Towards a better open governance in Africa

The Coordination Committee of the IOPD has approved the integration of AfricTivistes into the network of the International Observatory of Participatory Democracy (IOPD). This will provide our organisation with an additional platform to share its projects and experiences in participatory democracy. AfricTivistes will also actively participate in the various activities of the IOPD. 

“We are very happy to join the International Observatory of Participatory Democracy (IOPD). Indeed, our vision and our missions fit perfectly with those of the network. We are committed to contributing within this space in order to achieve our common goals and produce fruitful outcomes for Africa and the world,” said President Cheikh Fall following the confirmation of AfricTivistes’ membership by the IOPD coordinating committee.

With a community of 200 members in about 40 countries, AfricTivistes continues to expand by becoming a member of this space for exchange of experiences on participatory democracy to improve the administration of our cities and the quality of their democracies. Indeed, the IOPD network is the consultation mechanism on participation and democracy of the World Organisation of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

The IOPD works especially on the following themes: citizen participation, open government, participatory budgets, deliberative and participatory democracy initiatives and the relationship between citizenship and government in a larger view.

The network has two types of members. There are associate members composed of local governments, local authorities or other levels of government. Then, there are the collaborating members composed of civil society organisations and research centers working on participatory democracy.

The International Observatory on Participatory Democracy has a clear agenda with a series of key activities, including:

The Annual International Conference: this is an international meeting that brings together elected officials from cities, researchers and experts in citizen participation. The General Assembly is celebrated during this event. The 2022 conference will take place in the city of Grenoble from December 7 to 10.

The IOPD Award “Good Practice in Citizen Participation”: It seeks to acknowledge innovative experiences in the field of participatory democracy.

The Working Groups: This is a collaborative working mechanism between conferences, open to all interested members, to promote tools that strengthen democracy and give further impetus to the active participation of citizens in the public policy process. Each group is coordinated by a city responsible for issuing framework documents on the work to be done and for collecting contributions from members.

Case studies: IOPD collects public policies from different cities around the world and from governments as an example of reference for other cities.

Dissemination of studies, publications and news on issues related to our network.

Promotion of democracy: IOPD seeks to be an international actor that promotes democratic practices in governments and institutions.

It should also be noted that AfricTivistes has a solid experience particularly on open local governance through its Local Open GovLab (LOG) project which in its first phase supported and accompanied seven local governments through digital means for inclusive and participatory governance. 

This project has both responded to a structural local demand from local governance institutions and enhanced the technical skills and personal qualities of seven young AfricTivistes volunteers for Open Local Governance (VAGOA).

The LOG was based on a six-month assisted pathway of open local governance. To do this, AfricTivistes went through:

• Involving the population in the management and organisation of the city’s affairs; 

• Raising awareness among citizens and training of elected officials for better access to information of public interest;

• The creation of a framework for communication and exchange between citizens for a better collaboration with elected officials, the incentive for the accountability of the representatives so that they are able to provide all useful information to their constituents;

• The development of mechanisms and tools to assist in the modernisation of local administration.