Dev’t monitors decry lack of funds

Lack of sufficient funds allocated to Joint Action Development Forum (JADF) monitors has been cited as one of the challenges facing the forum. Speaking during a consultative meeting that brought together officials from SNV-Netherlands Development Organisation, Rwanda Association of Local Government Authorities (Ralga) and JADF, members of the forum called for more funding from the facilitators.“We are given little facilitation yet we travel all over the districts monitoring developmental activities carried out by various partners, including the NGOs and government,” said Innocent Hakiza JADF representative from Nyagatare District.Hakiza stated that because of inadequate resources their work is not properly coordinated as they would wish. The facilitation includes transport, airtime, among others. Therese Uwizeye, from Nyamagabe, said that to ensure full participation of citizens in the local development process, sufficient resources were needed to enable JADF coordinate its activities more smoothly.“We call upon the government to facilitate us with either motorcycles or cars and to give us enough airtime so that we reach down there in the remote areas,” she added.JADF is a consultative platform for information-sharing and cooperation among various actors involved in socio-economic development process at district and sector levels.The body seeks to enhance efficiency in the development efforts and to avoid redundancy or duplication among various players.SNV provides advisory and financial support to JADF, while RALGA makes it easier for the forum to operate at the grassroots.Patrick Safari, the national coordinator of JADF, observed that lack of sufficient funds by JADF was indeed a major issue. “But it will not hamper our activities; we have to find a solution because their work is very important,” he noted.Safari stated that the forum helped increased citizen participation, through partaking in planning and decision-making processes at the district and sector levels.Emmanuel Murangwa, an advisor to JADF, said stronger partnership was needed to support the implementation of the decentralization policy.“We are going to lobby for enough funds from various partners so that JADF members can get sufficient resources to carry out their duties,” he pointed outJADF was created in 2007 to play a crucial role of coordinating the various development interventions at the local level.

National

Dev’t monitors decry lack of funds