Democracy and Governance

Strategy

The Pact D&G sector strategy is under development at this time. It will have its basis in Pact's values and Mission as they relate to D&G.

Pact's goal in democracy and governance is to build the capacity of NGOs and their community leaders to address local development problems. Pact works to create an enabling environment for effective governance, resulting in linkages between government, private business and civil society at national, regional and local levels. We assist our partners to establish legal frameworks to protect and promote civil society, increase citizen participation, improve institutional and financial viability of civil society organizations (CSOs), enhance the free flow of information, and strengthen democratic political culture. Through its expertise in networking, coalition building, and advocacy, Pact introduces key tools to local stakeholders to enable them to take on a larger role in the governance of their society.

Within the larger Democracy and Governance field, Pact pursues much of this mission through the civil society and governance sectors. Civil society organizations around the world benefit from Pact's proven methodologies, tools, and training modules as they advance critical elements of a vibrant civil society. Pact's work in the governance sector promotes citizen participation in holding governments accountable, and assists government officials in developing transparent and accountable governance practices.

Subsectors

Anticorruption
Pact focuses on increasing the public demand for transparency and anticorruption efforts, through informing citizens of their rights and encouraging behavior change through awareness-raising and social marketing. Pact also provides assistance to local and national governmental institutions in developing more transparent procedures for drafting budgets and allocating resources. By introducing public expenditure tracking surveys, offering training to journalists in investigative reporting, and holding multistakeholder workshops regarding corruption, Pact is able to mix increasing demand for transparency and improved government understanding of transparent mechanisms to increase pressure against corruption.

Citizen participation
To support a tradition of democratic practices Pact encourages local stakeholders to give input into decisions affecting their lives. Employing a community organization approach, Pact helps NGOs collect data on local service needs and link to government and other local organizations to address those needs. Citizen-local government exchanges through neighborhood committees, town hall meetings and other fora are encouraged.

State institution building
Through assistance directly to host-government officials, Pact supports the development of transparent governance practices that promote accountability. Pact's work with legislators, local government councils, and officials in key ministries encourages broad consultation to ascertain citizen interests and share information on government plans and decisions. By fostering openness in government conduct, Pact's work permits the public to monitor government actions and require the government to be responsive to organized public opinion. Pact's approach on consultative public policy formulation involves:

• Introducing new concepts in relevant service delivery to key policy makers and planners
• Sharing lessons learned among both government officials and NGOs to foster public input on policy formulation
• Promoting knowledge development through information management as a decision-making tool
• Identifying and/or structuring decision-making processes
• Building frameworks for greater coordination and coherence in public policy formulation
• Building capacity of local, regional and national government officials to be responsive to citizen demands
• Strengthening ties between elected officials and their constituents

Projects

Last Mile Initiative (Madagascar)
Extractive Industries GDA (Democratic Republic of Congo)
TFM [MS Word document] (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Constructive Dialogue Initiative (Ethiopia)
AGSP (Madgascar)
CARE/ACORD (Madagascar)
ADVANCE [PDF] (Nigeria)
Enhancement of Community Stability in Bahr al Gazal (Sudan)
IDDROP Promotion of Community Security (Sudan)
Upper Nile Early Warning Posts (Sudan)
Cross-Border Support to Community Re-Stabilization (Sudan/Ethiopia)
AWATCH (Zambia)
BONGA (Tanzania)
W3 (Tanzania)
ZADF (Zimbabwe)
Civil Society Program (Zimbabwe)
Mandera Triangle Conflict Prevention (Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia)
Partnerships in Decentralization Program (Cambodia)
Local Administration and Reform (Cambodia)
Anti-Corruption Coordinated Action Program (Cambodia)
Advocacy and Policy Program (Cambodia)
DCA Advocacy Capacity Building (Global)
Civic Advocacy for Reform and Stability Project (CARS) - Kyrgyzstan
Kenya Civil Society Project (KCSSP) - Kenya

Partners

The Pact Consortium gives USAID and other U.S. Government agencies access to a dynamic, flexible, and complementary team of partners, each with extensive global civil society experience. Each consortium member has been identified for its expertise in one or more of the core activities of the cooperative agreement. By capitalizing on each member's technical strengths, the Pact consortium ensures high-quality rapid response to program needs.

Please click on the partner's logo to visit their website.

