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Le système de gestion de l’état civil renforcé au Mali
Els DEHANTSCHUTTER | 20/01/2017
Droit à l'éducation, à la santé, à l'héritage, plein exercice du droit de vote, ou encore acquisition de la personnalité juridique, sont conditionnés par l'obtention des actes de naissance, de mariage et de décès. Dans les villages du Mali, l'accès difficile à ces pièces d'état civil constitue à terme une réelle entrave à l'exercice de la citoyenneté formelle. Pour remédier à cette situation, la Direction nationale de l'état civil a expérimenté une approche novatrice à travers les Plans d'amélioration des services de l'état civil (PASEC), avec le soutien du Projet d'appui à l'état civil dans la région de Koulikoro (PAEC). Les plans d'amélioration définissent dans le temps et dans l'espace communal les opérations à réaliser en vue d'améliorer l'accès et la qualité du service d'état civil. Suite à l'élaboration de ces plans, les communes ont doté en matériels les villages disposant de centres de déclaration et ont organisé des formations sur la tenue de registres de déclaration et l'utilité de l'enregistrement des faits d'état civil.Dramane Coulibaly, 23 ans, est l'agent de déclaration du village de Tiendobougou. Scolarisé jusqu'à l'âge de 14 ans, il est ensuite devenu cultivateur. Il y a deux ans, Tiendobougou ne disposait ni d'un agent de déclaration capable de lire et écrire en français, ni d'un centre de déclaration. Seul lettré disponible, il a alors été choisi par le chef de village : « C'est de façon bénévole, je ne reçois rien. Mais comme on m'a accordé la confiance, je m'adonne vraiment à ce travail. On m'a choisi parmi tout le village pour le faire. Cette année, il y a eu des changements. Avant, tous les actes d'état civil se faisaient dans ma chambre et je les gardais dans mon sac. Il n'y avait pas de jour fixe. Ça dépendait de ma disponibilité... Puis, tout le village s'est cotisé pour construire un centre. Maintenant, il y a un lieu fixe où les papiers sont déposés. Pendant deux jours par semaine, du début de la journée jusqu'à la fin, je reste là. » En juin dernier, Dramane a suivi un stage de formation avec une vingtaine d'autres relais communautaires de sa commune. L'objectif du stage, appuyé par le PAEC, était d'apprendre aux participants à informer leur propre communauté sur l'importance des actes d'état civil et sur les procédures à suivre pour les obtenir. L'outil pédagogique privilégié était une boîte à images de 14 planches que les participants étaient invités à manipuler lors de différents jeux de rôles. Quelques semaines plus tard, c'est dans son village que Dramane présentait la boîte à images, sous le regard intéressé de ses voisins. L'une des conditions premières pour asseoir un système d'état civil pleinement fonctionnel, statistiquement utile et adapté au contexte de décentralisation territoriale reste son appropriation et sa fréquentation par les populations. Grâce à la mise en œuvre des Plans d'amélioration des services de l'état civil et à une communication de proximité, c'est l'accessibilité du service public de l'état civil qui se trouve grandement améliorée.Faits et chiffres · Financement : Mali, Belgique · Budget : 1.129.389 € · Depuis le début du PAEC, plus de 400 centres de déclaration et centres d'état civil ont été dotés en chaises, tables, armoires et matériel d'archivage. En deux ans, le taux de couverture géographique des centres d'état civil au regard des normes nationales est passé de 39 % à 69 % dans la région de Koulikoro. Depuis avril 2015, 20 stages ont été dispensés dans 20 communes pour un total de 400 relais communautaires formés à l'utilisation de la boîte à images. Cette activité devrait avoir des effets positifs sur les taux d'enregistrement des actes d'état civil, inférieurs à 35 % en début de projet.Civil registry management system strengthened in Mali Birth, marriage and death certificates are required to claim the right to education, health, inheritance or voting or to acquire legal status. In the villages of Mali, the poor access to such civil registry certificates is in the long run a genuine impediment to formal citizenship. To remedy that situation, with the assistance of the Support project to civil registry services in the Koulikoro region (PAEC), the National Public Service Directorate tested an innovative approach through Civil Registry Service Delivery Improvement Plans (PASEC). The improvement plans define when and where in the commune actions must be taken to improve access