International workshop on Participatory Budgeting: Exposure, Learning and Dialogue June 5 - 10, Porto Alegre, Brazil.

MDP-ESA participated in the international workshop on Participatory Budgeting that took place from June 5 to 10 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The theme of the Workshop was “Exposure, Learning and Dialogue in Participatory Budgeting. The workshop was jointly organized by Centro International Urban Management (CIGU) and the City of Porto Alegre with financial support from the Social Development Department (SDV) of the World Bank. It was attended by participants from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. These included: mayors, directors of national agencies, representatives of civil society and international organizations, as well as World Bank staff.

Opening Session graced by the Mayor of Porto Alegre

The workshop had three objectives and these were:

• To give the participants the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and skills on the key dimensions of PB.

• To promote an in-depth understanding and experience sharing among the participants and the real actors of PB in Brazil

• To promote cross-regional constructive dialogue on PB

The workshop was basically divided into three parts as outlined below:
The first two days of the workshop focused on basic concepts on participatory budgeting, highlighting the specifics of Brazilian processes and sharing expectations and experiences from the participants. During this session, participants had the opportunity to share ideas on the various dimensions of PB processes and the limits of each.

On the third and fourth days, participants were divided into groups of 12 persons and undertook field visits to cities of Porto Alegre, Santa Andrea, and the Municipality of Gravatie within Porto Alegre Metropolitan. The purpose of the visit was to give the participants an opportunity to establish direct contact with practical experiences and to interact with actors civil society leaders, local government officials and academics in PB processes.

The fifth and last day was devoted to (a) exchange of lessons learned during the field trips focusing on three areas namely: (i) positive aspects of the experience, (ii) problems and limits encountered and (iii) suggestions from the participants to the cities; (b) presentation on the PB Facilities in Africa and Latin America; and (c) formulation of capacity building agenda from the regional, national and local perspectives.

During the discussions, participants critically reviewed the potential, the limits and the key elements to take into consideration for planning, implementing and monitoring PB processes at city level.

The mix of participants from various regions created an opportunity for a fruitful dialogue and debate on issues affecting participatory budgeting.
 

Proposals from the Africa Group were to:

• establish and strengthen networks of institutions and partners. Specifically, the three cities that were visited could be integrated into the existing network as resource cities.

• develop knowledge through the Integration of learning materials in MDP-ESA courses. Specifically, the Facility will translate the documentation handover during the workshop into French and Portuguese, according to the requests from the network members.

• disseminate knowledge through a Common website in English and French, the Africa Social Accountability Action Forum (ASAAF) and e-News bulletin in English and French;

• implement a regional distance learning course on PB
  create a Virtual Help Desk on PB and Social Accountability

• organise a similar workshop in Africa

Professor Yves Cabannes, Principal Facilitator