LEADERSHIP CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP FOR LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE EAST AFRICA COMMUNITY

Transcription

1 THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA LEADERSHIP CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP FOR LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE EAST AFRICA COMMUNITY Theme: Harmonization of Decentralization Policies and Strategies for the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals AIDE-MEMOIRE Venue: Commonwealth Resort Munyonyo hotel, Kampala, Uganda 5-6 March 2009 New York, 3 March 2009

2 LEADERSHIP CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP FOR LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE EAST AFRICA COMMUNITY Harmonization of Decentralization Policies and Strategies for the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (Kampala, Uganda 5-6 March 2009) A: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT The end of the first decade of the 21 st century is approaching and only six years are left to the deadline set for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 1. Still a large number of people live in extreme poverty and continue to face harsh socioeconomic conditions in several developing regions. The progress towards achieving the MDGs is mixed with progress not on track in many countries. In sub-saharan Africa, in particular, numerous countries are facing daunting challenges to achieve national, regional and internationally agreed goals, including the MDGs. To tackle these challenges, governments are adopting strategies aimed, among other priorities, at fighting poverty and malnutrition, ensuring social equity, minimizing destructive conflict and making a sustainable use of the environment by adopting new technologies to reduce climate change and better adapt to its negative consequences. All the above strategies are aimed at attaining better living standards of the population particularly the poor and disenfranchised. These strategies hinge on the improvement of the provision of services by governments both at quantitative and qualitative levels. They also aim at broadening the access to services which should indiscriminately benefit all segments of the society, particularly the most vulnerable groups. Therefore, the achievement of the MDGs calls for the improvement of the delivery of public goods and services including education, health, water, justice, security, law and order, transport, environmental protection, etc. Given adequate financial and human resources, there is sufficient reason to believe that service delivery by local authorities, structured around community participation, can be more flexible and responsive to the local needs and conditions. The United Nations Millennium Declaration specifically mentions local governance as one of the strategies in its Road Map implementation. The crucial role of local governments in development processes was emphasized by the Heads of State and Government, gathered at United Nations Headquarters in New York in September 2005 who stated: 1 The Millennium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in the Millennium Declaration September 2000 are: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, ii: Achieve universal primary education, iii: promote gender equality and empower women, iv: Reduce child mortality, v: Improve maternal health, vi: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and viii: Develop a global partnership for development 2

3 We underline the important role of local authorities in contributing to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals 2. Governments are becoming more and more aware of the importance of broadening participation in planning, implementation, and delivery of public services to attain these goals in a more sustainable manner. This is crucial to ensure accountability of government performance and the effective monitoring of resource utilization. However, participatory approaches require adjustments and innovations in the functioning and organization of public administration institutions, systems and structures as well as capacity building action to strengthen human resources and leadership skills required for these efforts to succeed. The demand for democracy in Africa is moving beyond the vote to embrace issues of citizens participation in development planning, service delivery, public accounting and budgetary management. This paradigm shift in the practice of democratic governance especially at local level has created a strong need for knowledge, skills, attitude, and networks, institutional and structural arrangements that are capable of supporting and sustaining action for local level development. But it must be emphasized that implementing decentralization can only succeed when all actors (from central government, local governments, civil society, private sector and international development partners interested in supporting local governance) have the same vision, and commitment as well as required capacities. The African ministers of local government, in collaboration with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (UNDESA), have organized several conferences concerning the implementation of decentralized governance strategies including: the Ministerial Conference on Leadership Capacity Development for Decentralized Governance and Poverty Reduction in Africa held in Yaoundé, Cameroon in May 2008; the 2nd Ministerial Conference on Leadership Capacity Building for Decentralized Governance and Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa held in Maseru, Lesotho in August-September 2006; and the 1st Ministerial Conference on Leadership Capacity Building for Decentralized Governance and Poverty Reduction for Sub-Saharan Africa held in Kigali, Rwanda in June Many African countries participating in the above conferences, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda within the East African Community (EAC), to better respond to their development challenges, have embarked on actions aimed at structuring governments to promote the participation of the people in the decisionmaking processes as well as the development activities. Furthermore, the EAC countries recognize the need to come together and exchange experiences and lessons with a view to identifying strategies aimed at harmonizing their decentralization policies, programmes and legal frameworks to strengthen governance and public administration at the local level. This action is perceived to be critical in order World Summit Outcome Document: United Nations, A/60/L.1* of 20 th September 2005, para 173. page 39) 3

