NEWS:
Description of the Leh Wi Tok Strengthening Citizens engagement in Sierra Leone Project
Background:
Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) is coordinating the implementation of the Sierra Leone Leh Wi Tok Programme which is supported by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) with funds from the Department for International Development (DFID) through the Governance and Transparency Fund (GTF). Leh Wi Tok is one of the seven African country ODI GTF142 programmes titled Mwananchi: strengthening citizen engagement. Mwananchi is the Kiswahilli word for ordinary citizen.
The programme is designed based on a comprehensive stocktaking of existing governance initiatives in Sierra Leone, cataloguing the key features of governance in Sierra Leone from the documents of CSOs and other stakeholders. The idea is to ensure that Leh Wi Tok adds value to what is existing already and seeks to collaborate with other organisations that have similar aims, and learn from their experiences (and tools) in terms what seems to work and not work. Furthermore, a Baseline Context Analysis was undertaken (using World Governance Assessment methodology) to catalogue perceptions of governance from various sectors of the Sierra Leonean society, focusing mainly on how they perceive the rules of the game from their direct life experiences. Taken together with the stocktaking exercise and face to face consultations with a wide range of stakeholders (CSOs, media, parliament, government, politicians etc), the evidence was synthesised and validated by experts and representatives from Civil Society and used to inform the design of the Leh Wi Tok Country plan.
The Leh Wi Tok country plan articulates an accountability and citizenship agenda that focuses on Women and Youths. The idea is to mobilize advocacy and ‘action-for-change’ constituencies on existent women, youth and the poor-targeted policy commitments; expose unaddressed women, youth and the poor issues for policy influence, and securing political parties’ appropriation of articulated policies on unaddressed women, youth the poor issues as an electoral agenda.
CGG’s Actions of Support for Women’s Participation
The African Women Leaders Project in Sierra Leone supports and builds on the work of its local partner in the country, the Campaign for Good Governance (CGG). The project is contributing to develop further the organization’s strategies and efforts on gender equality and democracy. Described here are some of CGG’s on going activities complementing the AWLP.
Campaign for Good Governance is nationally and internationally recognized as the largest non governmental organization advocating good governance and citizen participation in the democratic process in Sierra Leone. One of the organizations’ core areas of focus since its inception is to create democratic space for historically marginalized groups, especially women. In the immediate post conflict period, the organization successfully managed a micro credit scheme for women which culminated in the establishment of an organized structure for the Sierra Leone Market Women Association...
LINK TO FULL ACTICLE: Newsletter of the African Women Leaders Project [www.awlproject.org]
Africa And The Threat Of The Pandemic Bird Flu [Feb 25 2006] Patriotic Vanguard
Press Releases:
MOB JUSTICE TAKING OVER THE JUSTICE SYSTEM [June 23 2006] CGG
MURDER AT TENGBEH TOWN [May 15 2006] CGG
