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Momodou
Denmark
11832 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Aug 2007 : 14:54:07
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"National Planning and Budgeting Process Must be Opened Up,"
Acting Country Director AATG
By Bubacarr K. Sowe
The national planning and budgeting process must be opened up and an opportunity be given to the poor and marginalised people to fully and actively engage with the process, said Omar Badjie, acting country Director of ActionAid The Gambia.
Mr. Badjie was speaking at the 2008 annual budget interface forum, recently organised by the Pro-Poor Advocacy Group (Pro-PAG) at the Paradise Suites Hotel. Mr. Badjie who doubles as the Programme Development Manager said the involvement of the poor is crucial and fundamental in the fight against ignorance and poverty.
He said: "For effective participation to take place, the capacities of the poor and vulnerable, especially women, children, youths and the physically challenged people will have to be consistently assessed and built." Mr. Badjie said that it is only when the poor are empowered and capacitised that they can take control of their development process, which he said should be the ultimate objective of any well-meaning development programme.
He remarked that any genuine empowerment process, which after all is a prerequisite to participation, should be seen to enhance transparency and accountability at all levels.
"These values cannot be compromised; they must be upheld and promoted at all costs, if the gains made in improving the lives and livelihoods of the people were to be sustained for the next generations to benefit from," Mr. Badjie expressed.
He added that the very poor of any community are the most vulnerable, less visible, voiceless, powerless and mostly marginalised with less opportunity to take part in any decision that will affect their lives. He said: "They hardly attend public gatherings including meetings and even where they attend, they remain in the periphery and generally silent. Yet they are the people who need our support most, they are the people whose views we need to search for and get reflected in plans and budgets so that appropriate support mechanisms are designed to get them out of poverty."
Source:Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 92/2007, 8 - 9 August 2007
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Karamba
United Kingdom
3820 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2007 : 15:10:51
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These talks about boosting the capacity of local people is only a language of development politics. A development organisation like Action Aid has been in Gambia more than 20 years. There is hardly one community in Gambia where the impact of Action Aid is proven with evidence of sustainable people's -led operation. The agency is always there. Like many others, when they phase out, they leave nothing behind except memory and dust. Talking about empowerment without the will and commitment from the agency (-ies) is simplistic. More than 20 years of development politics is not taking us anywhere. |
Karamba |
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Karl
136 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2007 : 18:16:18
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quote:
Originally posted by Karamba
These talks about boosting the capacity of local people is only a language of development politics. A development organisation like Action Aid has been in Gambia more than 20 years. There is hardly one community in Gambia where the impact of Action Aid is proven with evidence of sustainable people's -led operation. The agency is always there. Like many others, when they phase out, they leave nothing behind except memory and dust. Talking about empowerment without the will and commitment from the agency (-ies) is simplistic. More than 20 years of development politics is not taking us anywhere.
Karamba,
Although you might be quite right on your point that most of the development oriented agencies normally phased out leaving no sustained development but memory and dust. Most appalling, perhaps is the cost involved in those projects. They usually failed partly due to direct poor management and high level of corruption within or lack of true sustainable drive for policy implementation based on the realities on the ground.
Anyway, people's let sustainable development could be argued on various points. That's why I have a different view from that of yours on Agencies like Action Aid. To be honest am not that current on their recent operations in The Gambia. However, their backgroung in rural development back in the 80s particularly their participated role in bring education to ordinary poor Gambian as part of their development policies has been a step forward for many. There are perfect merits of Action Aid's direct involvement in education in The Gambia since the 1980s building, maintaining and sponsoring schools which has truely shaped the face of educational development in that country. The result of all these has been the continious increase in literacy among rural Gambians, this achievement is truely sustainable development. And it's felt right across the nation. Many schools were built in the rural areas provinding primary education to the poor.
In one sense, this has being a redemption despite many other weaker joint ventures that never materialized into sustainable development projects. |
"People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster" J Baldwin |
Edited by - Karl on 12 Aug 2007 18:33:02 |
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Karamba
United Kingdom
3820 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2007 : 18:41:35
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Karl,
True to the word, you have very valid point there. I agree with you that Action Aid made a big contribution in building schools at some remote locations. The success in that is much to their merit. If you read the text culled from Foroyaa which prompts this debate, the focus is "National Planning and Budgeting." Even about the schools with all due respect to the good points you raised, there was little input from the communities. It was all desk work at some remote location. When Action Aid phased out of the education support, those schools stayed as an extension of the government education system. The point I wish to drive home is that agencies (including Action Aid) talk more about development in rather remote scheme of things. Local people have lesser capacity, taking into account all the workshops on Capacity Building and the talks about involving people in bugetary processes and planning. There is hardly one community in Gambia where local people have gone that far in relating to development processes as the talk about them portrays. You are right Karl. The case of schools is a score in the good accounts of Action Aid. Thank you for that point of correction. |
Karamba |
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