Communauté Urbaine de Bafoussam: Approche participative avec les chefs de quartier - Participatory approach with neighbourhood leaders

The participatory approach with neighborhood leaders is an initiative of the Urban Community of Bafoussam to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of participatory democracy mechanisms, to integrate diversity as a criterion of inclusion and to improve the implementation of the decentralization policy through the active participation of residents. It is an innovation in collaboration between actors, facilitating citizen participation, community empowerment, citizen deliberation and open government. 

It is possible through the establishment of three complementary consultation frameworks: consultation between the district chiefs and the Urban Community, consultation between the district chiefs and the population, and consultation between the Urban Community and the population. The modes of consultation vary according to the objectives of the meeting and can be participatory planning, diagnostic workshops, hearings and monitoring-evaluation workshops. 

Moreover, the existence of these committees, led by the neighborhood chiefs, has been the basis for a range of concerted initiatives carried out by the Bafoussam Urban Community in the framework of public-private partnerships. The communication strategy used to maintain a good representation of the populations is directly linked to the consultation framework that has been put in place. 

This consultation framework makes it possible to link development policies to the real needs of the population, while guaranteeing effective monitoring and evaluation of development projects. 

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