LogoLink: Learning Initiative on Citizen Participation and Local Governance

Participants' Write-ups for the international conference on Resources, Citizen Engagement and Democratic Local Governance

The international conference which took place in Porto Alegre, 6-9 December 2004, aimed to gather LogoLink regional partners, researchers and other organisations working in the field to discuss the findings from the LogoLink research initiative on Resources, Citizen Engagement and Democratic Local Governance which had been underway since January 2004.

Various participants' write-ups and conference papers were prepared for the conference. Most of the write-ups can be viewed fully by clicking on the highlighted text below.

Hardcopies of the non-downloadable ones can be requested by emailing the authors at the specified email address.

List of participants' write-ups by region:

Africa

Asia

Latin America

North America

Africa

Shifting Gear. First Steps to Budget Work at Local Government Level Shun Govender, Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), South Africa Email: shun@idasact.org.za IDASA is an NGO working to promote sustainable democracy by building democratic institutions, educating citizens and advocating for social justice. This article describes their local government budget analysis work, including examining budget documentation through desk-based analysis, investigating the extent of community participation in the budget process in some selected municipalities, and training of women in budget analysis. It also analyses who benefits from their work, how the local government provides the enabling environment this work, and the future challenges they face.
Ten Years of Democracy. A Better Life for All?: Fair Share's Response to 2004/05 Budget, Oatile Letebele, Fair Share, South Africa Email: oletebele@uwc.ac.za In this write up, Fair Share explains how they engaged with government's budget decisions in order to improve its effectiveness as a tool of social and economic policy for enhancing the lives of poor South Africans. In particular, the article explains Fair Share's position regarding budget implications for job creation, social security, land, housing, infrastructure and the capacity of the local government to deliver basic services such as health and education.
Monitoring Resource Allocation and Utilisation in Uganda: UDN's Experiences, Success and Challenges Daniel Lukwago, Uganda Debt Network (UDN), Uganda Email: dlukwago@udn.or.ug UDN is one of the fastest growing advocacy organisations in Uganda. This presentation describes its work in public resources monitoring and details their community based monitoring and evaluation process. Some of the achievements, at community level, have been: improved quality and delivery of services, repairs of poorly constructed school buildings, active interaction between communities and their leaders, and increased access to public information. UDN's work has also been instrumental to the formation of regional civil society coalitions to monitor the use of public resources and to lobby for increased expenditure in education and health care. Stronger engagements in monitoring the use of public funds has also increased the participation of civil society in policy making processes.
Engaging Resource Issues: A Case of DENIVA in Uganda Jane Nabunnya, Development Network of Indigenous Voluntary Organisations (DENIVA), Uganda Email: jna@deniva.co.ug DENIVA is a network of organisations working to influence poverty reduction and good governance processes through mobilising experiences, knowledge and skills of civil society organizations in Uganda. The case presented here is a project that monitored the utilisation of funds for the Local Government Development Program (LGDP) in Kakuuto Sub County, Rakai District. The initiative had several results, including an increased awareness among people about their role in local governance, particularly in addressing corruption issues and challenging their leaders' use of funds. Consequently, there have been a greater number of community based organizations constituted.
Limpopo Department of Health and Welfare: Citizen Engagement and Democratic Local Governance Dudu Setlatjile, Limpopo Province Department of Health and Welfare, South Africa Email: setlatjiled@dhw.norpov.gov.za The Department of Health and Welfare has the responsibility to deliver basic health and welfare services. This paper focuses on the budgeting process within the department, the policy framework that is in place for citizen participation within the Department and also the policy framework that enables the delivery of health and welfare services, including the existence of a 'toolkit' which provides guidelines for people to follow, assist and monitor the work process. One of the accomplishments has been that community leaders are represented in an advisory committee that has been constituted for each office of the Department. There have also been complementary efforts to build capacity, and this has enabled communities to participate effectively in decision making around resource allocation and the delivery of services.
Community Participation in the Municipal Budget Process: Two South African Case Studies Fatma Yusuf, Foundation for Contemporary Research (FCR) and Good Governance Learning Network (GGLN), South Africa Email: fatma@fcr.org.za GGLN, of which FCR is part, is a learning network for practitioners promoting local democracy in South Africa. This research paper, generated for one of the GGLN's learning events, is about community participation in the budget process. After describing the legislative framework and the participatory mechanisms that are available to communities, the authors detail the local government financial framework and present the case studies of Buffalo City and Stellenbosch municipality. The case studies make recommendations for work in the areas of capacity building, promoting community diversity, timing, communication, and monitoring and evaluation.