Africa Good Governance Program on the Radio Waves

April 01, 2006—The World Bank Institute (WBI) has launched an innovative program, “Africa Good Governance Program on the Radio Waves,” to support local government capacity building and community empowerment via radio. The program includes radio broadcasts in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. By using innovative digital radio technology, the program is able to reach out to remote rural areas and help foster social inclusion and decentralization in the participating countries.

The program includes four different components. Three of these: Governing Municipalities without Corruption, Civic Participation, and Municipal Finance/Participatory Budgeting, are structured as formal capacity-building initiatives. The fourth component, Africa Municipal News Magazine, uses a magazine format and serves as an umbrella program to disseminate information, share experiences, and provide news to municipal stakeholders in the region.

The three capacity-building initiatives use an interactive methodology that promotes active participation in the learning program. “We need to build on Africa’s tradition of oral knowledge exchange using technology, which helps our voices and ideas be heard.” says Frannie Leautier, Vice President of the World Bank Institute.

The goal of the learning programs is the elaboration of action plans by the participants (mayors, local public officials, members of local communities and representatives of civil society) that can be incorporated into ongoing reform work and have the potential to be replicated in other municipalities and countries. “The Bank is supporting African countries in strengthening governance and in developing more effective states. In this context, the role of local governments and the involvement of civil society in policy development and implementation are critical to reduce poverty and to deliver adequate services to the population.” says Guenter Heidenhof, Lead Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank.

As part of this program, WBI has joined forces with the Municipal Development Partnership for Eastern and Southern Africa (MDP-ESA), the national associations of local governments, and with First Voice International. The first component of the program - Governing Municipalities without Corruption - started on July 14, 2005. The other components will start in early 2006, and run until June 2006. The program is currently broadcast in English, and there are plans to include local languages, French and Portuguese.

For further information, please visit the website.