UNDP, Switzerland, Austria Launch Phase 2 of Regional & Local Development Project
Together with the expertise and support of the Swiss and Austrian government, the UNDP-implemented project on fostering the development and decentralization of municipalities across Georgia has entered the 2nd phase. The UNDP, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Austrian Development Cooperation decided to move the project to the 2nd phase after a successful evaluation of the 1st phase was registered last year.
Georgia’s Soviet history has left the nation in a strong, centralized, bureaucratic state since its independence 25 years ago, obstructing government efficiency and often barring local governments from autonomous decision-making processes. The issues stemming from national strategies and plans are numerous, affecting agricultural development, the business environment, infrastructure planning and civil society participation. After the UNDP launched its Regional and Local Development project in 2012, it registered wide-ranging improvements in these areas.
Between 2012-2017, the project reached important milestones, supporting self-governance reform and regional and local development. A key aspect over the past five years was the development and adoption of new laws enhancing decentralization and incorporating necessary paragraphs for municipal decision-making processes. The Local Self-Government Code, endorsed in 2014, is one major example transferring services from the national level to the local. In 2015, the Law on the Development of High Mountainous Regions of Georgia was endorsed, fostering development in arduously accessible areas. Alongside legal improvements, the project conducted an institutional analysis of municipalities, evaluating strengths, weaknesses and improvement potential, favoring decentralization. The 1st phase also included civil society setting up advocacy initiatives. The project also supports the development of the National Training Concept and provided capacity development support to national and local civil servants. An impressive number of 703 national and 4,427 local civil servants were able to receive essential training through this scheme.
During the 1st phase, the project leaders developed action plans for sustainable development, funding over 2000 local projects and the implementation of 31 projects in 6 regions across Georgia. These projects have benefited 30,000 citizens directly and over 500,000 citizens indirectly. Over the years, Citizen Satisfaction surveys were conducted in 2013, in 2015, and at the end of the 1st Phase in 2017. The results were used to improve the planning and implementation of the 2nd Phase.
The results of the 1st Phase are multi-fold. Commissioned by the UNDP as well as the Austrian and Swiss Development Agencies, the Georgian research firm ACT carried out a comprehensive analysis to evaluate the impact. The good opinion of road conditions has much increased. In 2013, still 84% considered local roads in the highlands to be in a bad condition, while the percentage decreased in 2017 to 67%. The negative opinion about the access to roads then decreased from 69% to 47%, highway condition from 39% to 24%, public transport condition from 45% to 27%, and the price of public transport from 47% to 21%. In terms of highland infrastructure, the project noted strong improvements, spurring the UNDP’s motivation to enter the 2nd Phase with continued support from Austria and Switzerland. Enhancement of public services was also seen in the educational sector. Compared to only 77% of citizens at first satisfied with services provided by public kindergartens, in 2017 that satisfaction rose to 88%. Satisfaction in education management rose from 51% to 71%, in school food quality from 48% to 70%, and in teachers’ competencies from 54% to 73%. Overall, the availability of public kindergarten spots to the general Georgian public increased to an impressive 83%.
After setting the foundation over the course of five years, the 2nd Phase aims at fostering the vertical support emitted by the local institutions to stimulate regional and local economies. One of the goals is the improvement of civil society participation, engaging ordinary nationals in policy-making decisions. Such policy-focused discussions aim to create an environment in which people-initiated and people-centered projects can take off, benefiting a multitude of target groups, including women, men, youth, displaced, and minority groups. The inclusiveness of different groups of society allows policy proposals which incorporate a wide part of interest groups. Presently, only 18% of the population is aware of different ways of citizen participation available to them in settlement meetings, whereas a shockingly low 8% knows about their right to participate in municipal council meetings. The act of initiating or signing of petitions is only known to 14% of the population, alongside a mere 7%, who knows about their right to participate in civic advisory councils. In a world where words are often more powerful than figures, the percentage of people reading reports by the municipality is only 9%, again indicating a dire need for improvement.
The UNDP, together with the Swiss and Austrian expertise, has identified three essential areas through which the goals of the 2nd Phase can be achieved. Firstly, the establishment of policy and institutional frameworks to foster decentralization of governance and local as well as economic development, alongside enhanced capacities of national and local government institutions to deliver quality services at the local level, enabling a strong and healthy business environment and promote local economic actors. The first two areas will be complemented by the economic and social empowerment of local communities to ease their access to decision-making.
