Kathmandu, Mar. 31:The Ministry of Local Development and the Rural Development Department of United Mission to Nepal (UMN) recently concluded a two day workshop on rural development co-ordination in Dhulikhel.

The workshop participants included DDC chairpersons from Ramechhap, Accham, Dhading and Kaski, vice chairpersons from Okhaldhunga, Surkhet and Parbat and secretaries from the respective DDCs, as well as from Lalitpur, Makwanpur and Morang. Other participants were personnel from UMN, the Ministry of Local Development including the Joint Secretary, and the Under Secretary, and the section officer from the National Planning Commission.

In the first phase of the workshop, UMN project directors presented their projects’ activities and listened to comments and suggestions from the participants.

In the second phase, the participants discussed how to achieve effective co-ordination and communication between UMN and government line agencies at district and central level. They also discussed their respective roles and responsibilities, future planning and how to mobilize local resources effectively.

Joint secretary of the Ministry of Local Development Mr. Surya Saran Regmi concluded that the workshop was successful in moving forward rural development activities. He also pointed out that DDC chairpersons and others were satisfied with the UMN activities in their respective districts. Pointing at the future action plan, he said that it would be worthwhile to include the approach of the Local Governance Act in rural development programmes for better effectiveness. At the end, he expressed his expectation from UMN of strengthening capacity building of local units of government.

Commenting on the effectiveness of the workshop, the DDC chairperson of Dhading district expressed that the workshop will help strengthen relationships for mutual co-ordination and co-operation in order to make rural development activities more fruitful in the future