to and quality of civil registry service delivery. Following the elaboration of these plans, the communes have provided the villages that have registry offices with equipment and have organised training on registry management and on the need for registering civil state deeds.Dramane Coulibaly, aged 23, is the civil registry officer of the village of Tiendobougou. He went to school until he was 14 and then started working as a farmer. Until two years ago, Tiendobougou had no civil registry officer who could read and write French and there was no registry office. Since he was the only literate person, he was chosen by the village head: "I do this as a volunteer; I do not get anything for it. But since the villagers put their trust in me, I really do my utmost best. I was chosen among all villagers to do this. (...). This year, changes have been made. Before, all civil registry deeds were drafted in my room and I kept them in my bag. There was no fixed day. It all depended on my availability. (...) Then, the whole village contributed to build a centre. Now, there is a place to store the paperwork. And I stay there two days per week from the beginning until the end of the day." Last June, Dramane did a training internship with some twenty other community workers of his commune. The goal of the internship supported by PAEC was to teach participants how to inform their own community about the importance of civil registry certificates and about the procedures needed to obtain them. The learning materials consisted of an image box of 14 plates used by participants during various role plays. A few weeks later Dramane presented the image box in his own village to his interested neighbours. One of the first conditions to install a fully functioning civil registry system, which is statistically useful and adapted to the decentralisation policy in place, is that the population takes on ownership of the system and actually uses it. Thanks to the implementation of the Civil Registry Service Delivery Improvement Plans and to local communication, access to civil registry services has significantly improved.Facts and Figures · Funding: Mali, Belgium · Budget: 1,129,389 euros · Since PAEC has started, more than 400 registry offices and civil registry centres have been supplied with chairs, tables, cupboards and archiving materials. In two years, the rate of coverage of the national standards Civil Registry offices went from 39% to 69% in the Koulikoro region.Since April 2015, 20 internships have been dispensed in 20 communes for a total of 400 community workers who were trained in using the image boxes. This activity should have positive effects on the rate of certificates registered, which was less than 35% at the beginning of the project.Efficiënter systeem voor de burgerlijke stand in Mali Het recht op onderwijs, gezondheidszorg, het recht om te kunnen erven, te mogen stemmen of een rechtspersoonlijkheid te verwerven ... dat alles is nauw gelinkt aan het bezitten van geboorte-, huwelijks- en overlijdensakten. In de Malinese dorpen speelt de moeilijke toegang tot akten van de burgerlijke stand de bevolking parten om op te treden als volwaardige burgers. Om die situatie recht te trekken heeft het Nationaal Directoraat voor de burgerlijke stand geëxperimenteerd met een innovatieve aanpak via Verbeterplannen voor de dienstverlening van de burgerlijke stand (PASEC). Dat deed ze met de steun van het Project ter ondersteuning van de burgerlijke stand in de regio Koulikoro (PAEC). De verbeterplannen bepalen waar en wanneer de gemeente actie moet ondernemen om de toegang tot en de werking van de burgerlijke stand te verbeteren. Zo hebben de gemeenten de dorpen die beschikken over aangiftecentra uitgerust met materiaal. Verder hebben ze opleidingen georganiseerd over het bijhouden van aangifteregisters en over het nut van het opstellen van officiële akten voor de bevolking. Dramane Coulibaly, 23 jaar, is aangifteambtenaar in het dorp Tiendobougou. Hij liep school tot zijn veertiende en ging daarna op het land werken. Tot twee jaar geleden was er geen aangifteambtenaar in Tiendobougou die Frans kon lezen en schrijven, en was er evenmin een aangiftecentrum. Dramane was de enige beschikbare geletterde en werd dan ook uitgekozen door het dorpshoofd: "Ik doe dit werk vrijwillig. Ik krijg er niets voor. Maar omdat de mensen mij vertrouwen, doe ik echt mijn best. Uit heel het dorp werd ik gekozen om dit werk te doen. Dit jaar waren er een aantal veranderingen. Vroeger werden alle akten van burgerlijke stand