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Royal Government of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bhutan Denmark

GOOD GOVERNANCE SUPPORT PROGRAMME

2008 - 2013

Ref. No. 104. Bhutan.21-3. May 2008.

Good Governance Support Programme

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COVER PAGE Country : Bhutan

Sector : Good Governance, including decentralisation

Title : Good Governance Support Programme (GGSP)

National Agency : Gross National Happiness Commission, GNHC

Duration : Five years

Starting Date : 1st July 2008

Overall Budget : DKK 50 million

The Good Governance Support Programme (GGSP) is the Danish support to the Royal Gov-ernment of Bhutan‟s (RGoB) development of good governance, including decentralisation. GGSP follows two phases of support to good governance, implemented since 1997. The pro-gramme is in line with the objectives and targets set in RGoB‟s draft 10th Five Year Plans (FYP). Consequently the overall objective of the Programme is to realise good governance principles as the enabling environment for poverty reduction, and as such contribute to the 10th FYP‟s goal of reducing poverty from 23% to 15% by 2013. GGSP consists of three focused components, un-allocated funds (8%), and reviews/studies (4%):

Component 1, Support to Democratic Governance Institutions comprises support to two sub-components the National Land Commission and the Judiciary with a total of 28% of the funds. Earmarked support will be channelled to the Ministry of Finance through the GNHC to facilitate development of a revised and improved land policy, based on an updated cadastral registration, and to enhance access to justice for all, including vulnerable groups.

Component 2, Local Governance Support Programme is a joint programme of support from Denmark, UNCDF, UNDP and other development partners like SDC, Austria and JICA to RGoB‟s local government reform. This component is the largest of the programme comprising 50% of the funding with a direct contribution to a capital block grant mechanism to all gewogs (counties) in Bhutan, and earmarked support to capacity development of the local governments. Component 3, Support to Non-state Actors, focusing on enhancement of civil society, the es-tablishment of the Civil Society Organisations‟ Authority, and a supporting CSO fund facility. The funding is 10% of the programme.

The Danish GGSP is part of the joint Partnership for Good Governance for 2008-2013, the de-velopment partners‟ harmonised and aligned support to RGoB‟s enabling environment for good governance. The MoU of the joint Partnership outlines the joint monitoring and evaluation pro-cedures, including the Joint Annual Review Meeting of which the GGSP will be a part. Signatures:

Royal Government of Bhutan

Government of Denmark

Date: Date:


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Table of Contents

Map of Bhutan iv

1 Introduction 1

2 National and Sector Context 2

2.1 Country profile 2

2.2 On the Road to Democracy 2

2.3 Bhutan‟s Poverty Reduction Strategy - the 10th Five-Year Plan 3

2.4 Government Structure 4

2.5 Decentralised democratic governance 7

2.6 Cross-cutting Issues 8

3 Agreed Assistance 11

3.1 Objectives and main components 11

3.2 Unallocated Funds 13

3.3 Reviews, studies, etc. 14

4 Components 15

4.1 Component One: Support to Democratic Governance Institutions 15

4.2 Component Two: Joint Support to Local Governance 19

4.3 Component Three: Support to Non-State Actors 20

5 Budget 22

6 Management and Organisation 24

6.1 Component One 24

6.2 Component Two: The Joint Local Governance Support Programme 25

6.3 Component Three: - Support to Non-State Actors 27

7 Financial management and procurement 28

7.1 Transfer of Funds 28

7.2 Accounting and Auditing 28

7.3 Procurement 28


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8 Monitoring, reporting, reviews and evaluations 30

8.1 Indicators 30

8.2 Reviews and evaluation 31

8.3 Physical and Financial Reporting 31

9 Assumptions, risks and preconditions 32

9.1 Component One 32

9.2 Component Two: Joint LGSP 33

9.3 Component Three Non-State Actors 33

Annexes 1. Overview of Development Partner support for Good Governance

2. Joint Partnership for Good Governance MoU

3. References


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Map of Bhutan


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Abbreviations

ACC Anti-Corruption Commission

ADB Asian Development Bank

ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution

ADA Austrian Development Agency

BBS Bhutan Broadcasting Service

BTN Bhutanese Ngultrum

CPAP Common Country Programme Action Plan

DADM Department of Aid and Debt Management

Danida Danish International Development Assistance

DKK Danish Kroner

DLG Department of Local Governance, now Local Development Division (LDD)

DNB Department of National Budget

DP Development Partners

DPA Department of Public Accounts

DT Dzongkhag Tshogdu

DYT Dzongkhag Development Committee

DRC Department of Revenue and Customs, now separate departments

DSP Decentralisation Support Programme

Dzong Fortress/monastery and district administration premises

Dzongkhag District

ECB Election Commission of Bhutan

FMA Financial Management Arrangement

FYP Five Year Plan

GAO Gewog Administrative Officer

GDFA Gewog Development Facilitating Activities

Gewog County

GG Good Governance

GG/PARP Danida Good Governance/Public Administrative Reform Programme (Phase I & II)

GGSP (Danish) Good Governance Support Programme 2008-2013

GNH Gross National Happiness

GNHC Gross National Happiness Commission

GPS Global Positioning System

GoI Government of India

GT Gewog Tshogde

GYT Block Development Committee

HRD Human Resource Development

ICT Information and Communication Technology

IGFT Inter – governmental fiscal transfers

JGGSF Joint Good Governance Support Framework

JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency

LDD Local Development Division

LG Local Governance

LGAB Local Governments‟ Act of Bhutan

LGSP Local Governance Support Programme

LLM Master of Law

LOD Liaison Office of Denmark

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

MDGs Millennium Development Goals


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MIS Management Information System

MOU Memorandum of Understanding

MTEF Midium Term Fiscal Framework

NGO Non Governmental Organisation

NMES National Monitoring and Evaluation System

NCWC National Commission for Women and Children

NPAG National Plan of Action for Gender

Nu Ngultrum (the currency of Bhutan)

NWAB National Womens Association of Bhutan

OB/SC Outcome Board/Steering Committee (for LGSP)

PBM Planning Budgeting and Monitoring Tool

PEM Public Expenditure Management

PFM Public Financial Management

PlaMS Planning and Monitoring System

PMF Programme Monitoring Framework

PRS Poverty Reduction Strategy

RAA Royal Audit Authority

RCSC Royal Civil Service Commission

RGoB Royal Government of Bhutan

RIM Royal Institute of Management

RTM Round Table Meeting

RRF Results and Resources Framework

SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation

TA Technical Assistance

TOR Terms of Reference

UN United Nations

UNCDF United Nations Capital Development Fund

UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNICEF United Nations Children‟s Fund

WB World Bank


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Executive Summary

Within a span of few years, Bhutan has made unparalleled and remarkable progress in the areas of governance, moving towards a democratic constitutional monarchy, whereby the rule of law is supreme within the Draft Constitution, to be adopted in 2008 by the first democratically elected Parliament. In order to support the transformation to democracy, an impressive effort has been made to strengthen key constitutional and local government institutions.

Denmark has since the mid-90s supported good governance and public administrative reform initiatives in Bhutan through local grants and two phases of the GG/PARP programmes, which are coming to an end by June 2008. A more focused approach has now been foreseen for the Danish support. Initiated by the annual review of the Danish support in September 2007, development partners in Bhutan began to explore the possibility of harmonising development assistance for good govern-ance to ensure maximum donor coordination and alignment of assistance to the Royal Govern-ment of Bhutan (RGoB). A joint formulation was undertaken in late 2007 by Denmark, UNDP and UNCDF, and subsequently a joint appraisal, led by Denmark was undertaken in April 2008. The Good Governance Support Programme (GGSP) incorporates results and agreements from the joint appraisal and the GGSP is oriented towards developing and sustaining good governance as a mechanism to support poverty reduction. The GGSP comprises of three components:

• Support to democratic governance institutions;

• The Joint Local Government Support Programme (LGSP) with UNDP/UNCDF and other development partners like Austria, SDC and JICA

• Support to non-state actors (CSOs)

The GGSP is harmonised to the extent possible - most notably for the LGSP - and fully aligned to RGoB procedures. The agreed assistance formulated in this GGSP is fully integrated into the key 10th Five Year Plan, which aims to reduce the poverty level from 23% to 15% during the plan period June 2008 - July 2013. The GGSP shall support the RGoB to establish and realise good governance principles as the enabling environment for poverty reduction, which is an essential part of the strategy outlined in the 10th FYP. The development objective for the GGSP is realisation of good governance principles in Bhu-tan. The three immediate objectives, each forming the framework for programme compo-nents:

• Immediate objective one: Strengthened capacity of democratic governance institutions in Bhutan, where Denmark will support (i) the National Land Commission (ii) The Judiciary (iii) co-ordinated with other development partners a need-based support may be offered to other democratic governance institutions, e.g. the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Election Commission of Bhutan. Funding level for this component is DKK 7 million for the National Land Commission; DKK 7 million for the Judiciary, and an additional DKK 4 mil-lion is available as unallocated funds.

• Immediate objective two: Democratic governance at local levels enhanced and services delivered effectively and efficiently as a mechanism to reduce poverty. The support is tar-geted to a so-called Gewog Annual Capital Grant facility, which will provide approximately


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11% of the capital investment funds for local development. The RGoB has committed the remaining funds. The fund will become operational from July 2009 after the local govern-ment elections. It represents a huge step towards harmonising approaches and aligning to government systems.. Initially, the component will operate with a total budget at USD 7.25 million of which the Danish contribution is DKK 25 million supported by Denmark, and remaining supported by UNDP, UNCDF, and SDC, Austria and JICA.

• Immediate objective three: An enabling framework for non-state actors (media, civil society and private sector) created to strengthen the democratic process and hereby support-ing poverty reduction. Denmark will support the Non-State Actors (the CSOs and NGOs) aiming at widening democracy and ensure enhanced popular participation. Danish contribu-tion to this component is DKK 5 million.

The new GGSP will follow the 10th FYP and thus function from July 2008 until June 2013. Aligned procedures will be applied, using RGoB financial management and auditing procedures, national implementation by the Gross National Happiness Commission and institutions. Joint (Technical) Annual Reviews are scheduled, and the results of these will feed into a new co-operation structure between the development partners supporting good governance and the RGoB. The new partnership has agreed to harmonise, align and co-ordinate to the extent possible, and will in an annual joint review meeting take stock of progress, results and challenges of good governance in Bhutan.


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1 Introduction

Within a span of few years, Bhutan has made unparalleled and remarkable progress in the areas of governance, moving towards a democratic constitutional monarchy, whereby the rule of law is supreme within the Draft Constitution, to be adopted soon by the first democratically elected Parliament. In order to support the transformation to democracy, an impressive effort has been made to strengthen key constitutional and local government institutions.

Denmark has over a considerable period supported good governance and public administrative reform initiatives in the GG/PARP programmes, which are coming to an end in by June 2008. Support has been provided to the judiciary and to the establishment of a range of the constitu-tionally defined governance institutions, e.g. the National Assembly Secretariat, Anti-Corruption Commission, the Election Commission and the Royal Audit Authority, and to the media. The support has had a substantial impact, as evidenced by the Capacity Development Outcome Evaluation, 2006, and a final, focused Danish support to good governance in Bhutan is accord-ingly found relevant. Since September 2007, several development partners (DPs) in Bhutan, initiated during the An-nual Review of the Danish GG/PARP Phase 2 began to explore the possibility of harmonising development assistance for good governance to ensure maximum donor coordination and align-ment of assistance to the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB). A joint formulation was under-taken during November-December 2007 by Denmark, UNDP, UNCDF and the GNHC and a report was submitted in January 2008. Subsequently a joint appraisal, led by Denmark, was under-taken between 30th March and 13th April 2008. As a direct outcome, the joint Local Government Support Programme (LGSP) was finalised on 1st May, chaired by the Secretary, GNHC. The Danish Good Governance Support Programme incorporates results and agreements from the joint appraisal and the GGSP is oriented towards developing and sustaining good governance as a mechanism to support poverty reduction. The GGSP comprises three components:

• Support to democratic governance institutions;

• Support to the Joint Local Government Support Programme (LGSP) together with UNDP/UNCDF and other development partners like Austria, SDC and JICA

• The support to non-state actors (Civil Society Organisations, CSOs)

The GGSP is harmonised to the extent possible - most notably for the LGSP - and fully aligned to RGoB procedures.


