VNG International to support Participatory Strategic Governance at Local Level in Turkey - 07-07-11
VNG International obtained a new project in Turkey: "Technical Assistance for Improving Participatory Strategic Governance at Local Level". The overall objective of this project is to increase the scope of local administration reform in Turkey by improving the capacity of local governments for enhancing participatory strategic governance at the local level. The project will be executed in 26 pilot municipalities in Turkey, of which every municipality has a population higher than 200.000. The project is funded by the European Commission. For the execution of this project VNG International has formed a consortium with four other organisations; WYG International Limited (United Kingdom), DeLeeuw International Limited (Turkey), Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (Turkey) and Youth Association for Habitat GmbH (Turkey).
In line with the overall objective, the project’s purpose is three-fold. On one hand it focuses at increased strategic planning capacity of local administrations, thereby supporting the implementation of new legislation related to local administration to ensure participation, transparency and accountability at the local level. Second, it focuses at increased efficiency and effectiveness of urban councils in local decision-making and fostering the use of participatory analytical tools. Third, it focuses at enhanced participatory decision-making culture at the local level through awareness raising and visibility activities.
In this project VNG International will be targeting the service providers (i.e. local administrations) and the service users (i.e. civil society and citizens residing in the pilot local administrations). As a result to this, we will improve the capacity of civil society by enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of urban councils and the decision-making culture. Pro-active engagement of civil society groups and citizens in the planning process and local decision-making yields significant benefits and provides a good basis for enhanced political, economic and social development. VNG International will start its activities in September, and the project has a length of just over 2 years.