OVERVIEW
ART is an international co-operation initiative that promotes a new type of multilateralism in which the United Nations system works with governments to promote the active participation of local communities and social actors from the South and the North. The UNDP ART GOLD Sri Lanka Programme (AGSL) forms part of the ART initiative and creates innovative partnerships within a global system of cooperation by linking local, national and international actors.
UNDP ART GOLD Sri Lanka reinforces the territorial development processes through mobilizing international cooperation resources, supporting decentralized cooperation and sustainable decentralised partnerships, north-south and south-south cooperation and through channeling specialized technical resources by activating thematic networks and universities associated with ART.
AGSL was initiated through a Preparatory Assistance Phase in 2006. The main phase of AGSL was initiated in October 2007 and is planned for a minimum duration of two years. The latest project board meeting in 2008 approved the project extension until end 2010.
| Operation and coordination structures at the national level |
National Institution: The main AGSL counterpart at the national level and chair of the
National Coordination Committee (NCC): is the Ministry for Local Government and Provincial Councils. National Coordination Committee (NCC): is chaired by the Ministry for Local Government and Provincial Councils and comprised of representatives of the External Resource Department (ERD) and the National Planning Department (NPD) and Local Authorities. Ministries such as Tourism, Education and Health are invited as temporary members for the implementation of specific initiatives. The NCC guarantees that all AGSL initiatives are carried out in accordance with the Government’s policies and strategies to promote local governance, decentralization and development; it supports the Working Groups, promotes projects at the national level and calls upon international partners.
The Chief Technical Advisor (CTA): is in charge, in coordination with the NCC, of the operational management of the Programme. He also assumes the role of Executive Secretary to the NCC. The International Area Manager (AM): is the head of the AGSL Area office in the Southern Province. Under the overall guidance of the CTA, the AM is responsible for the provision of technical, coordination and managerial support to all activities of the Programme at the provincial level.
| Operational and coordination structures at the local level |
AGSL operates through its Working Groups at the provincial and district levels. The Provincial Working Groups (PWGs) established in the South and Uva work under the guidance of the NCC and base their decisions on the information received from the five District Working Groups (DWGs) established in all districts of the two provinces: Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Badulla and Monragola. The PWGs are instruments of the local government to deliver strategic development initiatives for an equitable and sustainable development of the Province based on the participatory action plans developed at the local level.
PWGs promote and foster different strategic actions in the priority areas of the Programme. The PWGs, in close collaboration with the NCC and the DWGs, coordinate the development of initiatives and actions, and ensure their compliancy and complementarity with national and regional development policies and strategies. The DWGs ensure at the local level the participation and coordination between all actors involved and implements concrete development activities in cooperation with relevant national and international partners.
UN Agencies: UNDP, UNV, UNICEF, WFP, ILO, WHO
Bilateral donors: Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID)
Decentralized Partners: The following Spanish decentralized partners of AGSL are its major donors: the Andalusian Fund of Municipalities for International Solidarity (FAMSI); the Catalan Fund for Development Cooperation; om Spain: the Local Extremaduran Fund for Development Cooperation (FELCODE); the Galician Fund for Cooperation and Solidarity, the Municipality of Huelva and the Higher School for Tourism and Hotel Management from Galicia. And from Italy: the Veneto Region, the Region of Como (Associacione Comasca) and the Municipality of Foligno.
Others: Specific cooperation was established with the Universities of Cordoba, Bologna and Geneva, the Higher School for Tourism and Hotel Management from Galicia, and with the Asia Foundation and Paz y Desarollo (International NGO).
AGSL Preparatory Assistance Phase: 718.000 USD
AGSL budget 2008: 1.358.000 USD
AGSL budget 2009: 1,594.000 USD
