Partnership for Democracy and Governance
April - June 2008

Democracy and Governance in Pakistan

While Pakistan's citizens deeply value their country's democratic heritage, the political system has faced repeated challenges. Pakistan's institutions remain weak, and there is little confidence in the government's ability to deliver services, particularly at the local level.

Since its start in 2003, USAID's Democracy and Governance program has provided $84 million to strengthen Pakistan's parliamentary institutions, improve electoral processes and advance the devolution process.

Developing Strong Legislatures

Many members of Pakistan's provincial and national legislatures do not have the training and resources necessary to serve as effective representatives of their constituents. As a result, legislation and budgets do not always deliver the intended consequences

The Pakistan Legislative Strengthening Project (PLSP) enhances the effectiveness of the National Assembly, Senate and all four provincial assemblies of Pakistan. The project has trained hundreds of members of parliament on rules of procedure, the committee system, law drafting and budget review. It also has improved lawmakers' access to analysis and data; has provided assistance and equipment to key committees; has expanded press coverage of parliament by training journalists; and has strengthened the oversight capacity of national and provincial legislatures. Provision of training to parliamentarians in budget analysis has made the parliamentary budgeting process more robust. Similarly, support to parliamentary committees has resulted in improved conduct of public hearings, summoning of witnesses and tackling of substantive issues.

In March 2008, the project launched a series of orientations for Members of the National and four Provincial Assemblies that have undergone significant turn-over in membership during the February 2008 legislative elections. The interactive sessions included briefings on parliamentary procedure, government oversight tools, constituency and media relations, and an introduction to Pakistan's budgeting process. The project will continue to support more in-depth training as the new leadership offices and committees are formed.

The project also supports the establishment of the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services, which will provide training, orientation, analyses and staff support to current and future parliamentary members and staff.

Improving Electoral Processes

Fair and competitive elections are vital to Pakistan's democratic development. However, significant improvements in logistics, administration, education and monitoring are required in order to ensure a robust and reliable electoral process.

The Pakistan Election Support Program, implemented by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), strengthened the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) ability to implement the national elections in February 2008. IFES provided technical advice and material support for the creation of a new computerized electoral roll and provided 215,000 transparent ballot boxes and six million security seals to help facilitate the elections. The project implemented a program for ECP to train its 45,000 voter registration center officials.

The project also produced information materials to inform the public on how to register for voting. Approximately 2.7 million names were added to the 2007 electoral rolls as a result of the voter registration drive -- a 20-fold increase over previous such efforts.

IFES will help the newly-established Electoral Reforms Committee to prioritize and begin implementing electoral reforms in the areas of voter registration, legal framework for elections and election dispute resolution ahead of the 2009 local government elections.

Further assistance provided through The Asia Foundation supports domestic election monitoring efforts. A network of 40 civil society organizations called the Free and Fair Elections Network (FAFEN) has augmented domestic oversight and reporting for pre- and post-election monitoring. The domestic monitoring activity provided 20,000 observers to cover more than 40,000 polling stations. Through regular press releases and media coverage, FAFEN has informed the public on issues ranging from election-related intimidation to candidates' socio-economic backgrounds. FAFEN provided public reports on electoral rolls, polling stations, political parties, security plans, election adjudication and campaign expenses.

USAID also contributed funding to a United Nations Development Programme activity that trained 600,000 polling station staff and other election officials. The program prepared training materials tailored to the responsibilities of the various officials.

Supporting Local Governments

Devolution of power from the central government to the local level is an important - and often overlooked - step in enhancing good governance and accountability in Pakistan. However, local governments frequently lack the technical skills and resources to deliver essential services.

USAID's Districts That Work (DTW) project supports the Government of Pakistan's efforts to devolve decision making, resource management and quality service delivery to the grassroots level. DTW improves management and encourages greater citizen participation in local government planning, budgeting and decision making. DTW's activities also strive to raise public confidence in representative institutions.

The DTW team operates in 30 focus districts. Specific programs have been developed to meet the particular challenges in each of these districts and to leverage USAID's parallel programming in health, education and economic growth. The project engages with the district administration, the district council, and civil society and community organizations, providing each with a tailored set of skills based on their needs. The training and hands-on technical assistance is complemented by a system of district support grants.

To strengthen links between different tiers of government, DTW has hosted meetings with the Ministry for Local Government and Rural Development for key local government stakeholders from all four provinces to facilitate a policy discussion on the issue of the Devolution Process in Pakistan. Attended by key federal, district and tehsil government officials, the meetings provide stakeholders with an opportunity to share their views and feedback on the local government system and steps to further support the devolution process.

In order to increase citizen involvement in the decision-making process, DTW has facilitated pre-budget conventions in Haripur and Charsadda, NWFP; Chakwal, Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Narowal and Lodhran, Punjab; and Jacobabad, Khairpur, Shikarpur and Sukkur, Sindh. The pre-budget conventions attracted 15, 500 participants, including 5,435 women.

Through pre-budget radio broadcasts, DTW was able to reach out to an additional 878,000 people. The conventions helped the citizens of these districts provide their feedback regarding the budget and created ownership among stakeholders.

In addition to its capacity building and technical assistance component, the DTW project provides in-kind assistance to the District and tehsil governments through the District Support Fund (DSF). DSF creates incentives for the recipient governments and also provides the physical means necessary for improving district government performance. DTW has so far committed approximately $4.71 million under the DSG to its partner districts.

DTW recognizes that a district that "works" not only has a functioning government, but also uses public and private interactions to create economic opportunities. DTW, therefore, also supports the creation and implementation of local economic development plans.

Last updated June 24, 2008. The USAID/Pakistan site is currently being run by the USAID/Pakistan Webmaster. Comments on the content of the site are always welcome, and should be directed to: infopakistan@usaid.gov.

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