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Participants at the traininig programme in Banjul, The Gambia, which ran from 26 to 28 October 2009.

Commonwealth helps councillors in The Gambia to develop community projects

11 November 2009

Training programme was organised to secure assistance from World Bank’s ‘community-driven development programme’

Councillors from local authorities throughout The Gambia have received training in designing and developing small community projects which will be funded by the World Bank.

The programme, held in the country’s capital Banjul from 26 to 28October 2009, was attended by more than 150 participants including mayors and regional governors. It was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with the Gambian Ministry of Local Government and Land.

The training focused on enhancing participants’ understanding of the life-cycle of a successful project. It looked at deepening their knowledge and skills in designing a small-scale project, developing a concept note and full proposal based on a selected donor’s requirements, and managing a small-scale, community-driven project.

What is decentralisation?

Decentralisation is a broad term often used to describe transfer of power from central government to lower levels of government. This can include responsibility for planning and management of various government functions, as well as the allocation of resources.

It was organised at the request of the government in order to help local councils prepare bankable community-scale projects that can secure assistance from the World Bank’s ‘Community-driven Development Programme’ (CDDP).

According to the World Bank, ‘community-driven development’ - broadly defined - “is an approach that gives control over planning decisions and investment resources to community groups and local governments.”

Modou Sarr, a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist with the World Bank’s programme, said: “The CDDP is designed to transfer skills and resources to decentralised administrative structures in order to address key poverty issues.

“Given the enormous requirements of the councils to improve the current state of the decentralised institutions for improved local development, the CDDP strongly commends the complementary and supplementary role of the Commonwealth Secretariat in the enhancement and strengthening the capacities of the local councils [in The Gambia].”

Musa Samura, a councillor from Kuntair Area in the Western Region of The Gambia, commented: “This workshop will help councillors to come up with bankable projects that can meet World Bank’s criteria and will also help us lobby projects that are absolutely needed by our constituents.”