For Antoine Sawadogo, President of Citizenship Laboratory and former Ministry of Territorial Administration in Burkina Faso, building the capacity of local actors is a prerequisite for successful decentralisation in West Africa. It also implies enhancing users' capacity to formulate demand for good local public services.
In a recent video interview for capacity4dev.eu, Mr Sawadogo explained that decentralisation projects in West Africa have, in recent years, put emphasis on building capacity of local representatives and their closest partners. But there are other actors that play an even more important role at the local level and they shouldn't be left out the capacity building process, he said.
"We need to identify the complete chain of actors in different sectors. It is the starting point of an effective capacity building process," said Mr Sawadogo. Decentralisation is not only about "producing local public services. It is also about having a well built demand for such services".
"When there isn't a good demand, there can't be a good service," he added.
To watch the video interview in full, click on the icon below.
In the context of the democratisation movements of the late 1980s, many African countries launched a new generation of decentralisation policies. Disappointed by the lack of significant progress in the strengthening of more democratic, participatory and accountable forms of governance in West Africa, political representatives, academics and development practitioners from both the North and South founded Citizenship Laboratory (Laboratoire Citoyennetés) in 2003. Their objective is to raise awareness amongst decision-makers about innovative practices at local level.
For Mr. Sawadogo, capacity building at local level requires a thorough understanding of the local community.
Before launching a new project, "a thorough analysis of the context and of the basic public services must be carried and its results must be discussed with the different actors involved, using an external and neutral facilitator", Mr. Sawadogo explained.
This open discussion should allow for the correction of mistakes and misunderstandings and enable each actor to understand what his or her role is in the service chain.
"From there, we can develop sector-wide plans and each donor will know exactly which role they can play in bringing services to the population".
Mr Sawadogo spoke during a break from a three day event in Morocco where some 120 participants from across the world gathered to discuss issues under the title ‘Capacity is Development’, organised by the United Nations Development Programme.
Attendees - including country leaders, development practitioners and experts - discussed policy choices, institutional reforms and investment decisions that enable states and societies to drive and demand a more equitable, sustainable and peaceful development.
To know more about Antoine Sawadogo, read the interview he gave in 2008 on decentralisation in Burkina Faso (in French)
He is the author of "L'Etat africain face à la décentralisation" (2001)
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