LESSON
    
    Lesson Learned: Citizen Participation to Improve Local Governance
Many volunteers for the Citizen Participation Cells (CPC) have become more proactive citizens who can contribute to conflict resolution and problem solving. Project participants have made a commitment to ensure the continuity of the CPC initiatives and to promote the development of new opportunities for citizen participation in local decision-making processes beyond UNDEF funding.
      
            Project Name
              
          Project Partner
              Association de Lutte contre le Racisme, l’Ethnocentrisme et le Régionalisme
          Project Description
              The project’s objective was to promote democratic governance by supporting and encouraging the creation of Citizen Participation Cells (CPC), as a facilitation mechanism among grassroots communities and local authorities, in order to address the low level of accountability of local authorities towards citizens. The project was implemented in 35 municipalities located in four departments of Benin. The grantee’s strategy focused on empowering citizens by fundamentally strengthening the grassroots communities. This was highly relevant in view of the profile of the beneficiary groups, vulnerable rural communities for the most part, which rarely had a voice in public affairs and had limited access to channels of influence. Supporting the practical skills of CPC members as well as municipal officials working at the local level allowed participation in local governance to take place more effectively and in a collaborative way.
          Report
          
      Evaluation Date
              January 2014
          Theme
          
      Country