Strengthening LGIs

1.1 By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day

1.2 By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions

1.3 Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable

1.4 By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance

1.5 By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters

1.A Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions

1.B Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions

Our Strategy for..

....Governance” is not just government. Good local governance requires the partnership of three key groups:A.democratically elected UP representatives B.government functionaries responsible for providing public services, devolved from the line ministries such as health, education and agriculture.C.active citizens, who directly participate in setting priorities, planning, implementing and monitoring public services.

..Plan....to...

..Despite the call for strong decentralization in the Constitution, the UPs have been very weak, with only a tiny share of public resources and little local autonomy in decision making. The Hunger Project strongly advocated for policy changes to strengthen the UPs, and in 2007 our country director was appointed to a task force to rewrite the law. Several innovations that we had pioneered in Unions where we worked were incorporated in the law:Ward Shava (assemblies) for participatory priority setting Creation of UP Five-Year Plans based on ward priorities Publication of Annual Reports on progress against plans Open Budget Meetings Right to Information Citizen Charter (publication of service standards and contact information Citizen membership on UP Standing Committees for each public service. Governments rarely voluntary implement participatory and social accountability measures. We made demonstrating their success central to our then-MDG now SDG Union Strategy. We developed transformative workshops and other activities for all three groups (Representatives, Functionaries, Active Citizens) to break the old Top-Down mindset and deepen democratic values. These include: A 5-day UP Workshop for both representatives and functionaries, building on our Animator training and adding statutory information. A 1-day Citizenship Workshop A 2-day training for Right to Information Defenders. Mobilizing participation in Ward Shava, Open Budget Meetings and other public forums. Mobilizing Mass Action Campaigns to achieve priorities that can be met through “people-power” self-reliant efforts, such as repairing roads, improving sanitation and refurbishing classrooms..