opgemaakt in mijn kamer en bewaarde ik ze in mijn tas. Er was geen vaste dag. Het hing ervan af wanneer ik beschikbaar was. Toen heeft het hele dorp bijeengelegd om een centrum te bouwen. Nu is er een vaste plaats waar alle papieren worden bewaard. Twee dagen per week blijf ik daar van 's morgens tot 's avonds." Afgelopen juni volgde Dramane een opleidingsstage samen met een twintigtal andere gemeenschapswerkers uit zijn gemeente. Die stage werd gesteund door PAEC. Doel was de deelnemers te leren hoe ze hun eigen gemeenschap kunnen informeren over het belang van akten van burgerlijke stand en over de procedures die ze moeten volgen. Het lesmateriaal bij uitstek was een prentendoos met 14 platen die de deelnemers konden gebruiken bij verschillende rollenspellen. Enkele weken later liet Dramane de nieuwsgierige dorpsbewoners van Tiendobougou kennismaken met die prentendoos. Een van de basisvoorwaarden voor een werkzaam systeem van burgerlijke stand – dat statistisch interessant materiaal oplevert en is aangepast aan het beleid van territoriale decentralisatie – is dat de bevolking erachter staat en er gebruik van maakt. Dankzij de verbeterplannen voor de dienstverlening van de burgerlijke stand en de lokale communicatie, is de dienst burgerlijke stand nu veel toegankelijker.Feiten en cijfers · Financiering: Mali, België · Budget: € 1.129.389 · Sinds het begin van PAEC werden meer dan 400 aangiftecentra en centra voor burgerlijke stand uitgerust met stoelen, tafels, kasten en archiveringsmateriaal. In twee jaar tijd is de geografische dekkingsgraad t.o.v. de nationale normen van centra voor burgerlijke stand in de regio Koulikoro gestegen van 39 % naar 69 %. Sinds april 2015 werden 20 stages gegeven in 20 gemeenten. Op die manier werden in totaal 400 gemeenschapswerkers opgeleid in het gebruik van de prentendozen. Dat zou een positieve weerslag moeten hebben op de registratiegraad van akten van burgerlijke stand. Die lag bij de start van het project onder de 35 %.
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BTC launches call for proposals for CVET
Eva MORRE | 19/01/2017
On the 10th of January 2017, the Belgian Development Agency launched a call for proposals for the new Continuous Vocational Education and Training (CVET) Fund. CVET includes all forms of education or training after initial education or entry into working life. It is aimed at helping individuals to improve or update their knowledge and/or skills; acquire new skills for a career move or retraining or continue their personal or professional development. The call aims at two different target groups: People who are working in a TVET-related profession in the private sector and who need a skills’ update or upgradeUnemployed young people with prior training and who did not find a job and decided to change their career based on the labour market needs Two information sessions were held in both Gaza and West Bank to explain the concept of the CVET and the guidelines for applicants. Representatives from TVET Institutions (Vocational Centres, Industrial Schools and Technical colleges) as well as private sector and civil society organisations from various districts (Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus, Jerusalem and Gaza) participated in the workshops. The implementation of the selected CVET initiatives is expected to start in April 2017.
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114 écoles rénovées, un accomplissement pour les écoliers du sud marocain
Meriem HILALI | 18/01/2017
Le projet d’Appui au Programme National de Mise à Niveau Environnementale des Ecoles Rurales a organisé, les 16 et 17 janvier dernier, la distribution de kits pédagogiques et la remise symbolique des clés des blocs sanitaires construits par le projet, dans 114 écoles rurales enclavées des provinces de Ouarzazate, Tinghir et Taroudant.
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Proyecto del Lago IMAGES DRONE TITICACA LOGO PTP
Agar TAMAYO | 12/01/2017
El Proyecto del Lago tiene como objetivo "Contribuir a mejorar la gestión comunitaria del patrimonio cultural de la cuenca del Lago Titicaca boliviano y promover el desarrollo del turismo cultural comunitario".Proyecto del Lago
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Proyecto del Lago y hallazgos obtenidos a la fecha
Agar TAMAYO | 12/01/2017
El ministro de Culturas y Turismo habla en el Programa Anoticiando de la RED ATB a nivel nacional acerca del Proyecto del Lago y sus características, además de algunos hallazgos obtenidos hasta la fecha.
