As one of the most densely populated countries in the world, Bangladesh is severely vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the rural areas of Bangladesh, health security is a great challenge and it has now been further intensified under the present circumstances. Despite the government announcing several packages to help the poor, implementation has not been effective due to the lack of coordination in the local administration. This is further stymied by undue influence of local government officials, nepotism and corruption, resulting in misappropriation of relief funds for the poor rural dwellers. The government has shown zero tolerance towards the accused masterminds under Section 34 (1) of the Local Government (Union Parishad) Act 2009. However, this pandemic requires proper disaster management planning through the integration of the various activities at the local and national levels.

This paper is about the role of local democracy and governance to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Increased reliance on locally generated revenue, difficulties in managing networks of actors with diverse goals and objectives, imperfect flow of information, and trust deficit in stakeholders pose major challenges to achieving SDGs locally. By doing a systematic review of the recent literature on decentralisation with examples from different local governments, the paper outlines ways in which these challenges could be addressed. The paper also highlights the need for enhancing local leadership capabilities and demarcation of responsibilities among local politicians and bureaucrats, a point missed in the SDG agenda.

This report – an outcome of an expert group meeting held on the challenge of local government financing in developing countries – documents both the challenges and solutions related to the ability of local governments to mobilize revenues from local resources. The report also identifies successful governance mechanisms for efficient and equitable provision of public services in metropolitan areas of developing countries, and shares experiences and methods to making public service provision more viable in peri-urban areas of large cities and in smaller urban centres of these countries.

This book reviews lessons learned about intergovernmental relations, metropolitan finance, financial management, revenues management, expenditures management, public assets management, external funding, and municipal finances performance measurement. It spans the arc from decentralization to transparency and accountability and travels the less-charted waters of assets management, creditworthiness, response to financial crisis, reporting mechanisms to various levels of government and civil representation. 

This report builds on the 2008 First Global Report on Decentralization and Local Democracy (GOLD I), which provides a broad based overview of local government systems around the world. GOLD II focuses on a specific aspect of decentralization—the fiscal architecture and performance of local governments. This topic was chosen for GOLD II because fiscal architecture is fundamental to ensuring that local governments can deliver public services and function successfully in meeting other essential responsibilities.