100local government ocials, peoples organisationsand NGOs interested in participatorygovernance and in ully implementing the LocalGovernment Code. One o the aims o the CPLGprogramme in the Philippines was to scale up theachievements made at the Barangay level by theBarangay-Bayan Governance Consortium to theMunicipal level.
The current President o the Philippines, GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo has been in power since2001 and the next national elections will be heldin 2010. Her presidency has been marred byallegations o corruption, abuse o presidentialpower and manipulation o the electoral system.
Highlights of CPLG in Philippines
1. Running pilot projects in the co-production*
o basic service delivery in urban areas.Developing new participatory approaches tocommunity organising where communitiesmanage and deliver their own services.
2. Piloting an engendered local governanceprogramme supporting local ocials
* Co-production is the process o joint participatory
service delivery and maintenance that is carried out by
communities along with local government ofcials.
to be gender responsive through training,participatory development planning andinstitutionalising the participation o womenand urban poor.
Barangay Council 177 in Manila adopted and
allocated budget to plans generated through
community participatory planning. Through
this intervention the Barangay Council made
commitments to ocussing on violence against
women and improving its services in this area. The
Barangay Council institutionalised the participation
o urban poor groups through the creation o the
Barangay Urban Poor Co-ordinating Council thisgoes well beyond what is prescribed by law in terms
o participation.
Denden Alicias, Institute for Popular Democracy
3. Supporting women leaders rom urban poorcommunities to stand in local elections inMetro Manila.
4. Linking reorm minded government ocialswith active citizens. For example, in Barangay177 the government is initiating reorms andopening up spaces or participation. Urbanpoor social movements and women areengaging in the governance process and as aresult a convergence o pro-poor developmentoutcomes has been crystallised.
5. Establishing a und to support eectivelocal governance initiatives in MetroManila so ar 10 grants have been made tocommunity organisations to support healthinsurance, water and services to the urbanpoor.
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Citizens participation and local governance in South East Asia
Cambodia
The Cambodian government has expressedits commitment to decentralisation and to
developing local political institutions, withthe backing o international donors. Thecommunes executive and legislative unctionswere introduced in 2001 and the commune istasked with ensuring the well-being o citizens,including service delivery, protection o naturalresources, social and economic developmentplanning, and public order. The rst communeelections were held in February 2002.
However, decentralisation is still in its inancy
and implementation is problematic due topoor co-ordination between ministries andinconsistencies between decentralisationand other reorms. The lack o resources andinormation about decentralisation measures arealso major challenges.
The ocus o CPLG in Cambodia has been todevelop specic mechanisms to get ordinaryCambodians involved in local decisionmaking, to try to move decentralisation and
democratisation orward. The CambodiaPeoples Party have been in power since theoverthrow o the Khmer Rouge in 1979. Theopposition is weak and divided and the electionsin July 2008 are likely to return the current rulingparty to power. Political space is extremelylimited and COMFREL had to take a gentleapproach in their advocacy. As the Co-ordinatoro CPLG at COMFREL put it, we had to shout butusing a sweeter voice.
Highlights of CPLG in Cambodia
1. Holding civil society consultations and
establishing a working group to submitproposals on Cambodias new organic law.This process was recognised and endorsedby the Ministry o Interior which was a rst orCambodia. Usually international NGOs are theonly agencies to input on policy consultations.
2. Creating mechanisms or engagement
between civil society and Commune
Councils through co-ordinating advocacyworkshops and training on participatorydevelopment, planning and budget literacy.Commune Forums were held on specic
issues (such as logging and health) wherecitizens received pledges and commitmentrom Commune Councils to take action.
3. Establishing a network o local watchdogsin 20 target communes to monitor theoutcomes o Commune Forums to ensureaccountability o the pledges that were made.In each commune members o the watchdogwere trained in monitoring.
4. Encouraging interaction betweencommune ocials and councillors odierent political parties by inviting themto joint events. This has lessened politicalconrontation and developed commoninitiatives and platorms.
The organic law consultations were a major
achievement or Cambodia where policies are
usually made behind closed doors we took
something secret into the public domain. People arenow standing up more in local areas and we have
been able to achieve real changes at the commune
level, or example roads have been repaired, dengue
prevention measures have been introduced and
there is less corruption.
Pharath Tem, COMFREL
IndonesiaThe Asian economic crisis severely devastatedIndonesias economy and led to the end othe Soeharto regime in 1998. Decentralisationwas set in motion in 1999 as the governmentsresponse to local demands or greater autonomyand control over natural resources, as well asthreats o secession in some regions. Howeverlegal rameworks were hastily assembled andimprecise. The magnitude and ambition o the
task o decentralisation in Indonesia is vast
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Citizens participation and local governance in South East Asia
given the sheer size o the country and thetradition o top-down planning ater decades oauthoritarian rule.
Local governments lack the capacity todevelop communities and policy making is stilldominated by local elites, uelled by powerulpolitical and business interests. Furthermoremany NGOs still take a more traditional statecentred approach and are resistant to localgovernance work.
