A Local Governance Toolkit

A Local Governance Toolkit

August 16, 2018

In 2015, the UNHCR-UNDP Joint Regional Secretariat prepared A Local Governance Toolkit for municipalities affected by the Syrian refugee crisis. It is an effective tool to identify municipal needs and capacities, and for streamlining planning. The toolkit has been designed with four modules focused on: creating databases of municipality needs and assets; developing participatory methods to identify and prioritize problems; carrying out Collective Action Planning; and increasing two-way communication, while ensuring the utilization of untapped human capital and promoting social cohesion.

Introduction

This module provides a brief background of the Syria crisis up until 2015 and sets out the basis for the need of a Local Governance Toolkit.

Module 1: Creating a Municipality Needs and Assets Database

This module provides a step-by-step process of how to conceptualize, create and maintain a municipality needs and assets database.   

Module 2: Participatory Problem Identification and Prioritization

This module sets out how the information in the Municipality Needs and Assets Database (Module 1) can be used to formulate strategic goals that will then be addressed through a collective action plan (more in Module 3).   

Module 3: Collective Action Planning

This module looks into the assets in a municipality that can be used to address sub-objectives of the strategic goals that were set out in Module 2. It also offers guidance to working groups in analyzing stakeholders’ influence over these assets and how they can be used to design and select activities and investments.  

Module 4: Methods for Information Gathering

This module provides guidance to municipal leaders on how to systematically collect information, ensuring that the views of all residents in the community are taken into account. It focuses on efficient approaches that do not require specific expertise to implement while also presenting opportunities for youth to volunteer and become more active in municipal affairs.  

Regions and Countries