Theater plays culminate the project completion of PADDL in Cameroon

In a formal closing ceremony, the GIZ and its partners have reviewed the work of the past few years in the PADDL program (Programme d’Appui à la Décentralisation et au Développement Local). While particularly the changes initiated by the project were reflected upon, two plays illustrated specific working fields of the project in a vivid and thoroughly entertaining way to the audience and therefore contributed to a successful closing ceremony.

The two plays that were performed during the event, dealt with the topics of corruption, gender and water supply on a local level. Through these plays the construction of wells and their maintenance in municipalities was discussed. In the play, a female technician was called to the municipality to do well repairs, which triggered a discussion about gender roles among the well users and thus pointed out an important subject of discussion within the society. During the PADDL, particularly women were trained in the water and well sector and technical training opportunities were put in place for women, which a novelty in many municipalities.

Over the past few years, the PADDL focused on providing support to municipal administrations aiming at poverty reduction. While significant progress had been made in decentralization reforms in Cameroon lately, the program’s fields of actions have further supported these reforms and have particularly promoted participatory processes in the municipalities. Fields of action were especially the transfer of responsibilities from the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization (Ministère de l’Administration Territoriale et de la Décentralisation, MINATD) to the municipalities and decision-makers. In his speech, Mr. Ngono Tsimi, General Inspector for Decentralized Local Authorities at the MINATD, highlighted that the impacts of the 13-year long work are extraordinary. He further stated that the program implemented its work and experiences by successfully integrating local partners, which has contributed to the sustainability of PADDL.

The consortium AMBERO-PEM has supported selected municipalities, within the PADDL to promote self-determined and participatory decentralization processes at municipal level. Such services included the development of a monitoring and evaluation system for the national decentralization process, as well as the provision of national and international expertise for the consultancy of municipalities.

Finally, the evaluation of the program highlighted some results of the past years’ work. The program has for instance helped to improve the coordination among the local stakeholders, who are involved in the decentralization processes. Furthermore, municipalities were strengthened as institutions and their role in the local and economic development was solidified.