Strengthening District Planning to Meet Local Needs
To help rural and urban government agencies serve local communities more effectively, we initiated a pilot project to support the development of district-level plans. In the district of Madhubani in Bihar, our partner prepared a state-ofthe- art data template of infrastructure and social indicators to inform debate and action by the District Planning Committee. In the district of Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh, our partner drafted an environmental report analyzing linkages between the environment, livelihoods, and other socio-economic factors, helping to identify and prioritize issues for intervention, such as solid waste management. Then, a team of local government officials and community leaders used this information to prepare a joint action plan for improving coordination of resource management between the town of Orchha and surrounding rural areas. Last year, we also arranged for election officials from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines to observe India's general election in April and May 2009, the world's largest election to date. During meetings with members and staff of national and state election commissions, they exchanged information on election laws and procedures and discussed the role of non-governmental organizations—civic education, voter awareness, election reporting—in monitoring different aspects of the election process. Based on the visit, the participating election commissions agreed to establish mechanisms for regular dialogue on shared electoral issues.