The strategic document, subject to citizen monitoring, was developed and accepted by local authorities as a result of an advocacy campaign carried out in 2005 by our association with the help of the community centers within Pleven Municipality. Although the programme was developed by experts, it contained measures and actions that did not correspond to the real needs of village residents and not even a small part of it was implemented. The general feeling among people from small villages was that local authorities were not interested in small settlements and that they were not on the agenda for development. Although the Programme was developed to stimulate the processes of territorial development, it sometimes hindered local people’s initiatives. An illustrative example is the fact that in 2008 the Mayoralty of Koilovtsi, the community center and an Initiative committee developed a project proposal for introducing a new social service in the village under the PHARE programme, namely establishment of a daily center for elderly people in the municipal building of the closed down village school. This proposal was rejected outright by the municipal administration with the explanation that under the Development Programme for small villages within Pleven Municipality, the building was planned to be a home for elderly people. This was at the same time when a social service reform was launched in the country, looking for opportunities to close down social institutions (like homes for elderly people) and introduce social services in the community (such as a daily center for elderly people). The negotiations with the Municipality were not successful and the proposal was rejected. This, together with other similar cases, inspired two partner organizations and ours to propose the introduction of citizen monitoring on the implementation of the Programme in order to find out what were the possible constraints to its satisfactory implementation. The main purpose was to update this strategic document with the active participation of village residents. In order to conduct an effective dialogue with local authorities and come up with constructive solutions, village residents should be well informed and competent on all issues discussed. This was the reason why activities such as training, information campaign organization, development and dissemination of an information newsletter, provision of mobile consultations, etc. were planned.
The main practice introduced was citizen monitoring. This approach included activities which were not only supplementary to citizen monitoring, but also established new information channels that were easily accessible and suitable for village residents.
In the beginning our organization made a survey of best practices of citizen monitoring on the basis of which a methodology for the particular project task was developed.
This was followed by a series of public forums in the twenty-two villages in the municipality. There, we presented both the programme (it turned out the ordinary village residents were not familiar with it) and the project objectives. These were followed by structured discussions to identify the most significant community problems and possible solutions. These public meetings made people active and ready to participate not only in a dialogue with the authorities, but also in the solution of local problems.
The public forum approach made it easier to identify the informal community leaders, who were later involved in project implementation as civil observers.
After the selection of community leaders, made under our methodology, they were trained for the pending activities.
A really important step was the two-day meeting between representatives of the two partnership organizations, the local authority and the observers. This set the ground for settling disputes regarding the strategic action plan. At this meeting all the fears, disagreements and uncertainties were overcome by the participants, which was an important prerequisite for the successful implementation of the action plan.
The several-month monitoring produced an analytical report that was periodically discussed by the project team and the now established Community council. Parallel to the monitoring process, some new information channels were created - an information newsletter providing information on the approved decisions and orders of the local executive and legislature authority; consultations in local community centers on problems of local importance; an Information reference book including contact information of all public authorities and institutions.
In the decisive moment for putting pressure on local authorities, a different approach for communication with authorities was proposed by the project team, partners and the Community council. The discussion forum planned under the project was held at a place outside the Municipality so that, according to the ancient Roman tradition, the decisions should be taken with the active participation of all stakeholders involved (representatives of the partner NGOs, local authorities and citizens). An official Note was signed.
This note played a significant role during the negotiations with local authorities. Once signed, it formalized the decision taken with consensus.
- Active citizens within village communities;
- New information channels to inform village residents about the management at local level introduced;
- New practice “citizen monitoring on the implementation of strategic documents” with the active participation of local village leaders introduced;
- Agreement between NGOs and local authorities for update of the Development Programme for small villages within Pleven Municipality signed
Contact information
Daniela Dimitrova, Executive Director
1 Vazrazhdane Sq., room 311,
5800 Pleven, Bulgraia
Tel./Fax: ++359 64 83 65 58
Cell Phone: ++359 896 66 92 05
[Nominate]
back