Mashreq – Decentralisation: challenges & opportunities (2015)

Decentralisation has been one of the main tools advocated in recent years as a process for empowering local communities to engage more effectively in leading their own processes of development, improve service delivery, enhance social cohesion and, above all, support fundamental democratic changes. Many of these objectives have guided international aid programs in recent years. This paper aims at looking at how such processes have fared in the context of the Mashrek region of the Near East, with strong lessons learned for future aid programs, particularly those supported through the EU and other European bilateral programs. A broad review of current issues and themes has been presented to allow both regional stakeholders and European ones to open a discussion on the issue and build new visions and entry points for framing further cooperation on the issue.

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