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2 National and Sector Context

2.1 Country profile

Bhutan is a small country with 38,816 sq. Km landlocked between India and China. Located in the Himalayas, Bhutan has an extreme mountainous terrain ranging from 200 metres above sea level in the south to over 7000 metres at the northern peaks. With an estimated population of 634,982 the population density is as low as 16 people per square kilometre – far less than the 350 in India and the 171 in Nepal. Many communities are not accessible by road and development of infrastructure and public services delivery often comes at a relatively high cost compared to other countries in the region. Bhutan‟s economy has grown rapidly in the last decade, with average annual growth of around 7 percent (2002-2005), mainly driven by sale of hydropower. The currency union with India as well as a cautious approach towards public budget deficit has helped to keep inflation low. However, in the years to come there will be quite some economic challenges most likely deriving from the expenditure pressures arising from further development of the constitutional bodies, as well a challenge to diversify the base of the economy in order to create more employment opportunities for a growing number of young Bhutanese. Relying mainly on hydropower combined with Bhu-tan being a relatively small and landlocked country has however resulted in a quite fragile Bhu-tanese economy1. While lucrative in revenue terms, and environmentally friendly, the expansion of the hydropower sector has not been a major employment generator2. Despite a positive economic development, Bhutan is still categorized as least developed country with a per capita income of about USD 1,410 per year (2006), and is faced with a situation where roughly one third of the population still live below the national poverty line. More than 70 per-cent of the population rely on agriculture as the main livelihood and the national literacy rate is 59.5 percent3. However, impressive development achievement have been made, for example, life expectancy has increased from 42 years during 1970-1975 to 66 years in 2004. Hence, the coun-try‟s Human Development Index (HDI) has grown steadily placing Bhutan in the category of medium human development countries.

2.2 On the Road to Democracy

Bhutan has been preparing for democratisation over several decades. In 1953 the National As-sembly was established and later a Royal Advisory Council and a Council of Ministers. In 1981

1 Common Country Assessment for Bhutan 2006, page 6, United Nations.

2 Common Country Assessment for Bhutan 2006, page 7, United Nations.

3 Results of Population & Housing Census of Bhutan 2005, RGoB, page 241.


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the process of gradual decentralisation began with establishment of District Development Com-mittees in all 20 districts (at that time consisting of sector staff and the district governor), and later in 1991 establishment of Gewog Development Committees. The process got further mo-mentum when in 1998 the King transferred full executive powers to the Cabinet Ministers. The country‟s first draft Constitution was prepared in 2005 and since then updated into the final Draft Constitution of August 2007. It will take the country into parliamentary democracy and provides for three branches of government represented by the legislature, the judiciary and the executive thus representing a system of “checks and balances”. The establishment of a democ-ratic constitutional monarchy features a number of institutions and actions that will be imple-mented during 2008. The constitutional institutions mentioned in the draft Constitution have been established and some have been operational for a few years already. Elections for the National Council (upper house) took place on 31st December 2007 and on 29th January 2008, and elections for the Na-tional Assembly took place on 24th March 2008 with an impressive voter turn-out of 80%, pro-viding a high degree of legitimacy of the new democratic institution. Finally, local government elections for the Dzongkhags (districts) and Gewogs (counties) are expected to take place by end of 2008. It is anticipated that civil society also will play a role in the development and democratization process. At the moment civil society is characterized by traditional, community-based non-institutionalized organizations and groupings mainly needs based and functioning in the rural ar-eas. During the last few years, a number of charities and NGOs have sprung up in the urban ar-eas, organisations like the Youth Development Fund, RENEW, Tarayana Foundation etc. How-ever, a general institutionalized civil society, including civil society organizations (CSOs) has yet to develop alongside the more traditional civil society already existing. It is expected that the new Civil Society Organizations‟ Act, which was passed by the National Assembly in June 2007, will provide more clarification for the existing CSOs and pave the way for establishment of more CSOs.

2.3 Bhutan’s Poverty Reduction Strategy - the 10th Five-Year Plan

2.3.1 Poverty

Poverty remains a serious problem. According to the recent poverty survey 23% of the popula-tion falls below the national poverty line. Even if poverty has been reduced from 31.7% in 2004 to 23% in 2007 the level is still regarded unacceptably high by the RGoB, and poverty reduction stands in the forefront as the overriding target for the 10th Five Year Plan 2008 - 2013. By 2013 poverty is to be reduced to 15%. The Gini index at national level is 0.35 indicating substantial inequality.

2.3.2 The 10th FYP

A draft 10th FYP was launched at the beginning of February 2008 and it is expected that the draft 10th FYP will be approved by the new Parliament in its entirety by July 2008. Based on the plan-ning guidelines, poverty reduction is the overarching objective in the pursuit of Gross National Happiness with the emphasis to reduce the proportion of the population living below the na-


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tional poverty line to about 15 percent by the end of the plan.4 Six key strategies have been iden-

tified to achieve poverty reduction. These are: 1) vitalizing industry 2) national spatial planning, 3) synergizing integrated rural-urban development, 4) expanding strategic infrastructure, 5) investing

in human capital and 6) fostering an enabling environment through good governance.5 Chapter 5

of the 10th FYP6 describes cross-cutting development themes which are critical to the attainment of national development objectives. These are: decentralized governance, employment, women in development, information and communications technology, environment and HIV/AIDS. The projected total development outlay for the 10th FYP is Nu.141.692 billion. Of the develop-ment outlay Nu. 62.06 billion (44%) has been allocated for current expenditures and Nu. 79.63 (56%) billion for capital investments. Resources are expected to be divided among central autonomous bodies and Ministries and decentralized local authorities at Dzongkhags and Ge-wogs, in the ratio of 80:20 respectively.

2.4 Government Structure

Bhutan has made significant steps towards further promoting a system of governance that is re-sponsive and accountable to the people. This has been done through a series of political reforms aimed at decentralization and democratization. With the adoption of the constitution in 2008 and the major political transition, significant changes with new roles and responsibilities are expected for many of the government institutions, including the constitutional bodies and the autonomous agencies. These will, to an even higher degree than today, serve as democratic governance institu-tions. The constitutional structure of the RGoB is characterized by the classic separation of the three branches the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary defining a system of „checks and bal-ance‟. Currently, after the peaceful and successful completion of the parliamentary elections changes in the government set-up prescribed by the draft constitution are expected. These in-clude the strengthening of the constitutional bodies and a further distinction between the three branches of Government.

2.4.1 The Legislature

The National Assembly is the highest decision making body in the country and has been playing an increasing role in the enactment of national laws. The previous National Assembly met for the last time in June 2007. A new Parliament has been established in 2008, which will be vested with all legislative powers under the constitution. This will comprise His Majesty the King, The Na-tional Council and the National Assembly. The National Council comprises 25 members, one member elected by the voters in each of the 20 districts, and five eminent persons nominated by His Majesty the King. The Council is an apo-litical body meaning that none of the members can belong to political parties. Of the 20 repre-sentatives elected four are women, as are two of the eminent members. Besides its legislative function the Council will act as the House of review on matters affecting the security and sove-reignty of the country. The Council will meet at least twice a year.

4 Draft Tenth Plan Five Year Plan (2008-2013), pages 23, and 54, GNH Commission, RGoB, February 2008. 5 Draft Tenth Plan Five Year Plan (2008-2013), page 24, GNH Commission, RGoB, February 2008. 6 Draft Tenth Plan Five Year Plan (2008-2013), page 78, GNH Commission, RGoB, February 2008.


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The National Assembly has 47 members elected from 47 constituencies delineated by population. Elections took place 24th March 2008 with 80% of the 318,500 registered voters turning out. The Assembly will meet at least twice a year. Financial bills will only be approved by the National As-sembly whereas any other legislative Bills may originate in either House. The Assembly will estab-lish a Public Accounts Committee to supervise the expenditures of the executive, and the Royal Audit Authority and the Anti-Corruption Commission are constitutional bodies referring directly to the Parliament. The Election Commission of Bhutan, ECB is also a constitutional body re-sponsible for the preparation and implementation of national and local government elections. Finally, the Pay Commission was established by the end of April 2008 as the last constitutionally required body. Since the beginning of the 9th FYP the then existing bodies of the legislature have received sup-port from a range of development partners. An overview of this assistance can be found in An-nex 1. Denmark has supported the capacity development of the National Assembly Secretariat, as well as the redesigning of the joint Parliamentary Hall. The support to the National Assembly Secretariat has been extended to March 2009 for finalisation of Master courses. Twinning with the Danish Parliamentary Secretariat continues also to March 2009. Future support is likely to come from the UNDP, which has indicated its interest in supporting ongoing capacity development of the Parliament and the Prime Minister‟s Office. More specifi-cally, UNDP has indicated its support to the Parliament with regard to public information, educa-tion and media relations.

2.4.2 The Executive

The executive branch of government consists of 10 ministries7 and a number of commissions and other offices. Currently, there are about 18,000 civil servants. Approximately 2/3 are working in the districts and gewogs as programme or extension staff of the various sector ministries, the biggest group being health and education personnel. With an increasing decentralization, the per-centage of civil servants in the districts and gewogs is expected to further increase. Bhutan has relatively well-trained, competent and committed public servants. The Royal Civil Service Commission, RCSC, is the personnel administrative body responsible for award of scho-larships, post-graduate education, career management, recruitment and promotion of all public servants in Bhutan. However, there seem to be challenges getting enough engineers and people with technical backgrounds resulting in a situation of implementation bottlenecks with regard to various infrastructure projects, especially in the rural areas.

Autonomous Bodies

In addition to the core and line ministries, there are a number of autonomous bodies including the Gross National Happiness Commission, the National Land Commission, Centre of Bhutan Studies, the Office of the Attorney General, the National Statistical Bureau, the Administrative Tribunal, the National Environment Commission, the Royal University of Bhutan, and the Board of Corporate Affairs. A few of these bodies are presented in further details below.

7 Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health,

Ministry of Home & Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Information & Communications, Ministry of Labour & Human

Resources, Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Ministry of Works & Human Settlement.


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Office of the Attorney General In August 2006, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) was established as an autonomous body based on the Office of Attorney General Act of 2006 and with the existing personnel and infrastructure of the former Office of Legal Affairs. The OAG is headed by the Attorney General who is accountable to the Prime Minister. The OAG comprises 25 staff of which 12 are trained lawyers. The OAG is regarded an autonomous body but function more or less as a constitutional body (which is normally the status of OAGs in other countries). Based on the mandate the main functions of the OAG are to draft and review bills and laws, to prosecute serious criminal offences, represent or defend the RGoB in civil litigations, render legal opinion, and advice on all legal matters and perform other duties of legal nature. For an overview of previous and current support to OAG from development partners, please see Annex 1. The National Land Commission The National Land Commission (NLC) was formed in August 2007, with membership of perma-nent secretaries of relevant ministries, and with the former Department of Survey and Land Re-cords as the secretariat. As of end 2007, the secretariat has 189 staff mainly surveyors, but also land record officers, land record assistants and survey engineers etc. In each of the 20 districts NLC has a surveyor, a land record officer and land record assistant and up to three surveyor field assistants. In addition, in each of the 14 dungkhags (sub-districts) NLC has a land record assis-tant. Also, NLC has 60 staff on deputation in other agencies such as the city corporations and engineering cells of various ministries. NLC is established to oversee land governance and is responsible for national and local cadastral records, land deeds and land administration, and is thus dealing with important aspects of trans-parency, the rule of law, protection of private property of landowners and access to resources. Various line ministries are working on sector-specific aspects of land governance and manage-ment. However, better coordination between sector policies, legislation and planning related to land is necessary to improve overall land utilisation and protection. Also improved documenta-tion and record management seems to be vital for people to get access to information with regard to land and land transactions etc. The mandate of the NLC is based on the new Land Act from 2007. The Land Act defines the framework of land administration in Bhutan and includes the organisational setup of the com-mission, definition and management of the land record system (Thram), procedures around transfer of land and rules of expropriation as well as outlining rules of zoning and land use man-agement. The NLC has been commissioned to draft a land policy for Bhutan, which will also in-clude the land reform processes aiming at ensuring landless and marginal farmers sufficient land to make a viable living. This is a complicated task, which will take years to accomplish and in-volve numerous stakeholders representing differing vested interests in land use/administration. The new cadastre has received highest priority in the 10th FYP and is planned to be established from 2008-10. The present cadastre and the information on land titles are not updated. The work on the land use mapping will gradually be phased in and get full attention through the latter part of the 10th FYP period. Support from development partners to the Land Commission (and former Department of Survey and Land Records) has been quite limited. An overview of the support can be seen in Annex 1.


