Start Date : 8 May 11   End Date : 9 May 11 Location: Amman, Jordan

Background:
Decentralization has been gaining increasing attention as a means of improving the provision of public goods and services as reforming public-service delivery has moved to the forefront of the current policy agenda. For many years, local governments have been recognized as key actors in economic and social development of any society and also as starting point for democratic expression. The local authorities are representative, legitimate and efficient in steering local urban development.

In developing countries, governments have experimented with different forms of decentralization to bring service delivery closer to the people. National governments are increasingly sharing the responsibility for service provision with the local governments in a variety of public arrangements that aim to increase the accountability and responsiveness of service delivery. It has been widely observed that the decentralized service delivery results in quicker gains than with centralized system.

In Iraq:
The experience of decentralized governance in Iraq is minimal. Only since 2003, has he Republic of Iraq has embarked upon structural reforms when it adopted a federal system made up of federal-led authorities: (i) a federal region, the Kurdistan region comprising of three governorates and (ii) 15 governorates outside of region of structure, comprising the capital Baghdad and 14 governorates constituted of 251 municipalities. The 2005 Constitution advanced the reform process by establishing a model of decentralized political and administrative government through devolution of authority to the governorates (provinces). In March 2008, the Provincial Powers Law defined the roles and responsibilities of both the elected local bodies and the associated administrative units at Governorate, district and sub-district levels. This Law indeed provides a strong basis for the empowerment of local governments. But it does not provide a comprehensive insight to establish an effective and efficient decentralized system in the country.

At both the political and administrative levels, the law directs towards greater decentralization which represents a profound transformation from the way government decision making process operated under the previous totalitarian regime. While on the other hand, the law failed to delegate sufficient power to the local councils, despite a consecrated devolution of power through the Constitution and the Provincial Powers Act. Under the given circumstances, the challenges therefore lie at the heart of the development of the new local governance system in Iraq.

The conference
Participants:
Key participants are the representatives of Iraq Local Government Association from Iraq.

Languages:
The conference will be conducted in Arabic and English with simultaneous translation.

Venue:
Amman, Jordan 8 and 9 May 2011 with a field trip to Istanbul, Turkey 11 -12 May.

Contact:
Suman Kumar Karna
Local Governance and Decentralization Specialist, UN-HABITAT Iraq Programme,
4 Abdullah Al-Jazzar Street, Zahran, North Abdoun, Amman – 11194, JORDAN
Tel - +962 6 592 4889 Ext. 116 (GMT +02 hrs), Cell - +962 795 594 604,
Email – suman.kumar@unhabitat.org

For further background, click here.