Update: 18th Sub National Advisory Committee Meeting

Date: 17^th November 2016

The 18^th Sub National Advisory Committee (Sub NAC) meeting of LGCDP, Phase-II was held on 17^th November 2016, under the chairpersonship of Mr. Reshmi Raj Pandey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Federal affairs and Local Development (MoFALD) and National Programme Director LGCDP II. The DP chair and Co-Chair for the meeting were Mr. Diepak Elmar, Head of Development Cooperation, SDC and Mr. Gareth Rannaments, Governance Advisor, DFID respectively. Similarly, the meeting was attended by various representatives from development partners, Joint Secretaries and Under Secretaries, Section Officers, and staffs of LGCDP PCU. Mr. Chhabi Rijal, outgoing National Programme Manager (NPM) LGCDP appraised the committee on the progress of third quarter; some of the key agendas of the meeting were:

• Status update on the 7^th NAC meeting decisions

• Highlight on annual progress report of LGCDP II 2015 16

• Highlights on Joint Field visit

• Sharing on concept note of future sub national governance programme

• Proposed policy recommendations for the 8^th NAC meeting

The DP chair acknowledged the progress made this fiscal year and on receiving the first draft of the concept note on the next sub national governance support programme, and urged DPs to provide critical comments. The DP chair on behalf of development partners also expressed concerned on exponential increase in the audit arrears and the incomplete UCPA data both of which are critical for programme intervention. The DP co-chair acknowledged the meaningful progress made where large number of citizens have been mobilized, and acknowledged it as a remarkable achievement of the programme. Other key discussion and decisions of the meeting were as follows:

• Recognized publication of FRRAP report that provides broad recommendation on improving financial management. When does the government plan to disseminate the report? How the government plans to internalize it? Proposed to integrate it with the new fiduciary reduction action plan.

• MARS implementation will be milestone in the new federal structure.

• Delegate the responsibility to the same Joint Task Force that coordinated the concept note of future sub national governance programme to prepare the transition phase plan of the programme based on the comments received on the concept paper.

• Audit arrears should be a dedicated discussion in the upcoming FRR meeting.

The National Programme Director appreciates all feedbacks and active participation. He thanked development partners for their continued support and critical engagement in the design of future sub national governance programme. He appraised the board on ongoing efforts of MoFALD that the focus in on lawmaking process of the new federal structure, managing transition year of the programme and design of the new programme. He recognized DPs concerns and stated that resolving audit arrears will be given due focus.