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2.4.3 The Judiciary

The institutional structure of the Bhutanese judiciary is based on a three-tier hierarchical system. The High Court established in 1968 is the highest court of law with the Dzongkhag (District) and the Dungkhag (sub-district) court coming under it in a decentralised set up. The Chief Justice of Bhutan presides over the High Court. The territorial jurisdiction of the High Court extends to the whole of Bhutan. It has original as well as appellate jurisdiction. The core objectives of the judicial system are enhancing efficiency, access and quality of justice through accountability, transparency and fairness in judicial mechanisms. As per the constitution, a Supreme Court will be established on top of the existing court system. It will be the highest court of law in Bhutan and will be presided over by the Chief Justice. The Supreme Court will exercise appeal, advisory and extra-territorial jurisdiction. The Supreme Court will be a court of record and the guardian of the Constitution and the final authority on its inter-pretation, and it will be able to exercise jurisdiction outside Bhutan on the basis of International Law principles. The judiciary is in the process of further distinguishing itself from the other branches of govern-ment. This important process is in some districts materialized through a physical separation of the court from the district administration headquarters. The judiciary is also being strengthened through establishment of additional benches at some of the existing district courts and set-up of additional sub-district courts. However, lack of independent court buildings and adequate infrastructures has resulted in court congestion and overcrowding of litigants. Privacy and independence both for citizens seeking justice and the judicial personnel administrating justice are often undermined. To strengthen structural and institutional independence of the Judiciary, and to enhance equal and unimpeded access to justice, there is a need for improved infrastructures and capacity building. This includes demands for new skills and specialisation in areas such as for example commercial law, as Bhutan is acceding to the WTO treaty. An overview of previous and current support from development partners to the judiciary can be seen in Annex 1.

2.5 Decentralised democratic governance

Decentralisation initiatives in Bhutan are part of a long, gradually evolving process of empower-ing people to participate in planning and shape decision-making in all aspects of local develop-ment. The beginnings of this process can be traced back to the late 1970s with the establishment of the Dzongkhag Yargye Tshogchung (DYT) and has gradually enhanced local participation with the establishment of GYTs (then called Gewog Tshogpas8) as local development commit-tees. Training and capacity development of staff and functionaries increased during the 8th FYP in order to build a stronger foundation for devolved planning and implementation. This included initiatives such as facilitated participatory planning at gewog level. The administrative division of Bhutan now includes 20 dzongkhags (districts), which are further divided into 205 gewogs (counties). Since 2001 with the adoption of the GYT and the DYT Chathrims, the dzongkhags and gewogs have been headed by the elected DYTs and GYTs.

8 Report of the First Decentralisation Facilitation Conference dated 23 November 2004.


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Article 22 of the draft Constitution solely addresses Local Governments. The first and fourth passages of this Article state the following visionary, clear and supportive statements on Local Governments: "Power and authority will be decentralized and devolved to elected local governments to facilitate the direct participation of the people in the development and management of their own social, economic and envi-ronmental well being9 (…) The objectives of Local Government will be to: a) Provide democratic and accountable government for local communities; b) Ensure the provision of services to communities in a stable manner; c) En-courage the involvement of communities and community organizations in the matters of local governance; d) Dis-charge any other responsibilities as maybe prescribed by law made by Parliament”. This is further developed in the Local Governments' Act, June 2007, stating as the overall goal "to facilitate direct participation of the people in the development and management of their own social, economic and environmental wellbeing through the decentralisation and devolution of power and authority". Democratic local governance forms part of the Bhutanese vision of Gross National Happiness and as such a target for the RGoB, but it is at the same time also understood as an indispensable mechanism supporting attainment of the poverty reduction target. Previous support to decentralisation and local governance has primarily been provided by UNCDF and UNDP, who have been actively engaged in supporting the RGoB‟s decentralization process since 1997 with support for piloting block grant funding and improved planning and budgeting under the Gewog Development Facilitating Activities (GDFA) in 10 Gewogs. This was later expanded under the Decentralisation Support Programme (DSP) in 2003-06 to 32 Ge-wogs in 5 districts. The UNDP/UNCDF DSP programme was also supported by SNV and co-financed by Denmark. The RGoB has now decided to enhance the local governance in Bhutan, and a nation-wide pro-gram of providing capital development grants to all gewogs through a block grant mechanism is included in the 10th FYP. On this background, the joint Local Governance Support Programme has been prepared, forming component two of the Danish GGSP.

2.6 Cross-cutting Issues

2.6.1 Poverty

The 10th FYP has poverty reduction as its overarching goal. According to the Poverty Analysis Report (PAR), December 2007, national poverty incidence is now estimated at 23 %. However, poverty is mainly a rural phenomenon with less than 1.7% of the population in the urban areas being poor compared to 30.9% in rural areas. It is also unevenly distributed, generally with a low percentage in the west, and higher poverty rates in the east and some of the southern districts. The difference in consumption between the poorest and richest quintile of the population is 6.7, while the Gini index at national level is 0.35, indicating a substantial inequality. The 10th FYP aims at reducing the national poverty levels to less than 15% by 2013. This will require a con-certed effort, especially in the Dzongkhags with high poverty measures. The GGSP support further development of good governance as the enabling environment for poverty reduction. As such the GGSP contributes to the endeavours of the RGoB.

9 The draft Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan.


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2.6.2 Human Rights

The draft Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all Bhutanese citizens. To all people in Bhutan it provides rights of equality before the law, equal and effective protection of the law, as well as a number of other rights in accordance with international norms..10. Recently new laws and regulation have been adopted to guarantee the rights of people in detention and to ensure the freedom of media. The Constitution also prescribes that the state shall provide free access to ba-sic health services in both modern and traditional medicine, and that the state shall provide free education to all children of school going age up to tenth standard and ensure that technical and professional education is made generally available and that higher education is equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. Of the seven central human rights conventions, Bhutan has signed three and ratified two, the ratified ones being the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Convention signed but not yet ratified is the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Bhutan is yet to ratify some of the UN Human Rights Conventions. It is hoped that in future the new democratic system in Bhutan will ratify this Convention as well as sign and rat-ify other important UN Human Rights Conventions. The concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) is to some degree pursuing the concept of basic human right in the form of obligations by the state to ensure a peaceful and enabling envi-ronment for people in its territory to live a happy and fulfilled life. Also, it should be noted that although the concept of human rights or a right based approach to development is not widely spoken about in Bhutan, in terms of social justice and development rights, Bhutan has progressed tremendously. For example, with generous capital outlays in the health and education sectors, Bhutan is one of the few countries in the world to meet its part of the 20:20 compact (20% of public investment in health and education). The strong commitment towards fulfilment of obliga-tions of the State to its citizens is also evident in the draft Constitution. RGoB collaborates with several international rights organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross. Concern has been voiced, including during the 10th Round Table Meeting in 2008, about the issue of people in the camps in Eastern Nepal. The RGoB is commit-ted to deal with the issue of people in the camps and awaits discussions with the Government of Nepal on the matter.

2.6.3 Gender

Although women and men formally enjoy equal opportunities to participate in local decision-making, social-economic and structural barriers often inhibit women‟s participation. Only 4% of the 2,117 elected representatives at local level are women, and Bhutan got its first female Gup (elected head of the Gewog Development Committee) as late as 2005, followed by a second in 2006. However, no affirmative measures are currently in place to get more women representa-tives in local governments. In the newly elected Parliament ten members (14%) out of the total 72 members are women.

10 Common Country Assessment for Bhutan 2006, page 16-17, United Nations.


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Gender mainstreaming is incorporated into the approaches under the GGSP. The Joint LGSP will include support to increased female representation in local governments.

2.6.4 Youth

Over the next seven years around 63,000 young people educated to secondary level are likely to be entering the labour market and the RGoB recognizes the need to provide employment oppor-tunities as essential to promoting social stability. An increasing problem is lack of employment opportunities for the educated youth in the Gewogs, resulting in a situation where many leave for urban areas, especially Thimphu and Phuntsholing in search of income and better living condi-tions. However the urban areas do not avail all the opportunities in search, instead frustrations among the youth have resulted in a rise in drug abuse and crime. As such, it is important to facili-tate employment generating activities especially targeting young people, and also in the rural areas to develop social services and infrastructure to upgrade their accessibility and living standards to attract or retain young people as well.

2.6.5 Environment

Environmental conservation and management remains a key issue for RGoB and is one of the four key strategies through which Gross National Happiness (GNH) is to be undertaken. During the last few years District Environment Committees have been set up in all 20 districts. These committees are overlooking the Environmental Impacts Assessments of local projects with po-tential environmental impact as required by law. Clearances and permits are also required on land and forest issues in relation to local project implementation. In the light of increased infrastruc-ture development and poverty reduction initiatives, the balance between economic development and environmental conservation remains a growing challenge.

2.6.6 HIV/AIDS

Although the incidence of HIV/AIDS is rather modest in Bhutan, several CSOs see awareness-creation and sensitisation about the topic an important part of their activity. The planned support will contribute to the dissemination of information about HIV/AIDS.


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3 Agreed Assistance

3.1 Objectives and main components

The agreed assistance formulated in this GGSP shall support the RGoB to establish and realise good governance principles as the enabling environment for poverty reduction, as stipulated in the objective of the 10th FYP. The contribution by a good governance enabling environment to equitable and sustainable growth / poverty reduction is generally acknowledged although it is dif-ficult to attribute changes in poverty directly to changes in governance. The development objective for the GGSP is the realisation of good governance principles in Bhutan. This will encompass, as stated by the 10th FYP11: 1) A truly representative, responsive and meaningful democracy; 2) Maintain proper and effective checks and balances among various branches of government; 3) Ensure the proper management and best use of public resources; 4) Strengthen local governments and decentralisation processes; 5) Enhance the political capabilities and participation of all Bhutanese; 6) Ensure administrative and financial efficiency, transparency and accountability and improve public service management; 7) Combat the spread of corruption; 8) Promote the role of the media and civil society; and 9) Enforce the rule of law wherein law is applied impartially. The Danish GGSP is subscribing to the Joint Partnership for Good Governance as a framework of harmonised and aligned support to the RGOB‟s enabling environment of good governance for poverty reduction. The Joint Partnership for Good Governance is formulated as a joint Memorandum of Understanding (see Annex 2) committing the subscribing development partners to a Joint Annual Review Meeting (ARM) of good governance in Bhutan. The GGSP will con-tribute to and the assessment of the achievement of its objectives will be part of this ARM. The GGSP includes three immediate objectives, each forming the framework for programme components:

• Immediate objective one: Strengthened capacity of democratic governance institutions in Bhutan.

• Immediate objective two: Democratic governance at local levels enhanced and services delivered effectively and efficiently as a mechanism to reduce poverty.

11

Draft 10th FYP, p. 51.


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• Immediate objective three: Enabling framework for non-state actors (media, civil society and private sector) created to strengthen the democratic process and hereby supporting pov-erty reduction.

Immediate objective one is pursued in component one, having two sub-components in sup-port of (i) the National Land Commission and (ii) the Judiciary. Both sub-components are fi-nanced by the Government of Denmark, and will apply an ear-marked budget support modality. Budget allocation for sub-component 1.1 the National Land Commission is 7 MDKK and 7 MDKK for sub-component 1.2 the judiciary. The support to the National Land Commission will facilitate development of a revised and improved land policy, based among others on a new and more precise cadastral registration. The support to the Judiciary aims to enhance access to justice for all. - also the vulnerable and vulnerable groups like women and children. Immediate objective two forms the framework of the Joint Local Governance Support Pro-gramme (LGSP), which is a joint programme of the Government of Denmark, UNDP, UNCDF and SDC, Austria as direct programme partners and JICA and others as members of a group of development partners within good governance, working in accordance with a joint programme document to ensure co-ordination, integrated use of resources where possible, joint reviews etc - all in the spirit of the Paris Declaration. The LGSP comprises five distinct outputs:

1. Effective and transparent financing mechanism for local government service delivery in place and well functioning.

2. Inclusive, efficient and accountable public expenditure management procedures for local government established and being used.

3. Effective national support/training mechanism for local government personnel and elected people in place.

4. Central governments policy, regulatory, support and supervision functions strengthened. 5. Effective models for integrated public service and information delivery at local levels pi-

loted. The development partners Denmark, UNDP and UNCDF will support all 5 outputs, but apply different modalities. Under output one the most significant element is the support to the Annual Capital Grant Facility, which is direct budget support contribution (tentatively planned as 11%) to a RGoB block grant mechanism enabling local governments to better realise and implement the development plans. Of the totally pledged 7,250,000 million USD, Danida will provide 25 million DKK of which 20 million will accrue to the Annual Capital Grant Facility. UNCDF will also apply a direct budget support mechanism for the contribution to the block grant mechanism. Support to realise other aspects of the outputs will follow the modalities required by the specific development partner. Denmark will strive to disburse the remaining 5 million DKK as direct budget support, whereas UNDP/UNCDF will mobilise their support as parallel funding under UN/NEX modality. Full harmonisation and alignment has not been realised, but a very signifi-cant step has been taken with this joint Local Government Support Programme, including a Fi-nancial Management Arrangement for the block grant mechanism, agreed between the develop-ment partners and the Gross National Happiness Commission of RGoB. Immediate objective three covers support to non-state actors. The framework for the Danish support is provided by the newly approved CSO Act 2007, which gives rise to two sub-components. Sub-component one comprises support to the CSO Authority, being established as


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per the CSO act, and the result under this sub-component is a CSO Authority in operation and able to register and support the CSOs in Bhutan. Sub-component two includes a CSO fund facil-ity, the management of which will be outsourced to a private company, offering financial support to CSOs to register, develop activity programmes and implement their programmes.

