LOCAL GOVERNANCE
LOCAL GOVERNANCE
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We work on research, policy, capacity building, and facilitation to support local governance actors. We help promulgate internationally funded development programs to support the decentralization process and build local absorption capacities. We also facilitate dialogues among local and national stakeholders on both the technical and political levels to promote better policies and legal instruments. We audit policies, programs, and projects to assess their impacts and ability to meet their targets.
Our services in this field include:
Research & Analysis
Research & Analysis
We help different actors and stakeholders to understand the constitutional, legal, economic, political, and social contexts (both on the local and national levels) and how they impact local governance models and decentralization processes.
We help stakeholders to understand current contexts through deep historical review of the relevant issues and how they evolved over time and geography, and we provide multilayered multi-sectoral comparative frameworks.
We provide deep analysis and assessment of decentralization processes, and we identify possible trajectories for their advancement.
The LUGARIT team has long-standing experience in investigating local contexts to generate evidence on how legal and administrative frameworks are being promulgated on the ground, and in generating comparative frameworks and trend analysis. We work with different data sources to develop workable indicators on sub national governance national issues when national statistics is not sufficiently granulated.
We draw stakeholders’ maps within the complex local/national political economies that impact local governance models.
Scenario Development
Scenario Development
We provide future scenario building exercises informed by our team’s knowledge of the history and critical trends of different countries in the MENA region.
Our team supports political and administrative dialogues and negotiations on the issue of decentralization by helping stakeholders develop scenarios to consider the consequences of their political choices.
Advice
Advice
Our team help clients to develop realistic perspectives on the complex interplay of local/national relations including issues like: resource distribution, drawing administrative boundaries and electoral districts, selecting electoral systems, constitutional arrangements.
We support public, private and civil society actors to negotiate with local authorities on promoting projects, assessing their local impact, and improving their prospects for win-win outcomes.
We help clients to streamline their performance, enhance quality of their services, and establish accreditation for their quality management systems.
Stakeholder Engagement
Stakeholder Engagement
LUGARIT experts support different stakeholders to negotiate reforms and transformations in the local governance and decentralization processes. We facilitate high level policy meetings, town hall meetings, interagency discussions, as well as interactions and negotiations with donors.
We help diffuse and advocate for policy reforms and we develop communication strategies to engage communities and governments in mitigating decentralization processes.
The LUGARIT team supports political parties and stakeholders in negotiations to create win-win outcomes during constitutional debates, parliamentary reviews of decentralization laws, and policy design processes.
Capacity Building
Capacity Building
Our team has a variety of training modules for local government and local institutions to enhance their skills, especially with regards to engaging local communities, enhancing service delivery and public relations.
We provide a variety of awareness raising and training modules for civil society actors to enhance their advocacy on local governance reforms.
We work with women groups to improve their engagement in decentralization process and maximize outcomes for women.
Our experts provide short-term training modules, and long-term capacity building programs on local governance. And we help partners to get certifications and accreditation.
Monitoring & Evaluation
Monitoring & Evaluation
LUGARIT has devised modalities to assess the impact of local governance models and evaluate the delivery of services of local institutions.
We develop perception surveys to assess the performance of institutions from the demand side and corroborate findings by elaborating supply side monitoring and evaluation processes.
We work with institutions, donors and community groups to establish monitoring systems, observatories, and periodic performance reports.
We triangulate data collection process to build indicators that help to sustain monitoring processes.
We use a variety of mapping instruments to draw service performance maps and link them to crowd sourced data to develop real time assessment of services.
Our team supports stakeholders to communicate the results of the M&E process to the wider public.
Related Works
Related Works
Date: 23 April 2025
Publisher: LUGARIT, Omran Center for Strategic Studies
Syria’s authoritarianism was upheld through systemic strategies of centralization by weakening local and regional governance. This paper warns against reinstating this model post-conflict and calls for an inclusive approach to reintegrating the territory. Sustainable recovery, the authors contend, hinges on empowering middle and local levels with real authority and institutional capacity.
Date: 15 April 2025
An article examines how Syria’s post-regime constitutional declarations reshape national identity. It highlights a shift from pan-Arabism to territorial nationalism, the re-emergence of Islamic jurisprudence, and the constitutional recognition of diversity. While offering a new vision, the paper stresses that true identity will emerge through inclusive practice and implementation.
