LCEP’s Governance Work
Sound community governance provides the foundation upon which all other LCEP activities are built. LCEP’s activities in governance build on work begun under the Afghan government-supported National Solidarity Program (NSP).
The principal tenet of LCEP’s approach to governance is to pursue a people-centered development process, emphasising that the intended beneficiaries must be at the centre of analysis, discussion, planning, implementation and monitoring of the program. Furthermore the program stresses that development is a concept that has as much to do with the minds of the people as with physical development of resources and their productivity. Here we present a brief summary of LCEP’s governance activities.
If you would like to read about our approach to governance in greater detail, click here.
To read more about how LCEP works with the link between governance and economic empowerment, click here.
To see a Governance Component Overview Table, click here.
LCEP’s principal community governance activities include:
- CDC Development: A twelve-month intensive training sequence for male and female CDC members in the areas of inclusive decision-making; financial management; creation and management of a community development plan; constitutions, codes of ethics, roles and responsibilities in community government; CDC self-monitoring, record-keeping and transparency within the community; conduct of a Social Audit, and other topics; weekly support and mentoring by Social Organizers.
- Community Data for Decision-Making: One of LCEP’s first activities in participating communities is to develop data to create a village profile. Rather than being extractive, this information is shared back with the community. In addition LCEP introduces the concept of community self monitoring, an activity in which community members get the opportunity to hear, participate and question the activities of their publicly elected CDC members. Perhaps the most dramatic element of this process is the community-wide “Social Audit” where bi-weekly at least 60% of the community meet to hear about progress and problems on ongoing activities as well as to discuss and propose new initiatives related to their community development plan. The Social Audit presents a forum whereby the community-at-large is presented and can question work-plans, budgets and expenditures.
- Community Planning and Development: Early in the project cycle, CDC members and community members at large participate in a joint priority-setting regarding necessary community development activities in the village. LCEP provides assistance in the development and subsequent implementation of a Community Development Plan, created by communities and overseen by the CDC. Participants are aided in this activity by the use of a community book, designed to guide CDCs and community members in the local governance process. Community development activities are then implemented through the local management and application of a community development fund. Resources for the community development fund will need to be sourced through linkages forged by the community in making application and partnership with Civil Social groups, NGOs and Government programs.
- Development of Youth Groups, intended to harness the positive energy and need for skills among rural village youth through development and implementation of Youth/Community Development Plans;
- Creation of a number of additional civil society groups, such as Self-Help Groups and Governing Bodies (described in the Economic Empowerment section) as a way of diffusing governance responsibility among the community while at the same time building hands-on skills in particular areas).