ISLAMABAD: EU-supported program “Enhancing CSOs’ Contributions to Governance and Development Processes in Pakistan” held an event to share knowledge and best practices here on Thursday.
To mark the successful conclusion of a 5-years project under the European Union funded program, a national workshop on knowledge sharing and best practices was organized in Islamabad.
LASOONA and Welthungerhilfe (WHH) organized the national event to share experiences and best practices as well as to communicate the lessons learned amongst other organizations implementing similar European Union-funded initiatives.
The event started with the welcome address of Azam Khan Executive Director LASOONA and Isabel Bogorinsky, Head of Program Welthungerhilfe (WHH).
Six organizations, who implemented EU-funded interventions fostering civil society engagement and participatory governance, including Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), Management Development Foundation (MDF), LASOONA, Omer Asghar Khan Foundation (OAKDF), Social Mobilization, Advocacy, Research and Training (SMART), and Water Environment and Sanitation Society (WESS), presented learnings and best practices of their respective projects from Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
These best practices and lessons learned are documented to share them with civil society and governance stakeholders for replication and upscaling as well as building synergies and complementarities with other initiatives.
The most prominent best practices and case studies include citizen engagement in development planning and budgeting, increasing downward accountability and transparency of local government towards communities as well as strengthened independence of women and persons with disabilities through vocational training.
In the event the Director Local Governance School of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa launched a training module developed with the support of Welthungerhilfe (WHH), for training of local elected representatives of the province.
The elected Chairman of Tehsil Alpuri, district Shangla appreciated the efforts of LASOONA and Welthungerhilfe and emphasized the role of citizens in development planning and public service improvement.
After assuming the role as Tehsil Chairman, he engaged with the Inclusive Civil Society Platform established under the EU-funded project and notified the platform as Citizen Advisory Group to further engage in development planning in his Tehsil.
In his remarks on the occasion, Siddique Bhatti, Development Advisor European Union said that “In Pakistan, the EU is committed to support a stable, democratic, and pluralistic country that respects human rights and benefits from its full economic potential by supporting sustainable and inclusive development for all its citizens.
It is encouraging to see active role of local civil society in governance in Pakistan through enhancing citizens’ engagement”.
The program was attended by elected representatives of local government from Swat and Shangla, officers of provincial and federal government departments, representatives of the civil society, national and international NGOs and representative of the European Union.
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