A Special Session on Participatory Budgeting at the Africities Summit, September 19-23, 2006 in Nairobi, Kenya

Background

MDP-ESA and ENDA-Ecopop jointly organized a Special Session on Participatory Budgeting at the Africities Summit that took place at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), Nairobi, Kenya from September 19-23, 2006. The theme of the session was "Participatory Budgeting: Building Inclusiveness in Policy Making and Municipal Finance for the Implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)" and it took place on the 20th of September, 2006. The specific objectives of the session were to: (i) enhance awareness regarding the potential of participatory budgeting in deepening democracy, strengthening decentralized governance, and increasing accountability in local administration; (ii) share country and international experiences on the practice of participatory budgeting; and (iii) create a network of various stakeholders on participatory budgeting The session was attended by a total of 54 participants who included mayors and chairpersons, councilors, technical experts and consultants on PB, researchers and academics, development partners,students as well community and opinion leaders.

The speakers included: the mayor from Matam, Senegal; the mayor of Balito, Cameroon; and the Chairman of Mutoko, Zimbabwe. In addition, there were technical presentation from: ENDA-Ecopop; University of Cambria, Portugal; and MDP-ESA. The session was officially opened by Vincent Meriton, Minister for Community Development and Local Government in Seychelles who underscored the importance of sharing experiences in the area of participatory budgeting as a way of empowering communities to participate directly in the formulation of government budgets and in monitoring public expenditures. The session was facilitated by Mr. Bachir Kanoute, the Executive Director of ENDA-Ecopop.

Material from the Workshop

Participatory Budgeting Session Report:- Africites 2006
PB in Anglophone Africa: Recent trends and challenges
Building Inclusiveness In Policy Making And Municipal Finance