3.2 Unallocated Funds

Within the total programme budget of DKK 50 million for support to good governance, DKK 4 million (Nu 30.4 Million) are reserved as unallocated funds to be used for specified, emerging good governance activities, later to be developed, subject to negotiations between the beneficiar-ies and LOD in coordination with the Joint Partnership of Good Governance. The following ac-tivities have been identified as potential candidates for support from the unallocated funds:

1. Phase-out activities for governance institutions currently supported under Danida’s GG/PARP II

Justification: A number of democratic governance institutions have been supported by the GG/PARP II, and most support is being phased out to enable a more focused support of the GGSP. However, the democratic changes in 2008 may also influence the institutions supported under the GG/PARP II. While certain sub-components already have been extended (support to NAS e.g.), additional activities may still emerge during 2008-9 deemed necessary to be supported in order to phase out Danish support in a sustainable and appropriate manner.

2. Exploration of the possibility of establishing a local government association

Justification: Since the joint decentralisation outcome evaluation in 2005, there have been re-peated suggestions for support to a local government association in Bhutan. As yet, the time is not ripe for such an organisation, since the annual mayor‟s conference in Thimphu serves the purpose of representing local government views vis a vis central government. This may change quickly, though. With general elections marking the entrance to democratic governance and the emergence of political parties as well as the democratic local government elections by end 2008, the dynamic of local politics is set to change and develop in its own right. This development may be catapulted further by the strong focus on decentralisation of the 10th FYP, increased devolu-tion of functional and fiscal assignments and the mainstreaming of the block grant concept dur-ing the next five years. With these events, the need for a more organised approach to central-local government relationships may emerge, which would also be consistent with international experi-ence elsewhere. Strong local government associations can be very instrumental in paving the way for smoother implementation of local government reforms as well as sector policies.

3. Support to implementation of the Advocate Act (Bar Association)

Justification: In the draft Constitution it is stated in article 7, section 20 that a person (charged with a penal offence) shall have the right to consult and be represented by a Bhutanese Jabmi of his choice. A Jabmi is a layperson, which acts as a legal counsellor and a representative. A Jabmi will often be an elderly local person or a family member. Some training of the Jabmi has been established. There is no distinction between the defence in minor criminal cases and serious cases like murder, manslaughter, rape or robbery - in all cases a Jabmi will represent the accused. At the moment there are no private professional law firms in Bhutan and there are no acting private or public defence lawyers. At present, there is also no bar association, but the Advocate (Jabmi) Act


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from 2003 establishes the legal foundation for a bar association in Bhutan. The act has not been implemented yet, but there are plans to start one with membership for judges and other lawyers in the public sector. The bar association will then become an organisation of Bhutanese lawyers and not a traditional bar association, but could pave the way for a more professional representa-tion of litigants, thereby increasing the access to justice.

4. Support to activities under the new Anti-Corruption Commission strategy currently under formulation

Justification: The ACC is a new constitutional body established in December 2005. The ACC has already placed itself in a key position in promotion of good governance in Bhutan, having en-gaged itself in a multi-frontal action involving citizens, public and private agencies, media, NGOs and civil society. ACC‟s strategy is five pronged, dealing with proactive prevention through public education, proactive pre-empting through correction of system flaws, enforcement, partnership, capacity development. The National Anti-Corruption Action Plan is an excellent complement to the GG plus, emphasizing the ACC‟s independence and accountability. The multi-frontal action approach has also spread resource thin and a major challenge for ACC is to focus its activities in the coming years and consolidate its key position in the fight against corruption. To achieve this, ACC also needs to sort out it current issues around capacity problems and problems of attracting new staff to an organisation which may not provide for the same career opportunities as the civil service or the Judiciary. At the same time, working for the ACC is destined to be a job with pub-lic confrontations, which may not appeal to many Bhutanese. Currently, an external consultant (funded by UNDP) is formulating a new draft strategy for ACC in order to focus its activities further in the coming years. Once ACC has settled for an updated strategy and formulated a new action plan, unallocated funds could support the implementation of the plan.

5. Support to campaign of the Election Commission of Bhutan for the promotion of women’s participation in the local government elections 2008

Justification: An area of concern, which has not been specifically dealt with by the ECB, is the low participation of women in politics.. Looking at the area of decision-making, Bhutan only got its first female Gup at the local elections in 2005 followed by a second one in 2006. However, still only 4 percent of the 2,117 elected representatives at local level are women. In order to im-prove this situation, unallocated funds may be provided to support an ECB sensitizing campaign aiming at mobilising women to run for office at the next local government elections. Local elec-tions are anticipated to take place by the end of 2008 and a sensitising campaign needs to be pre-pared as soon as national elections have taken place. Support to ECB needs to be coordinated with other development partners (UNDP and JICA) planning to support ECB.

3.3 Reviews, studies, etc.

An amount of DKK 2 million of the total programme budget is kept for consultancy assistance to the implementation of annual or ad-hoc reviews, additional studies and other supporting ac-tivities to the GGSP. The budget can be spent on any of the programme‟s components.


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4 Components

The GGSP is structured in three components, each reflecting a specific objective.

4.1 Component One: Support to Democratic Governance Institutions

The overall outcome of component one under the Good Governance Support Programme is strengthened capacity of democratic governance institutions in Bhutan. Several development partners subscribe to this target and while the UNDP and other bilateral development partners will continue their support to the ACC, ECB, and the Parliamentary bodies, Danish support will focus on two sub-components within component one: Sub-component 1.1: Support to the National Land Commission (NLC) Sub-component 1.2: Support to the Judiciary to ensure enhanced access to justice for all and operate as an independent branch of government

4.1.1 Sub-component 1.1 Support to the National Land Commission

The NLC has just been established in 2007 and been provided with a high-profile task of creating the foundation of a national land policy for Bhutan. A national land policy is in high demand, but it‟s a difficult task and NLC do not see this finalised within the 10th FYP. Nevertheless, the com-ponent seeks to support NLC in establishing the fundamental capacity to carry out its mandate through support from international TA as well as support to acquisition of essential hardware necessary for creating a electronic nationwide cadastre and land use mapping. The cadastre and the land use mapping are both important information tools for the establishment of the land pol-icy as well as securing fundamental private property rights of landowners. The immediate objective of the sub-component is to strengthen the capacity of the National Land Commission to fulfil its mandates within land governance in accordance with the Land Act of 2007. The NLC mandate is laid out in the new Land Act. Within the 10th FYP, the Commission is ex-pected to provide effective and efficient land record management, registration, cadastral survey-ing, topographic surveying and mapping services as an outcome of the 10th FYP. It is also ex-pected to initiate drafting of a land policy for Bhutan, which may continue into the 11th FYP pe-riod.


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In order for NLC to fulfil its mandate of land administration, two important development initia-tives have been defined for the 10th FYP: 1) development of land use mapping tools, starting with land cover classification and topographic base mapping and 2) launch of a nation wide cadastral resurveying in order to collect adequate land information and establish a reliable land database with correct up to date information on land holdings, including details of individual land owners. In addition, it has been decided that the National Land Commission shall be responsible for de-veloping land policy within Bhutan, but at present the National Land Commission has no skills to undertake such work. There is therefore a need for institutional support. The new cadastre has received highest priority in the 10th FYP. The land records are not updated and correct information about ownership to land is not available in many cases or does not take into account the inheritance of land within the last generation or two. This creates potential legal disputes on land ownership and threatens the ownership rights to land. The cadastral resurvey is planned for implementation from 2008-10. The land use mapping will be phased in accordingly and get full attention through the latter part of the 10th FYP period. Both the cadastre and the land use maps are part of the basic infrastructure upon which the new land policy will be devel-oped. Throughout the plan period, the drafting of the land policy will take place and is expected to extend well into the 11th FYP period. The cadastral resurvey will be implemented under the supervision of an Executive Committee chaired by the Secretary of NLC, and several technical committees. The resurvey will employ six control teams and 30 survey teams covering all of Bhutan within three years. Prior to the resurvey, an international consultant, supported by Denmark through a local grant appropriation by LOD, is assisting NLC in outlining a roadmap for the formulation of the land policy. The draft roadmap proposes a first stage of bringing together all existing policies affecting land that are enshrined in existing legislation and practices in all levels of government. This first stage will establish a base line of policy as well as identifying any inconsistencies, ambiguities and gaps. Studies will be carried out to determine the effectiveness of these policies at all levels of so-ciety in terms of the impact on citizens use of, and rights to, land and on the way in which land is administered and managed. Subsequent stages in developing the policy will require inputs from land information systems as well as the political inputs from members of Parliament and other institutions. The National Land Commission will need to be strengthened to handle such work which is outside the remit inherited from the Ministry of agriculture. The sub-component will therefore support NLC in establishing the necessary capacity to carry out the resurvey and land use mapping as well as initiate its work on a national land policy. Sup-port will be provided through funding of international TA as well as partial funding of acquisition of essential equipment necessary for creating an electronic nationwide cadastre and establishing the land use maps.

4.1.2 Sub-component 1.2 Support to the Judiciary

The immediate objective of the support to the Judiciary under this sub-component is to enhance access to justice for all including vulnerable groups like women and children. It builds on the previous support provided from the local grant facility and includes funding to (i) construct and equip a new court building in Trashigang, (ii) capacity building and organisational development activities as well as (iii) legal awareness campaigns


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The strategy is based on strengthening the capacity of the Judiciary physically as well as with re-spect to knowledge and skills and is based on the RGoB 10th FYP. . The main focus of the Judiciary in the 10th FYP is to further improve the access to justice for all and physically establish court building on independent premises. For district courts, the latter means moving the court rooms outside the Dzongs and re-establish these in their own court buildings. The physical separation between the judiciary and the executive level of Government is seen as an important signpost, reflecting the guarantees stated in the draft Constitution. Building on the Judiciary Master Plan from 2006, the 10th FYP basically outlines a four-fold strat-egy in order to fulfil the objective of achieving access to justice for all:

a) Physical establishment of court buildings in their own premises will be continued (fund-ing permitting) in order to eventually cover all district and sub-district courts as well con-struction of the Supreme Court (funded by the Government of India)

b) Continuous HRD activities, including upgrading professionals through LLM scholar-ships, short-term training courses for judges and court staff

c) Organisational development activities, including extended use of ICT in case manage-ment and as a tool for increased access to public information on court practises

d) Outreach activities targeting the civil service and the public at large on legal awareness and knowledge of specific roles and legal rights.

Sub-component 1.2 aims at supporting the Judiciary in fulfilling its objectives by supporting the implementation of all four parts of the strategy outlined in the 10th FYP. Ad a) Court buildings The support will include funding the construction of another district building. The design shall also include gender- and juvenile specific facilities. The establishment of independent court build-ings is essential in order to improve both (psychical) access to justice and the independence from the executive and legislative branch of government. Problems with current court facilities are well documented. Many of the district courts are housed inside Dzongs and most of the courts lack the basic amenities. This creates among others the follow problems:

- Litigation is conducted in the same building as the Dzongkhag administration office with inadequate space exposing litigants to unwarranted publicity and lack of privacy

- Township development in most of the Dzongkhags entails constant increase in new court cases

- Most of the courthouses are in a dilapidated state and need immediate upgrading.

- The lack of independent and adequate infrastructures causes court congestion, and over-crowding of litigants.

- Basic requirements such as separating litigants while being produced in the courts are non-existent

- In some courts there are no separate chambers for the Judges; the courtrooms are small, making it impossible to comply with the requirements of an open trial, since there is lack of adequate space for the public to witness the proceedings in the court.

