| Citizen’s Information and Service Centers |
 |
 |
 |
| 23.12.2008 |
|
During 2005-2006 the ELS projects set up
the Citizen’s Information and Service Centers under the Mahalla Fund.
The centres serve as a link between communities, authorities and donors
to better focus and coordinate their activities in local development.
The “Enhancement of Living Standards in
Karakalpakstan and Namangan region” (ELS) projects financed by the
European union and implemented by UNDP support and promote the
involvement of people and local authorities in the development of their
own communities. The projects mobilize 100 communities by using the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a starting point to identify
their main problems and how to overcome them. The projects work with mahallas (associations of citizens), Khokimiyats
(regional and district governments) and communities to rehabilitate
water and other social infrastructures in three districts of
Karakalpakstan - Karauzyak, Kegeliy and Shumanai and of Namangan region
– Kasansay, Chartak and Mingbulak. During 2005-2006 the ELS projects set up the Citizen’s Information and Service Centers under
the Mahalla Fund. The centres serve as a link between communities,
authorities and donors to better focus and coordinate their activities
in local development. The centres provide support to community-based
self-help initiatives and facilitate citizen’s interaction with local
Government departments. The centres also distribute information on the
Millennium Development Goals in Uzbekistan and their relevance to the
specific development context of the country. The centres function as
liaison between authorities and communities, and maintain a rudimentary
data and information systems. The centres also provide basic office
services, tagainst a modest payment, in particular for computer use,
photocopying, printing, etc. They play a pivotal role in assisting
local authorities to collect socioeconomic data in 50 local communities
in three districts for the preparation of the so-called community
passports. This information is fed into the preparation of the living
standards maps to be utilized amongst other inputs, during process of
preparation of the national Welfare Improvement Strategy Paper,
presently ongoing The centres have been organizing
participatory workshops and training by stimulating discussion around
the goals and their relevance to development planning and monitoring at
local level (a process called MDG localization). The centres also
provide support to communities, farmers, local authorities and others
in preparing project proposals for the rehabilitation of social
infrastructures and business/management plans. In 2006 they have also
been involved in a local survey of the efficiency of financing in the
Namangan region.  The
six centres utilize and maximize the potential of existing local
capacities, including those of traditional community based structures.
They were initailly set up through a one-off institutional grant to
enable the local community based structure (Mahalla Fund) to serve as a
repository and disseminator of information on the role of civil society
and citizens in development. While these centres have been working for
just over a year, the prospects are promising. This practice builds
successfully on existing structures to create a service that is likely
to be useful and sustainable in the long run. The centres have been set
up sufficiently modestly so that they require little money for their
upkeep. The Mahalla Fund, who do have a budget, are eager to make the
centres work and local authorities are very supportive. The running
costs of the centres are already covered from the budgets of the
Mahalla Funds. |
Новости и события Citizen’s Information and Service Centers