ASSESSING THE DECENTRALIZATION PROCESS AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN TANZANIA

The European Commission's Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation (EC) supports local and community development and governance through its Civil Society Organizations and Local Authorities Unit. The Unit engaged a Capstone team to continue the process of piloting a new diagnostic tool intended to provide input and guidance for EC programming to support decentralization and local governance. The team applied the diagnostic tool to Tanzania, traveling to Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, and Bagamoyo to collect information and conduct interviews with local government officials, donor agency staff, scholars, representatives of civil society organizations, and community leaders. The results of the research will assist the EC in understanding the effectiveness of its current initiatives and also help provide guidance on designing possible future support to decentralization in Tanzania. The insights gained from the case study are expected to inform future applications of the diagnostic tool in other countries and regions.