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Proyecto del Lago: ARUSKIPIRI
Agar TAMAYO | 12/01/2017
Se trata de un vídeo que narra en imágenes el proceso de Socialización del Proyecto del Lago, un proyecto arqueológico-turístico que busca contribuir a mejorar la gestión comunitaria del patrimonio cultural de la cuenca del Lago Titicaca boliviano y promover el desarrollo del turismo cultural comunitario. Esta socialización fue realizada en 13 municipios priorizados en el Proyecto del Lago, en este proceso se llegó a capacitar a alcaldes, concejales, directores de desarrollo humano, de cultura y turismo. Alrededor de 180 autoridades municipales fueron sensibilizados acerca del Proyecto del Lago y sus alcances. Asimismo se encuentra en plena conclusión la segunda etapa de socialización con autoridades originarias, representantes de emprendimientos de turismo comunitario y artesanal de los 13 municipios. La socialización se realizó en idioma aymara y español utilizando diferentes materiales de información como apoyo didáctico. Franz LaimeProyecto del Lago
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Programme update: Maisha Bora video to raise awareness of pastoral livelihoods & food insecurity
Toon DRIESEN | 21/12/2016
Iles de Paix made an eye-catching video on the Maisha Bora programme. The video will be used to inform and sensitize school children in Belgium on pastoral livelihoods and the work of our Maisha Bora partners to improve food security in Northern Tanzania.
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Focus on coordination: BTC introduces a mobile monitoring system in the Maisha Bora programme
Toon DRIESEN | 21/12/2016
Reginald Lyakurwa from Longido District taking pictures with the tablet during one of his coordination visits to the Maisha Bora programme activities. You can read the full article on: https://social.shorthand.com/MaishaBoraTZA/ngE04c6yrf/the-wows-and-woes-of-mande-technology In June 2016 BTC launched a mobile monitoring system based on the free and open source solutions offered by Kobo Toolbox. The tools allow BTC and their local government partners to collect monitoring data using an application on their tablets, aggregate all the data on the Kobo Toolbox server and export them directly to any of their preferred analysis tools: Excel, QGIS or Tableau Public. The first results look promising. Mathias Lardinois, programme coordinator explains: “We are collecting rich and reliable data, we limit the time spent on data collection and analysis, minimize data entry errors and we ensure a fast flow of information from the field to the office. Basically these tools help us to take better decisions based on reliable information from the field.” “Putting in place the technology is the relatively easy part. We are investing a lot of time in training our partners in the use of the tablets and making sure they can all keep up with the technology” says Toon Driesen, junior assistant for BTC . By setting up data collection campaigns together with their programme partners and sharing knowledge and experiences with organizations outside the Maisha Bora programme, BTC also contributes to a local community of practice. Mathias & Toon finally give some advice to other development actors who want to set-up their own M&E system: Think about an integrated ICT4D approach. Make sure you can integrate and preferable synchronize your M&E system with your other (existing) tools for e.g. communication and programme management.The success and adoption of your tools depend on your primary users. Invest sufficient time in training and include your partners and users in every step of the design and implementation process.Don’t get too focused on data. It’s not about the amount of data you collect, but the ability of your organization to take meaningful decisions based on reliable data. Don’t ignore the stories behind the figures. BTC’s efforts didn’t go unnoticed. On 28 February 2017 Mathias Lardinois is invited to represent Maisha Bora at the 2nd Aid & Development Africa Summit in Nairobi, Kenya in a panel discussion on mobile innovations to support community resilience. Find out more on the conference: http://africa.aidforum.org/ Some useful links: http://digitalprinciples.org/ : 9 principles that will guide you for integrating best practices in technology-enabled programmes http://www.kobotoolbox.org/ : create your free hosted account at Kobo Toolbox and start collecting data using mobile phones or tablets.
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Launch of the regional health and education office in Fort Portal
Hanna DEKERK | 21/12/2016
On December 13th 2016 BTC Uganda officially launched the new Health and Education regional office in Fort Portal. BTC has been operating in the Rwenzori and Albertine region for years but since June 2016, a regional office has been established in Fort Portal for the Health and Education projects. The new office will improve access to the beneficiaries of these two departments, while increasing the collaboration with key stakeholders and local district leaders. In short, it will enhance the response and integration of local issues.Dr. Fedjo Galbert, International Technical Assistant at the BTC Uganda Health department kicked off the launch with some insights on their recent focal point: Results Based Financing. The aim of this approach is to make districts and health service providers more accountable by regularly verifying the quantity and quality of delivered health services, while at the same time reducing the patients bill. Jan Bijnens, the Education programme manager for BTC Uganda highlighted the importance of the new office for the implementation of the Support to Skilling Uganda (SSU) project. At the grassroots level, SSU focuses on improving the quality of training and qualification processes, while enhancing access to BTVET. The project can now collaborate more closely with local BTVET institutions, which increases its efficiency and effectiveness. Finally, Erwin De Wandel, Head of Development Cooperation for the Belgian Embassy, officially cut the ribbon at the door and concluded that “The opening of the regional project office is a logical step and a demonstration of the committed development support towards Uganda’s local development agenda.” He is convinced that the regional office in Fort Portal will evolve towards a center of reference for all development partners, especially all Belgian partners and NGOs, in view of exchanges of experiences and synergies of activities.
