The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) in collaboration with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Thursday, July 14, 2022, engaged Development Planning Officers (DPOs) of Local Councils from the East and Southern Regions on the use of the Local Councils Development Operational Guidelines.
The engagement was held in the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development at the Youyi Building in
Freetown.
Disclosing the purpose of the engagement, Alusine Joaque, Deputy Secretary of MLGRD said the meeting was to discuss issues and finalize the pilot project as an illustration of how the guideline can be used to implement a macro and micro project which would have a national impact on development.
He added that it would also help Local Councils to practice how to use their Development Operational Guidelines which the Sierra Leone National Medium-Term Development Plan for 2019-2023 envisages being operationalized among Local Councils.
Short Term expert on the project, Shukuya Kazumitsu, said the project is for capacity development which will help strengthen local resilience in Sierra Leone. He maintained that the overall goal of the project is to ensure that the Local Council’s development operations are improved in the East and Southern regions in addition to Northern Region.
Shukuya said some of the advantages of using the guidelines by local councils are that planning would be based on need assessment, effective coordination with MDAs, ensuring transparency in project selection and procurement process and ensuring accountability to the community.
Stating the importance of the engagement, Haja Halima Lukay, Development and Planning Officer for the Bo City Council, said Local Councils are the centre of development which was why they were engaged by JICA and MLGRD to look into the Development Operational Guidelines which will help promote service delivery and ensure transparency in all the operations of councils.
“The council is there to do resource mobilization and also promote development so that at the end of the day the Central Government will support us with tools that will guide us in working together with our people to ensure community participation in our developmental activities,” she stated.
A press release issued during the engagement underscores that the guideline is a hands-on reference on how to implement pilot projects following the Local Government Act which is currently being discussed in Parliament.
The press release also highlighted the importance of working with the guidelines of Local Councils and other development actors.
“Using the Guidelines will promise Local Councils to be able to prove their work following due diligence even though they need more technical assistance from various international banks and organisations”.
The result of the pilot project, according to the release will be reported in December 2022.
