CEP stands for Community Engagement Platform. Department of Local Governance (DLG) with technical assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) designed and implemented a project for strengthening community engagement in local governance (SCLG). SCLG Project conceived, conceptualized and pilot-tested CEP at six Gewogs in Dagana, Punakha, and Mongar Dzongkhags with encouraging outputs. DLG recognizes that CEP will form a firm basis of enhancing community engagement and decentralization in Bhutan and has prepared this “CEP Handbook” to disseminate the concept, and support its management and operation, as it is being replicated throughout Bhutan.
As decentralization efforts are intensified, increasing number of meetings are organized, for different purposes in the communities. Although this could be proof of success achieved with our decentralization initiatives, there are growing concerns related to these meetings such as its frequency, poor attendance, and lack of proper agenda to guide the conduct of the meetings. Chiwog Zomdu is no exception. “Meeting fatigue” is a social phenomenon that is widely faced by people in the communities today.
Image The process of decentralization in Bhutan should support the development of active, self-reliant social apparatus at the community level, and SCLG hypothesized that forming smaller neighborhood groups (CEP) at the community may work better for community engagement. Empirical evidence has been directly drawn from CEP in Japan while adapting the approach to fit the contextual needs of Bhutan.
An assessment of CEP was carried out to explore the future course of community engagement using CEP model in February 2021. This assessment identified many good practices of CEP as well as a wide range of challenges, in addition to capturing valuable lessons. These information form the basis for the development of the CEP Handbook. As operational experience of CEP is still limited, this Handbook should be treated as a living document. DLG in liaison with local governments and community people will update and improve the Handbook (which will be made available on its website), incorporating innovative initiatives of community engagement through CEPs.