4 to address the common challenges they face and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the delivery of services, which is crucial to eradicate poverty and achieve the MDGs. The city of Kampala, in Uganda, hosted more than two hundred participants during the Symposium on Local Democracy, Good Governance and Delivering the MDGs in Africa from 26 to 28 April The Symposium was organized by the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) in conjunction with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the government of Uganda and the Uganda Local Government Association. In view of UNDESA s long standing engagement in supporting decentralization processes in Africa, the Government of Uganda invited the Department to facilitate a two-day Leadership Capacity Building Workshop for Local Governance and Service Delivery in the East Africa Community to be held in Kampala, Uganda from 5 to 6 March UNDP has provided support to Uganda s developing efforts for several years through various programmes including the achievement of MDGs. This is in line with UNDP s main goal of helping developing countries to build their own national capacity to achieve sustainable human development. The deliberations by the Ministers responsible for Local Governments in the EAC will contribute to two key priority areas for UNDP in Uganda namely: poverty reduction and democratic governance. In view of the above, UNDP will host the workshop in collaboration with the Government of Uganda and UNDESA. B: OVERALL OBJECTIVE The principal objective of the workshop is to bring together EAC ministers in charge of local governance, senior public servants, chairpersons and executive secretaries of local government associations as well as other relevant public sector leaders, to review the implementation of decentralization policies and strategies aimed at delivering services and stimulating local level development. During the workshop EAC countries will an opportunity to exchange experiences and share best practices with respect to decentralized governance as well as policies and strategies for the achievement of the MDGs. The key objective of these exchanges will be the identification of strategies aimed at harmonizing local governance policies and actions to improve the delivery of public services in the EAC countries. The exchange of knowledge, information and experiences, also analyzing good practices identified and proposed by UNDESA, will contribute to the enhancement of leadership capacities of the participants. C: SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES The specific objectives of the workshop are to provide an opportunity to: Examine the decentralization policies and legal frameworks developed by EAC countries in response to specific socio-economic and political context challenges. 4

5 Share knowledge and experiences, among top political leadership in local governance, civil servants and technical managers, directly concerned with the implementation of decentralization and local governance, on how to effectively implement decentralization policies and improve the delivery of services at local level. Make focused recommendations to various stakeholders and actors in local governance on how to strengthen the capacities of local governance stakeholders to undertake concerted action contributing to the implementation of harmonized decentralization policies aimed to improve service delivery and fight poverty at the grass-roots level in the EAC countries. D: THEMATIC FOCUS In particular, discussions at the workshop will focus on the following topics: How the implementation of decentralized governance promotes service delivery and poverty reduction in each context. The legal framework of decentralized governance and local government structures adopted for the achievement of the MDGs and how challenges faced by local governments can be addressed through harmonized approaches. How the specific leadership capacity building needs of local governments can be addressed through a joint strategy among the EAC countries. Avenues and approaches for enhancing collaboration and exchange between EAC countries to support the implementation of decentralized governance strategies in the sub-region. E: METHODOLOGY Discussions at the workshop are expected to take place at plenary sessions and in working groups. The first day will be devoted to individual presentations and plenary discussions. Emphasis will be on peer learning and experience sharing rather than on theoretical discussions. Presentations will be followed by the participants comments and questions. The conclusions emerging from the general debate will be summarized by the session moderator/chair. In the morning of the second day, the workshop will split into working groups. The break-out sessions will tackle specific issues emerging during the plenary sessions, and report back to the plenary in the afternoon of the same day. 5

6 F: TARGET PARTICIPANTS The workshop is intended for ministers responsible for local government, senior public servants (at the rank of Permanent Secretary and above) and chairpersons and executive secretaries of local government associations, as well as selected officials, including women leaders, in local governments in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Other invited participants will include representatives of UNDP/Uganda, CLGF, ECA and UN-HABITAT. The total number of participants is expected to be thirty. G: RESOURCE PERSONS Dr. John-Mary Kauzya, Chief of Governance and Public Administration Branch of UNDESA will be the facilitator of the Workshop. UNDP will present a substantive paper on Decentralization and MDG's. Other resource persons will be drawn from among African delegations attending the Conference especially those presenting country and regional specific cases. Some of the ministers attending will be requested to chair the sessions and group discussions so that the workshop becomes highly participative to tap on the knowledge and experiences of every one present. H: VENUE AND DATES The workshop will be held at the Commonwealth Resort Munyonyo hotel, Kampala, Uganda, from 5 to 6 March I: OUTPUTS The workshop will contribute to enhance the capacity of participants to strategically coordinate decentralization policies through an exchange of knowledge, information and experiences. The outputs expected from the workshop include: (a) (b) (c) Report of the workshop summarizing its conclusions; Recommendations/action plan on the harmonization of decentralization policies and strategies for the achievement of the MDGs in the East African Community; Enhanced knowledge and shared information on decentralization policies and strategies in the five countries as they relate to poverty reduction and achievement of MDGs. Contact Persons: 1: Uganda Ministry of Local Government Mr. Patrick K. Mutabwire Commissioner Local Councils Development Tel: ; Fax: ; pmutabwire@molg.go.ug;pmutabwire@yahoo.co.uk 6

7 2: UNDESA Division for Public Administration and Development Management, Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Dr. John-Mary Kauzya Governance and Public Administration Branch Tel: ; Fax: ; Kauzya@un.org ; Web Site: 3: UNDP Uganda Tel: /1/2/5 Fax: , Ms. Mary Symmonds, Country Director mary.symmonds@undp.org Ms. Elizabeth Oduor-Noah, Deputy Resident Representative, Programs elizabeth.oduor-noah@undp.org Mr. Sam Ibanda, Assistant Resident Representative, Governance Tel: /2 sam.ibanda@undp.org 7