ToroDev organized a CSO’s- District Local Government Co-ordination Meeting in Kyegegwa

ToroDev in collaboration with Kyegegwa NGOs &CBOs Forum held a follow up meeting on 22^nd  March 2016 at Kyegegwa  district headquarters in the quest to champion public accountability, transparency & improved service delivery under the Theme; ‘’Planning together, Accounting together’’, focusing among others on strengthening the District-CSO coordination committee that will gradually result in close collaboration for planning and budgeting, sharing of successes and challenges, enjoying shared & coordinated reporting and policy compliance on a regular basis.

The meeting that was attended by Kyegegwa district local government technical & political leaders, CSOs, representatives of NGOs/ CBO’s  aimed at assessing the impact of the last meeting  & developing a harmonized approach towards improving coordination & communication among CSOs and the local government by strengthening PPP and brainstorming on the challenges of fostering collaboration in the district as experienced by both parties.

Participants during the meeting

Mr. Musinguzi Daniel the acting district planner while sharing the district (local government) planning cycle said the district gets issues that they always use in budgeting from the consultative meetings that are always organized in communities but it was unfortunate that most community members do not know this planning period and many do not attend these consultative meetings making it difficult for the district to capture their issues. He urged CSO’s to always document their activities and to report quarterly.

Mr. Musinguzi Daniel the acting district planner giving a presentation during the meeting

 The Executive director ToroDev, Mr. Baguma Johnstone Kumaraki said that CSOs act as watch dogs in monitoring government programs & working together as a team will make us move to another level of development in the district. He urged participants to embrace such meetings for they bridge the communication gaps that exist in our work.  He said such meetings provide a platform for engagement, identifying issues of common interest & sharing useful information.

Mr. Baguma Johnstone Kumaraki the ED ToroDev sharing with participants during the meeting

The heads of departments got time to make presentations from their respective departments and there was a session of open discussion and drawing of action points. It was agreed upon participants that the District Community Development Officer (DCDO) should held the mapping of all NGO’s/CBO’s in the district to know who is doing what & where, developing a reporting template which will be used by all CSO’s in their reporting, the issue of meeting quarterly was further emphasized and the next meeting was scheduled for June 2016.

The Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (ACAO) Mr. Agaba Hillary while officially closing the meeting said CSO’s act as watch dogs in monitoring local government work. He acknowledged that when we stop working in isolation, we shall yield results out of our interventions. He encouraged CSO’s to meet quarterly in order to engage each other on what is happening from both parties and urged them to report regularly.

Mr. Agaba Hillary the ACAO Kyegegwa officially closing the meeting

We are grateful to our partners; NED, SIDA, SPIDER, ICT4DEM for the financial & technical support.