Municipal development

The project will be implemented by the Corporation of Municipalities of the Republic of Salvador (COMURES) -- an association of mayors -- and an institutional contractor and will: (1) promote reforms to decentralize governance to MGs; (2) strengthen MG capacity to deliver public services; and (3) increase citizen participation in the democratic process. The first component will assist the Government of El Salvador"s (GOES) Technical Committee for Decentralization and Municipal Development (CDM) and COMURES in developing and building consensus support prior to the 3/94 elections for municipal autonomy policy reforms in three areas. (1) To develop MG financial sustainability, the project will encourage the GOES to significantly increase transfers to needy MGs; stress will be placed on formula-based rather than discretionary transfers so as to encourage local autonomy and local revenue generation and avoid the danger of political manipulation. MEA resources will also be used to support local autonomy. (2) The project will help COMURES and the CDM develop a plan to devolve select public services to MGs, beginning with a pilot effort in water systems. Efforts will involve obtaining enabling legislation, providing observation travel to other Latin America countries for members of the Legislative Assembly and GOES officials, and TA to help select MGs assume their new duties. A major goal will be to transform the Salvadoran Institute for Municipal Development (ISDEM) from a paternalistic to a demand-driven organization. (3) To increase popular participation in local decisionmaking, the project will encourage and, in some cases, require the assisted MGs to enhance such participation, especially by making municipal council meetings open to the public. The project will also use the Caribbean Latin America Scholarship Program (CLASP) and Local Government Regional Outreach Strategy (LOGROS) programs to expose mayors from all MGs to the open council experience in the United States, and promote increased citizen use of the consultas populares, a mechanism that registers public opinion that is binding on the actions of the council, but which is vastly underutilized. The second component will provide TA and training to strengthen the management capacity of 15 MGs with proven track records. Assistance will be based on assessments of MG needs. Smaller and weaker municipalities will be encouraged to form associations in order to pool resources and share services. Assistance will focus on five areas: (1) municipal management and finance; (2) tax administration and cadaster systems; (3) water and environmental technology; (4) expanded service provision; and (5) increased citizen participation in municipal decisionmaking. COMURES will receive TA and training to strengthen its ability to serve as an advocate for municipal concerns with the GOES and Legislative Assembly, develop a strategy for municipal development, and increase its membership. In conjunction with ISDEM, COMURES will develop an information clearinghouse capacity to disseminate project experience and a training program to demonstrate project experience to other municipalities. The third component will work in the 15 assisted MGs to increase participation in the democratic process by local organizations. To this end, the project will train MG officials, both elected and appointed, how to register local organizations (COMURES will develop a manual to guide the process) and in how to run an open council meeting. Project assistance will be conditioned upon such meetings. To increase citizen awareness of their rights and responsibilities, COMURES will develop a public awareness campaign targeting NGOs and community organizations, a key aspect of which will be development of a comic book-style pamphlet summarizing the Municipal Code. The project will also develop a series of radio programs, along with video tapes for showing at municipal council meetings in rural areas. Amendment of 1/26/96 almost triples level of funding, extends the PACD to 12/31/99, and expands the project"s citizen participation component as a result of the Mission"s decision to fold the planned Participation and Governance Project into the project. Civic participation activities will be focused at the lower level and integrated with municipal development activities. (Abstract based on Results Package of 6/23/97: PD-ABP-309) Results Package (RP) of 6/23/97 to enhance the participation of the Salvadoran populace in the local democratic process and improve the capacity of local governments to respond to constituents in selected municipalities. The RP is comprised solely of the activities under this, the Municipal and Citizen Participation Project, and supports four lower-level results that are required to achieve the Intermediate Result, "Increased Participation in Strengthened Local Government," which falls under Strategic Objective No. 2, "More Inclusive and Effective Democratic Processes in El Salvador." The four lower-level results are: policy for more effective democratic local government shared by national and local leaders, expanded and improved quality of services, stronger grassroots participation and organizational skills, and more effective participatory municipal decisionmaking. No new activities are planned for the period 1997-2002, although activities under the project"s civil society participation component will be increased. (PD-ABP-309)