Building trust between authorities and constituents, delivering local services and demonstrating the value of democratic models are among the key elements of responsive local governance in fragile, conflict and post-conflict areas, according to experts who are implementing programs in challenging locations.
Speaking during a webinar called “Strengthening Local Governance in Conflict and Fragile Settings,” three panelists outlined challenges and strategies that they and their peers face when supporting initiatives in such fluid contexts. The full webinar is available online.
Implementers running governance programs in fragile and conflict settings need to strike a balance between promoting the concepts of democracy, such as inclusion, participation and transparency, while providing support for immediate and critical needs and essential services.
Neila Akrimi, PhD, the Head of Programming for Francophone Africa at VNG International and Director of the VNG International Center for Innovative Local Governance, said during the Nov. 20 webinar that her organization prioritizes social cohesion and social peace in its work to strengthen local government institutions in conflict and fragile areas.
“Our programs have always focused on an important core principle, which is refocusing on the participatory approach as a vehicle for social cohesion and social peace,” she said, noting that local governments are key actors and have the greatest proximity to residents.
Meeting immediate needs
Communities in fragile and conflict settings have urgent needs, requiring authorities to construct or rebuild basic government services while simultaneously operating them, said panelist Mohamad Hamish, the Chief of Party of the State Department-funded FURAT III program in northeast Syria.
“There is often this tension between immediate needs” and a community’s role in governance, he said in response to a webinar question. “You have people who want to or have [recently] returned to their homes, and they need water and electricity.” Programs need to recognize that these conditions can limit the ability of citizens to engage while still creating spaces for feeding their input and priorities to local government officials and other service providers.
In Deir Ezzor, the largest city in northeast Syria that was at one-time under ISIS control, the State Department-funded FURAT III program found that residents wanted a voice in how basic services were determined and delivered. “They are looking to participate in the political [process] and be engaged and involved in deciding what is best for their community, what is best for their areas as well.”
To find that balance, FURAT III works with community partners and local councils to run perception surveys, needs assessments, town halls and community outreach to obtain feedback and buy-in about priorities and solutions. Simultaneously, the local councils focused on delivering fresh water, providing emergency services, revitalizing old equipment and ensuring other basic services that neighborhoods depend on.
“Fostering this inclusive and participatory approach is challenging,” Hamish said, particularly when most of the local governance entities lack technical and managerial expertise. FURAT III works to build those much-needed skills while encouraging officials to work closely with the community.
“It is not an easy job to engage the community and deliver services at the same time, especially during crisis, especially after liberation,” Hamish said.
A bottom-up approach
The results of local governance efforts in the liberated areas of Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East can be traced to the Arab Spring. Akrimi said the Arab Spring changed the governance dynamic by shifting from a top-down to a bottom-up approach, with the goal of making it more inclusive and equitable.
When working with local governments, “we need to keep the perspective of the changing of cultural institutional models very important,” she said. “Also, we need so much to create a current or momentum hope with things done, be it in creating jobs or creating initiatives that that really make local government be useful to the community.”
Building democracy during fragility
In Burkina Faso, the on-the-ground situation is challenging as the country has suffered two coups since January 2022, a rise in violent extremism, 2 million internally displaced persons and a history of much-needed but poorly delivered government services.
With this backdrop, the USAID-supported Inclusive Governance for Resilience program works with local authorities and civil society to bridge the gap between service delivery, community participation and democratic values.
The “situation has reached a level where a large part of the population doesn’t want to hear about democracy and this is due to the fact that the population has reduced democracy to the holding of elections, which are now decried in Burkina Faso,” said Siaka Ouedraogo, Chief of Party of the USAID Inclusive Governance for Resilience program.
In May, Burkina Faso’s military government extended its transition term by five years, with the possibility to conduct elections before the end of that period.
Nonetheless, Ouedraogo said promoting democratic values can be part of and align with the delivery of basic government services. The Inclusive Governance for Resilience program launched co-creation workshops with officials and communities to ensure local participation in the decision-making process, which has increased communications and built a degree of trust between the two groups.
By working with communities — particularly marginalized populations — authorities have a better understanding of their constituents’ needs. “So, key players who didn’t get along were able to discuss the common problem and solutions,” he said. “This approach leads to a good foundation for the inclusion of all key players” and improving social cohesion.
Democracy during conflict
With Burkina Faso’s struggle with violent extremists and the underlying causes that feed it, Ouedraogo says democratic values and effective, responsive institutions can serve efforts by governments, civil society and communities to stem the advances of these non-state actors.
“Democracy is seen as a potential brick in the fight against terrorism,” he said during the 90-minute panel session. “So, to promote democratic values at the local level, local authorities need to [show] concrete results from the application of certain democratic principles and stabilization and peace-building actions needs to be linked to democratic values.”
Akrimi said democratic principles and processes are under pressure from various forces, including pandemics, authoritarianism and natural disasters. Fortunately, years of focus on good governance and social inclusion have made a difference.
“In all those years, there have been a lot of investments in civil society and in partnerships between local [authorities] and civil society,” said Akrimi. “And we noticed that when it comes to democracy, the belief that democracy is the only way forward when it comes to having effective service delivery [and] making sure that local policies are really attached to the needs in the local community [is still there] despite the challenges of different crises.”
