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The Memorandum of Agreement between Songkhla and UNDP was signed to promote local empowerment
27 July 2004: A signing ceremony of Agreement between the Governor of Songkhla, Mr. Somporn Chibangyang and UNDP Thailand Resident Representative, Mr. J.K. Robert England took place yesterday in Songkhla (26 July), binding joint resolutions to promote good local governance and people's participation in decision making in Songkhla, through a project on "Partnership for Local Empowerment Through Democratic Governance (PLEDGE).
The United Nations Development Programme and the Province of Songkhla have agreed to work to support the UNDP-Thailand Partnership on Local Empowerment Through Democratic Governance (PLEDGE) (2004-2006). UNDP will provide technical support and advice, while the Province of Songkhla will support facilitation and coordination of PLEDGE activities in the province.
PLEDGE is a partnership between the Government of Thailand and the United Nations Development Programme that aims to (1) support participatory local governance processes, (2) support improvement of quality of public service delivery, and (3) enhance local-centre dialogue regarding policy issues of local governance.
PLEDGE is designed to catalyze and reinforce the democratic decentralization process through strengthening pluralistic community participation in local governance for more effective service delivery at the provincial and local levels. PLEDGE will work closely with the public and civil society sector whereby local communities themselves define the areas where support is most needed. As a global development network, UNDP will share experiences and lessons learnt from PLEDGE to other countries outside Thailand.
The strategic entry points of PLEDGE are the development and testing of participatory planning tools and the support of a collaborative process and mainstreaming of participation in existing efforts and innovations of local administrations and local organizations.
On the development and testing of participatory planning tools, PLEDGE will develop an evidence-based policy planning tools to engage service recipients in assessing public service delivery for quality public service delivery. On PLEDGE support of a collaborative process between relevant partners in existing efforts and innovations of local administrations and organizations, the philosophy of PLEDGE is not to suggest new projects, but to support existing efforts of local innovations that face bloackages either due to lack of capacity or lack of appropriate collaboration with needed partners.
With support from the Province of Songkhla , PLEDGE will work with a wide range of partners, including local administrations, civil society organizations, technical experts, provincial offices and academic institutions. The Prince of Songkhla University will act as the technical focal point of PLEDGE in Songkhla coordinating with other local partners and academic institutions.
National partners of PLEDGE include the Department of Technical Economic Cooperation, Department of Local Administration, Office of Public Sector Development Commission, Office of National Economic and Social Development Board, King Prajadhipok's University and the Institute for Local Government Innovation of Chulalongkorn University.