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From the world of training to the world of work: Launch of the Skills Development Fund and the business plans of 5 partner institutions
Hanna DEKERK | 20/12/2016
On the 13th of December, the Support to Skilling Uganda (SSU) project piloted the Skills Development Fund (SDF) and launched the business plans of 5 partner institutions in the Albertine-Rwenzori region. At an event in Fort Portal, partners from the local and national level gathered to learn about the funding possibilities of the pilot SDF and to admire the newly edited business plans. Skills for competitivenessIn order to create awareness among the targeted applicants, the pilot SDF was officially presented to training providers and the private sector in the Albertine-Rwenzori region. Business Membership Organisations at regional level were targeted, as well as training providers that were reached during the mapping exercise. As the SDF expert, Christine Karungi, puts it “This launch marks the first step in the pilot SDF roll-out strategy for Albertine-Rwenzori.” By enhancing skills development, the pilot SDF aims to improve local productivity and competitiveness. Its goal is to stimulate bottom-up initiatives between training providers and the private sector through competitive calls for proposals. By linking BTVET institutions with private sector organisations, the fund will facilitate the transition from the world of training to the world of work. Options for financing of Skills Development will first be tested in Albertine-Rwenzori, and later replicated in West-Nile and Karamoja. At the launch, Robert Odok Oceng, Director of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education, requested eligible stakeholders “to take up this opportunity to design innovative and relevant skills development programs that will contribute to increased employability of the youth.” From the classroom to the workshop The event also launched the newly edited business plans of 5 partner training providers in Albertine-Rwenzori, which were proudly presented to partner organisations and economic actors in the region. The SSU project supports St. Joseph Technical Institute in Fort Portal, St. Simon Peter Vocational Training Centre & Millennium Business School in Hoima; Kasese Youth Polytechnic Institute in Kasese and UTC Kyema in Masindi to become modern, relevant, demand driven and qualitative Skills Development Centres and eventually Centres of Excellence for particular trades. The first step in this process is the development of business plans which will provide road maps in the transformation process. Through internal self-assessments and external BTVET management coaching, each of the technical Institutes created its own business plan. They worked out their own performance indicators, based on the Skilling Uganda Strategic Plan, to set realistic targets and follow up on achievement of the set objectives. LCV Chairperson of Kabarole Mr.Rwabuhinga encouraged the 5 partner institutions to be up for the task to become centers of excellence in the region and to be accountable for the support they had received. Based on the business plans, the SSU will plan its future support including infrastructure, relevant equipment and coaching in terms of improving work-based learning practices, assessing market relevance of training programs, career guidance, tracing of graduates, etc. According to Erwin De Wandel, Head of Development Cooperation for the Belgian Embassy “The launch of the Business plans marks the end of the project inception phase but yet the beginning of the project support at the field level.”
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Focus on Business: Saving groups are sharing out
Toon DRIESEN | 19/12/2016
Saving groups are sharing outPicture: Sharing out of Ebeneza group in Orkejuloongishu. They accumulated 3,200,000 Tsh during their first cycle and generated a profit of around 20% (The price of a share was 500 Tsh and they received 603 Tsh per share during the share-out meeting). Trias and its local partners PWC, Mwedo and Mviwata Arusha have been training around 30 community trainers in 2016 in the VICOBA (Village Community Banks) methodology. Those trainers have trained 140 VICOBAs up to now (+- 3300 members, 80% female members). A VICOBA is a saving and credit group of people who save together and take small loans from those savings. The group activities run in cycles of around one year, after which the accumulated savings and the loan profits are shared out back to members according to the amount of savings of a member. The annual share-out resolves any outstanding issues and builds member confidence. It provides an instant verification to all members that their money has been safe and that the process is profitable. A healthy return on savings is between 5 and 25% per year. Since the first VICOBA trainings within Maisha Bora programme started last January, groups are now starting to share out. Some groups organize a big event with a celebration and a fundraiser. After the share-out, members who do not wish to continue may leave the group and new members may be invited to join. Our advice to the groups is that members who plan to continue to the next cycle will agree to use some of the shared out savings to make a contribution to the loan fund for the next cycle (starting capital). This means the groups do not start with an empty credit box in the next cycle and can give bigger loans faster. When a new cycle begins, members will conduct new elections for the committee, review their constitution and may make changes to the amount of social fund contributions, price of a share, interest rate etc. We look forward to follow-up on our groups in the next cycles!
