LGP-III Orientation Course on the Provincial Powers Act
LGP-III specially designed its Council & Governor Orientation course to introduce the newly elected officials to the functions given to them by the Law of Governorates Not Incorporated into a Region, otherwise known as the Provincial Powers Act.
Having been created by USAID to 'support the implementation of the Provincial Powers Act,' LGP-III takes a functional approach to presenting the law in this Orientation course, hoping to hasten the councils' accurate application of it. The course does not purport to be an article by article explication of the law, nor does it attempt to train elected officials in the skills necessary to translate their legal authority into action. Instead, it aims to give them the knowledge pre-requisite to developing those skills. As such, the course concentrates largely on Part One, Chapter Two: Competencies of the Governorate Councils and Part Two, Chapter One: The Governor. Also, the course eschews the overtly political functions of the councils – selecting a governor and recommending the appointment or removal of provincial level, central ministry officials since, as a technical assistance provider, LGP-III cannot maintain its reputation for neutrality if it appears to meddle in Iraqi politics.
The course consists of eight (8) sessions. The first is an Introduction, which summarizes the competencies described in the law into four (4) functions of the councils and governor and three (3) categories of resources needed to perform those functions. It is expected that this Introduction will be delivered in all 14 provinces covered by the Act, whether or not LGP has an office there.
The remaining seven (7) sessions treat each of the four functions and three resources separately, and will only be delivered in those provinces where LGP will have a presence. Those provinces will also be eligible for ongoing assistance aimed at skills development.
The average length of a session is between an hour and an hour and a half and consists of a Power Point slide show, with time left over for questions. Although the entire course could be delivered in two days, the project anticipates that it will be given over several and in several sessions due to the conflicting schedules (and perhaps political ideologies) of council members. A determination of the delivery schedule as well as the order of classes will be made by LGP-III staff in each of the provinces where the project maintains offices.
An additional, strategic orientation on 'Local Governance in Iraq' is available for delivery in English by expatriate staff to any PRT, Civil Affairs team or other USAID partner by request and coordination with the project's COTR, Lado Gorgadze -- lgorgadze@usaid.gov
Session Titles & Objectives
Objective: To introduce elected provincial officials and their staff to the non-political functions given to them by the Provincial Powers Act and the resources necessary to translate their authority into action.
Objective: To introduce elected provincial officials and their staff to the legislative function given to the councils, including the articles of the law that give and that circumscribe a power to pass 'local laws' and the resources necessary to write, pass, and publish local laws and see them enforced.
Objective: To familiarize elected provincial officials and their staff with their responsibility to determine the development priorities of the province, the tools available to them to inform their decision making and their relationship to the service delivery departments.
Objective: To familiarize elected provincial officials and their staff with their budgetary authority under the Provincial Powers Act and their role in the annual federal budget cycle.
Objective: To introduce elected provincial officials and their staff to the concepts of inspection, monitoring and oversight as described by the Provincial Powers Act and to identify likely points of conflict between themselves and provincial level offices of central ministries.
Objective: To remind elected provincial officials of their implicit duty to serve the interests of the nation and the public and to introduce them to the Iraqi Local Government Association and the High Commission of Governors as means of improving legal recognition of provincial government.
Objective: To introduce elected provincial councilors, the governors and their respective staff to central government monies available to them and to their authority and ability to collect locally-generated taxes, fees and levies.
Objective: To introduce elected provincial officials and their staff to the authority given to them organize their work and staff and further introduce technical tools that might aid them in performing their functions.