September 1, 2016 By Memunatu Bangura
Civil society organisations (CSOs), including Save the Children, Health for All Coalition, WASH-Net and World Vision, have recommended that the government make effective use of community engagement for operational and sustainable governance in Sierra Leone.
In a power point presentation during the closing session of a national conference on community engagement and convergence, organised by Office of Chief of Staff and UNICEF, Alhassan Bakarr Kamara from Health for All Coalition dilated on the topic ‘Community Monitoring and accountability’ and highlighted some of the key recommendations.
He stated that the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development must take over the implementation of community component of the President’s Recovery Priority to ensure wider participation of communities, children, chiefdoms and districts where the services are needed.
Kamara continued that all performance contracts appraisals and review should be done at district level and should have the full involvement of citizens, adding that all development plans should be designed and implemented at district and chiefdom levels.
He added that citizens’ voices and participation in appraisals were often limited or lacking as everything is done in the Western Area.
He further explained that in order to achieve a successful President’s Recovery Priority plan, the government should also identify and select meaningful representation at chiefdom level that would reflect the voices and participation in key decision making processes at districts headquarters.
“We need to make community representation meaningful within the available resources but also ensuring that it is working,” he said.
According to him, States House and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development should work with Local Councils and Ministries, Departments and Agencies through dialogue meetings between duty bearers and communities in town halls, and that such should be done three times in a year.
Kamara said if agencies were involved in decision making, it would create a solid foundation for an accountability framework between citizens and service providers, foster and sustainable development and growth of communities and the nation, adding that communities would also have increased awareness and be able to contribute to development processes.
The President’s Recovery Priority is the second phase of our post-Ebola recovery programme which commended in June this year and will be rolled out for 24 months, expanded from the Early Recovery focus on Education, Health, Social Protection and the Private Sector to include Energy, Water and Governance.