Construction and equipment of new court buildings does increase access to justice. This has been documented in 2005 through an Impact Study on judicial and legal development due to Danish support to the Judiciary. One of the findings of the study was that the impact of the new Danish


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funded court building in Phuentsholing „has been manifold affecting positively the staff, clients and the general public.‟ Since moving into the new premises in 2004, the Phuentsholing Court e.g. in 2004 decided 78% of the pending and new cases registered in the court compared to 65% in 2002. There has also been a decreasing trend in the number of pending cases from 37% pend-ing cases by end 2003 to only 22% by end 2004. Ad b) Continuous HRD activities to upgrade professional legal staff at the Judiciary Denmark will continue funding professional education of a significant number of legal officers and has included funds for ex-country professional education and in-country short-duration case management and administrative training. The Bhutanese legal system is based on a set of national legislation, which is not fully covered as part of an international LLM, and consequently the RCJ has already additional internal training in place, ensuring that newly graduated LLM candidates can serve correctly in the Bhutanese judiciary. It is anticipated that the RCJ will as part of this informal training system initiate sensitising activi-ties, ensuring that legal officers are fully aware of issues, constraints and remedial mechanisms regarding access to justice for vulnerable groups, women and children. Activities to ensure en-hanced awareness can be funded under the sub-component. Ad c) Organizational development through use of ICT Use of ICT is based on the RCJ strategic IT plan from 2000. The sub-component will support further use of ICT in the court administration and build on previous Danish and UNDP support. ICT is an important tool for the Judiciary to

- Enhance court information and operations,

- Improve public access to court information and services,

- Reduce the cost of litigation and administration,

- Promote timely and efficient case processing and

- Facilitate transparency. The implementation of the IT strategy has already seen the establishment of an Intranet at the High Court, a website for the Judiciary, email and internet access at the district courts, enhanced data collection and case flow reporting as well as automation of the Judiciary‟s procedures. The Judiciary also envisages setting up an electronic library consisting of all the current Bhutanese laws and acts and other national and international legal documents along with judgments ren-dered by the courts. By providing further support to ICT applications in the court administration, its possible to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the case handling as well as improves access to case records and access to information on case flow and case handling times – for man-agement and the public at large. Improved access to case records is a prerequisite for increased transparency and access to information on the general working affairs of the Judiciary.

Ad d) Awareness raising campaigns The subcomponent will fund new awareness campaigns targeting local governments and the pub-lic at large on legal procedures and legal rights. Particularly emphasis will be made on outreach activities targeting vulnerable groups of society, including awareness campaigns aiming at improv-ing women and children legal service provisions.


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4.2 Component Two: Joint Support to Local Governance

In Bhutan, there has been a positive move towards further decentralization and with the transi-tion to constitutional democracy in 2008, the Constitution as well as the newly approved Local Governments' Act of Bhutan 2007 provide for further power and authority to be given to decen-tralized bodies and elected representatives at local level. Development partners working in the area of decentralization and local governance, including UNDP, UNCDF, Denmark, Austria, SDC, and JICA are taking initiative towards greater har-monization and alignment to support this very positive but challenging move towards greater de-centralization. Through the Local Governance Support Programme (LGSP) harmonized support to RGoB will be provided to support the establishment of a fully fledged and effective local gov-ernance system in Bhutan. The programme will begin by July 2008 and operate till June 2013, coinciding with the 10th Five Year Plan (FYP) period, and will support the objectives and goals of the 10th FYP. The LGSP will contribute towards improved service delivery for poverty reduction and realiza-tion of the MDGs. Support will be provided to reach the following five strategic outputs:

1. Effective and transparent financing mechanism for local government service delivery in place and well functioning.

2. Inclusive, efficient and accountable public expenditure management procedures for lo-cal government established and being used.

3. Effective national support/training mechanism for local government personnel and elected people in place.

4. Central governments policy, regulatory, support and supervision functions strengthened. 5. Effective models for integrated public service and information delivery at local levels pi-

loted. More specifically, the support provided through the LGSP will:

Assist to strengthen and widen the block grant mechanism and provide budget support to capitalize the Gewog capital grants. The resources will not be targeted to certain Gewogs but rather be pooled and become fungible with RGoB resources.

Further improve the overall public expenditure management procedures of planning, programming, budgeting, procurement, implementation, reporting, asset management, and monitoring and evaluation

Further improve overall capacity development and training for local governments.

Continue to build capacity in accountability and transparency.

Develop and pilot a block grant facility in at least 2 districts.

Help to enhance policy support for local government

Effective models for integrated public service and information delivery at local levels. The LGSP builds upon the achievements and lessons learned from previous programmes in sup-port of decentralization and local governance in Bhutan, and takes into account recommenda-tions from the Good Governance Plus and other more recent exercises with relevance to local governance and decentralization. The LGSP will also provide a strategic platform for government to leverage financial support for improving local level infrastructure and services and build up mechanisms into which other fund-ing partners can pool funds, through budget support to finance local government grants nation-


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ally and coordinate and program other inputs to support decentralization in Bhutan such as ca-pacity development, logistics, technical cooperation and M&E support. The possibilities for de-veloping a mechanism for DPs to pool resources for the funds which sit outside the budget sup-port for Gewog capital grants will be explored. The responsibility of implementation of the programme rests with the Local Development Divi-sion of the Gross National Happiness Commission, GNHC. To oversee overall programme ac-tivities, a joint LGSP Outcome Board/Steering Committee will be formed with representatives of RGoB, local governments and the development partners.

4.3 Component Three: Support to Non-State Actors

Component Three of the Danish Good Governance Support Programme deals with issues re-lated to civil society and the awareness of citizens and elected representatives of their roles, rights and responsibilities. The support focuses on CSOs (civil society organisations). The CSO Act, passed by the National Assembly in June 2007 envisages two roles for CSOs: (i) As advocates and services providers for underprivileged and vulnerable groups; and (ii) as mutual interest organisations voicing the interests of their constituency. The Act has provision for estab-lishment of a CSO Authority. The CSO landscape in Bhutan is significantly different from that characterising the other coun-tries in the region. It is dominated by a rather small number of well-consolidated, so-called „Pub-lic Benefit Organisations‟, supplemented by quite a large number of „Mutual Benefit Organisa-tions‟, CSOs established in order to advance the shared interests of their members. The latter are represented by for instance producer associations, sports clubs etc. Most interest organisations are today registered under the Companies‟ Act. A full inventory of the CSO landscape has not been made, but it is usually estimated that the number of interest organisations exceed several dozens The immediate objective for the planned Danida support, which has two sub-components, is: „To facilitate the establishment and growth of „Public Benefit Organisations‟ and „Mutual Benefit Or-ganisations‟ in order to strengthen civil society, promote social welfare, and improve the condi-tions and quality of life for the people of Bhutan‟. The objective of sub-component 3.1 is simply, in line with the intentions and principles of the CSO Act, to assist with the setting up of the CSO Authority. As regards sub-component 3.2, it will take the shape of a facility („fund‟) which will assist existing and emerging CSOs to meet the requirements of the CSO Act and otherwise strengthen their capacity and develop new activities or consolidate existing ones. Special attention will be given to CSOs targeting women and under-privileged social groups. Responsibility for administration of the CSO Fund will be outsourced to a private company in Bhutan, and transfer of approved grants to CSOs will be made as per the CSO Act of Bhutan through an authorised financial institutions12 . A Component Steering Committee with represen-tatives of RGoB, CSOs and LOD (and possibly other DPs) will also function as the CSO Fund Board.

12

Reference: CSO Act of Bhutan (2007): Chapter 9, page 15.


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Sub-component 3.1 will be implemented when the RGoB has decided the responsibility for the CSO Authority. It is anticipated that disbursement of actual CSO financial support from the fund facility can start during first half of 2009.


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5 Budget

A summary programme budget comprising a break-down at component and sub-component level is inserted overleaf. The budget includes flow over the fiscal years in the programme period. A budget break-down to output level is given in each component description.


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2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Component 1 Democratic governance institutions 14.00 2.55 6.22 3.89 1.20 0.10 0.04 5.49 5.13 3.01 0.30 0.08

1.1 Support to National Land Commission 7.00 2.05 3.32 1.43 0.19 0.01 0.00 3.58 2.36 0.86 0.21 0.00

1.2 Support to Judiciary 7.00 0.50 2.90 2.46 1.01 0.09 0.04 1.91 2.77 2.15 0.09 0.08

Component 2 Local Governance Support Programme 25.00 0.75 3.75 6.00 6.00 5.75 2.75 1.50 6.00 6.00 6.00 5.50

2.1 Direct support to Gewog Annual Capital Grant Facility 20.00 0.00 2.50 5.00 5.00 5.00 2.50 0.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00

2.2 Other Support to LGSP 5.00 0.75 1.25 1.00 1.00 0.75 0.25 1.50 1.00 1.00 1.00 0.50

Component 3 Support to Non-State Actors 5.00 0.50 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 0.50 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

3.1: Support to the establishment of the future CSO Authority 0.80 0.30 0.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.55 0.25 0.00 0.00 0.00

3.2 Support to CSO Fund facility 3.40 0.00 0.50 0.80 0.80 0.80 0.50 0.25 0.65 0.80 0.80 0.90

Technical Assistance 0.80 0.20 0.00 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.00 0.20 0.10 0.20 0.20 0.10

Unallocated 4.00 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.00 1.00 0.50 0.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

Review, studies, etc. 2.00 0.25 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.25 0.00 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.00

GGSP TOTAL 50.00 4.05 11.97 12.39 9.70 8.10 3.79 8.49 13.63 11.51 8.80 7.58

Total

DKK

Danish Fiscal Year Bhutan Fiscal YearGood Governance Support Programme Phase III - Danish

Contribution


24

.

6 Management and Organisation

To oversee general programme implementation, cooperation issues, joint mechanisms, etc. the Head, Liaison Office of Denmark, and the Secretary, Gross National Happiness Commission will form a high level decision-making working arrangement. This joint decision body will have a mandate similar to a Programme Steering Committee, and consequently also be responsible for and mandated to re-allocate funds between programme components and allocate unallocated funds in line with overall intentions and aspirations behind the GGSP. The body is formed with a view to establish a flexible and efficient mechanism as possible. All decisions of the joint body, meeting as and when required, will be formalised by signed minutes endorsed jointly by GNHC and LOD. For the components the management structure has the following features:

6.1 Component One

Sub-component 1.1: The NLC Secretariat will be overall responsible for implementation of sub-component 1.1 Support to NLC. NLC will appoint a program officer who will be in charge of liaising between the NLC, the Gross National Happiness Commission and LOD whenever needed and with the responsibility to submit the required reports to the (Sub) Component Steer-ing Committee in a timely manner. The program officer will also contribute to the planning and execution of the reviews and other events relating to component one as well as the Partnership for Support to Good Governance and the Joint Annual Review Meeting, as stipulated in the joint MoU of the Partnership. A (Sub) Component Steering Committee, CSC, will be established to address issues directly re-lated to the implementation of the Danish support to the sub-component. The CSC will com-prise of a representative from NLC, a representative from the Gross National Happiness Com-mission and representatives from LOD. The CSC will meet semi-annually and the NLC Secre-tariat is secretariat for the committee. The (Sub) Component Steering Committee will approve annual budgets and work plans as well as progress reports, and financial statements prepared by the NLC. The Component Steering Committee will also approve annual audit reports prepared by the Royal Audit Authority and is mandated to approve budget reallocation between outputs.

Sub-component 1:2: The RCJ will be overall responsible for implementation of the subcompo-nent. RCJ will appoint a program officer, who will be in charge of liaising between the RCJ, the


25

.

Gross National Happiness Commission and LOD whenever needed and with the responsibility to submit the required reports to the Component Steering Committee in a timely manner. The program officer will also contribute to the planning and execution of the reviews and other events relating to component one including also the Joint Annual Review Meeting as stipulated in the MoU for the Good Governance Partnership.

A (Sub) Component Steering Committee Group, CSC, will be established to address issues di-rectly related to the implementation of the Danish support to the sub-component. The Compo-nent Steering Committee will comprise a representative from RCJ, a representative from the Gross National Happiness Commission and representatives from LOD. The (Sub) Component Steering Committee will meet semi-annually and the RCJ is secretariat for the committee. The (Sub) Component Steering Committee will approve annual budgets and work plans as well as progress reports, and financial statements prepared by the RCJ. The (Sub) Component Steering Committee will also approve annual audit reports prepared by the Royal Audit Authority and is mandate to approve budget reallocation between outputs. The specific tasks of each of the two CSCs comprise:

Strategic decisions to ensure the continued coherence between the programme and sector development.

Decisions concerning deviations from the programme document.

Endorsement of Review Aide Memoires and ensuring follow up, including decisions con-cerning proposed reallocations among components.

Approval of timing and ToR of reviews.

Approval of annual work plans and budgets, revised semi-annual plans and semi-annual budgets, semi-annual requests for funds presented by the RCJ.

Monitoring of overall progress of the programme with a special focus on delays, prob-lems and bottlenecks including approval of progress and financial reports, decisions on follow-up activities presented by the RCJ.