Date: 4 March 2025
Publishers: Omran Center for Strategic Studies, LUGARIT
A paper examines Syria's territorial governance, how the spatial patterns of administrative divisions evolved over the last century. The paper traces the deep patterns of centralization and manipulation of local districting as a means of consolidating centralized control rather than supporting equitable distribution of resources and enhancing development procsses. It critiques Decree 107’s failure to achieve decentralization and highlights fragmented governance models across different regions in Syria. Recommendations focus on addressing systemic imbalances, leveraging cities as hubs, and balancing rural-urban roles to foster equitable and sustainable development.
Date: 22-23 February 2025
We facilitate a UNDP workshop in Damascus on Syria’s transitional local governance. The two-day event gathered experts from all of Syria to discuss the future roles of local authorities in service provision, peacebuilding, and economic recovery. Key outcomes included mapping the different frameworks for local authorities in the different parts of the country, identifying points of conversion to ensure the territorial unity of Syria and strengthening governance networks. The workshop fostered collaborative dialogue and actionable policy insights.
Date: 3 February 2025
Publishers: Omran Center for Strategic Studies, LUGARIT
A paper analyzes the historical evolution of Syria’s local electoral systems, revealing how they reinforced political centralization and fostered patronage networks with local elites to control the political representation of different constituencies. It highlights the challenges posed by these systems and offers recommendations for developing equitable electoral reforms, emphasizing inclusivity, local autonomy, and balanced governance for Syria’s post-conflict recovery.
Date: 27 January 2025
Publishers: Omran Center for Strategic Studies, LUGARIT
A paper examines Syria's service disparities across seven diverse governance models covering the Syrian territory before the regime's fall, highlighting variations in service availability, quality, and affordability. It identifies governance fragmentation, the inability to sustain service provision equitably, and the inability to engage the public in defining needs and priorities as key challenges. Disparities in service provision differ greatly among different areas, even within the same zones of political control, and among the different sectors. Recommendations include empowering local authorities to manage and regulate service provision, leveraging diaspora resources, and addressing political conditions to support sustainable recovery and integration.
Date: 17 January 2025
Publishers: Omran Center for Strategic Studies, LUGARIT
A research paper examines governance in Syria on the eve of the Assad Regime’s collapse, analyzing fragmented governance models across regions influenced by different de facto powers. It highlights weak legitimacy, inconsistent service delivery, and low public trust nationwide, with significant variations even within the same area of control. While some areas benefited from external support, others struggled with resource scarcity and inefficiency. Inclusive governance is deemed essential for national reconciliation.
Date: 3 January 2025
An article examines governance challenges in post-Assad Syria, emphasizing the need for structural reforms, economic recovery, and social reconciliation. It highlights lessons from Idlib's governance while stressing the importance of adapting to diverse contexts. Achieving legitimacy, fostering inclusivity, and balancing stability with economic growth are critical for sustainable national governance and recovery.
Date: 1 October 2024
A paper analyzes Tunisia’s decentralization efforts post-2011, revealing how political conflicts, especially between central parties, obstructed local governance reforms. It argues that the focus on the normative legal frameworks missed deeper political issues, ultimately leading to recentralization of the political system under President Saied, under the guise of maintaining national unity and control.
Date: 15 September 2024
An article explores the Arab world's democracy crisis, tracing it to unresolved identity issues from post-colonial state formation. Contrasting with Europe's democratic evolution, it highlights how Arab efforts remain incomplete, as the region struggles with achieving equal citizenship and disentangling civic from military rule, rather than church-state separation.
Date: 23 August 2024
We participate in a high-level panel at the University of Fribourg, discussing the complexities of power-sharing agreements in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. The event, part of the Institute of Federalism’s Summer University, explored challenges in adopting and sustaining these agreements for long-term peace.
Date: 30 July 2024
LUGARIT experts discuss the importance of decentralization in Syria's early recovery in an interview on Al Madina FM radio. They highlighted how local governance, linked to economic decentralization, can empower communities, drive sustainable recovery, and create conditions for the return of refugees and displaced persons, despite centralization challenges and limited donor resources.
Date: 26 July 2024
An article explores various interpretations of citizenship in Syria, advocating for a middle ground that integrates individual and group rights. Drawing on Will Kymlicka’s theory, it emphasizes constitutionalizing group rights to protect minorities, while ensuring that group rights do not infringe on basic individual rights of their members, to achieve a balanced, inclusive framework for Syria's democratic transition, avoiding sectarianism and majority dominance.
Year: 2024 - 2025
Client: SALAR International, Sida
LUGARIT, contracted by SALAR International and funded by Sida, mentors local governance actors in Algeria, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, and Syria. Through capacity-building, this initiative strengthens decentralization, policy dialogue, and participatory governance. It fosters a regional Community of Practice, supporting policy research, strategic planning, and cross-border collaboration to drive effective local governance reforms.
