On 28 October 2022, the Advisory Board of Team Europe’s good governance program “Citizen Engagement for Good Governance, Accountability and the Rule of Law” (CEGGA) held its final review meeting of the first phase to present and assess the achievements of implementation from 2017 to 2022.
The first phase of CEGGA will conclude on October 31, with the follow-on phase “CEGGA II” set to commence in November 2022.
The Advisory Board consists of representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), the program’s executing agency; the main implementing partners National Assembly, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and MoHA; the donors European Union, Germany and Switzerland; and GIZ. The meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Nisith Keopanya, Vice Minister of Home Affairs of Laos, and H.E. Annette Knobloch, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Laos.
Mme. Vilaythong Southone Xaymoungkhou, Head of MoHA Cabinet Office, CEGGA Secretariat, and representatives of implementing partners presented the key results achieved by the CEGGA Program from 2017-2022. The representatives of development partners and international non-governmental organizations engaged in the governance sector as well as the Lao Civil Society Coordination Committee (LCCC) provided feedback and shared experiences of cooperating with CEGGA.
Key achievements of CEGGA include
- CEGGA Small Grants and comprehensive capacity development support to 37 Lao Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) improving organizational capacity and providing tangible benefits to more than 9000 Lao citizens; improved relations and dialogue between Government and Lao civil society; average registration time for Lao CSOs reduced from 595 days in 2018 to 151 days in 2022.
- Instrumental in broadly supporting the transfer of knowhow on parliamentary functions and procedures from the NA level to all 18 PPAs country-wide; enabled all PPAs to establish and utilize various mechanisms to engage with the public, such as public hearings and consultations, outreach and oversight missions, citizen hotlines; provided expert inputs on legislation making; strengthened the knowhow for budget oversight of more than 1,200 trained PPA staff.
- Raising awareness of citizens on laws and their rights and access to justice advice, strengthening gender-sensitive village-level mediation, support in strengthening coordination role of MoFA for implementing Laos’s international legal obligations.
The members of the Advisory Board praised the impressive achievements of the first phase of CEGGA. Team Europe partners once again confirmed their commitment to promote good governance, the rule of law and human rights in Laos in a second phase “CEGGA II”. Following a fruitful dialogue and exchange among participants, the members of the CEGGA Advisory Board confirmed their joint intention for a smooth start of “CEGGA II” in November 2022.
The CEGGA Program is a joint initiative of the Government of Laos and its “Team Europe” partners, EU, Germany and Switzerland. GIZ has been tasked to jointly implement the program with MOHA and the concerned Lao partner institutions to achieve the overall objective to increase citizens’ engagement in the national development process of Laos, through the promotion of good governance, human rights and the rule of law.
