Experience Sharing Meeting on Community Development Charter (CDC) Engagement Organized by #SCEEP/CITAD Today at Ni’imah Guest Palace, Kano.

By Sagiru Ado Abubakar.

The Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has on Tuesday 6th June, 2017 organized a one-day Experience Sharing Meeting with 18 SCEEP communities in Kano State with view to share experience and learning with regard to Community Development Charter (CDC) Engagement. The Community Development Charter (CDC) is an empowering document that gives communities an insight into the challenges they face as people. CITAD facilitated the publication of the Community Development Charter under Strengthening Citizen Engagement in the Electoral Process (SCEEP) project that has been implementing since 2014.The objective of the project is to promote election participation and good governance through public participation, mainstream citizens participation in election and good governance, to build the capacity of local CBOs, to mobilize citizens behind an evidence-based advocacy to participant in good governance, to monitor government expenditure, to build the capacity of the local communities to towards involvement of citizens in election and the governance of the local and state government.

In today’s event, the communities shared their valuable experiences and learning’s with fellow communities and stakeholders on the CDC engagement process. Earlier, CITAD/SCEEP had motivated the 18 SCEEP communities to hold meetings at the community level and discuss issues around the Community Development Charters. This helps the communities to generate issues that form discussion during the state level meeting in order to capture and share the communities experience and inspirational practice.

Malam Isyaku Garba made the opening remarks at the beginning of the meeting. He welcomed all and reminds the participants that since inception of this project CITAD/SCEEP carried out different activities ranging from voter education, election monitoring, village book meetings, advocacy trainings, budget literacy training etc all addressing constraints observed. Purpose of today’s meeting was clearly stated by Malam Ahmad Yakasai. Yakasai said that we have all your findings in written, but if CITAD has not invited you to this meeting no way we can learn from one another. This meeting enables us to know what strategies Dan Agundi in Kano Municipal Local Government for example used and achieve particular result so that community of Daura in Karaye Local Government should emulate.

Participants were grouped into six groups with strategy of three communities from each local government should form a group. Each group was asked to address the following questions:

  1. What was the situation before our intervention?
  2. Identify the changes in your community as a result of the CDC engagement
  3. Which methods or tools did you use in getting the changes identified in question 1b.
  4. What did you find most useful (step by step description can help here)
  5. What do you think is the best way to engage our representatives, policy makers, government institutions etc
  6. Mention challenges you face in participating in governance at local government level and state government level
  7. How SCEEP has help you out in term of community organizing and participating in governance
  8. What successes do you achieve and strategies you plan to ensure sustainability

 

  1. What are the most valuable learning of the CDC experience
  2. What initiative do you currently have as a result of SCEEP engagement or intends to carry out?
  3. What kind of investment/ resources did individuals or communities make?
  4. Identified CDC issues projects 2017 budget
  5. Feedback on 321 code

After group presentations, fruitful information was generated from the participants. Finally, Malam Isyaku Garba said during the closing remarks that this information is going to be used to produce a qualitative work that can serve as an advocacy campaign tool that can be used at state level and for the future engagements. The event was attended by 54 participants from 18 #SCEEP communities in Kano State