Partnership for Democracy and Governance
January - March 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.

PLSP has successfully introduced a parliamentary intern program in the national parliament and provincial assemblies. The training provides committees and members with staff well trained in analysis, research and assistance.

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

Improving Electoral Processes

Pakistan Election Support Program

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 Election Systems (IFES), has strengthened the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) ability to implement the national elections planned for 2008. It has created new computerized electoral rolls with more than 80 million names and has provided 215,000 transparent ballot boxes and 6 million security seals. The project has established a program for ECP to train its 45,000 voter registration center officials.

The project also has produced informational materials to inform the public on how to register to vote. Approximately 2.7 million names were added to the 2007 electoral rolls as a result of the voter registration activities. The project has helped ECP to develop its strategic outreach plan with special focus on voter registration activities.

Other Election-Related Programs

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 will provide 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 provides public reports on electoral rolls, polling stations, political parties, security plans, election adjudication and campaign expenses.

USAID also has contributed funding to a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) program that has trained 600,000 polling station staff and other election officials. The program has prepared training materials tailored to the responsibilities of the various officials. UNDP also will provide facilitation of and training to international observers.

USAID has funded Democracy International to provide short-term international observers for Pakistan's election scheduled for February 18, 2008.

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 Pakistan 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 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 its own expressed needs. The training and hands-on technical assistance is complemented by a system of district support grants.

Finally, the project 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 April 14, 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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