Luanda - The Secretary of State for Local Authorities, Márcio Daniel, reported on Wednesday, in Luanda, that the process of collecting contributions for the Participatory Budget, being carried out in the country's 164 municipalities, has the engagement of more than 20 civil society organizations.
Among the organizations involved in the process are the Action for Rural Development and Environment (ADRA), the Evangelical Congregational Church of Angola (IECA), the Council of Christian Churches in Angola (CICA) and the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church.
Márcio Daniel told journalists that such organizations, on behalf of municipal administrations, are approaching the citizens about the major priorities they want to see integrated into the General State Budget (OGE), for later materialization.
“In each municipality there is a civil society organization responsible for collecting contributions in the community”, he explained when speaking to press, at the seminar on “Participatory Budgeting”, aimed at journalists.
The Executive has safeguarded resources to ensure citizen participation, made available to the respective organizations”, he asserted.
according to Márcio Daniel, the process of preparing the Participatory Budget has three axes, namely the Participated Budget of the Municipal Administration, the Citizen's Budget and the Accountability Forum.
He indicated that the Municipality's Budget has been implemented since 2019 and the first resources made available in 2020, amounting to 25 million Kwanzas for each municipality, are being managed by the Municipality's Technical Management Committee, a body elected through those responsible for management communities, such as the residents' committee.
“In the approval session, which is the last phase of the process, the administration will have contact with the priorities, decide and justify the reasons for the choices”, he clarified.
He made it known that in 2024 disbursements will begin to operate, in which the available resources, through the World Bank (WB), will be delivered to administrations, as long as they meet some requirements such as the engagement of citizens in the process of collecting data for the Participatory Budget.
For his part, the Secretary of State for Communication, Nuno Albino Caldas, expressed satisfaction with carrying out the act with civil society organizations, which presents proximity to information to communicate impartially. “Communication transforms, governing is communicating”, he stressed.
Organized by the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MAT), the seminar on “Participatory Budgeting” aimed to enlighten journalists about the real goals of this project.
The Participatory Budget constitutes an instrument that promotes the democratic participation of citizens in decision-making regarding the country's socio-economic development priorities.
Approved by Presidential Decree 234/19, of 22 July, the Participatory Budget is a tool that the Angolan Executive adopted in the process of administrative deconcentration and decentralization to make citizens more participative in the preparation and implementation of the budget.
The legal act enshrines the active participation of members of management committees, made up of representatives of civil society with the capacity to identify problems and define priorities in the preparation of municipal budgets.
ML/AC/TED/DOJ
