Reported end date passed· Livelihoods

State Building at Local Level Project

The ten-year long conflict (1996-2006) not only had a negative impact on the countries’ socio-economic development, but also destroyed and weakened many of its institutions including those at the local level: the village development committees (VDCs) and the district development committees (DDCs). The absence of elected VDC and DDC representatives since 2002 and a weak state have allowed political parties, private sector entrepreneurs and sometimes the administration itself to influence decisions and appropriate resources. SDC proposes to provide a modest budget support to the DDCs in two of its three focus districts: Khotang and Okhaldunga. Coupled with the current SDC presence and positioning in these districts, the budget support should allow SDC to increase its leverage and delivery of development outcomes. The project is also expected to foster a culture of dialogue (and control) among all stakeholders. This should build up experiences and skills that can be used by both the existing local administrations (and the political parties) to prepare for the upcoming transition towards a new federal state, and the new federal unit to possibly build upon. In this sense, the project is also expected to contribute to a smoother transition and prevent conflict.

Source-reported status: active. Timeline labels use reported dates and do not verify current activity.