Sagaing Region is the second largest constituent unit of Myanmar, and the largest of the 7 Regions with the fourth largest population. The 2008 Constitution also established a Naga Self-Administered Zone (SAZ) comprising three of Sagaing Region’s townships. The Region’s capital city is Sagaing located on the Ayeyarwady River, 20 km southwest of Mandalay city. Agriculture is the mainstay of the local economy with rice and wheat as the main crops. The economy also benefits from the main rivers for transportation, communication and trade. Natural resource extraction is an important sector in the Region, with gold, coal, salt and small amounts of petroleum being produced. The local economy and socio-economic indicators are highly diverse with the urbanized South showing reasonably good living standards by comparison to its remote northern areas, where the ethnic minorities live with significantly lower standards of economic activity and social sector performance. Parts of the townships belonging to the Naga SAZ are among the poorest, most isolated and least developed of Myanmar.

The report first of all captures input from township level committees, government officials and citizens on development planning and participation. The local governance mapping found that there is a collaborative environment with the new township and Ward/ Village Tract committees (W/VTDSC) using the development funds trying to generate good investments at the community level. The Township Development Support Committee (TDSC) members who considered their mandate to cover both rural and urban areas were involved in consultation on the usage of discretionary funds such as the Poverty Reduction Fund and Constituency Development Fund. Furthermore, the Township Municipal Affairs Committee (TMAC) with autonomy over resource and expenditure planning were also involved in both urban and rural locations. Some townships, such as Monywa, have a clear separation of municipal (urban) development efforts and rural public works. Others maintain some municipal investment in rural infrastructure in the same areas that the Department of Rural Development (DRD) covers, thus creating an overlap.

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