Chandragiri’s environmentally-friendly local governance framework
Categories: Action Line 2: Evidence-based policy strategy and capacity building, Management of environmental determinants of health, Health systems wide resilience
Country: Nepal
Organizations: Regional Laboratory on Urban Governance for Health and Well-being
The intervention
In the Chandragiri Municipality of Nepal, the local government designed and rolled out a 5-year action plan “Environmentally-Friendly Local Governance Framework 2021”, a novel framework with newly-selected indicators within the country.
Notably, institutional mechanisms were set up to ensure the sustainability of initiatives. This encompassed the convening of local disaster and climate resilient committees, which was further supported with capacity building initiatives. Projects were rolled out systematically, including the development of climate-friendly integrated farming systems and renewable energy production for public facilities.
The actions adopted to improve the environment and health included establishing a waste management center for waste segregation and compost-making, building accessible toilets in public spaces, restriction on use of plastic bags, and strengthening enforcement of building standards.
A whole-of-society approach is being adopted in Chandragiri; alongside policy actions, efforts are invested in community engagement, supporting initiatives for waste classification, cleaning of rivers and greening of spaces. Monitoring is conducted with the support of public representatives, employees, women health volunteers, village development officers, and local intellectuals.
Success factors
Chandragiri’s Environmentally-Friendly Local Governance Framework was designed through a participatory approach including NGOs, community and party representatives. The stakeholders identified key strategic areas, targets and indicators, coming to an agreement of the city’s priorities. The engagement served as a platform for consensus-building, leading to partnerships amongst the stakeholders to support the implementation and monitoring process. Political commitment has also been crucial for measures such as the strict monitoring and punishment on polluters and ensuring appropriate victim compensation. The city’s commitment builds upon its efforts to align policies with the Sustainable Development Goals, as demonstrated by its Voluntary Local Review (VLR) in 2024 conducted with the support of numerous UN bodies. Chandragiri Municipality’s efforts are well-aligned with country-wide efforts in Nepal to internalize SDG goals into national plans, further supporting institutional changes. For instance, Chandragiri Municipality now practices budget coding aligned with prioritised SDGs (SDGs 3,4,5,6,11), an innovative practice to evaluate the impact of its action plan.
Recommendations
Chandragiri is one of the pioneer cities in Nepal to publish its VLR and rolling out of the Environmentally-Friendly Local Governance Framework. Being a pioneer in the country’s efforts, there remains significant need to further build data infrastructure and strengthening of the local and national monitoring mechanisms.
Continued political commitment and investment is necessary to ensure sustainability of efforts and building of the community. To this end, the Municipality has been active in national advocacy efforts, successfully gaining buy-in and budgets for the initiatives.
Overall, the case demonstrates the importance of the participatory process in sustainable whole-of-society efforts to improve the environment and health of the population. It also highlights the importance of commitment from key policy holders and the community
Key resources
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