Date: 9 July 2024
An article explores the Syrian Constitutional debate, highlighting the tension between identity and citizenship. It argues that both principles are essential for a cohesive state, discussing religious and linguistic diversity, and illustrating how respecting identity and guaranteeing equal rights can coexist within a constitutional framework.
Date: 2 July 2024
An article presents a framework to analyze the drivers behind the transition from highly centralized to decentralized governance, focusing on power balances, legitimacy, economic challenges, peripheral uprisings, and external factors, illustrating through global case studies the complexity and context-dependence of effective decentralization.
Date: 29-30 April 2024
We speak at the UN ESCWA workshop addressing strengthening public governance in post-conflict Arab regions. We discuss effective local governance frameworks, drawing on case studies from conflict situations, and emphasizing the critical role of bottom-up reforms and municipal empowerment in service delivery.
Date: 26 March 2024
Decentralization in the MENA region emerges as a crucial pathway for addressing systemic issues of marginalization and uneven development exposed by the Arab Spring. It offers a framework for enhancing local governance, fostering stability, and reconciling divided societies by decentralizing power, thereby laying the groundwork for sustainable peace and development.
Date: November 2022
We present to the Civil Society Support Room (CSSR) - at the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Syria - on Syria's administrative evolution from the Ottoman era to present, highlighting key events, legal changes, and the interplay of internal and external factors shaping its journey towards decentralization.
Date: 26 October 2023
Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj, a Partner at LUGARIT, led a session on decentralization in post-conflict settings at Swiss Peace's course in Basel, Switzerland. He focused on types of decentralization, and engaged participants in critical discussions and simulations to understand decentralization's role in peacebuilding.
Date: 2-4 May 2023
We join the Civil Society Support Room’s working group in Geneva to conclude the work on local governance in Syria. The group, after months of collaboration, presented key recommendations, focusing on legal reforms and decentralisation strategies.
Date: September 2022
Publisher: LSE - London School of Economics
A research report investigates the complex history of Syria's administrative divisions post-independence, examining political, economic, and social factors influencing the creation and renaming of governorates. It highlights how demographic, service, and political motives, including centralization and regional influences, shaped these changes, with specific case studies illustrating broader trends.
Date: June 2021
Publisher: GCSP – Geneva Center for Security Policy
A research project report on Syria's political economy highlights the ineffectiveness of externally induced political transitions and sanctions, emphasizing the need for local empowerment and fiscal decentralization. It underscores the importance of shifting from top-down aid approaches to sustainable, community-based strategies to reform Syria's entrenched political and economic systems.
Date: November 2020
Publisher: Omran
A paper examines the relevance of Prindex survey findings for the land governance in the Arab region. It shows the region has one of the highest rates of tenure insecurity in the world. It also highlights what shapes perceptions and how they, particularly among young adults, urban renters, and women, contribute to land governance challenges.
Date: March 2019
Publisher: LSE – London School of Economics
Summary of 2 presentations at the LSE conference highlight the complexities of property rights and urban planning laws in post-conflict Syria, emphasizing the challenges in housing and land management, and discussing the political economy of local elections, noting their role in reinforcing the regime's patronage network, rather than promoting fair representation or democracy.
Date: November 2015
Publisher: PLATFORMA
A paper examines decentralisation in the Mashrek region, focusing on its impact on local development, democratic change, and social cohesion. It reviews various approaches to decentralisation, analyzes the influence of European policies, and offers broad recommendations for future aid. The paper aims to foster dialogue and re-evaluate local accountability in development.
Date: September 2015
Publisher: Lebanese Center for Policy Studies
A chapter on Yemen in a book titled "Local Governments and Public Goods" examines the country's unique decentralization journey. Influenced by tribal dynamics, colonial history, and unification challenges, Yemen's approach blends traditional loyalties and modern governance structures, highlighting the complexities and gradual evolution of its decentralized system.
Date: 16 July 2012
An op-ed discusses the critical interplay between ethics and democracy, particularly in the Arab context. It emphasizes that a moral foundation is essential for democracy, critiques the reduction of democracy to majority rule, and advocates for reevaluating moral values to support democratic growth, balancing individual and societal freedoms, and promoting active citizenship.
Date: June 2012
An op-ed outlines ten principles essential for establishing democracy, especially in Arab nations. These principles emphasize the rule of the people, equal rights, separation of powers, periodic elections, responsibilities accompanying rights, transparency, electoral integrity, consensus building, and viewing democracy as a continual process. The piece stresses dialogue and consensus for democratic transformation.
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