Decentralised Cooperation and Joint Action: Building Partnerships Between Local Government and Civil Society in Africa

Currently, the development community is seeking innovative strategies to address the challenges of local development and poverty alleviation, decentra-lisation and local governance, and improving the effectiveness of aid transfers.

In November 1999 therefore, in Mombasa, Kenya, a group of 70 persons came together to compare lessons of experience of applying ‘joint action’ as an approach to local development and poverty alleviation.

Put simply, joint action is about promoting partnerships between local governments and civil society to plan, implement and review development programmes and projects. This is more easily said than done. Local partnerships challenge conventional ways of doing business, demanding the definition of new roles and responsibilities, new management techniques and capacities, and moreover a change of attitudes.