| Overview : Myanmar is in transition, with numerous reforms underway to strengthen the democratization process. The 2008 Constitution provides basic principles of democracy, rule of law and human rights, and the separation of powers. There is a strong commitment of the Government of Myanmar to further roll out and implement a complex reform agenda at multiple levels including and with a specific emphasis at the local and sub national level.
To contribute to an enhanced basis for policy dialogue, and to support decision-making, planning and engagement for national stakeholders and development partners, UNDP started conducting an analysis of the state of Sub-national Governance in an initial group of 7 States and Regions of Myanmar from November 2013. The mapping exercise has been successfully implemented in the pilot states of Mon and Chin, and currently being implemented in five more states/regions in Phase II, to be completed by end of November 2014. UNDP plans to roll out this process to all the 14 states/regions in the country and therefore will conduct an analysis of the state of local governance in the remaining 7 States and Regions of Myanmar between November 2014- February 2015. This initiative aims to respond to scarcity of data, information gap and to provide a critical contribution to the ongoing reform process.
The purpose of the mapping is to better understand the state of governance in Myanmar at both state/region and township levels, from both the supply and demand side perspective, i.e., from the institutional and people’s perspectives. The mapping exercise will identify the opportunities and challenges that exist in the area of sub-national governance, in order to contribute to policy discussions on regional and local governance in an informed manner. It is expected that this mapping exercise will build on the momentum of reforms, and contribute to a further consolidation of the democratic transition process in Myanmar. The three-step approach taken for the local governance mapping undertakes household surveys using the methodology of citizen report cards, interviews with front line service providers and community dialogues at the village/ ward level; interviews with relevant stakeholders at the township level and finally at the state/region level. See for more details Attachment 1.
The Local Governance Mapping exercise will therefore provide national stakeholders with the necessary data and information to make better informed decisions/produce better informed policies/better plans for improved service delivery and democratic governance at local level. The people of Myanmar (including the poor and most vulnerable) will provide much of the content of this mapping exercise; it gives them an opportunity to express their perceptions. Additionally, it will provide UNDP and other International Development Partners with relevant baseline data to improve programming, indicator development and progress monitoring. The outcome of this mapping exercise will be used as a basis to design and refine jointly with the government counterparts UNDPs future work on local governance in Myanmar. |
