Participatory local governance for sustainable community-driven development

Abstract

Under the rule of Saddam’s dictatorship during 1970s and 1980s huge part of the rural area in the Kurdish region of Iraq was destroyed and caused enormous internally displaced people and consequently most social structures as part of social capital were collapsed. In 1991, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces took control over a major part of the Kurdish region and tried to build their own institutions for reconstruction and development of the controlled area by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Lack of experiences in good governance and effective management has made the social reengineering very difficult and has also created an enabling environment for power abuse, corruption and misuse of public resources. The current rural-urban mass migration in the region is a clear indicator on the lack of effective institutional arrangements for rural community development. Increased corruption as a result of poor governance has put a question mark on the legitimacy and capability of the KRG to effectively deal with the development problems. This is the background on which this thesis has been written. To effectively deal with current development problems in the Kurdish region, Community Driven Development (CDD) strategies are proposed that operate on the principles of local empowerment, participatory governance, administrative autonomy, greater downward accountability and enhanced local capacity to use social capital effectively. The principles of good governance such as rule of law, participation, transparency, and accountability necessary to achieve sustainable local development are examined in a traditional and post-conflict society that face many challenges toward a real democracy. In this process the need for fundamental but incremental change in existing institutional structure to strengthen the rule of conduct and coordination of efforts are highlighted. The study emphasises the need to introduce the "participatory local governance" where political and institutional reforms are carried out to increase the capacity and authority of the local institutions. The study also introduces "communicative planning" to build network and partnership among local institutions, which as a legitimating process requires trust, consensus-building and democratic control to direct the development course of the society. The findings justify the need for political and institutional pluralism to promote local governance for sustainable CDD.