Municipal Governance Program Quarterly Report October 1 – December 31, 2016

The program aimed to strengthen the capacity of municipal governments to manage public resources effectively and promote citizen participation in decision-making processes. One of the key accomplishments of the program was the oversight of the 2015 municipal budget. Of the 130 projects proposed by partner organizations and included in municipal budgets, 110 (or 85%) were registered in the TRANSMUNI system as of December 31, 2016. Financial implementation had begun on 104 projects (or 95%), with 87% or $1,680,306 of the total funds of $1,922,603 allocated to partner organization projects. The program also supported social audits, which involved training 12 graduates from the National Democratic Institute's Political Leadership Course in the use of Open Data to conduct social audits. Participants learned to access open data about municipal budgets available on online platforms. Additionally, the program facilitated municipal council sessions and advocacy activities, with 3,630 individuals (51% women) from 11 municipalities participating in municipal consultation activities for the 2017 municipal budgets. The program also focused on youth development, with 19 Municipal Committee of Adolescent and Youth (CoMAJ) and Christian Medical Action (AMC) youth trained on evidence-based monitoring and evaluation of their initiatives. The Youth Roundtable in the Southern Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCS) participated in a successful session, where members received a firm commitment from the government chairwoman and other government agencies to participate in the development of a South Caribbean Coast Youth Policy. The program also addressed the needs of the LGBTI community, with an awareness campaign directed at journalists to ensure the use of non-discriminatory language in reporting on issues affecting the LGBT community. Institutional strengthening of the Sexual Diversity Movement (MDS) was also achieved, along with awareness raising with local populations in Bluefields and El Rama. Furthermore, the program supported Disabled Person Organizations (DPOs), with members marching and participating in an awareness raising workshop about the rights of PwDs and the responsibilities of local governments. In preparation for Hurricane Otto, members of Federation of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (FECONORI) lobbied with local Disaster Preparedness officials to ensure priority attention was provided to PwDs. The program also focused on fiscal transparency, with ten civil society organizations completing sector analyses of the national budget and producing municipal citizen's budgets for four municipalities. The results of these projects were presented at an exchange forum for organizations participating in initiatives to monitor public resources and increase fiscal transparency. In addition, the program supported climate change adaptation efforts, with the development of municipal climate change adaptation plans in Muelle de Bueyes and Corn Island. The Muelle de Bueyes plan is 80% complete, with the remaining study pending. The Bluefields plan is complete, and the project currently works with 18 model families, with 51% women and 54% under age 30. The families come from diverse ethnic backgrounds and include Creole, mestizo, and indigenous Rama and Miskito families.