Strengthening Regional Government In Peru

Author(s): Carlos Salazar, Gord Evans
Publication Date: 2014

With the collapse of the Fujimori government in 2000, the democratization of Peru began in earnest. Since 2002, the decentralization of state powers to Peru's twenty-four regions (similar to Canadian provinces) has been pursued by each successive government as a core element of Peru's emerging democracy. Although progress has been uneven, the decentralization process is now clearly irreversible. This DDD case study summarizes the technical assistance provided over an 18-month period to strengthen institutional and management capacities in Peru's Piura Region and Piura Provincial Municipality. The three key project outputs included: developing a detailed proposal to establish a regional strategic planning centre for Piura, integrating a balanced scorecard approach with the development of a Regional Agreement and Regional Development Plan, and developing the Provincial Municipality of Piura's urban development plan through a highly participative process. Interestingly, this DDD project evolved from a pre-existing agreement between CIDA and the Piura Regional Government. Recognizing that considerable time would be required to design and initiate the more ambitious project planned for four Regions, CIDA turned to DDD as a quick-response mechanism to provide some bridging assistance. Ultimately, the project not only provided the desired assistance to the Piura Regional Government, but valuable input to the design of the broader CIDA project, which is now being tendered.
5.00