Right to Voice Project
HELP-O and CLG office of southern province have planned to start the second stage of ‘Right to Voice’ Project in first two months of 2023. Following activities will be implemented by the project team with the guidance of the Local Government Department of southern province.
- Conducting E-Sabha app Monitoring and Evaluation Series
E-Sabha mobile application is a powerful tool to bridge to bright the gap between local authorities and the local community. Active citizen participation in local planning, Effective public service delivery and popularize the technological implications for smart cities are the main priorities of the project. The unbearable cost of public service delivery will be reduced drastically with these applications as a result of transformation and minimization of waste of transportation, energy and paper usage etc. At the same time, these tools support enhancing responsive and transparent governance.
Based on that, e-Sabha App was introduced to 09 local authorities (Hikkaduwa Urban Council, Bope- Poddala Pradeshiya Sabha, Akmeemana Pradeshiya Sabha, Baddegama Pradeshiya Sabha, Rajgama Pradeshiya Sabha, Yakkalamulla Pradeshiya Sabha, Nagoda Pradeshiya Sabha, Welivitiya-Divithura Pradeshiya Sabha and Habaraduwa Pradeshiya Sabha). Following statistics are the present situation of the mobile application.
Department of Local Government (Southern Province) has started the regulating process in 09 Local authorities. In order to sustain the E-Sabha application, it’s necessary to evaluate the progress regularly. HELP-O as a joint effort with the Department of Local Government (DLG) – Southern province is currently conducting quarterly progress review meetings with respective Local Authorities. E-Sabha application records and technical issues are discussed in the progress review meetings. The Commissioner of Local Government, Chairman of LA, Secretary of LA and E-Sabha Staff are invited participate to in progress review meetings. DLG has established e-Sabha profiles in these Local authorities and LA should maintain monthly meetings to review the progress.
It has planned to organize monthly M & E meeting series in 09 local authorities within the coming two months. Local authorities will bear the responsibility to call the meeting and Commissioner will be invited to monitor the progress. All the statistics will be collected and the reports will be submitted to the DLG and Local Authorities by the project team monthly. The watchdog teams will also be updated on the progress.
Under the provisions of the agreement in between HELP-O and Akvasoft, Tamil Language should be added to application. AkvaSoft agreed to add Tamil Language to Mobile Application in next three months. Also, with the comments of the Local Government Authorities, simple changes can be added and AkvaSoft added some developments with the comments of the local government authorities.
The function of the E-Sabha App is not the entire responsibility of the local authorities. There should be a well-connected partnership mechanism with all the stakeholders to deliver a better service to the community. The government sector, private sector, non-governmental organizations and community organizations should get together with local authorities to do this task.
Based on that, HELP-O has planned to establish stakeholder forums with the participation of all relevant stakeholders. The main target of this activity is to develop better coordination among every responsible agency on E-Sabha Application. The Department of Local Government, Local authorities, and technical teams will be invited in this process. We decided to conduct this Stakeholder Forum at the end.
Main Objective of the Stakeholder meeting is developing interconnection in between Local Government authorities and Service Providers on E-Sabha Application. Responsible representative of each organization will be identified in this meeting. He should maintain continuous connection in between e-Sabha admins of Local Government authorities.