Participatory Budgeting and Revenue Generation in Africa

"The Municipal Development Partnership of Eastern and Southern Africa (MDP­ESA) sponsored the Africa Regional Seminar on Participatory Budgeting in Durban, South Africa, in March 2008 to explore participatory budgeting and governance in the African context. The Capstone team assisted in the preparation for this seminar through research and fieldwork to prepare multiple documents for the conference, including an issue paper on participatory budgeting in the Western context, an issue paper on designing mechanisms for citizen engagement in revenue generation, and a case study on participatory governance in Uganda. The team presented the results of these studies to several audiences, including local government practitioners in Uganda and municipal leaders from a wide range of African countries over continent­wide video conferences and at the seminar in South Africa. The results of this research will aid African practitioners in implementing new projects and strengthening existing practices, and contribute to the limited scholarly literature on the topics. "