Exposure Visit on Citizens Charters for CESSD Project Officials, Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan has taken up a service delivery improvement project entitled, “Communications for Effective Service Delivery Improvement Project” (CESSD) in four districts of North West Frontier Province, i.e.; Abbottabad, Nowshera, Peshawar and Swat to improve water, education and health services to citizens by the local governments in partnership with the civil society. Through this initiative, for the first time in NWFP, Local Governments are displaying Public Information Boards, District and Tehsil Council budget sessions are being televised and shown on local cable networks. The Local Governments have also begun to develop Citizens' Charters as a tool for improving services, a collaborative venture between CESSD and the Water and Sanitation Programme - South Asia (WSP-SA).
In this connection an exposure visit and training was planned for CESSD staff at Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad a resource institution supporting the capacity building initiatives on Citizen’s Charters in India, starting from Nov 1st-Nov 4th 2007. The participants were exposed to the methodology on developing, formulating and implementing a Citizen’s Charters. As a part of the practical experience on implementing the charters the participants interacted with experts and practitioners on the subject to understand in detail the various aspects of implementing Citizen’s Charters. The key lessons learnt include:
1. Complete government support (top leadership) to the implementation of charters 2. Training and capacity building of the staff is critical 3. Extensive consultations with key stakeholders are vital for implementing the charters 4. Accessibility of concerned officers in an organization for assistance is important 5. Developing Service Delivery Standards for effective implementation 6. Display of charters is another important concern 7. Internal review & monitoring gives required impetus to successful implementation of charters. 8. Feedback from end users in regular intervals is very useful for internal corrections 9. Awareness on citizen’s charters to the public is a key factor of successful implementation
Source: The Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad.
The Government of Pakistan has taken up a service delivery improvement project entitled, “Communications for Effective Service Delivery Improvement Project” (CESSD) in four districts of North West Frontier Province, i.e.; Abbottabad, Nowshera, Peshawar and Swat to improve water, education and health services to citizens by the local governments in partnership with the civil society. Through this initiative, for the first time in NWFP, Local Governments are displaying Public Information Boards, District and Tehsil Council budget sessions are being televised and shown on local cable networks. The Local Governments have also begun to develop Citizens' Charters as a tool for improving services, a collaborative venture between CESSD and the Water and Sanitation Programme - South Asia (WSP-SA). 
4. Accessibility of concerned officers in an organization for assistance is important