World Bank2013-03-112013-03-112009-11-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/12636Over the past decade, the overly centralized governance structures commonly found across South Asia have begun to change, with program and fiscal responsibility being devolved to local level government authorities and community-based organizations. This has led to greater participation of ordinary citizens in governance and public decision-making. The move to localize decision-making creates enormous opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of public spending since it creates the potential for establishing direct accountability of governance mechanisms to citizens. It also raises a number of significant challenges in ensuring that public funds are spent effectively at the local level, and provokes important new questions regarding the manner by which governments can maintain oversight over the quality of assets. This paper provides an overview of the activities supported under the project, with the aim of contributing to a broader perspective on improving governance and service delivery at the local level. The paper is divided into three parts. In part one the authors explore the challenges of spending money effectively at the local level, with a special focus on the governance challenges that exist in public procurement. In part two, the authors explore different approaches to addressing those challenges by discussing innovative work that has taken place with the support of the Project in the areas of regulation, contracting, transparency, and accountability. In part three, the authors analyze some broader themes and key questions that remain to be addressed while developing a strategic research and operational agenda around local level procurement.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO INFORMATIONACCOUNTABILITYACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMSACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMSASSETSAUDITORSAUTHORITYBIDDINGBUSINESSESCAPABILITYCAPACITY BUILDINGCAPITAL CITIESCENTRAL GOVERNMENTSCITIZENCITIZENSCIVIL SOCIETYCIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONCIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONSCOALITIONSCOLLUSIONCOMMERCIAL ACTIVITYCOMMUNITIESCOMMUNITY BASED MONITORINGCOMMUNITY BASED MONITORING SYSTEMSCOMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONCOMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONSCOMMUNITY DRIVEN DEVELOPMENTCOMMUNITY EMPOWERMENTCOMMUNITY LEADERSCOMMUNITY PROCUREMENTCONTROL SYSTEMSCORRUPTCORRUPT PRACTICESCORRUPTIONCORRUPTION FIGHTERSDECENTRALIZATIONDECISION MAKINGDECISION-MAKINGDEGREE OF AUTONOMYDEMOCRACYDISCLOSUREDISCLOSURE OF INFORMATIONDISCRETIONDISTRICTSENTRY POINTENTRY POINTSEXPENDITUREFORMAL STANDARDSFORMAL SYSTEMGOOD GOVERNANCEGOVERNANCE CHALLENGEGOVERNANCE CHALLENGESGOVERNANCE INSTITUTIONSGOVERNANCE ISSUESGOVERNANCE PROCESSESGOVERNMENT AUTHORITIESGOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTGOVERNMENT EFFORTSGOVERNMENT PERFORMANCEGOVERNMENT STRUCTURESGOVERNMENT TRUSTGOVERNMENTAL POWERHUMAN RESOURCESIDIMPLEMENTATION PROCESSIMPLEMENTATION PROCESSESIMPROVING GOVERNANCEINFORMATION DEPARTMENTINFORMATION SYSTEMINITIATIVEINNOVATIONSINSPECTIONSINSTITUTIONINSTITUTION BUILDINGINSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTSINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITYINTEGRITYINTERNATIONAL LEVELINVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISMLAWSLEADERSHIPLEVELS OF GOVERNMENTLIMITED ACCESSLOCAL AUTHORITIESLOCAL GOVERNANCELOCAL GOVERNMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONARIESLOCAL GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONSLOCAL GOVERNMENTSLOCAL INSTITUTIONSLOCAL LEVELSLOCAL MEDIALOCAL NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONSLOCAL PROCUREMENTMATERIALMEASURING CORRUPTIONMEDIAMONOPOLYMUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURENATIONAL GOVERNMENTSNATIONAL LEVELNECESSARY SKILLSNEEDS ASSESSMENTNONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONSPDFPERFORMANCE INDICATORSPHOTOPILOT ACTIVITIESPOLICY SUPPORTPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICIANSPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTORSPROCUREMENTPROCUREMENT LAWPROCUREMENT PROCEDURESPROCUREMENT PROCESSPROCUREMENT PROCESSESPROJECT IMPLEMENTATIONPUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC FUNDSPUBLIC HEARINGSPUBLIC MANAGEMENTPUBLIC MONEYPUBLIC MONIESPUBLIC OFFICIALSPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC PROCUREMENTPUBLIC RESOURCESPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTABILITYPUBLIC SECTOR PERFORMANCEPUBLIC SPENDINGREPRESENTATIVESRESULTRESULTSSANCTIONSERVICE DELIVERYSOCIAL CAPITALSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL NETWORKSSOCIAL SERVICESTECHNICAL SUPPORTTRANSPARENCYUSERUSERSVERIFICATIONVESTED INTERESTSWEBYOUTHWorld Bank10.1596/12636