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Specifically, the project was designed to support the preparation of regional development plans, which reflected local and regional development priorities. At the same time, links with the national strategic framework and financial resources were established. The second and the third projects are interlinked and it is difficult to review one without also considering the other. While the two projects are presented separately, the similarities are evident. Introduction Purpose, Scope and Methodology The Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund (DGTTF) was created in 2001 to provide an opportunity for UNDP Country Offices to undertake innovative activities that could have a catalytic effect in supporting sustainable democratic governance. Within a broader range of UNDP activities in Tajikistan, the country office implemented three local governance projects, funded by the DGTTF, in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The first project, Clean Start for Local Councils – Building Accountability at the Local Level, with total DGTTF contribution of US$200,000, was designed to strengthen the capacity of local councils to work professionally, transparently and accountably. In addition, the project supported citizens’ participation in local decision-making processes through the implementation of citizens’ report cards and the introduction of a Citizens’ Charter. The project supported the establishment of participatory planning mechanisms in the pilot districts embodied in the District Development Councils. The second project, Building National Capacities for Implementation of Poverty Reduction Strategies, supported with US$130,000 funding from DGTTF, was designed to address development challenges at the district level by establishing district development plans, and connecting district authorities to civil society and the private sector. The project also worked to increase district authorities’ knowledge of budget planning and financial management, and to enhance capacities for aid coordination, especially with international donors. The third project, Building a Framework for Local Planning and Budgeting, also supported with US$150,000 from the DGTTF, built on the achievements of the second project. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of these projects within the criteria of effectiveness, efficiency, innovation, catalytic effect, and sustainability, defined according to these DGTTF guidelines: a Relevance – How relevant is the project to the country’s priority needs, and was the right strategy applied within the country’s specific political, economic, and social contexts? a Effectiveness – Effectiveness is a measure of the extent to which an aid activity attains its objectives. a Efficiency – Efficiency measures the outputs in relation to the inputs. Were activities cost-efficient and were objectives achieved on time? a Innovation – Innovative projects address recognized critical democratic governance issues that, if resolved, may lead to substantial improvements in democratic governance. They are initiatives, in terms of the problem addressed or the approach taken, that have never before been attempted in a given country. And although they may be potentially risky or less certain of success than traditional projects, they will position UNDP as a key player in democratic governance, one that ‘pushes the frontier’. a Catalytic effect – A catalytic project has a high likelihood of receiving support from government or other governance institutions (including other donors) for scaling up or following up, if the project is successful. a Sustainability – Sustainability is concerned with measuring whether the benefits of an activity are likely to continue after donor funding has been withdrawn. Projects also need to be financially sustainable. The methodology utilized for this study consists of a preliminary literature review of all available project documents and reports, a political economy analysis of the situation in Tajikistan, and a field visit to Dushanbe and Sughd province. 9
Structure of the report The report is structured in four sections, in the following manner: Local Governance and Decentralization a In order to situate the DGTTF projects assessed in this report, the first section, Country Context, presents an overview of the socio-economic situation as well as the local system in Tajikistan. a The second, third and forth sections provide an analysis of the impact of the DGTTF projects Clean Start for Local Councils – Building Accountability at the Local Level (2006), Building national capacities for implementation of poverty reduction strategies (2007) and Building a Framework for Local Planning and Budgeting (2008), following the above-mentioned criteria. a Finally, lessons learned and recommendations are presented in the fifth section. 10
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