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GLAZZA – Belgian Glass art comes to Gaza
Eva MORRE | 16/12/2016
In February 2016, Belgian glass artist Michèle Vanvlasselaer had the opportunity to visit Gaza for the first time and to present her work to the students of the University of Palestine. The trip to Gaza was a revelation and she returned buzzing with ideas. Inspired, Michèle decided to create, with a group of friends, a new initiative called GLAZZA: an association to support artistic and educational projects in the visual arts. The aim is to re-intoduce the art of stained glass windows into Gazan architecture and construction. After various other visits to Gaza, a successful workshop for children was organised together with UNRWA in the summer of 2016 as part of the Summer Fun Weeks. The results of this workshop have been shown to the public during an exhibition, first in Brussels, and early 2017 also in Gaza. During the summer, Michèle has also given a workshop on glass art during the TVET Summer Camps, organised by Islamic Relief Palestine, in cooperation with the Belgian Development Agency. The idea behind the summer camps is to try and change the negative attitude towards TVET in the Gaza Strip and increase the enrolment of TVET students, which is at the moment very low notwithstanding the high number of job opportinuties in this field. The summer camps gave the students of general education the chance to practice different technical vocations and understand better what TVET is all about. Michèle is now planning to take the lead in a course on glass windows at the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS) in Gaza. She will train a team of students and artists to work together on stained glass windows for the private sector in Gaza. GLAZZA is also researching the possibility to export stained glass windows globally. This pilot course will target graduates in Interior Design and Arts and Crafts from UCAS who will be able to attend an intensive course in stained glass, lasting for six months. After this pilot project, the project will be evaluated, but the long-term aim is to develop a fully functioning independent training department focussing on the art and craftsmanship of stained glass windows in Gaza. For updates, a video about the project and more information, take a look at the website of GLAZZA: http://glazza.eu/glazza-in-gaza/
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Amal’s big dream: a success story in Bethlehem
Eva MORRE | 16/12/2016
The big dream of Amal (28) was to study in order to open a Beauty salon and provide her family with a better living. However, she was never able to continue her education because her parents couldn’t afford it. Later on she got married and had three kids, but due to the illness of her partner and the fact that she needed to take care of the kids, she was still not able to continue studying. Finally, early this year, thanks to a scholarship programme from the Work Based Learning programme of the Belgian Development Agency (BTC) she was able to follow the Hairdressing and Beautification course in the Bethlehem Star Charitable Society. Together with 20 other people she was selected for the grant. Recently, she has opened her own Beauty salon. The other students who followed the same course as she did were also rather successful. In total, two more girls are now running their own salons, and almost 80% of the graduates are now employed in salons, or are working from home as a hairdresser. BTC has launched a Work Based Learning scheme that allows students of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) organizations to do an apprenticeship in the private sector as part of their studies. To facilitate the access of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups to this scheme, a matching Scholarship Fund was launched. This fund provides scholarships for underprivileged students who want to follow a training in the technical or vocational education and training sector, but would otherwise not have the means to cover tuition fees, transportation, insurance or other costs related to their training. The Work Based Learning programme has proven to be a huge success: more than 80% of students who graduate from the programme, find a job immediately after their studies.
