1. Municipal Development Programme Eastern And Southern Africa Policy Environment Responding to Priorities Shared by by Citizens and Governments: Case Study of the Victoria Falls Declaration By George Matovu Presentation at the Regional Workshop on Decentralisation and Community Empowerment: Sharing Lessons and Designing Action held at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya from March 25-28, 2002

2. Objectives of Decentralisation Local Empowerment Administrative Efficiency and Effectiveness National Cohesion and Central Control Reduction in Public Expenditure

3. Decentralisation and Empowerment The objective of empowering local communities is normally advocated by three main types of institutions (Diana Conyers 1999): Local organisations that are interested in influencing a national policy, for example efforts by a national association of local authority to influence the nature and scope of existing or proposed decentralisation policies International agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who are promoting democracy but also who see decentralisation as a way of reducing public expenditure Central governments whose motive might be to prevent the secession of a regional or ethnic group, or as cost-cutting measure

4. Empowerment A process by which local communities or through representative institutions attain the authority and capacity “to do, act and to influence the present and future”. A process seeking to increase the control of the underprivileged sectors of society over resources and decisions affecting their lives and their participation in benefits produced by society in which they live

5. Some of the Priority areas Shared by Citizens and Governments Poverty Unemployment Provision of Infrastructure Provision of social services HIV / AIDS

6. Poverty Indictors in some Countries

7. Urbanisation & Unemployment rates (%)

8. Infrastructure Proportion of Earth Roads

9. Selected Indicators of Health

10. HIV / AIDS ESTIMATES BY 1999

11. Decentralisation and Community Participation How effective has decentralisation been in getting grassroots participate in challenges facing local governments? How can the local government capacity for empowering communities and grassroots be enhanced? What are the main problems facing civic groups in their bid to participate in public affairs and how can their capacity be strengthened? What are the factors that affect the empowerment of civic groups and how can these problems be overcome? How can mutual trust between civic groups and local governments be strengthened? What role should central governments play in this process? What mechanisms can be put in place to ensure that there is mutual cooperation and understanding between civic groups and local governments? What should be the role of national associations of local governments?

12. Ministers’ Conference To help examine some of the above issues, the Municipal Development Programme for Eastern and Southern Africa in association with the African Union of Local Authorities organised a conference on the “Challenges Facing Local Government in Africa in the 21st Century”, in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe from September 20-24, 1999 in Zimbabwe. The purpose of the conference was to bring together ministers responsible for local government and decentralisation, mayors, chief officers and key stakeholders to help MDP define a shared vision on Africa local government and to identify action for strengthening further local governments in Africa. The conference registered 120 participants including 14 ministers from Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe and representatives of the Ministers of Local Government from Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa. All the countries invited had embraced decentralisation as a strategy for promoting good governance and local economic development.

13. The Challenges Facing Africa Local Government in the 21st Century The Conference had six objectives: to review the state of decentralisation in the Africa Region and share real life experiences on successes, problem areas, and constraints to share experiences on how to enhance transparency, integrity and accountability in service provision to share experiences in managing the transformation of local governments and contribute towards a shared vision for transforming local governments into engines of national and local development to suggest effective and sustainable strategies for financing local government to chart the way forward for enabling local government to deal effectively with the challenges of the 21st century

14. Victoria Falls Declaration Progress and Challenges The Conference recognised that: Sub-Saharan Africa has made significant progress towards decentralisation and empowering local governments The “principle of subsidiarity” which advocates that public policy decisions and actions should be effected at the most appropriate level and as close to the local as possible was gaining acceptance However, the Conference also recognised that: Issues of capacity related to narrow revenue base, inappropriate legal provisions, difficult macro-economic environment, debt burden, unfavourable donor conditionalities, bureaucratic, sector-specific resistance and inertia, insufficient consultation with local communities, poverty and corruption are adversely influencing decentralisation of functions, responsibilities and resources.

15. Victoria Falls Declaration Visioning There was consensus that decentralisation should: be geared towards improving the quality of life of local populations enhance accountability and transparency promote inclusion of marginalised and disadvantaged groups enable effective community participation in local governance enable access to resources and local economic development be enshrined in the constitution

16. Victoria Falls Declaration Commitments Ministers committed themselves to: promote and support the vision of decentralisation in their respective countries and to place local government on the agenda of OAU, ECOWAS, SADC, COMESA, and EAC Share information and build the capacity of local government Support the formation and strengthening of national associations of local government Support exchange programmes Promote information sharing Recognise the useful role that traditional leaders play in national development Provide resources for sectoral decentralisation Support participatory planning and budgeting Peace and stability as fundamental for sustainable economic and social development

17. Municipal Development Programme Eastern and Southern Africa (MDP-ESA) A Non-Governmental Regional Development Agency Established in 1991 as a multi-year partnership between African municipal governments and a partnership of donors. Headquartered in Zimbabwe Responsible for 25 countries and active in 12 Ethiopia-South Africa Kenya-Tanzania Malawi-Uganda Mozambique-Tanzania Namibia-Zambia Rwanda-Zimbabwe Supported by Governments of the Netherlands, Finland, International Development Research Centre, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, UNCHS-HABITAT, World Bank Institutions, and Contributions from Local Governments participating in activities Sister Unit of MDP-WCA based in Benin, Cotonou

18. THE MDP MISSION "To support the process of decentralisation and strengthening local government capacity to deliver services and promote development at the local level, as a means towards raising the standard of living of local populations "..

19. Programme Components & Current Activities Policy research and governance seminars –Enhancing Local Government Capacity for Poverty Reduction and Services delivery –The Political Economy of Access to Land for Urban and Peri Urban Agriculture –Fiscal Transfers and Poverty Reduction in the Context of PRSP Direct technical assistance to local governments –Institutional Strengthening through developing Integrated Strategic Plan –Civic Participation in Municipal Governance –City Consultations on Municipal Issues –Service Delivery Surveys Decentralised Co-operation –Supporting inter-municipal cooperation currently Training and Capacity Building –Urban and City Management –Intergovernmental Fiscal Relation and Local Government Finance –Local Economic Development –Urban Transport –Distance Learning Africa Local Government Action Forum Information management and dissemination –Local Government Perspective Newsletter –Policy Briefs –Working Papers

20. The MDP Pilot Programme On Civic Participation In Municipal Governance (CPMG) supported by the Finland Government and the World Bank Institute Justification for the Programme The spirit underlying the launch of CPMG programme was to create a platform for municipal authorities and civic groups to work together more closely and productively for the development of their municipalities and improving the quality of life of their residents.

21. Participating Countries and Municipalities Mozambique: Manhica Municipality focusing of Infrastructure provision and keeping Manhica clean Tanzania: Dodoma and Mbeya Municipalities focusing on training councillors and representatives of civic groups Uganda: Entebbe and Soroti Municipalities focusing on participatory budgeting and training councillors and civic groups respectively Zambia: Kabwe Municipality focusing of preparing a community strategic plan and keeping Kabwe clean

22. Decentralisation as a Tool for Community Empowerment: Lessons for MDP In order to sustain the empowerment process, governments need: to accept local communities as partners in development to help grass roots assert themselves through enabling policy, legislative, and institutional instruments to appreciate that building trust and confidence between civil society organisations and state agencies takes time to appreciate that there is no one single standard approach to empowerment. Differentiated approaches are needed to take into local political conditions, vibrancy of civil society promote civic education to make sure communities and governments understand their civic obligations

23. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION