India, May 30, 10 participants, Organizer: Institute of Social Sciences The meeting was a great opportunity to bring together a group of committed scholars and activists to reflect upon some of the critical issues on local government, decentralization and grassroots democracy. The Focus Group Discussion proved to be thought provoking. The participants were all experts in…
Paraguay, May 29, 6 participants, Organizer: Semillas para la Democracia (Seeds for Democracy) The focus group was very productive because all participants have experience and knowledge in the subjects addressed in the survey. As an example, Romy Fischer, who is a lawyer, gave a lot of important information about Paraguay’s local governance legislation. Also, Marta Ferrara,…
Nepal, May 28, 15 participants, Organizer: Good Governance Foundation (GoGo Foundation) The Focus Group Discussion was participatory, critical and highly interactive. It figured 14 participants from NGOs, INGOs, the private sector, government, women’s organization, academia, among others. The discussion was so critical and interactive that participants could not reach a consensus on some of the…
Uganda, May 27, 10 participants, Organizer: The Hunger Project Uganda The Focus Group Discussion was organized by The Hunger Project Uganda (THP U) and held on 27th May 2014 at Kolping Hotel in Kampala. 10 people participated in the meeting and institutions represented included: Think Youth Development Initiative Uganda, Namirembe Diocese, Uganda Debt Network (UDN), Munkunyu joint…
Guatemala, May 23, 8 participants, Organizer: Acción Ciudadana (Citizen Action) The meeting was a space where members of civil society organizations could share their experiences of participatory democracy. Women could express their perceptions of women’s inclusion in local government policies and participation to formulate plans. Maya organizations explained how the State and local governments open…
Tajikistan, May 20, 8 participants, Organizer: Center for Civic Initiative The focus group participants reacted to this friendly survey and actively participated in the discussions, as the questionnaire raised important questions that are associated with the participation of citizens in public life. The participants also noted that such a survey should be conducted in all regions…
Liberia, May 15, 13 participants, Organizer: Youth Partnership for Peace and Development (YPPD) YPPD Liberia had a very fruitful first Focus Group Meeting on Participatory Local Democracy with 10 participants from Liberian Civil Society Organizations. There were members and volunteers of YPPD Liberia in attendance. The people attending the focus group, showed a genuine interest on the…
Indonesia, May 14, 8 participants, Organizer: Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia (Indonesian Women’s Coalition) The survey questions given by The Hunger Project can be an inspiration to participants in the discussion, because Indonesia already has an Indonesian Democracy Index, but is only see 3 -dimensional, while the standard democracy index includes 5 dimensions. The results show that in the legal…
Azerbaijan, May 13, 8 participants, Organizer: Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD) The discussions was held at the training room of the Center for Economic and Social Development. There were different stakeholders in the focus group within the discussion framework. All the questions regarding the survey have been answered unanimously. – Farhad Bayramov, Center…
Malaysia, May 12, 10 participants, Organizer: Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara (Aliran) The focus group discussion on participatory local democracy in Malaysia was held in the Penang Institute in Jalan Brown, Penang. Ten people were present: they included a former cabinet member of the Penang state government, three current or previous local authority councillors, and others from academia, NGOs, media,…
