Project - Decentralisation in Senegal
Deciding on Priorities at the local level
Independent decision-making in a municipal council. Source: KfW Photo Archive /
Bernhard Schurian
Which village in Medina Sabakh has the greatest need for a school? Where are pupil numbers highest, in which village do girls and boys have to walk furthest, and which site is best? Or is the provision of training for women and young people more important than new classrooms? These are the kinds of issue that the ten elected women and men on the budget committee of the municipal council of Medina Sabakh in Senegal can now make independent decisions on to the obvious benefit of the communities concerned. Since the central government in far-away Dakar relinquished this decision-making authority, the municipalities have been extremely committed to their own affairs.
In 1996, the Senegalese Government decided to hand over some of its tasks to the new and now several-times elected rural districts and local authorities. Although, at the time, no arrangements were in place for the tax system and revenue sharing and the municipalities suffer from a chronic lack of funds, they are exercising their right to draw up their own budgets, decide on investments in the local infrastructure, draft their own construction plans and plan schools, drinking water systems and health centres.
Broad and Open Debates
Since 1994, KfW Entwicklungsbank has been supporting the decentralisation process in three of the poorest regions of Senegal, Kaolack, Fatick and Kaffrine, where more than two million people live in around 80 poor rural communities. In these areas, long-range development plans that are widely and openly discussed by the population are the basis for success. Health care services, schools and an adequate water supply are often lacking, particularly in sparsely populated communities. With the support of KfW Entwicklungsbank, in 2000 a fund was set up from which the municipalities of the regions of Kaolock, Fatick and Kaffrine can obtain grants for investments. Thus far, KfW has promised around 22.5 million euros from Government funds.
The people are making the most of this opportunity. Within six years, 540 infrastructural facilities have been completed: 76 classrooms, 72 health posts, 22 women´s and youth centres, water supply systems with 305 public standpipes and 71 wells. The German support for this programme is being provided in close cooperation with the GIZ, which advises the communities on drawing up the development plans. The latter are financed chiefly by the fund.
Strong Identification With the Project
The measures are having a positive impact. Today, in the project area, 90 per cent of the population have access to a doctor, and everyone has access to safe drinking water. Income-generating opportunities too have improved. Thirteen market halls today provide space for 460 vendors, some of whom keep entire extended families on their earnings. None of this, however, would have been possible were it not for the eagerness of the local communities to learn about putting projects to tender, awarding commissions and performing correct calculations so that a business can manage its costs, etc. The fact that the project requires the total commitment of the local population has the added benefit of creating a strong sense of identification with the programme. Parent and user committees, for instance, are operating and maintaining schools, health centres and water systems.
This development is astonishing given that, not even ten years ago, the communities were still ruled by patriarchs, the municipal councils were no more than puppet institutions and women were almost entirely unrepresented. Now, local elections and changes at the top of local authorities are a fact of everyday life. Voters turned out in high numbers and elected young, well trained people, including a large number of women, to the municipal councils and to top-level positions in the rural districts.
A New Strong Role for Women
Even people living in poverty have known for a long time how to handle democracy and their newfound rights. Unlike Germany, politicians do not hold their committee debates behind closed doors: half the village joins in, and in many communities, women have a new, strong role. Often, it is the elected female representatives on the municipal council who are entrusted with heading up the financial committee, a key position within the local administration. In the words of the Council President of the municipality of Djinrnda, "women have a greater knack for managing our funds."
FURTHER INFORMATION
Last updated: July 2011
