The overall objective is to investigate how decentralisation of property tax can contribute to enhance (property) tax revenues to enable municipalities in the Palestinian Territories to deliver improved basic services to citizens.<br />
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Specific objectives are:<br />
1. Enhanced property tax revenues and services to citizens when they are given a full mandate to collect property tax themselves (component 1);<br />

The wider objective of the project is to strengthen the capacities of Netherlands municipalities in the field of (their) international affairs. Approximately three quarters of all Netherlands municipalities are in some way active in the international (municipal) arena. Where municipal international activities were predominantly driven by international development cooperation, a shift towards international economic cooperation and sustainability has become visible in the past decade.

IDEAL (Inclusive Decisions At Local Level) is a programme by VNG International implemented in seven countries facing fragility or conflict: Burundi, Mali, Palestine, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda. Despite the diverging contexts and topics in the IDEAL programme, we still pursue one common overall objective: “Involving citizens in local governance in order for local authorities to better deal with fragility risks.

To guard this objective, each of the seven country programmes is centred around the same three outcomes:

Local governments in developing countries play an increasing role in stimulating and facilitating economic and social development. Not only are citizens demanding better government services; central governments are delegating ever more tasks to local governments' duties. One can think of clean streets, clean drinking water, working sewers, a valid title deed registration system, support in setting up businesses. Local administrators are not always well equipped to properly fulfil this role. <br />
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