Table of Contents
In recent years it has become widely accepted in the international development community that meaningful administrative decentralization is essential to the effective functioning of modern states. Decentralized government in this context is seen to be of critical importance not only to the strengthening of basic services, but also to the strengthening of local level democracy. However, whilst there is broad agreement on the need for decentralized government, there is considerably less consensus on the form that this should take. This is because the model of decentralization adopted by any given country will, as a matter of course, be shaped by its particular history and social and political economy. Furthermore, the degree to which governments are willing to devolve authority is frequently conditioned by their confidence in the administrative capacity of lower echelons of the governing hierarchy, and their own sense of political security. The specificity of decentralization in all states notwithstanding, there is much that developing nations from their experiences in globalization of others.
The symposium on "Good governance and decentralization in Africa", held in Cape Town in March 2001, co-hosted by the UNDCF, together with the School of Government of the University of the Western Cape and in partnership with the UNDP, Ford Foundation and Government of Japan, brought together a wide array of policy experts, practitioners and researchers from Africa. Amongst the aims of the symposium was a sharing of experiences on the challenges of administrative decentralization in the 21" century. In that respect, it was widely accepted by participants that African states have much to learn (both positively and negatively) from the experiences of their neighbors. It was also agreed that the models evolving in many African states are generally more appropriate to the continent than those imported in an unadapted form from more developed nations.
In addition to providing a platform for wide ranging debate, the symposium also provided directions as to how ongoing regional fora could be established or strengthened and as to how research networks could be strengthened.
This symposium report is structured into five sections. Section One consists of shortened versions the opening remarks presented by supporting donor institutions, and opening statements by Mr. Norman Lauzon, Executive Secretary of the UNCDP in New York; Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, Assistant Administrator and Regional Director, UNDP, New York; and Mr. Elroy Afrika, Deputy Director General of the Department of Provincial and Local Government, South Africa.
Section Two provides short versions of the plenary session papers, followed by a summary of the discussants comments, as well as comments from the floor.
Section Three sets out in shortened and consolidated form the terms of reference given to the six working groups dealing with Fiscal Decentralization; Local Economic Development; Decentralized Natural Resource Management; Sect oral Decentralization; Local Political Processes and Local Institutional Structures, respectively. Thereafter follow the reports of each of the working groups, as well as a summary of the general discussions and comments.
Section Four outlines the main comments and recommendations, which were presented at the final session of the Symposium on the "The Way Forward", and also includes excerpts from the closing address by Mr. Alberic Kacou of UNCDF.
Section Five consists of appendices, including the program, details of participants, bibliographies of papers presented.
The report does not attempt to provide a verbatim presentation of all the symposium proceedings. Instead, dominant themes, comments, points of discussion and debate are highlighted. Every effort has also been made to capture the suggestions made for the way forward, both in terms of institutional arrangements as well as at the level of more informal participatory processes.
The scope and depth of the discussions and proceedings emerge clearly, while the complexity of the overall theme of local governance and decentralization is clearly evident in the plenary papers and questions posed by panel discussants and working groups. Thus while the report only approximates the complexity of discussion and debate, it is nonetheless clearly evident that the symposium yielded a rich spectrum of insights and perspectives to the theme of decentralization and local governance in Africa, as well as a concerted effort to find ways of meeting the challenge of the way forward.
Professor Chris Tapscott
Director
School of Government
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