01520pab a2200145 454500008004000000100002000040245007300060260000900133300001300142362000800155520111500163650003301278650002101311773004201332180718b1997   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aSlater, Richard  aApproaches to strengthening local government: lessons from Sri Lanka  c1997  ap.251-65  aMay  aThis article sets out to describe recent approaches to strengthening local government within the framework of the World Bank's Municipal Management Programme (1985-95) in Sri Lanka. The article examines a number of innovations adopted within the programme that are of general relevance to the task of strengthening local government throughout the developing world. The article briefly outlines the background to the present system of local government showing that, whilst existing structures and functions remain relatively weak, a number of important innovations have been introduced to assist with the process of strengthening local resource mobilization and improving performance in service delivery, and enhancing certain aspects of accountability, particularly those areas concerned with the allocation and use of public funds. Since a number of these innovations have wide applicability to the process of local government strengthening and reform it is hoped that this article will demonstrate the practical relevance of certain key innovations for practitioners and policy makers elsewhere. - Reproduced  aLocal government - Sri Lanka  aLocal government  aPublic Administration and Development