Local governance responses to social inclusion for older rural Victorians: Building resources, opportunities and capabilities

In the Himalayan foothills of Nepal, water demand is increasing while many water sources are depleting. Local levels of government may play a role in tackling local water problems in a fair manner, or in failing to adapt to changing conditions. Nepal has recently undergone rapid changes in its institutional governance setting. Rural Municipalities (RMs) were established in mid-2017 as new, democratic, local tiers of governance. Their responsibilities include ensuring equitable access to water for all citizens, in line with the new Constitution. RMs must tackle decreasing water availability, increasing demands for domestic, agricultural and commercial uses, impacts of climate change, and the challenges of ensuring inclusive and participatory decision-making. At the same time, they are newly appointed finding their position and responsibilities after years of management by line ministries in Kathmandu. The study analyzes the current status of rural municipalities in remote areas of Sudurpashchim and Karnali Provinces in terms of their institutional capacity to implement inclusive water governance and water security in collaboration with a large donor project. It uses the OECD Principles on Water Governance (OECD 2011, 2015) as a framework. This research asks what the current water governance issues are in this setting of collaboration. The opportunities identified include the potential for more accountable policy formulation at a closer level to the community, by leaders who are more representative and accountable to their citizens and are aware of specific local water issues. On the other hand, there is a risk that policy formulation and accountability of governance could go astray. We conclude that this is a key moment to support the fledgling rural municipalities and demonstrate ways to build their capacities to secure safe water for all.

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Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Relation to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18084281 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (8) ◽

pp. 4281

Author(s):

Geteneh Moges Assefa ◽

Samiha Sherif ◽

Jose Sluijs ◽

Maarten Kuijpers ◽

Tamene Chaka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gender Equality ◽

Social Inclusion ◽

Local Governance ◽

Service Level ◽

Political Commitment ◽

Basic Service ◽

Sanitation And Hygiene ◽

Poor Access ◽

Local Actors ◽

Socially Excluded

The main purpose of the study was to deepen the understanding of gender and social inclusion in the context of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. An explorative qualitative study was conducted in three districts of the Oromia region using gender analysis frameworks. Twenty-one key informant interviews and nine focus group discussions were conducted. Findings showed 52% of households in the study area have basic service level water, 29% have basic service level sanitation, and 14% have basic service level hygiene. Women, girls, and people living with disability disproportionately experience poor access to quality WASH services. Women and girls participate in unequal domestic labor related to water management which often exposes them to discrimination and violence such as rape, abduction, and assault. Overall, women, girls, and other socially excluded groups are rarely consulted and engaged by local actors. This results in incongruent policy and political commitment which limits action at the grassroots level. Integrating gender equality and inclusion efforts into local governance agendas can help to increase access to and the quality of WASH services. These efforts must advocate for moving beyond gender parity to promote gender transformative approaches and inclusion to realize better WASH services for the communities they serve.

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Local Governance and Access to Urban Services: Political and Social Inclusion in Indonesia

Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements - Governance for Urban Services ◽

10.1007/978-981-15-2973-3_7 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 153-183

Author(s):

Wilmar Salim ◽

Martin Drenth

Keyword(s):

Social Inclusion ◽

Local Governance ◽

Urban Services

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Horizontal Local Governance and Social Inclusion: The Case of Municipality-Civil Society Engagement During Refugee Reception in Malmö, Sweden

Frontiers in Political Science ◽

10.3389/fpos.2021.643134 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Claudia Fry ◽

Mine Islar

Keyword(s):

Civil Society ◽

Local Governments ◽

Social Inclusion ◽

Local Governance ◽

Local Level ◽

Collaborative Governance ◽

Social Dimension ◽

Refugee Crisis ◽

Local Policy ◽

Social Resilience

This study takes its departure from literature on the far-reaching engagements from civil society during the 2015 “refugee crisis” in Europe as it seeks to understand the status of collaborative governance at the local level. It takes an in-depth look of Malmö, a city in Sweden which in 2015 became the centre for the Swedish refugee reception and solidarity initiatives. The study identifies challenges and opportunities of horizontal collaborations to develop the social dimension of city resilience. It includes eleven interviews with key actors from the civil society sector as well as from the municipality and utilizes theory on solidarities in the “refugee crisis” together with social cohesion and inclusion as a framework for analyzing data. This allows for a comprehensive appraisal of the (spatially produced) responses to migration from the city's horizontal alliances. The findings suggest that there are diverse conclusions to be made about the long-term potential of horizontal collaborations in bringing about social resilience. On the one side it is discovered that short-term project collaborations may only serve to “fill the gap” left by neo-liberal local governments and not bring about the structural change needed. On the other side, it is found that horizontal collaborations can be a strategy for civil society actors to influence more inclusive alternatives by bringing the realities of refugees into local policy making, particularly those refugees otherwise rendered invisible due to legal categorizations. Lastly, there are suggestions made for how to enhance the opportunities of horizontal collaborations in creating a socially cohesive, inclusive and resilient city.

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