DGG Objectives
Governance is about the processes by whichpublic policy decisions are made andimplemented. It is the result of interactions,relationships and networks between the differentsectors (government, public sector, private sectorand civil society) and involves decisions,negotiation, and different power relationsbetween stakeholders to determine who getswhat, when and how. The relationship
s betweengovernment and different sectors of societydetermine how things are done, and how servicesare provided. Governance is therefore much morethan government or ‘good government’ andshapes the way a service or set of services areplanned, managed and regulated within a set ofpolitical social and economic systems. (Please refer for detail reading: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/democratic-governance/oslo_governance_centre/governance_assessments/a-users-guide-to-measuring-local-governance-.html)
It is in this view a core group of active citizens is required at the district level, who can comprehend the causes and issues that lead to ineffective, inefficient and sub-standard public services. This group needs to develop capacity and understanding of complex processes embedded in regulatory frameworks that govern the functioning of public institutions and officials. The issues of service delivery arise when either the regulatory frameworks are weak and obsolete or are not being adhered to. Unless citizens have the capacity to engage with elected and public officials to raise and advocate for improvement and/or enforcement of regulatory frameworks, the quality of public services cannot improve. The concepts of efficiency and effectiveness earlier studied, therefore, require that the project invests in DGG interventions that improve public services at the same time when it is facilitating CRGs in seeking provision of these services on a case to case basis. The primary objective of DGGs, therefore, is to position themselves for raising issues pertaining to improvement and enforcement for regulatory frameworks.