This Tuesday, the representatives of the Georgian government, UNDP, and the Swiss and Austrian Development agencies officially initiated the 2nd Phase. The implementation phase will run from 2018 to 2021, tackling specific sectors to spur the decentralization process and boost local economy. A total budget of $5.5 million is available for the three years for essential infrastructure investments and operational costs.
“We will pay particular attention to the decentralization of governance, local economic development and to building the capacity of the national and local institutions to make sure that they can deliver quality services to the citizens,” Zurab Alavidze, Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, informed the audience.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, stressed that regional and local development is one of Georgia’s strategic priorities in the coming years. “Georgia kicks off the ambitious reform of local self-governance, aiming to increase decision-making powers and financial resources of the regional and local authorities. Our medium-term goal is to increase the consolidated financial resource of the municipalities to at least 7% of GDP,” he said.
Under the leadership of UNDP, the project will continue to be executed by highly experienced staff members who have contributed enormously to the past development efforts in Georgia.
Niels Scott, Head of the UNDP in Georgia, emphasized the positive results of the 1st Phase citizen survey leading straight into the 2nd phase. “The study shows that only one out of six citizens has contacted local authorities in the past two years. Citizen engagement in the decision-making process and quality local services were named as most important prerequisites for the success of decentralization and self-governance reform,” he highlighted, adding that the UNDP supports the Georgian government’s implementation efforts of a new vision of decentralization.
Since 2012, both the 1st and 2nd phases have been strongly supported by the Austrian and Swiss governments. “With more than 700 years of practice in decentralization and the principle of subsidiarity, Switzerland has demonstrated the merit of strong and regional self-governments. We are glad to share this experience as an input to the further implementation of decentralization in Georgia,” noted Olivier Bürki, Head of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC in Georgia. He further explained, “The UNDP has done an excellent job in Georgia and it is our pleasure to support their efforts together with Austria in a coordinated support scheme. The aim is not to provide a blueprint for Georgian decentralization, as cultural and political circumstances are very different to Switzerland, but together with the local governments and the UNDP, we can identify the right level of service needed and the right level of government needed to accelerate the decentralization efforts in Georgia.”
Bürki explains the differentiation which has to be made when dealing with decentralization: “It is important to leave national matters in the hands of the national government and refer small-scale projects to the hands of the local governments. A great example would be road management. Secondary roads want to be addressed on a local level, whereas national highways crossing multiple regions want to be addressed on a national level.”
Switzerland provides targeted expertise and exposure visits in Switzerland for the project through the help of leading Swiss development organizations, and appreciates the willingness of the Georgian government to decentralize, thus providing the necessary resources to achieve the set goals.
“We focus on a number of programs, such as sustainable agricultural processes and an improved business environment. Enhancing the agricultural output is a delicate task of understanding the needs of rural areas first before we support the local authorities to address these needs. We aim to foster the initiatives on a local and individual level and to provide the conditions and means to realize these initiatives.
Head of the Austrian Development Coordination office in Georgia, Gerhard Schaumberger congratulated the UNDP and the Georgian government for the successful 1st Phase. “We strongly supported the 1st Phase focusing on the mountainous areas of Georgia. Together with the Austrian Institut für Bergbauernfragen (Institute for Questions of Mountain Farmers), we enabled the exchange of knowledge and ideas to find solutions for problems which are very similar to those in Austrian mountains, as Georgia and Austria share the same geographic features. We have worked hard to enhance projects on gender equality and environmental protection, understanding the shifting patterns in these fields.” Schaumberger said, noting the recent agreement between the European Union and Georgia to work more closely towards stronger political association and economic integration. “We are very supportive of the reform efforts undertaken by the Georgian government, which are in line with the EU-Georgian Association Agreement.”
Like Switzerland, Schaumberger highlights the importance of SMEs in rural and local municipalities, especially in regard to tourism, “the tourism industry is booming in Georgia, this is the perfect time to develop the capacities and quality to handle the rising numbers of overnight stays by foreign tourists,” he said.
Benjamin Music