Context
The Government of Cameroon is making efforts to support decentralisation and local development processes as anchored in its constitution since 1996. The Ministry of Decentralization and Local De-velopment (MINDDEVEL) was set up in March 2018.
In December 2019, a new law was adopted pertaining to the General Code for the decentralised local authorities. This stipulates an increase in the participation of citizens and community-based organisa-tions in municipal development and decision-making processes in the planning, programming, budget-ing and monitoring phases.
However, municipalities still have only limited possibilities for ensuring basic services for the population and designing local development to be inclusive and sustainable. Mechanisms that would enable mu-nicipalities and authorities to coordinate on local planning and local finances based on the needs of the population are also lacking.
Objective
The partner municipalities in the North, South-West and Littoral regions of Cameroon are fulfilling their local development-related tasks more effectively in cooperation with government, civil society and private sector stakeholders.
Approach
The project is active in three regions of Cameroon (North, Southwest, Littoral) and is implemented in cooperation with MINDDEVEL. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MINPOSTEL) is also a central implementing partner, especially in terms of improving information and communication technol-ogy (ICT) solutions. The key four areas of the project are:
- Improving capabilities in shaping national cooperative relations in the field of local finances;
- Improving local infrastructure management;
- Assisting local development actors in becoming better at using participation and dialogue for-mats in municipal development;
- Supporting innovative ICT solutions tailored to local needs.