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Communication as a tool for strengthening local governance
Eva MORRE | 14/12/2016
Villages and Municipalities are the oldest existing level of public authority in Palestine. They even have been, in some periods of the Palestinian history, the only operational level of administration. Villages are the main social anchorage of citizens and a true witness of the Palestinian culture and identity. Still it seems that citizens don’t always realize the importance and the role of Local Government Units in the Palestinian governance and administration system. The Palestinian Authority’s mission in the field of Local Governance is defined as “to promote capacity and efficiency of LGUs, enabling them to provide high quality and cost-effective services to citizens at the local level through phased decentralization. Local Government Units will be enabled to exercise their role, carry out assigned tasks and obtain entitlements in accordance with provisions of the law.” The Local Government Reform & Development Program, funded by the Belgian Government, is acting upon this mission statement by striving for small village clustering and inter-village collaboration, local economic development, territorial integration and policy making. To a smaller extent the program also focuses on community participation as the communication plans of the village clusters may be considered as a first step in this direction. Through communication, attention is given to awareness raising, creating citizenship[1], sharing a vision and community participation. Communication is a participatory process A healthy society can only be achieved through an effective and interactive communication. This means a two-way process in which information, knowledge and skills relevant for local government development are exchanged between stakeholders and community members. Indeed, local governance refers to a public action which is “concerted” through a strong participation and a close coordination of all stakeholders in designing, implementing and monitoring public policies and (development) projects. As such, communication is to be considered as a crucial and intrinsic tool in all governance processes and especially in a decentralized institutional framework. Communication allows to achieve different but complementary objectives and results: to inform citizens and raise their awareness on public issues which leads to understanding; to create a same vision which will boost cultural and socio-economic initiatives; and to organize participation (partnerships) amongst stakeholders to create citizenship and commitment. Communication is as such used for people’s participation and community mobilization, decision making and action, confidence building for awareness raising, sharing knowledge, and changing attitudes, behavior and lifestyle.[2] The role of LGUs in communicating towards creating citizenship When people of all ages, abilities, and socio-economic backgrounds can not only access and enjoy a place (cluster of villages), but also play a key role in its identity, creation and maintenance, only then we achieved sustainable and effective village clustering. An effective agglomeration process as such, capitalizes on local community’s assets, inspiration, and potential, and it results in the creation of a community that contributes to people’s health, happiness and well-being. The LGUs are the key actors in enabling a good environment for (local) development. They tackle political, social, economic and cultural matters in order to create a good living environment for the citizens. However, they cannot provide development by themselves: they need a strong dialogue with different members of the society; both shareholders – who strive for the same goals – and citizens – the beneficiaries – in order to address the communities’ needs. As such development is no longer a one-way matter (strived for by one single actor or agency), but is rather a dialogue between different partners, where all partners cooperate to achieve a shared vision and goal. In order to enhance the role of LGUs in implementing development projects in local communities, the partnership between the Joint Service Council (JSC), the private sector and community-based organizations should be strengthened. This cooperation will imply sustainable development and promote the principle of social responsibility taken by all actors. No communication without monitoring and evaluation Participatory communication articulates social change processes. As such, the evaluation should not focus purely on outputs, but rather on the satisfaction of the people. Furthermore, if participation means that stakeholders are partners in the entire process, it means they should also be involved in the monitoring and evaluation phase of a project.A participatory M&E is a social process which is not a set of techniques to get to know what you want to know, but is more importantly an opportunity for people to express their views, needs and expectations. Also in LGRDP we support an ‘appreciative’ M&E approach through which we want to ask the citizens to examine their present community and living environment, to appoint the assets of the cluster and the inter-village arrangements and to define their community for 2025. A participatory M&E is no longer a tick list, but becomes a true communication tool. Furthermore, this ‘positive’ approach results in making the community feel proud and positive about their community and their role in this community. The process also leads the community towards transparency, mutual trust, partnering and community institution building. As such, this participatory M&E not only monitors the project, but also enhances the communication, institution building and empowerment which are part of the outcomes of any development project, including LGRDP. In conclusion The idea of participatory communication has considerably gained attention in recent years. Many development agencies and other actors in the field believe that they have found in participatory communication the most appropriate concept to guide their work in the developing world. However it is a concept that is challenging to implement. Leadership and management are skills that are crucial. Proper application of participatory communication methods are not enough to ensure a project’s success as an enabling context (with stakeholders at local and national level having an enabling attitude) is as important. LGRDP wants to join the fray of participatory communication. The program supports the LGUs’ staff through concessive capacity building activities, in order