Benin report - Institut Africain de la Gouvernance

CHAPTER SIX: SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT__________________________________________________________________________transparent management of public affairs and involves every citizen. Themajor activities are: the fight against corruption; public resource andmanagement capacity building; administrative reforms; decentralisation;strengthening of legal and judicial systems; and consolidating democracy andinternal social dialogue.886. The fight against corruption led to the creation of civil society organisationsthat employ every means to wipe out the phenomenon. These organisationsinclude FONAC, Transparency International, the CMVP, and others. Thepeople condemn certain behaviours and abuses through interactiveprogrammes organised by radio and television stations, all of which contributeto good governance. The procurement process is well regulated.887. The CSAR goes further to present a long list of results of the survey on thepeople‟s perception and assessment of governance with regard to theirinvolvement in decisions relating to the development of educational, health,road and other infrastructures.ii.Conclusions of the CRM888. Although the CSAR treats the very important issue of participation lightly, theCRM was satisfied with the efforts made by the Beninese authorities, throughdecentralisation, to broaden the base of discussion and consultation with SEDstakeholders. This is commendable. However, despite such clear will, there isstill much to be done in order to achieve this noble goal. Apart from the effortsrecorded above, the CRM noted (and this has largely been confirmed bydiscussions held with stakeholders in the country) that several programmaticdocuments and other development projects have been worked out in thevarious SED sectors without the knowledge of people at the grass-roots leveland their organisations. Such development programmes are normally based onthe policies and strategies in force or highly recommended by partners likeTFPs and NGOs. The participatory method most needed by the actors is hardlyreally used before these projects, and this is a major governance weakness forSED in Benin.889. With regard to the processes for policy and strategy development, theparticipatory method involving all the stakeholders is hardly widely respected,as was the case during the Long-Term National Studies (NLTPS). This wasthe fundamental inadequacy in the PRSP I, which Benin sought to correctwhile developing the GPRS.890. Discussions held with technical ministries in Cotonou, with members of civilsociety, and with people in the country showed that the issue of participation isgaining ground in the country. This is supported by the fact that today it isbecoming increasingly clear that any democratic management of power andstate affairs requires the participation of all stakeholders. This will require thepersonal commitment of the nation to decisions taken. It will also require thatthere is interaction between public decision makers and citizens in order to282