LOCAL GOVERNANCE MAPPING

In 2013 a mapping of local governance took place in ChinState. This was part of the pilot phase of a nation-wide localgovernance mapping carried out by UNDP in collaborationwith the General Administration Department, Ministry ofHome Affairs. For an overview of the methodology see FastFacts: Local Governance Mapping in Myanmar.

In Chin, the mapping covered Thantlang, Falam, Tonzang,Mindat, Matupi and Paletwa townships, where citizens,committee members, civil society representatives, serviceproviders and local administrators were interviewed about thequality of local governance and service delivery.

Around 600 citizens and 200 service providers and localadministrators shared their experiences and impressions of (specifically primary education, primaryhealth care and drinking water provision), and . This highlight outlines some of the keyfindings in Chin.

development planning and participation access to

basic services

transparency

and accountability

BACKGROUND

POPULATION DENSITY:

13/km2

POVERTY INCIDENCE:

73.3%

POPULATION:

0.465 million

TOWNSHIPS:

9

MappinG Hig hlig hts in C HIN STATE

,

The ceasefire agreement of2012 between theGovernment of Myanmar andthe Chin National Front (CNF)has removed what waspreviously a seriousbottleneck for development.

Chin State is one of the poorestamong Myanmar's states/regions, andwith an estimated 465,000 people,population-wise the second-smallest.Low population density, challengingmountainous terrain and anunderdeveloped infrastructure are allsevere barriers for development.

Sharing a long border with India andits western front with Bangladesh,Chin State has a unique demographiccomposition with six main ethnicgroups (Asho, Cho, Khum, Laimi,Mizo and Zomi) and several sub-groups. Chin's population ispredominantly Christian.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTEXT

Supported by:

SAFETY

42% of the peopleinterviewed noticed animprovement in the safetysituation over the last threeyears, and 92 generally feltsafe in their village tract orward.

Education and roads are the most visibleimprovements according to citizens (16 and 17%).

IMPROVEMENTS SEEN AT THE COMMUNITY LEVELNo or limited access to safe water is the mostimportant problem mentioned by citizens (32%).

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING AND PARTICIPATION

Township DevelopmentFunds

Township Development Support Committee (TDSC)and Township Municipal Affairs Committee (TMAC)

The TA has the obligation to "meet, coordinate and seekadvice" from the TDSC and TMAC in assigning townshipprojects. Thereby, the schedule for support committees isfluid and usually takes place on an 'as needed' basis, withthe TA inviting relevant members to join as required.Committees can convene up to 2-3 times a day when theState makes urgent requests for proposals or information.

General AdministrationDepartment (GAD) and theTownship Administrator (TA)

The GAD and TA play asteering and coordinating rolein township development. Thekey practice for information-sharing at the township levelis the weekly inter-departmental meeting, whichtakes place in all townships ona regular basis.

At the sub-national level, there are newdevelopment funds, and emergingopportunities for local actors, such asSupport Committees, Village Tract/WardAdministrators (VT/WAs) and the people,to influence the planning process anddecision- making for these funds.

4 development funds in Chin at township level.

Poverty Reduction Fund (PRF)

Constituency Development Fund (CDF)

Rural Development Fund

Border Affairs Fund

Recognising the immense challengesfaced by Chin State, the Union

Government has allocated Kyats 3 billionunder the PRF, triple the amountallocated to most other States and

Regions.

PRF

As per the nationalguidelines, the TownshipEducation Officer (TEO)sits on the TMC while theTownship Medical Officerdoes not (TMO). Yet, inMindat the TMO is amember of the TMC, asopposed to the TEO.

TMCComposition

Equality of treatment in education services is perceived tobe fairly high. 93% of the respondents feel that theirchild receives the same treatment at schools as otherchildren.

Of 14 school principals interviewed, all mentioned theexistence of a Parent Teacher Association at their school.4 rated the performance of the PTA as 'not good not bad',and 8 as good or very good.

Percentage of citizens satisfied with health servicesin the community

Percentage of respondents satisfied with educationservices in the community

70% percent of the users of public health services saidthat they always had to pay for medicines in a publichealth facility while most essential drugs should beprovided for free. Of these respondents 78% stated thatthey never received an explanation from the medical staffas to why they have to pay.

Of 23 interviewed health staff, 15 stated that the TownshipMedical Officer is undertaking regular supervision andsupport visits to their health facility.

Basic Service Delivery

In Thanthlang township the TownshipAdministrator has involved nine locally

influential volunteers as 'TerrainRepresentative' to improve communications

and promote development. This practicecan be extended to other townships.

'TerrainRepresentatives'

INFORMATION, TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

In all selected townships, information flow between all stakeholders was raisedcollectively by government, committee members and civil society members as a topthree governance priority.

As a continuation from the past, upward information flows between levels ofadministration are well established. But there are problems in the information flowfrom township administrations to communities. 67% of the people felt that thetownship was not providing them with sufficient information about plans for newprojects for the village tract or ward.

The VT/WA emerged as the primary source of government information for people(47%), particularly in rural areas (58%). One third of the respondents (33%)receive news via family and friends.

Information flow

Incidents of complaints including those related toland are relatively infrequent in Chin, and differentthan in other States and Regions these do not takeup the majority of time for administrators andcommittee members. This is partially due to theexistence of traditional dispute resolutionmechanisms.

Grievance redressal47%

33%

28%

18%

11%

16%

11%

9%

In the community dialogues, different groups from thecommunity such as women, youth and elders, as well as localservice providers and the village tract/ward administrator,discussed key issues of and possible improvements for localgovernance and service delivery.

In one village tract for example, the participants discussed howthe community could support further development and whereexternal support was needed. The Village TractAdmininistrator and committees proposed that villagers couldwork on development projects for a suitable wage, to which thepeople agreed. The Village Tract Administrator furthersuggested that the Agricultural Department should provideagricultural technologies, pesticides and fertilizers to helpstrengthen food security.

COMMUNITY DIALOGUE

STATE LEVEL RECOMMENDATIONS

To counteract corruption, establish an independent officialanti-corruption institutions (Ombudsman).

In the State level workshop in Hakha, where interim findings from the mappingin Chin were presented, government and civil society from the State, townshipand village tract/ward level made recommendations. These include:

To address the limited involvement of women inadministration, develop organisational gender policies andhave facilities for mothers with children at their workplace.

Guidance and support should be provided on the role of the Village Tract Administrator,emphasizing their responsibilities in relaying information and facilitating participation.

Specific strategies to overcome barriers in information flow related to Chin's geography should bedeveloped. The concept of 'Terrain Representatives' introduced in Thantlang could serve as anexample.

CONCLUSIONS

UNDP Myanmar No. 6, Natmauk Road,Tamwe TownshipYangon 11211,MyanmarE-mail:communications.mm@undp.orgJanuary 2015

For a more detailedreport on Chin pleasevisit: www.mm.undp.org

To address the relatively low levels of women participation in administration and development,support to women to improve their opportunities to apply for and enter administrative rolesshould be considered, as well as support to women leaders in the community.

It is a challenge for Chin to effectively spend the relatively high amount of development funds. Toimprove processes for project prioritization and selection, clear roles and responsibilities forcommittee members should be established.