The major ocus has been to politicise civil societys
engagement in local governance (as opposed
to donor initiated local governance projects),strengthen organisations and institutions at the
local level and learn how decentralisation can
be eectively implemented. There are lots o
organisations working in Indonesia at the local level
but CPLG engages with local work as a political
project it encourages civil society to become a
political player and to monitor and engage with new
opportunities that are emerging at the national level.
Luky Djani, Indonesian Corruption Watch
Highlights of CPLG in Indonesia
1. Implementing local legal rameworks andsuccessully advocating or decentralisedbudgets.
2. Setting up participatory budget planningand allocation mechanisms in 10 villagesin North Begkulu that led to an increased
allocation or health and education, thepriority sectors identied by the villagers.This involved local people in decision making,policy development and budgeting. Trainingand guidance on drating local legislation andmonitoring budgets has been carried out inthese 10 villages.
3. Ensuring that activists rom socialmovements have the skills and capacity tobecome involved in local elections and local
governance.
4. Documenting success stories o howmarginalised groups can have a strongerpolitical infuence (standing or election,capacity building, campaigns etc). This has
resulted in more marginalised aspects o civilsociety becoming more engaged as expertsand consultants in ormulating national andlocal policy.
Previously, local government representatives were
appointed by the party in power; now individual
candidates can stand or direct election i they use
eligible political parties as vehicles to run. This
means that citizens organisations potentially now
have access to power at the local level, and the ability
to shape policies and spending priorities locally.
Ibrahim Zudhi Fahmy Badoh,
Indonesian Corruption Watch
ICW documented success stories o activistswho ran as independent candidates in the 2004Senate elections in West Kalimantan province.
Muspanis campaign in Bengkulu, dependedon grassroots organising. His nomination andpolicies were based on extensive consultationwith people organisations establishingcampaign teams down to village level. Hiscampaign ocused on land, protection orinormal vendors and access to credit. Due to
a lack o resources Muspani could not engagethe media but through intensive ace-to-aceinteractions with people in the villages he wasable to mobilise sufcient voters to end up in
third position and gain his seat in the Senate.
Maria Gorettis campaign was supported bya Credit Union and a number o respected
elderly leaders in the community who sawthe elections as an opportunity to raise localissues related to the welare o indigenousDayak people. She also raised womensissues. Marias background as a journalistgave her strong media coverage she wasthe only women candidate rom her province
and gained a seat in the Senate.
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All partners were involved in:
Analysing and strengthening womenspolitical participation at local level.A regional conerence was held in the
Philippines in March 2007 on womenspolitical participation across the our countrieswhere strategies were developed on how toachieve gender sensitive local governance.This was ollowed up in each country, orexample in Cambodia a working group wasestablished on promoting womens politicalparticipation. In the Philippines a project wasinitiated that links strengthening womensmovements to engendering local governance.
When you bring in a man then only he joins the
struggle but i you bring in a woman, then the whole
amily joins. I women do reach power then there
are initial signs that they do dierent things to men
but much more research is needed on this. Politicalparties are now using COMFREL messages about
the promotion o women in politics and leadership
roles in their election campaigns.
Pharath Tem, COMFREL
We have been trying to infuence the way that
the womens movement in the Philippines thinks
about power and empowerment to go local, to
4. Regional Priorities
Thai and Filipino CPLG sta meet to discuss the political events in Thailand, April 2006
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accumulate power and to link strengthening the
movement with elections.
Djorina Velaso, Institute for Popular Democracy
Documentation has included the write upand collection o case studies, interviews,lesson learning and positive practice ondecentralisation, participatory governanceand political strategies used to infuence localpolitics. For example COMFREL produceda report entitled the Assessment o theFirst Term o Decentralisation in Cambodia,Commune Council Perormance and CitizensParticipation.
Development o toolkits and trainingmodules on decentralisation, politicalrights, participation and budget monitoring.For example ICW in Indonesia developedan Electoral Campaign ManagementTraining, drawing on the training used in thePhilippines.
Regional Exchanges learning visits,conerences and exchanges were held
throughout the our years. Highlightsincluded:
Sep 2004 Workshop onDemocratisation, Local Governance andPeoples Participation at the Asia-EuropePeoples Forum in Vietnam.
April 2005, Workshop on DemocratisingDecentralisation: Implications for theRole of Civil Societyin Cambodia.
May 2005, Training on Civil SocietyEngagements in Local ElectionsinIndonesia with resource trainers rom thePhilippines.
Nov 2005, Exchange Visit, Thailand-Philippines A delegation o Thai activistsand local government ocials visitedthe Philippines to learn about citizenparticipation.
Sep 2006, Workshop onDemocratisation, Local Governance andPeoples Participation at the Asia-EuropePeoples Forum in Finland attended by
representatives rom CPLG countries, whohad exchanges with other representativesrom South East Asia, Europe andmeetings with Helsinki City Council.
Sep 2006, Thai Cambodia Exchange Cambodian local ocials visited Thailandto learn how to orm networks o localocials.