Center for Civic Education The Center for Civic Education (CCE) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational corporation dedicated to fostering the development of informed, responsible participation in civic life by citizens committed to democratic values and principles. Focus Area: School-based civic education, law-related education, international educational exchange programs.			Center for International Private Enterprise An independent, non-profit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, CIPE promotes democratic and market-oriented economic reform. By working directly with the private sector in developing countries, CIPE helps to build the foundation for accountable, democratic institutions and economic growth. Focus Areas: Private sector participation in public policy advocacy, corporate governance, rule of law, freedom of economic information, anti-corruption, privatization.
Children's Resources International Children's Resources International (CRI) is a non-profit educational and training organization dedicated to promoting democratic educational practices for children, their families, and their teachers around the world. CRI programs teach children to make choices, take responsibility for their actions, respect one another, express their ideas creatively, and develop critical thinking skills. Focus Area: School-based civic education.			International Center for Not-for-Profit Law By improving laws and regulatory systems that permit, encourage, and sustain voluntary, independent, not-for-profit organizations in countries around the world, ICNL strives to create an enabling legal environment in which civil society can develop freely and participate in public decisions. Focus Area: Legal frameworks to protect and promote civil society, civil society sustainability, governance and accountability.
International Republican Institute IRI supports the growth of political and economic freedom, good governance, and human rights by educating people, parties, and governments on the values and practice of democracy. IRI programs strengthen political parties and democratic institutions that advocate self-determination, individual rights, the rule of law, and free-market economic systems. Focus Areas: Increasing citizen participation in the policy process, strengthening democratic political culture and gender equity.			Internews Network, Inc Internews supports open media and access to information worldwide, by training journalists and media professionals, fostering independent media in emerging democracies, producing innovative television, radio and internet programming, promoting fair media laws and policies, and supporting the media as a mechanism for confliction reduction and resolution. Focus Area: Enhancing the free flow of information, independent media sustainability, legal frameworks to protect and promote independent media.
Institute for Development Research IDR has merged with World Education, also a partner. Focus Area: Increasing institutional and financial viability of civil society organizations.			National Democratic Institute NDI works to strengthen and expand democracy worldwide, providing practical assistance to civic and political leaders advancing democratic values, practices and institutions. NDI works with leaders in every region of the world to build political and civic organizations, safeguard elections, and promote citizen participation, openness and accountability in government. Focus Areas: Increasing citizen participation in the policy process, strengthening democratic political culture and gender equity, political party building, electoral reform, legislative strengthening.
Research Triangle Institute RTI's work in the area of democratic governance aims to build more effective, accountable, and responsive institutions at the national and local levels of government by promoting effective decentralization, transparency, civil society development, improved local government administration, and participatory processes. RTI's approach reflects a long-standing commitment to cutting-edge technical assistance. Focus Areas: Increased citizen participation in public policy advocacy, oversight of public institutions, decentralization, civil service reform, legislative strengthening, anti-corruption, electronic governance.			Solidarity Center The Solidarity Center (ACILS) is a non-profit organization that assists workers around the world who are struggling to build democratic and independent trade unions. It works with unions and community groups to achieve equitable, sustainable, democratic development and to improve living and working standards. Focus Areas: Increased citizen participation in public policy advocacy, oversight of public institutions, institutional and financial viability of civil society organizations, and anti-sweatshop activities.
Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees UNITE organizes the unorganized, fights for workers' jobs by defending contracts, mobilizes constituencies for a workers' agenda, and fights against sweatshops through international solidarity initiatives. UNITE has also pioneered groundbreaking labor-management partnerships, working with employers to find mutually beneficial solutions to workplace issues. Focus Area: Anti-sweatshop activities.			World Education World Education provides training and technical assistance in nonformal education across a wide array of sectors, equipping grassroots community leaders with the financial, practical, organizational, and strategic planning skills they need to manage their organizations effectively. Focus Areas: Institutional and financial viability of civil society organizations, strengthening democratic political culture and gender equity.

Resources

• Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA): Identifies organizational strengths and weaknesses and establishes baseline information and benchmarks for organizational growth.
• Advocacy Index: Organizational assessment tool and process which measures 11 elements of advocacy.
• PISA: Provides a framework for discussion and dialogue implementing community-driven information collection initiatives.
• Discuss Model (Democracy Initiative through Sustainable Community): Local NGOs, CBOs and community members act as catalysts in a process that supports discussions about local issues and action. Through DISCUSS, NGOs/CBOs organize community meetings, facilitate focused discussions and work with communities to develop action plans to address local issues/problems.
• Impact Alliance: A global network of capacity-building NGOs that share capacity building knowledge resources in major development fields.

Products
The following are only examples of the numerous publications that Pact has developed in the Democracy and Governance training field. All of these can be readily adapted to local contexts.

• Media Guidebook: General guidebook on media relations and how to work with the media
• Organizational Capacity Assessment and Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool: Assessing Organizational Capacity of NGOs and CBOs through Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Handbook
• Legislative Roadmap: A guide to the Tanzanian legislative process, which can be adopted for various country contexts.
• Advocacy: Fairly general, outlining the steps to organizing an advocacy campaign and discussing several case studies.
• Advocacy: Comprehensive training materials including handbook, video and audio cassette on how to establish manage and fund an advocacy NGO

Impact stories
In Tanzania, in cities, rural districts, and pastoral lands, citizens are learning about their constitutional rights from Pact's Legislative Roadmap manuals, which describe in simple terms the legislative process and the role of an active citizenry. The manual also are used in high school civics classes. USAID called the Legislative Roadmap one of its top success stories in Africa for 2004.

In Madagascar Pact supported creation of a regional federation of neighborhood associations. The federation has tackled tough political issues, such as access to safe drinking water and land tenure, and become fully integrated into the municipal decision-making apparatus of the region.

In Zambia a coalition of membership organizations supported by Pact led a public campaign that galvanized citizens across the country to demand greater participation in revising the country's constitution. Pact's partner NGO, ZIMA, led lobbying and public debate that resulted in the parliament ending ten years of delay on enacting media reform and passing two laws that will give greater protection to the independence of the media and will create a new media regulatory body in line with that proposed by ZIMA and its constituents.

In Cambodia Pact is working with a coalition of civil society leaders, donors, the media and government to gain passage in the National Assembly of a Freedom of Information Act, and is supporting stakeholders in anti-corruption efforts.

In Zimbabwe the Ministry of Education removed 171 teachers in the Lake Kariba area because they refused to enforce children's attendance at the highly unpopulated government-run militia camps. Empowered by a local NGO trained by Pact in advocacy, families withdrew their children from school until the government reinstated the teachers.

In Madagascar previously disenfranchised youth now exercise independent thinking and problem solving and are playing a significant role in decision-making and development projects in their communities.

Staff contacts

David Hoffman
Senior Technical Advisor
dhoffman@pacthq.org

Dan Spealman
Senior Program Manager
dspealman@pacthq.org

David Jacobstein
Program Manager
djacobstein@pacthq.org

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