Global Communities NicaraguaNICARAGUA

 

Stengthening Local Governance and Promoting Citizen Participation

Global Communities is working in Nicaragua through the USAID-funded Local Governance Program to strengthen citizen participation and the capacity of civil society organizations to engage and influence key decision makers in order to improve local governance and development.

This is being accomplished under a three-ponged approach which focuses on promoting citizen participation, building the capacity civil society organizations and increasing fiscal transparency in the municipal budgeting process.

Citizen Participation: The Local Governance Program aims to promote the exercise of citizens’ rights and responsibilities in governance and local development through awareness and education campaigns to inform the public on their rights and responsibilities to actively participate in local development decisions, trainings with local civil society organizations and citizens on how to engage local governments and provide oversight of public resource management and service delivery.

Civil Society: The Local Governance Program works to strengthen civil society organizational capacity to advocate on behalf of their citizens by providing trainings in participatory self-appraisal, technical assistance, equipment/systems donations, subgrants to carry out civil society activities and by facilitating linkages to strengthen civil society networks.

Fiscal Transparency: The Local Governance Program promotes fiscal transparency in the municipal budgeting process by encouraging budget oversight among citizens and civil society organizations and by providing trainings and awareness campaigns on Nicaraguan legal framework, international best practices and standards in budget transparency and budget analysis. Additionally a National Budget Observatory will be created for the monitoring of public resources including an interactive website to monitor tax revenue and budget allocations. 

To learn more, please visit the Global Communities Nicaragua website or follow the program through their Facebook page.