LOCAL PUBLIC INVESTMENT EXPENDITURE MANAGEMENT
Box 53: Examples of institutional innovation at sub-local government level The electoral system for local government in Senegal and Mali does not automatically ensure representation for all communities under local government jurisdiction. In both countries, sub-communal planning committees have been established at village level in order to identify and then communicate development priorities to their LGs. In Timbuktu (Mali), this has taken the form of grassroots planning committees composed of village chiefs/leaders, women and young people, who are responsible for analysing community needs and then submitting prioritized proposals to the commune offices. In Senegal, this has led to the creation of village development committees with the same basic planning role and composition as their Malian counterparts, and inter-village committees responsible for examining village-level priorities and inter-village needs, which are then fed into the RC-level planning process. In both cases, the local planning process complements existing arrangements for representation in LG councils. In Senegal this innovation is now being passed into national legislation for wider adoption. In Niger, two levels of community institution have been introduced. One is the village development committee (VDC), which consists of up to 8 members, including at least two women. Membership is open to all adults, although there is a literacy qualification for the key role of VDC Secretary General; and in recognition of the role of customary authorities, local chiefs are designated as honorary chairpersons of these committees.The VDCs are complemented by local development committees composed of delegates from all the VDCs in the commune, which act as an interface with the embryonic pre-commune council currently being piloted. In Mozambique, district consultative councils (DCCs) were established to act as precursors of the future elected district councils. The DCCs provided a platform for participation in the planning process that had previously not existed, filling the institutional vacuum below the level of province. This innovation is also being widely replicated, although the government is still hesitant about establishing formal elected district councils. In Bangladesh, the LDP has been seeking an appropriate institution to fill the vacuum below the level of union parishad. In the first trial, seven-member area development committees with diverse membership were created, chaired at area level by an elected member for that ward (an area comprises three wards, typically with a population of 10,000). As this was found to be too populous an area for effective community involvement in the LPP, ward development committees (WDCs) chaired by the elected ward member are now being trialled (wards typically have a population of around 3,500). The greater proximity of the lower-level body has encouraged more public involvement, particularly by women, who find it difficult to travel far from home. In the meantime legislation has been passed to create gram sarkars nationwide, into which these WDCs are now being assimilated.
117