The
Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, in collaboration with the Ministry of
Lands and Regional Government, recently held a national consultative forum on
the National Development Plan 2017-2020 on proposed pillars and priorities.
The
purpose of the forum was to provide a platform to update status of the National
Development Plan (NDP) 2017-2020 preparations as well as proposed pillars and
priorities of the NDP.
Held
at the Paradise Suites Hotel, the forum was built upon from various series of
consultations at various levels and it was well attended by different
government stakeholders and regional government authorities.
The
Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Lamin
Camara, speaking at the opening ceremony, said the forum was part of the
process of developing the PAGE successor NDP, which started in mid-2015 with an
inception forum that shared and discussed the initial roadmap for the process
and various activities including consultative processes and structures as well
as studies.
PS
Camara added that the PAGE Mid-Term Evaluation and various other studies helped
to provide information that influenced the proposal for the pillars of the NDP.
He
said the forum however discussed the proposed pillars and priorities of the
NDP, most especially with the regional and local authorities to enhance
participation and ownership and increased alignment with local government
authorities.
The
permanent secretary, Ministry of Lands and Regional Governments, Bulli Dibba,
said the consultative approach, together with the entire formulation process of
the national development plan to include the regions, is appreciated.
“I
want to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts done by the Ministry of Finance
to deepen and broaden the consultative processes,” he said.
PS
Dibba noted that the regions have very
critical administrative structures for effective planning inputs, and
participation from these levels help to reflect their priorities and make
development more broad-based and balanced.
This
forum, he added, will enhance the understanding of planning processes and
priorities at the national level thus “help in translating our national
development plans into local development plans”.
This
participatory process is in line with the spirit of the national
decentralization agenda which seeks to enhance participation, effective
planning implementation and leadership at local levels.
He
said: “My ministry strongly advocates for local development planning. I hereby
call on the ministry of finance to help support in strengthening planning
capacities at the decentralized level.”
