COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT A ONE DAY LEGISLATIVE – EXECUTIVE – CSOS – MEDIA DIALOGUE SESSION HELD AT KATSINAMOTELS, KATSINA STATE ON THE 9TH MAY, 2013.
PREAMBLE:
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)organized a one day Legislative – Executive – CSOs – Media Dialogue Session on the Millennium Development Goals with support from United Nation Millennium Campaign (UNMC). The dialogue was chaired by Clerk of the State House of Assembly.The one-day dialogue session drew participants from State House of Assembly committees on MDGs, Agriculture, Finance, Environment and Anti-corruption, CSOs, Media and members of the executive. There were 40participants in attendance. After exhaustive deliberations on the issues, the following observations and recommendations were made:
OBSERVATIONS:
· There is inadequate funding of MDG projects in the state.
· There is low level public awareness on MDGs amongst stakeholders.
· There is lack of coordinating effort stakeholders in the state which has deprived the state of the much needed vertical and horizontal relationship.
· MDGs projects suffer duplication owing to lack of synergy among the relevant ministries on MDGs.
· There is lack of sustainability plan on MDGs.
· There is lack of manpower and political will to execute MDG projects.
· There is ownership gap of MDG projects as the people consider it as government project rather than collective responsibility.
· There is low level of commitment and oversight by the legislators.
· There is still corruption in thesystem inhibiting against growth amongst the people.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
· The Government should review thecurrent funding window in the state to accommodate more developmental projects.
· There should be an increased level ofawareness by all stakeholders on MDG issues in the state.
· There should be better involvement of stakeholders on all MDG related issues as this will create better synergy amongst stakeholders.
· There should be a bottom up approach of all MDG projects in the state to avoid further duplication.
· All stakeholders should involve morewith the motivation of beneficiaries of MDG projects to improve on maintenance culture.
· The government should make availablemore capacity building for MDG staff as well as other stakeholders.
· There should be more awareness and social mobilization by all stakeholders at the community level to own projects and sustain them when handed over to them.
· There should be effective oversight function by the legislators in the state to increase commitment on MDG issuesin the state.
· The Government should encourage zero tolerance for corruption which will promote transparency and accountability in the state.
CONCLUSION:
Participants expressed their appreciation to CISLAC for embarkingon the Dialogue Session and to UNMC for providing support to this all important program channeled at engaging Katsina state legislators, executive, CSOs andMedia on MDGs. All stakeholders demonstrated readiness to collaborating andbuild more synergy on issues of MDGs and sustain the engagement with the aim ofmoving the State forward.
Signed:
Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)
Executive Director
Civil SocietyLegislative Advocacy Centre
Abuja
Clerk
Katsina State Houseof Assembly
Katsina
Somuyiwa O. Mary
Program Coordinator
Community InitiativeProjects
Katsina State
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COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT AONE DAYCAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP FOR KATSINA STATELEGISLATURE HELD AT KATSINA MOTELS, KATSINA STATE ON THE 8THMAY,2013.
PREAMBLE:
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)organized a one day capacity building workshop on monitoring and oversight of theMillennium Development Goals with support from United Nation MillenniumCampaign (UNMC). The Workshop was chairedby the Speaker who was represented by Hon. (Dr.) Lawal Musawa, Majority Leader of the State House. The PermanentSecretary, MDGs, Alh. IsyakuDikko supported him on the high table; the minorityleader was also present. The one-day capacity workshop drew participants from StateHouse of Assembly committees on MDGs, Agriculture, Finance, Environment and Anti-corruption.There were 23 participants in attendance. After exhaustive deliberations on theissues, the following observations and recommendations were made:
OBSERVATIONS:
· Budgetin Katsina State is not MDG focused as the 2013 budget on health is just 1.5% asagainst 19% that goes for road construction and some State Legislator doesn’teven know what MDGs are in its entirety.
· The State MDG office in Katsina Statecommenced in 2007 and had implemented project worth over =N=5billion sinceinception, Katsina State focuses on four out of the eight MDGs –education,child mortality, maternal mortality and women empowerment.
· There is lack of coordinating effort among various State Ministries, Departments and Agencies relevant to MDGs and others takeholders in the state which has deprived the state of the much needed vertical and horizontal relationship.
· MDGs projects suffer duplicationowing to lack of synergy among the relevant ministries on MDGs.
· There is an honest admission that notall the MDGs are unachievable in Katsina state by 2015, however there is committed effort in place to drive the process.
· There is facility inventory in all 34local government areas in the state to gather information on all developmental projects in the state and visible effort at documentation as strategy togenerate reliable database on the implementation of MDG projects.
· There is ownership gap of MDG projects as the people consider it as government project rather than collective responsibility.
· There is shortage of skilled health workers in the state making the OSSAP MDGs to support Katsina by deploying 100nurses and midwives to cater for the sick.
· There is still serious gender inequality gap in Katsina State, though empowering women is among the fourfocal MDGs of the state.
· There is uncoordinated data and dearth of enabling environment to attract local and foreign investor to the state.
· There is a cultural factor around health and education that has consistently negatively affected development in the state.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
· The Government should put in place amore MDG focused budget that will positively affect the lives of the people.
· The MDGs office should prioritizebudgetary allocation placing health, food-security and education at the top of the list.
· There should be at least 80%budgetary implementation as a tool to reduce poverty and hunger in the state.
· There should be better synergybetween the stakeholders, particularly between the MDG office and legislature as the key representatives of the people.
· State Legislators should strengthen theiroversight to help in ensuring that MDG projects are implemented fully and areproducing the desired results.
· There is need for the State MDGsoffice to strengthen the role of MDGs desk officers at every local government to improve coordination and reduce duplication of MDG projects.
· There should be awareness creation from the part of the MDGs office in the state on Millennium Development Goals to relevant stakeholders and the public.
· CISLAC should intervene more withOSSAP MDGs and federal legislators to consult more with the MDGs office in thestate before siting any MDGs project to avoid further duplication of projectsin orderto enable resources for MDGs to spread across the state.
· The MDG focal office in the stateshould have the mandate to coordinate projects related to MDGs irrespective ofwhere the funding is coming from.
· Government should create enablingenvironment to attract local and foreign investors for the creation of jobs to reduce poverty and hunger.
· Government should encourage a privatesector driven economy.
CONCLUSION:
Participants expressed their appreciation to CISLAC for embarkingon the capacity building workshop and to UNMC for providing support to this allimportant program channeled at engaging Katsina state legislators on MDGs. Legislatorsexpressed gratitude for this august meeting which they consider crucial in the sensethat it brought to bear issues on MDGs which have never been considered beforeand has further enhanced legislators understanding of their roles and also theneed for better collaboration among relevant committees on MDGs to achievedevelopmental goals. The legislators fully demonstrated readiness tocollaborating with all stakeholders on issues of MDGs and sustain theengagement with the aim of moving the State forward.
Signed:
Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)
Executive Director
Civil SocietyLegislative Advocacy Centre
Abuja
Hon. (Dr.) Lawal Musawa
Majority Leader
Katsina State Houseof Assembly
Katsina
Alh.Isyaku Dikko
Permanent Secretary,MDGs
Katsina StateGovernment
Katsina State