to enable them to develop and implement a participatory communication strategy. So far, communication plans have been developed in a participatory way, but now, we want to go a step further. Revising the approach, together with the four communication officers of the targeted clusters, is a first step in the right direction. Conducting a participatory M&E of the program is a second. Both together will give us insight in how to optimize the communication strategies at LGU level and how to work together towards sustainable community development, including all outputs of the program; strong local governance, citizenship, territorial integration, etc. Communication in LGRDPIn an overall challenging socio-political context, local government is seen by the Palestinian Authority and the government of Belgium as a driving force for promoting both State building and local economic development. Since 2001, Belgium supports Palestine towards facilitating and strengthening collaboration between LGUs, with a particular focus on the smaller local Authorities, through the Local Government Reform and Development Program (LGRDP). LGU collaboration through Joint Service Councils is seen as the entry point for capacity building of LGUs to improve their service provision, promote local economic development and contribute to territorial integration. In a first phase LGRDP focused on infrastructural projects such as linking roads in order to physically link the different villages in one cluster. In a second phase also social infrastructural projects were implemented such as women centers, health clinics, etc. All these infrastructural projects enabled inter-village collaboration. But to ensure a good connection between the different communities of the clusters, social activities were essential. Therefore community participation was, since the early beginning of LGRDP – by now 6 years ago – acknowledged as a crucial aspect of LGU planning and development. A first approach was to contract an external consultant to develop the communication plans of the targeted clusters. Gradually, the approach shifted towards empowering and enabling the staff of the JSC to develop their own plans. Since 2014, LGRDP (financially) supports a communication officer in each of the clusters who is part of the JSC’s staff and fully responsible of all local communication, including the development of the yearly communication plans. Communication plans consist out of different communication activities that reflect an integrated view on the LG reform process. Moreover, also by inviting all community groups, community leaders and CBOs to participate in the development of the communication plan, the JSC encourages inclusion, sharing visions and general participation. Approximately every month a communication activity, such as “Planting trees”, “Cleaning Day”, “Ramadan Iftar”, is organized. [1] Citizenship means people think of themselves as active citizens, willing and able to have an influence in public life and their local communities. [2] M.O. Adedoku, C.W. Adeyemo and E.O. Olorunsda; The impact of communication on community development; Kamla-Raj, 2010
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Belgium hands over co-chair to Finland during the Education Sector Working Group in Ramallah
Eva MORRE | 14/12/2016
Ramallah – On 12 December 2016 the last Education Sector Working Group of the year took place at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. This meeting which gathers all education stakeholders in the Palestinian Territories, including officials of the MoEHE, national and international civil society, and development partners, takes place every three months at the MoEHE to discuss developments and challenges within the education sector in the Palestinian Territories. His Excellency, the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Sabri Saidam, announced that the role of the co-chair of the ESWG, which is currently fulfilled by the Consulate General of Belgium, will be transferred to the Representation of Finland, as of 1st January 2017. His Excellency thanked the Belgian Delegation for their hard work for two and a half year. Mr. Bruno Jans, Consul General of Belgium, looked back at the many achievements of the education sector in the past two years, a sector that is seen as exemplary of the Sector Wide Approcach in the Palestinian Territories. He also stressed the continuation of collaboration with Belgium including through the Joint Financing Arrangement. Belgium will continue to play a pivotal role particularly in the areas of TVET, curriculum development, education in emergency, public finance management and digitalization, as well as in the Service Delivery Pillar on Education of the EU Joint Framework. During the Education Sector Working Group, key officials of the MoEHE presented the new framework of the Education Sector Strategy (2017-2022) and the Annual Work Plan and Budget for Financial Year 2017, followed by a group discussion with questions and answers. In her welcoming remarks at the meeting, Ms. Florence Duvieusart, Consul and Head of Development Cooperation at the Consulate General of Belgium commended the MoEHE for the hard work implemented in the sector under the dynamic leadership of the Minister, and in genuine partnership with Development Partners. She stressed the positive developments that took place in 2016 in the areas of Financial Management, Technical and Vocational Education & Training, Digitalisation, and Education in Emergency. She then acknowledged the need in 2017 to target investments in vulnerable areas like East Jerusalem, Gaza and Area C, and the need to enhance efforts to better coordinate development aid and humanitarian aid. She pledged continued support from international partners in these endeavours. In his welcoming remarks, UNESCO Representative to the Palestinian Territories, Dr. Lodovico Folin- Calabi, applauded the launch of the new National Policy Agenda and the achievements made in the education sector such as the introduction of the new Tawjihi system, TVET, curriculum reform and the developments made with early childhood education. Dr. Folin Calabi mentioned “these are big steps taken in a very short duration which will affect positively the learning outcomes of our children and help bridging the gap between the supply and demand in the Palestinian labour market”. At the end of the meeting, the Digitalization for Development Prize that the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education had won earlier this month in Belgium, was handed over to the Minister and the project team that had been responsible for the achievements.
