Background
The Local Governance Development Public Expenditure and Management (LGDPEM) programme is a pioneering intervention that is helping build effective, legitimate, and resilient states in eastern Sudan. The programme focuses on public sector processes and how to involve civil society in political, economic and administrative decision making. This post conflict development programme strives to overcome challenges such as weak state legitimacy, polarization along identity lines, and weak capacity for decentralization, poor fiscal management, and social distrust.

The LGDPEM promotes inclusive participation of all members of society by strengthening State-Federal relations, supporting efficient and effective public resource management, helping to build up responsive governing institutions and strengthening the capacity for decentralized governance in line with the interim national constitution and development priorities.

Under this programme, mechanisms are set up and local capacities built to undertake small scale community based projects under the Local Development Fund. The overarching goal is to improve living conditions through strong partnerships between the local authorities and the target communities.

Project Objectives
• Promote inclusive participation of all members of society by strengthening Federal – State relations.
• Support efficient and effective public resource management.
• Strengthen capacity for decentralized governance in line with the interim national constitution and development priorities
• Strengthening planning and public expenditure management;


Snapshots of the project's major achievements
• The State Strategic Plans for second generation 2012-2016 designed and developed for the Kassala, Gedaref and Red Sea States.
• The Locality Development Plans for the localities of Kassala and Gedar ef States developed with a clear objectives and cost calculation up to 2012.
• The High Council on Decentralization has been established to implement the decentralization reform in North Sudan.
• The Guidelines/Manual on local procurement and assets management is in the progress of development for the three States
• The GFS Government Financial Statistics - based classification system in the state budgeting process was rolled-out in Kassala and Gedaref State and Red Sea States and GFS training was provided to 200 core staff from line ministries and localities. As a result the line ministries were able to develop the first ever GFS conform State budget in States.
• UNDP introduced the village data profiles with the google navigation to Rural Kassala. Assistance provided to Rural Kassala locality in design and development of the local website http://www.rklsudan.net in order to track and visualize the process development at locality level.
• The revision of the Local Government Law for the Red Sea and Kassala States finalized. UNDP provided the conceptual support to abovementioned States on the issues of fiscal roles between state and localities.
• Operational guidelines for fiscal relations between the states and federal government designed and developed in cooperation with the federal government.
• With the technical support and guidance of UNDP, the Federal Council of Strategic Planning developed a manual and guidelines on the new procedures and key indicators of the preparation the State Strategic Plan.
• The operating framework and structure with tools to complete locality plans, link state budget to planning, and formulation the macro-economic frameworks established within Kassala and Gedaref States.
• The interministerial/donor coordination unit within Federal Ministries and International Agencies on decentralization established a High Council of Decentralization (HDC). HCD guides Coordination Unit towards greater synergy and organizational and development effectiveness, as they collaborate to implement the Decentralization Reform.
• UNDP continues to provide assistance to state and locality institutions to strengthen their capacities for decentralized governance. In this regard conceptual and administrative support provided in the establishment of a budget policy unit within each three States. The budget policy units provide support to the State Ministry of Finance of three States to coordinate the state budgeting process, including the allocation of resources to meet the political priorities set by government.
• Opertionlization of the Local Development Fund (LDF) in Red Sea State to enhance local development and delivery of public services to communities
• The CSOs have been involved in the process of drafting the state budget, especially on the conduction of the set of public hearings event on the local budget formulation and implementation in different localities of three States. The outcome of public hearings was to increase public awareness on local budget and prioritize the key issues at locality level.