Overseeing audits including follow-up on recommendations in the annual audit report presented by the RCJ.

Approval of Terms of Reference for short-term consultants

Decisions on local procurement issues

6.2 Component Two: The Joint Local Governance Support Programme

The LGSP will be institutionally housed in the Local Development Division of the Gross Na-tional Happiness Commission. A program officer will be appointed for the LGSP by the GNHC. Implementation will be the responsibility of the GNHC. The GNHC and other RGoB institutions involved in the implementation of the LGSP will bene-fit from technical backstopping by UNCDF regional advisers and consultants, support from the UNDP/UNCDF designated Programme Officer in Bhutan, and technical advisors from other development partners engaged in the LGSP, as well as regular support from other local consult-ants financed by the LGSP. LGSP Outcome Board /Steering Committee (OB/SC) A joint LGSP Outcome Board /Steering Committee will be established to oversee overall joint programme activities. The LGSP Outcome Board /Steering Committee will meet twice a year in


26

.

February and September respectively to discuss component progress and endorse the overall di-rection of component implementation. This Committee will consist of:

Secretary of the GNHC (chairperson)

Head, Policy and Planning division, Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs

Directors of DNB and DPA, Ministry of Finance

One Dzongda

Two DYT (DT) Chairpersons, elected from and by the DYT (DT) and GYT (GT) for a pe-riod of two years

Representatives from each DP subscribing to the LGSP.

Resource persons, who may be asked to participate in the meetings, include:

Programme management

Government institutions

Other relevant resource persons, e.g. from the GNHC Commission, development partners, component managers and technical advisers.

Specific tasks of the LGSP Outcome Board /Steering Committee include:

Strategic decisions to ensure the continued coherence and synergy between the component and overall policy development within decentralization in Bhutan.

Decisions concerning deviations from the joint programme document.

Endorsement of Review Aide Memoires and ensuring follow up, including decisions con-cerning proposed reallocations.

Approval of timing and ToR of technical reviews and Joint Annual Reviews.

Approval of timing and TOR of evaluations;

Approval of annual work plans and budgets, revised semi-annual plans and semi-annual budgets, semi-annual requests for funds presented by the LGSP implementation unit and re-lease of earmarked budget support through the block grant mechanism.

Monitoring of overall implementation progress with a special focus on delays, problems and bottlenecks

Overseeing the results and follow up of audits carried out by the RAA as part of the overall external audit process of the RGoB reports submitted

Approval of Terms of Reference for advisors and consultants.

Approval of programme completion report. Meetings and reports The GNHC will act as secretariat to the LGSP Outcome Board /Steering Committee and an-nounce the meetings with at least two weeks‟ notice. All documentation for the meetings (plan/budget, reports, proposals for adjustments, etc.) shall be distributed to the members at least one week in advance together with a draft agenda. The GNHC is responsible for drafting the minutes of the OB/SC meetings and distributing these to all participants within a week after the meeting. The OB/SC approves the minutes at the next meeting. The GNCH will submit semi-annual progress reports to the OB/SC prior to the scheduled bi-annual Board meetings


27

.

6.3 Component Three: - Support to Non-State Actors

Implementation responsibility for the support to establish the CSO Authority will be allocated to the relevant ministry/agency once appointed. A Component Steering Committee (CSC) will be established to coordinate and assess progress of the support to Component Three. The primary role of the CSC will be to share information on and to the extent possible harmonise support to non-state actors, to monitor and review progress of implementation of the component, to advise on technical and managerial issues, to coordinate the Joint Annual Technical Review, and to coordinate the use of technical assistance. Further-more, it is the responsibility of the CSC to ensure that all activities carried out in the component absorb the maximum synergy from other activities within the Good Governance Support Pro-gramme. The CSC also serves the function as Board for the CSO Fund. The Component Steer-ing Committee is mandated to revise and adjust the component inclusive reallocation of budget between sub-components. Members of the Component Steering Committee comprise one representative for the CSO Au-thority (Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs until the Authority has been established), one rep-resentative for the Liaison Office of Denmark (LOD) and two CSO representatives. Other inter-national partners providing support to non-state actors are as well eligible for membership of CSC . The CSO Authority is responsible for physical and financial reporting for outputs 3.1.1 through 3.1.4 according to the rules and guidelines of RGoB and Danida. The Authority has to prepare an annual progress report to be submitted through the Gross National Happiness Commission to the Component Steering Committee. Likewise, the CSO Fund Manager will report on physical and financial activities for outputs 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 to the Component Steering Committee. The reports of the component will be made available to the Joint Annual Review Meeting of the Part-nership for Good Governance. Specific tasks of the CSC are identical to CSCs for component one.


28

.

7 Financial management and procurement

The GGSP will apply a sector support modality, earmarking funds for the specific targets as out-lined in the programme and the components. This approach will be followed for all Danish fi-nancial contributions, also in the Joint LGSP. The funds are earmarked budget support to the specified items, which are integrated elements of the capital expenditure budget of the RGoB within the 10th FYP.

7.1 Transfer of Funds

The funds for supporting a RGoB component partner will be channelled to the Treasury through the Gross National Happiness Commission, and be given the Danish source code, using them only for activities specified in annual work plans and budgets endorsed by the respective Com-ponent/Sub-component Steering Committee. Thus, the earmarked support will be reflected in the national budget. The payments will be disbursed on request quarterly or semi-annually on the condition that all reporting requirements are fulfilled and the work plan approved by the respec-tive CSC. The amount of payment will depend on the annual plans and the actual rates of expen-diture. Funds from LOD to CSOs from the CSO fund will be as per rules of the CSO Act, i.e. routed to the CSO through an authorized financial institution of Bhutan.

7.2 Accounting and Auditing

The use of the earmarked support will be accounted for according to applicable RGoB rules and regulations. The Royal Audit Authority will audit the earmarked support once a year and a certi-fied annual financial statement submitted to LOD through the Gross National Happiness Com-mission. Deadline for submission is 6 months from the end of the financial year. However, Denmark reserves the right to commission a special audit into any aspect of the support having given due notice to the respective Component Steering Committee.

7.3 Procurement

Procurement for goods and services will follow RGoB‟s own rules, regulations and procedures in accordance with the Procurement Manual 1998. Procurement of equipment and services will be the responsibility of the RGoB and hence all procurement will be carried out according to the ordinary RGoB procurement rules and regulations. All physical construction works will be car-


29

.

ried out by external suppliers. If required and requested by RGoB, LOD may assist with pro-curement of international technical assistance according to Danida guidelines.


30

.

8 Monitoring, reporting, reviews and evaluations

Monitoring will in general be based on the RGoB NMES and reporting on PLaMS. The system is anticipated being operational by the beginning of the 10th FYP 1st July 2008. The NMES shall monitor RGoB performance under the 10th FYP, which is the national poverty reduction strategy and the guiding document also for attainment of the MDGs.

8.1 Indicators

As a proposed input to NMES interim indicators have been developed for each component and sub-component under the GGSP. At national level, poverty reduction, and good governance perception amongst Bhutanese are proposed a main indicators. The good governance perception is suggested to be measured by a study in 2009, 2011 and 2013 to be presented at the Joint An-nual Review Meeting of the Partnership for Good Governance using a scale of satisfaction from a-d. At programme level, one main consolidated indicator for each component/sub-component is proposed:

Table 1: Consolidated Programme Indicators

Level Description Indicator and target Means of verification

National objectives

Objective Good governance ap-

proaches fully imple-

mented as a mechanism

to reduce poverty

Poverty reduction to

15% by 2013

Poverty Survey

Perception of good gov-

ernance in Bhutan

measured as satisfactory

by at least 60% by 2013

Perception Study

(undertaken by GGSP)

GGSP programme outcomes

Component 1:

NLC subcom-

ponent

Updated multipurpose

cadastral information

available for socio-

economic development

Relevant information

available for

25%/50%/75% of ge-

wogs in 2010/11/12

NLC report


31

.

Component 1:

Judiciary sub-

component

Increased access to con-

venient and timely judi-

ciary services

Year-on-year increase in

the proportion of new

and pending cases de-

cided

Annual report from RCJ

Component 2:

Joint LGSP

Strengthened capacity to

provide effective and

efficient public services

in an accountable and

transparent manner

Annual plans, budgets

and expenditures ap-

proved and made avail-

able through public no-

tice boards from 70% of

LGs by 2009 and 90%

by 2012

GNHC annual report;

Joint Annual Review

Report

Component 3:

CSO support

To facilitate the estab-

lishment and growth of

„Public Benefit Organi-

sations‟ and „Mutual

Benefit Organisations‟ in

order to strengthen civil

society, promote social

welfare, and improve the

conditions and quality of

life for the people of

Bhutan.

Baseline is Zero. Indica-

tors are:

(i) No. of registered

CSOs

(ii) No. of CSOs imple-

menting public benefit

projects

CSO Authority reports

and statistics

CBS data

Cross-cutting issues of relevance under the GGSP relate to gender and here women's representa-tion in elected local governments will be directly monitored under the LGSP.

8.2 Reviews and evaluation

Reviews will be carried out as Joint Annual Reviews. For the Joint LGSP, as stipulated in the LGSP programme document the reviews will be carried out by a joint team, comprising participa-tion from development partners, contributors to the component and the RGoB. For other Dan-ish funded components Annual Joint Technical Reviews will be carried out by RGoB and the Government of Denmark. All review results will feed into the Joint Annual Review Meeting as per stipulations in the Partnership for Support to Good Governance MoU. Final evaluation of each programme elements and the consolidated programme will be carried out in a joint approach during second half of 2012 giving time for developing phase out activities and/or selective continuation of sub-components.

8.3 Physical and Financial Reporting

The physical and financial reporting process of the Component/Sub-component will be aligned as far as possible to the NMES currently being developed. Information will be based on the Monitoring and Evaluation Manual, expected to be in place from July 2008. The respective com-ponent/sub-component responsible managers will submit semi-annual progress reports by 1st February and 1st August to the concerned CSC. The semi-annual progress reports will contain information regarding physical and financial progress of the supported activities.


32

.

9 Assumptions, risks and preconditions

The overall risk at programme level is regarded as minimal, given the funding approach and the stated commitments made by the RGoB. In the area where DPs are planning to provide assis-tance to an institution or sector in order to support creating an enabling environment for good governance, some areas of intervention might come rather close to the core of the national gov-ernment machinery, and thus stimulate discussions, which earlier was not possible. As the pro-posed support schemes are very much in line with the expressed strategies of the RGoB, a steady and fruitful co-operation is foreseen in general. The many democratic changes in Bhutan might however cause a slight risk, as the new structures – directly elected parliament, directly elected local governments, independent constitutional bod-ies and emerging CSO‟s, all represent new ways of working for the entire governance system and thus possible new and unexpected outcomes of the political process. However, this is not ex-pected, as there seems to be a broad consensus around the objectives of the 10th FYP. There are no preconditions prior to the inception of the programme. For the respective compo-nents, the following is assessed:

9.1 Component One

Subcomponent 1.1: Support to the National Land Commission

• It is assumed that the RGoB will to give high priority to land governance within the 10th FYP and that the National Land Commission gets full political and financial backing in its pursuit of the cadastral resurvey, land use mapping and in drafting a national land policy.

• It‟s assumed that political backing to land governance and the formulation of a land policy is sustained after the general elections in 2008.

• It‟s assumed that the NLC is able to manoeuvre through the difficult multi-stakeholder land-scape of formulating the land policy. The technical support from Denmark will assist NLC in this endeavour.

• It is assumed that indicators based on the NMES of the 10th FYP will be in place at the latest from the beginning of the 10th FYP.

• It‟s assumed that the RGoB (or assisted by other partners) will cover the remaining 90% of capital expenditures for the national cadastre resurveying for 2008-10.

Subcomponent 1.2: Support to the Judiciary

• It is assumed that the process of establishing the Judiciary as an independent branch of gov-ernment is continued after the general elections 2008 and the adoption of the draft Constitu-tion. This backing of the Judiciary is reflected in the allocation of resources in the 10th FYP.


33

.

• It is assumed that qualified candidates for the in-country and ex-country studies are identi-fied by RCJ based on a merit-based, gender-balanced selection procedure.

9.2 Component Two: Joint LGSP

The LGSP component includes a brief risk assessment and an overview of risk mitigation meas-ures. There are no major risks found likely or very likely, and for possible risk elements mitigating measures are in place. However, as also highlighted in the 10th FYP, the actual transfer by sector ministries of functions and resources to the local governments still needs to be intensified. It is also important that the government and DP‟s pursue the decentralisation efforts with support in the sectors, where the service delivery at local level actually are planned and executed.

