Citizens Engage Duty Bearers, Hails Rights Body
The MHRRC project, supported by Norwegian Church Aid and Danish Church Aid, is being implemented in all traditional authorities in Ntchisi, Dowa and Nsanje districts.
DOWA, Malawi— The Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRRC) has commended citizen participation in demanding services from duty bearers through its project fostering community involvement in governance, writes Martin Kamlaike.
"We are so proud to see that there was a constructive discussion between the duty bearers and issues raised by the community members," Noel Msiska, MHRRC's Capacity Development Associate, told AfricaBrief on Friday after facilitating an interface meeting between community members and Dowa district council officials in Mvera.
The meeting was part of MHRRC's project "Enhancing Citizen Voice and Action in Local Governance and Development Processes III," which aims to contribute to pro-poor budgeting and expenditure in health, education and social protection sectors.
"There has been a milestone in terms of planning, and responsiveness that comes from the duty bearers," Msiska said, acknowledging that while not every governance issue raised was answered, the steps towards addressing community problems were positive.
Msiska said the project will continue engaging communities and duty bearers, as "our communities sometimes do not have that courage to speak."
He added: "Our communities are suffering in silence, and our project would like to unveil that and make sure that as Malawians they have a right."
The project has a rights-based approach component "where the rights-based (approach) is towards addressing the needs of the people," Msiska outlined.
He stressed the importance of communities understanding annual budgets and expenditure. "Our project is also trying to implement citizen charters, service charters that are looking at sector-specific standards that are there at district councils."
The MHRRC project, supported by Norwegian Church Aid and Danish Church Aid, is being implemented in all traditional authorities in Ntchisi, Dowa and Nsanje districts.