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Invitation to Dialogue on Fostering Local Democracy

Posted August 12th, 2009 by Richard Angelo

                                                          Invitation

KEPA, the Policy Forum and the Embassy of Finland, warmly welcome you to a Dialogue on Fostering Local Democracy

                                               Thursday 27 August, 2009
                                                           8:30am to 16:30pm
                                                           at the Embassy of Finland
                                                           Mirambo Street/Garden Avenue

The one-day dialogue between parliamentarians, civil society organisations, officials and
development partners seeks to deepen mutual understanding of each actor's role in building democracy at the local level.

Civil society organisations, the government and development partners are all working to strengthen local governance and increase people's participation in drafting and
monitoring local development programmes. This dialogue aims to deepen participants' knowledge of each actor's work and to strengthen the synergies between them.

Such dialogues are particularly timely because the Mkukuta-review is drawing near. It is time to evaluate our work and engage in open discussion about the priorities for the next
five years.

Please register by Tuesday 25 August on kepa.tanzania@kepa.fi. For further information
please contact KEPA's development policy officer Tytti Nahi on +255 (0)22 215 1582 or
tytti.nahi@kepa.fi

The event builds on previous work by the Local Governance Working Group of the Policy
Forum and Development Partners Group of Local Governance, which is co-chaired by
Iina Soiri from the Embassy of Finland. KEPA is an umbrella body of Finnish development
NGOs and a member of Policy Forum.

Programme:

08:30 Registration

09:00 Opening remarks

09:45 Civil society organisations' activities on local democracy and public expenditure
         tracking by Moses Kulaba, Policy Forum Local Governance Working Group Questions, additions from the floor

10:30 Coffee break

10:45 Development partners activities on governance and local governance reform by Iina
         Soiri, Embassy of Finland

         Questions

12:30 Lunch

13:30 Panel discussion on fostering local democracy, panelists to be confirmed
      · Comments on previous presentations by each panelist
      · Are development partners and CSOs grasping the synergies in their work?
      · Does finance ministry find CSOs activities useful in supporting efforts on
        accountability and poverty reduction? What could CSOs do better?
      · Is the ministry happy with its backing to PETS and governance work? Could it do
        more to support CSOs?
      · What is the role of the parliament's public account committee?
      · PETS has important objectives but it is also a demanding activity. Do Tanzanian
        CSOs allocate too much attention to PETS nowadays?
      · Are development partners actually utilising the PETS results?
      · Lessons for the future?

         Questions and comments from the floor

15:30 Closing remarks

15:45 Coffee break

16:00 –Discussion among civil society organisations on the way forward