We are all citizens in our own countries. We canengage and dene new contested spaces or local
democracy. We can build new, plural political
alliances to counter distrust in traditional political
processes and institutions.
Andy Rutherford, One World Action
What do Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and the
Philippines have in common? It is in these our
Southeast Asian countries that decentralisation has
opened up possibilities or changing local power
relations between local elites and traditional
authorities on the one hand, and local movements
and an engaged citizenry on the other.
Djorina Velaso, Institute for Popular Democracy
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language at regional meetings was English butthis did hamper some partners participation.
The original Cambodian partner or the rsttwo years o the CPLG was the CommuneCouncil Support Project (CCSP). The losso key sta and withdrawal o unding romother donors meant that they did not have thecapacity to continue being a CPLG partner andso COMFREL were able to take their place.
The aim o establishing political schoolsin Indonesia was not realised due to thediculty in nding suitable people whoshared a similar political understanding owhat was trying to be achieved.
5. Challenges
We didnt realise how dicult it would be, or how
long it would take to persuade NGOs that local
governance work is important and progressive
it has been dicult to communicate this and to
change mindsets away rom the power o the centre.
Joel Rocamora, Institute for Popular Democracy
The CPLG programme operates in the context o an
unolding re-organisation o central-local relationsin the our countries in the region. The incomplete
process and conficting trends in democratic
decentralisation rendered the local power structure
in these countries in a state o fux. This poses
diculty or a political project like CPLG.
Denden Alicias, Institute for Popular Democracy
The CPLG programme is a unique andgroundbreaking initiative aiming to change theway that politics is done and understood. By itsvery nature it developed ambitious goals or aour year project with limited resources. Therewere inevitably some delays and set backs.Some o the main challenges included:
CPLG evolved in dierent ways in dierentcountries. This was inevitable given the verydierent contexts but it did raise dicultiesin trying to maintain a cohesive initiativewhilst responding to local and nationalopportunities.
Overall there was more ocus on countryspecic activities than on advocating thepolitical nature o CPLG and its successes atan international or regional level. Howevernetworking with Logolink did increase theoutreach and prole o the work on the ground.
Communication and translation issues were aninevitable challenge throughout the working
During the project the partners aced manychallenging questions, such as
Should ACOs be providing resources to helpimplement local policies, deliver services andprop up ailing or corrupt local governments?
Can their ailure be an opportunity to fghtagainst traditional politics and empowercommunities to solve problems with eectiveand sustainable solutions?
Is a progressive constitution written undermilitary rule a step orward?
Can bottom up change be eectively
acilitated by NGOs based in capital cities?
Why are social movements and civil societyorganisations so resistant to gainingpolitical ofce?
How can you communicate issues aroundlocal governance and democratisation inan accessible and inspiring way?
How can you und the development oprogressive political parties and their
candidates?
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6. Conclusions
There is no doubt that the CPLG has madea substantial contribution to deepeningdecentralisation and strengtheninglinks between civil society and electedrepresentatives in each o the our countries.It has provided practical examples o whatparticipatory governance can really look likein practice, going beyond academic theoriesto what can be achieved when poor andmarginalised people are in control o their own
development.
The risks o the CPLG the time needed to buildpartnerships across our countries, the moneyand resources put in by all involved, the dierentand at times conficting interpretations o CPLGand the ambition o what was trying to beachieved in a relatively short time period haveall at times been dicult to manage. Howeverdespite these challenges in every countrythe partners have grasped the opportunities
available to push orward decentralisation,to ormalise participatory governance and tochallenge entrenched local power relations.
Achieving democracy, accountability andparticipatory governance are complex and longterm processes. CPLG supported some o themost innovative local governance work in SouthEast Asia, allowing important rst steps to bemade and pilot projects to be tested.
It has been an exciting and inspiring our yearsand although it is still too early to assess whatthe long term contribution o CPLG will be all thepartners involved are keen to continue to moveorward together, to build on and consolidatewhat has been achieved.
We have clearly moved orward. When we started,
the goal was to get civil society and social
movements interested in local governance and
politics now we are orming networks o local
government ocials and thinking about setting up
institutions to monitor decentralisation.
Denden Alicias, Institute for Popular Democracy
Further Information
CPLG Websitewww.ipdprojects.org/cplg
One World Actionwww.oneworldaction.org
Institute or Popular Democracy, Philippineswww.ipd.ph
Campaign or Popular Democracy, ThailandEmail: [email protected]
Committee or Free andFair Elections in Cambodiawww.comrel.org
Indonesia Corruption Watchwww.antikorupsi.org/eng
LogoLink Learning Initiative on Citizen
Participation and Local Governancewww.ipdprojects.org/logolink-sea
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One World ActionBradleys Close
White Lion Street
London N1 9PF
T: 00 44 (0)20 7833 4075
F: 00 44 (0)20 7833 4102
Email: [email protected]
www.oneworldaction.org
Charity Registration Number: 1022298
Campaign or Popular Committee or Free and Institute or Popular