9.3 Component Three Non-State Actors

There are three assumptions determining whether outputs will support attainment of objective:

(i) It is assumed, that the RGoB will continue to consider implementation of the CSO Act as im-portant.

(ii) It is assumed, that the RGoB will allow CSOs to operate freely in accordance with the princi-ples of the Act; and

(iii) It is assumed, that the CSOs are interested in taking advantage of the CSO Fund.

The main risk is that the pending enforcement of the Civil Society Organisations Act will be fur-ther delayed. However, it is expected that pressure from the emergent civil society, as well as from the newly elected parliamentarians will accelerate the implementation.

There is also a minor risk relating to the realisation of outputs (from activity to output), i.e. whether a competent organisation capable of managing the CSO Fund can be identified. A screening has not been undertaken, but the consultancy market is developing in Bhutan, and this risk is not expected to seriously jeopardise achievement of the immediate objective of the Com-ponent.

Risks will be monitored as part of the component monitoring system.


34

.

Annex 1: Overview of Development Partner Support to Good Governance through 9th and 10th FYP

Receiving

Institu-

tion

Donor Project Title Objective Duration

Budg

et in

USD

(ap-

proxi

mate)

ACC UNDP Institutional

and Human

Capacity

Building of

Anti-

Corruption

Commission

of Bhutan

Support to drafting of the anti-corruption Bill,

formulation of a Master Plan including National

Strategy and Action Plan, review systemic prob-

lems and formulation of rules and procedures.

March

2006 –

Decem-

ber 2007

100,0

00.00

ACC Danida Support to Investigation capacity development Septem-

ber 2007

– June

2008

125,0

00

ACC Dutch Developing capacity in analyzing costs of red tape

and overregulation.

2007 70,00

0

ACC Swiss

Agency

for De-

velop-

ment

and

Coop-

eration

(SDC)

Enhancement of public service delivery of agen-

cies incl. public and private.

March

2007 –

July 2008

87,50

0

BBS JICA Capacity De-

velopment of

the Broadcast-

ing Service

To promote professionalism through capacity en-

hancement and to improve management of BBS

Cabinet

Secre-

tariat

UNDP Capacity

Building of

the Cabinet

Secretariat

Capacity Building August

2007 -

July 2008

150,0

00

DIT UNDP ICT for Good

Governance

Foundation for e-governance initiatives, RGOB

and Private Sectors cooperation on ICT for Good

Governance and Increased access to information

for rural communities (piloting rural tele-

communication centres)

October

2005-

Decem-

ber 2007

240,0

00


35

.

DIT UNDP Localization

of e-

governance

Technical and institutional support to develop

user-friendly e-application and standardized plat-

forms for local government bodies to facilitate

public access to information.

January -

Decem-

ber 2008

-

160,0

00

DLG JICA Local Gov-

ernance and

Decetraliza-

tion Project I

Institutional strengthening of MoHCA, Pilot Pro-

jects, Gewog Center Construction. Equipments

and training, and grants to all gewogs under Haa,

Bumthangs and Trashigang districts.

2004-

2006

2 mil-

lion

ECB

UNDP/

GoJ

Institutional

and Human

Capacity

Building of

Election

Commission

of Bhutan

Support to training of electoral officers, voter edu-

cation, and purchase of election related equipment.

February

2007 -

Decem-

ber 2008

1,4

mil-

lion

(

UND

P

400,0

00 +

GoJ

1,006,

115

throug

h

UND

P

Judiciary Danida

through

LOD

local

grant

modal-

ity

Construction of five district court buildings, ex-

country LLM’s and courses in alternative dispute

resolution

Judiciary

RBP

Monastic

body

UNICE

F

Child and women friendly procedures (capacity

building, study tours, equipment) Review of juve-

nile justice act, enhancement of safe environment

for children in monastic schools.

2007

(will con-

tinue

during

10th

FYP)

200,0

00

LDD pre-

viously

DLG un-

der Mo-

HCA

UNCDF

/UNDP/

SNV

Decentraliza-

tion Support

Programme

Piloting of block grants to all gewogs in Gasa,

Pemagatshel, Lhuntshe, Zhemgang and Trongsa

districts. (Infrastructure development) and capacity

building for officials and staff at gewog and dis-

trict level, plus capacity building of DLG/LDD

and support for development of policy and legisla-

tive framework.

June

2003 to

Decem-

ber 2007

UNC

DF: 1

mil-

lion,

UND

P:

1,756.

500

SNV:

TA

LDD pre- UNDP/ Integrated Capacity Building of local authorities to 2007 - 195,0


36

.

viously

DLG un-

der Mo-

HCA

SNV Package of

Services to

support

MDG-Based

National De-

velopment

Strategy for

Bhutan: Local

Level Initia-

tives to Ac-

celerate MDG

Progress

(AA4)

strengthen decentralisation and reduce poverty.

Incl. block grants to gewogs under Chukha, Da-

gana, Paro and Wangdue districts, and IT equip-

ment for Integrated Gewog Centres.

2008 00

(SNV

Funds

chan-

nelled

throug

h

UND

P)

LDD pre-

viously

DLG un-

der Mo-

HCA

JICA Local Gov-

ernance and

Decentraliza-

tion Project II

Training and pilot project/grants to gewogs in

three districts (to be identified).

2007-

2010

250,0

00

LDD pre-

viously

DLG un-

der Mo-

HCA

Helve-

tas

Support to

local govern-

ance

Enhance capacities of local governments to pro-

vide administrative services to the people Capacity

building of local government (grants to three dis-

tricts still to be identified) and capacity building of

the LDD.

2008-

2011

600,0

00

MoFA UNDP Institutional

and Human

Capacity of

Ministry of

Foreign Af-

fairs enhanced

Capacity building to better manage treaties and

using ICT to bring services to citizens.

October

2005-

Decem-

ber 2006

106,0

00

NCWC

UNDP

Gender Main-

streaming and

Women's

Empower-

ment in Bhu-

tan

Strengthened capacity to address violence against

women and gender mainstreamed into key plans,

policies, programs and legislations. Implemented

in collaboration with RENEW and Royal Police of

Bhutan.

August

2007 -

July 2009

270,0

00

NLC Gov-

ernment

of India

Supply of technical instruments 2006

NLC Swed

Survey

(Swe-

den)

Support to improvement of Land Information Sys-

tem in the form of TA

2002-

2007

NFS Helve-

tas

Strengthen the national finance service through

capacity development for accountants in minis-

tries, districts and gewogs, police force, judiciary

and others for transparent public financial man-

2001-

2007

2,000,

000


37

.

agement.

NWAB UNDP/

SNV

Leadership

Training for

Women

Enhancing capacity of women in decision making June

2007 -

May

2008

50,00

0

OAG UNDP Support to drafting of Contract Act in the form of

TA

2006 104,0

00

PCS UNICE

F

Results Based Management in support of 10th

FYP

preparation (central and districts level) TA and

training, system overview

2007

PCS UNICE

F

Study visit to Planning Commission of India and

other policy, budgeting and research institutes

learning good practices in planning, decentraliza-

tions, budgeting and policy advice (capacity build-

ing)

2007

PCS UNDP/

UNICE

F

Integration of Planning (PLaMS) and budgeting

(MYRB) systems (TA and training)

2007

RAA UNDP Performance

Auditing Pro-

ject

Training of auditors in performance auditing, de-

velopment of performance audit manual, and inte-

gration of performance auditing into RAAs audit-

ing procedures

February

2005 –

Decem-

ber 2006

162,0

00

RAA Danida Sub-

component

4.2 of the

GG/Public

Adm. Reform

Programme,

phase II

Human resource development, audit awareness at

district/gewog level, two vehicles for regional of-

fices, procurement of infrastructure testing tools,

setup of IT network,

2003 -

2006

340,0

00

RAA SDS Human Resource Development 2007 37,50

0

RAA GoI Two slots per year for staffs training in Indian ac-

counting institute

2001-

2013

RCSC Danida Sub-

component

1.2 under the

GG/Public

Adm. Reform

Programme,

phase II

Enhancing civil service to fulfil tasks and respon-

sibilities within the decentralised tasks and respon-

sibility structure

2003-

2006

1,000,

000

RCSC SNV Support to Nationwide Organisational Develop-

ment exercise in the form of TA

2007 TA

RCSC SNV Implementation of recommendations of the Organ-

isational Development exercise

2008-

2009

TA

RENEW UNFPA Addressing gender based violence (training of

counsellors and setting up community based sup-

port mechanism)

2007-

2012

720,0

00

RENEW UNICE

F

Support to establish temporary shelter home 2006-

2007

8,000


38

.

(will be

contin-

ued)

PC, NSB,

and other

relevant

minis-

tries,

agencies

and

dzongkha

gs

UNDP,

UNICE

F, WFP,

UNFPA

,

UNIFE

M

Enhance capacity of public sector to implement

results based policy, plan and programme devel-

opment for MDGs, GNH and other national priori-

ties. (UN cCPAP outcome 1,5)

2008-

2012

1,700,

000

MoF,

MoIC,

BICMA,

RAA,

ACC,

MoHCA,

PC, OAG

UNDP,

UNICE

F,

UNV,

UNESC

O

Transparency, efficiency, effectiveness, participa-

tion and accountability strengthened at all levels.

(UN cPAP outcome 4,1)

2008-

2012

2,925,

000

Parlia-

ment,

MoFA,

PC, RBP,

NCWC,

MoF,

OAG

UNDP

UNICE

F

UNIFE

M

UNESC

O

Strengthened national capacity and systems to

formulate review and implement national legisla-

tion in line with ratified international conventions.

(UN cCPAP outcome 4,2)

2008-

2012

2,233,

000

MoF, Ju-

diciary,

MoIC,

ECB,

Cabinet

Sec.,

OAG,

Parlia-

ment,

NCWC

UNDP Capacity of key institutions to support parliamen-

tary democracy strengthened. (UN cCPAP out-

come 4,3)

2008-

2012

3,000,

000

MoHCA,

PC,

RCSC,

MoF,

NCWC,

Local

govern-

ment

UNDP

UNCDF

UNICE

F

UNV

Local governance systems and capacity strength-

ened with increased participation of women. (UN

cCPAP outcome 4,4)

2008-

2012

3,150,

000

Districts

and Ge-

wogs

SNV Support to governance issue at sector level 2008-

2012

TA

Civil So-

ciety

SNV Interested in supporting strengthening of civil so-

ciety and CSOs

2007-

2008

TA


39

.

ACC: Anti Corruption Commission

BBS: Bhutan Broadcast Service Corporation

BICMA: Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority

CSOs: Civil Society Organisations

Danida: Danish International Development Assistance

DIT: Department of Information Technology under Ministry of Information & Communication

DLG: Department of Local Governance under Ministry of Home & Cultural Affairs

DRC: Department of Revenue and Customs

ECB: Election Commission of Bhutan

GoJ: Government of Japan

LDD: Local Development Division under Planning Commission

MoIC: Ministry of Information and Communication

MoF: Ministry of Finance

MoFA: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

MoHCA: Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs

NAS: National Assembly Secretariat

NCWC: National Commission for Women & Children

NLC: National Land Commission

NCWC: National Commission for Women and Children

NFS: National Finance Services under MoF

NWAB: National Women’s Association of Bhutan

NSB: National Statistics Bureau

OAG: Office of Attorney General

PC: Planning Commission

PCS: Planning Commission Secretariat

RAA: Royal Audit Authority

RBP: Royal Bhutan Police

RCSC: Royal Civil Service Commission

SDS: Sustainable Development Secretariat

TA: Technical Assistance

UN cCPAP: United Nations Common Country Programme Action Plan (cCPAP) 2008-2012

UNCDF: United Nations Capital Development Fund

UNDP: United Nations Development programme

UNESCO: United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization

UNFPA: United Nations Population Funs

UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund

UNIFEM: United Nations Development Fund for Women

UNV: United Nations Volunteers

WFP: World Food Programme


40

.

