The regional workshop on democratising governance through citizen participation brought together representatives of civil society organisations, international organisations and participatory governance practitioners from Ethiopia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to share experiences in advancing participatory governance, identify key gaps in participatory governance processes at local, national and continental levels and propose solutions aimed at filling these gaps and making participatory governance effective at all levels.
The first part of the workshop focused on a review of global trends, challenges and good practices in participatory governance. The second part focused on the sharing of experiences on participatory governance by Global Transparency Fund (GTF) Mwananchi Programme partners from six countries in Africa. The third session focused on continental perspectives on participatory governance, looking specifically at the issue of democratic space in an effort to identify key areas where advances can be made to enable more effective participation in governance processes. In the fourth session, participants looked at the dynamics of two key African institutions and ways in which the voices of citizens can influence the decision-making processes of these institutions.
The fifth and sixth sessions focused on global perspectives on participatory governance, the use of new technologies to bridge existing gaps and the way forward.