Annex 2: Joint Partnership for Good Governance, (Draft) Memorandum of Understanding

MEMORAMDUM OF UNDERSTANDING IN SUPPORT OF

A PARTNERSHIP FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE IN BHUTAN

1. Parties This document constitutes an understanding between the Royal Government of Bhutan repre-sented by the Gross National Happiness Commission and international development partners providing support to good governance and democratization, including decentralisation. 2. Purpose The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is to establish a working relationship among the international partners providing support to good governance and decentralisation in the Kingdom of Bhutan to advance harmonisation and alignment of the support to the national priorities as expressed in the Draft Constitution and the transition to a democratic governance system and the priorities stated in the 10th Five Year Plan 2008 - 2013. The MoU specifies the way in which development partners intend to coordinate their activities and share information with a view to harmonise and maximise utilisation of existing resources. Furthermore, the MoU defines the modalities for the working partnership. It is anticipated that the Royal Government of Bhutan will take the lead in letting this happen. The long-term goal of the signatories to the MoU is the development of a joint platform, which can form the foundation for pooling of human, financial and technical resources and knowledge available for support to good governance, democratization and decentralisation in Bhutan with targets and priorities as stated in the 10th Five Year Plan. 3. Background Within a span of few years, Bhutan has made unparallel and remarkable progress in the areas of governance, moving towards a democratic constitutional monarchy, whereby the rule of law is supreme within the Draft Constitution. In 2008 the first democratic elections based on universal suffrage and multi-party system took place. Subsequently, local government elections will be or-ganized to establish Gewog (block) and Dzongkhag (district) councils. In order to support the transformation to democracy, an impressive effort has been made to strengthen key constitutional institutions such as the Election Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Office of Attorney General, the Royal Audit Authority, the Royal Civil Service Commission and the Judiciary. A new Land Commission has been established to administer the vital issue of land distribution and management as stipulated in the Land Act of 2007.


41

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Drawing on Article 22 of the Draft Constitution the Local Governments' Act of 2007 provides the legal basis for the functioning of local government and new representative arrangements. The Act defines the roles, responsibilities, privileges and immunities of local representatives to repre-sent their communities. It also outlines the nature of council sessions, conduct of business and committee structure, and highlights the importance of transparency, direct accountability and monitoring of local government. The Act will be supplemented by revised DYT and GYT Chatrims (regulations), which will spell out detailed functions and financing mechanisms and other operational arrangements for Dzongkhags and Gewogs. Further policy initiatives on local governance are reflected in the 10th Five Year Plan which advocates the formulation of umbrella legislation on local government, an alternative planning framework for rolling plans and budgets, a revised fiscal formula for allocation of funds to local government and the adoption of discre-tionary annual grants. Another important initiative impacting positively on the development of democratic structures in Bhutan includes the recent passing of the Civil Society Organizations' (CSO) Act of Bhutan (2007) by the National Assembly. A strong and vibrant democracy must have a strong and active civil society and a strong economic sector. However, the civil society in Bhutan remains relatively fragile. Implementation of the Act and further development of CSOs are contingent on the es-tablishment of the planned CSO Authority.

The media play a vital role in promoting access to information and ensuring transparency and accountability of the newly elected democratic government and other public institutions. Profes-sional development of the media as well as strengthened access to public information will be im-portant to support an enabling environment for an independent and pluralistic media as democ-racy begins. Acknowledging the importance of advancing the efficiency of the utilisation of available re-sources, the development partners, together with the Gross National Happiness Commission of Bhutan, have agreed in principle to initiate an open partnership for the support to good govern-ance and decentralisation. This document outlines the principles within which this will take place. 4. Partnership for support to good governance and local service delivery The Partnership for Good Governance covers the period from July 2008 to June 2013, the pe-riod of the 10th Five-Year Plan. It covers support within three thematic areas aiming at establish-ing good governance as enabling factor for poverty reduction as stipulated in the 10th Five Year Plan. The three thematic areas are:

1. Support to democratic governance - with the expected outcome „Strengthened capacity of democratic governance institutions‟

2. Support to local governments – with the expected outcome „Direct participation of the people in the development and management of their own social, economic, and environ-mental wellbeing facilitated by decentralisation and devolution of power and authority'.

3. Support to non-state actors – with the expected outcome „Enabling framework for non-state actors (media, civil society and private sector) to strengthen the democratic process created‟.


42

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At the national level, a Joint Annual Review Meeting (ARM) with participation by key RGoB in-stitutions dealing with good governance and local service delivery and development partners pro-viding support to the area will be organised. The ARM shall be chaired by the Gross National Happiness Commission Secretary and meet according to needs, but not less than once a year, preferably in September. The purpose of the ARM is to monitor and review progress of the sup-port to good governance and decentralisation at the macro level, identify new areas of support and address other issues of importance for the ongoing governance and decentralisation reform in Bhutan. It is the intention that the ARM substitute separate bilateral reviews and thus reduce transaction costs. Where support to the thematic areas has been formulated in specific interventions, the manage-ment set-up and financing mechanisms will vary according to the particularities of each interven-tion. Under thematic area 2 a joint Danish/UNCDF/UNDP „Support to Local Governance Support Programme‟ has been developed. Here the overall implementation responsibility will be assigned an Outcome Board/Steering Committee. However, the strategic good governance dialogue will be assigned to the ARM as described above. Other development partners providing support to this area will be invited to attend the meetings of the Outcome Board/Steering Committee as observers. Under thematic area 1 and 3 specific project Steering Committees are established as per the need of the support projects/programmes. Progress reports and technical review reports from these projects/programmes shall be made available to the ARM. 5. Principles of collaboration and coordination The parties will abide by the following principles:

The MoU is intended to promote harmonisation and alignment of support to good gov-ernance and decentralisation in Bhutan. The long-term objective is development of har-monised and fully aligned implementation and monitoring approach, while it is acknowl-edged that individual development partners may continue to provide bilateral support in collaboration with the RGoB.

The parties consent to establish a Partnership for Good Governance as outlined above. Furthermore, the parties strive at avoiding bilateral reviews for individual development partners, substituting these by joint annual reviews and planning exercises, including a joint outcome evaluation in 2012 of the partnership support to good governance and de-centralisation.

The parties agree to promote, as much as possible, the pooling of their support to good governance, e.g. in the form of cost sharing and basket-fund arrangements. Therefore, the parties agree to work together with the RGoB to further refine the principles of good governance.

The parties consent to adopt a joint system for monitoring and review of GG indicators, based on indicators stipulated in the 10th Five-Year Plan/the National Monitoring and Evaluation System, the GNH indicator framework and the Bhutan Development Index


43

.

being developed by the Centre for Bhutan Studies and the Gross National Happiness Commission. It may be considered to supplement these indicators with governance indi-cators under the MDGs. In addition, partners agree to take into account the indicators and observations of Monitoring Bodies of Conventions ratified by Bhutan like the CEDAW and CRC.

6. Period of agreement and modification The MoU will become effective from the 1st of July 2008. The MoU will terminate by end of June 2013, but may be extended beyond that date by mutual consent of the parties. The MoU may be amended and modified at any time by mutual consent of the parties. The Partnership is open for other development partners, committed to and willing to provide support to the thematic areas identified above. Signatory parties Royal Government of Bhutan Gross National Happiness Commission Name: Signature Date Government of Denmark

Signature Date UNDP Name Signature Date UNCDF Name Signature Date Austrian Development Agency Name Signature Date Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation Name Signature Date Japan International Development Agency Name Signature Date Government of Norway Name Signature Date Government of the Netherlands Name Signature Date


44

.

European Commission Name Signature Date Helvetas Name Signature Date SNV Name Signature Date


45

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Annex 3: References Joint Formulation Mission Documents: GG Formulation Documents (Joint): 1. MoU between the RGoB and the development partners supporting Good Governance, 1st

draft 2. MoU Annex 1: Joint Good Governance Support Framework 2008-13 (Results Matrix) 3. MoU Annex 2: TOR for the Joint Good Governance Forum 4. Joint Good Governance Support Framework Document 5. Danida‟s Contribution to Component One: Support to Democratic Governance Institutions 6. Component Description no 1, annex 3 (TOR for international TA) 7. Local Governance Support Programme, Joint Programme Document (Zero Draft) 8. Local Government Support Programme – The Gewog Annual Block Grant Facility. Draft

MOU 9. Component Description no 2, Budget 10. Outline of Danida‟s Contribution to Component 3: Support to non-State actors Component

Description no 3

Good Governance Formulation (Danida-related) documents: 11. Draft TOR for RGoB-Danida Steering Committee 12. Danida Unallocated Funds 13. Draft Danida consolidated budget 14. Updated Process Action Plan

Documents of Royal Bhutanese Government: 15. 2nd Draft Constitution of Bhutan (August 2007) 16. Guideline for preparation of the 10th Plan (2007-2012), Planning Commission, March 2006 17. Draft 10th FYP (2008-2013). Volume I: Main Document, February 2008 18. Draft 10th FYP (2008-2013). Volume II: Programme Profiles, February 2008 19. Good Governance Plus, November 2005 20. Revised Chathrims (Manual) for DYT (District Development Committee) 21. Revised Chathrims (Manual) for GYT (Block Development Committee) 22. Local Governance Act of Bhutan, 2007 23. Civil Society Organization Act of Bhutan, 2007 24. Country Financial Accountability Assessment, Bhutan (Final Draft 02/28/02) 25. Anti Corruption Commission: Annual Report, 2007 26. Bhutan 2020: A Vision for Peace, Prosperity and Happiness 27. Land Act 2007 28. Poverty Analysis Report 2007 29. Bhutan Living Standard Survey 2007 Report 30. Draft Constitution 3rd Draft. August 1, 2007 31. The Judicial Service Act of Bhutan 2007 32. Judiciary Strategic Master Plan, 2006-2020 33. National Consultation on Women and Child Friendly Judicial Procedures Gedu, Chukha

March 2006


46

.

34. Recommendations Of The National Consultation on Women and Child Friendly Police Pro-cedures October 2005 Thimphu

Danida Document and Manuals:

35. Aid Management Guidelines, Danida (www.amg.um.dk) 36. Effective and Accountable Public-Sector Management: Strategic Priorities for Danish Sup-

port for Good Governance, April 2007 37. Danish Support to good governance-effective and accountable public sector management:

Background Analysis. MFA, 2007 38. Capacity Development in Bhutan: Evaluation. 2006 39. Gender Equality for Danish Development Cooperation: Strategy. 2004 40. Danida. Gender Tool Box 2008 41. Bhutan-Denmark partnership (2008-2012) – Draft Country Strategy Paper 42. Third Joint Review. Final Technical Report- Good Governance / Public Administrative Re-

form Programme II Bhutan: June 2007 43. Fourth Joint Annual Review of Good Governance/PARP II, Bhutan: September 2007 44. GG/PARP II Programme document 45. GG/PARP II Government Agreement 46. Summary of Partnership Meeting on Good Governance, 27 September 2007

UNDP Documents:

47. Decentralisation Outcome Evaluation Report, 2005 (UNDP in cooperation with UNCDF,

Danida, JICA, Helvetas and SDC) 48. Decentralizing down to the Gewog-Evaluation of the Gewog Development Facilitating Activ-

ity, Bhutan. 2001 49. Supporting Decentralization and Local Governance in Bhutan: Draft Concept Note. August

3007, UNDP/UNCDF 50. Decentralisation Support Programme: Royal Government of Bhutan, UNDP, and SNV. 51. Democracy, Good Governance and Happiness, Some views from the Kingdom of Bhutan 52. Mid Term Evaluation: Bhutan Decentralization Support Programme. Final Report. 2006 53. Challenges of Decentralization in Bhutan, Coordination and Human Capacity, July 2005 54. Challenges of Decentralization in Bhutan, Financing Local Government, July 2005 55. Inventory of Sectoral Initiatives in Support of DYT/GYT Chathrim Implementation Experi-

ences in Bhutan, SNV, September 2003 56. Decentralization in Bhutan, paper by François Vaillancourt, April 2004 57. The Impact of Decentralization, Bhutan Development Cooperation Report 2002, Spring 2004 58. UNDP Policy Position on Decentralization and Local Governance, May 2003 59. United Nations Development Assistance Framework for the Kingdom of Bhutan 2008-2012

(June 2007) 60. Common Country Programme Action Plan (cCPAP) 2008-2012 (December 2007)

Other Documents:

61. Gender Equality as Smart Economics: A World Bank Group Gender Action Plan (Fiscal Year

2007-10), September 2006 62. Draft National Plan of Action for Gender (2007), NCWC 63. Lham Dorji Understanding the concept of Civil society in Bhutan

http://www.amg.um.dk/

http://www.undp.org.bt/Governance/docs/Coordination%20and%20Human%20Capacity.pdf

http://www.undp.org.bt/Governance/docs/Financing%20Local%20Government.pdf

http://www.undp.org.bt/Governance/docs/Inventory%20of%20Sectoral%20Initiatives.pdf

http://www.undp.org.bt/Governance/docs/Inventory%20of%20Sectoral%20Initiatives.pdf

http://www.undp.org.bt/Governance/docs/Decentralization%20in%20Bhutan.pdf

http://www.undp.org.bt/Governance/The%20Impact%20of%20Decentralization.pdf

http://www.undp.org.bt/Governance/Decentralisation%20Position%20Paper.pdf