Summary

With the technical support of In Loco Association (IL), between 2011 and 2013, Maputo Municipal Council introduced an improved methodology for Participatory Budgeting (PB). As a process of decision-making, PB allows local communities to propose and prioritize investments to allocate in the annual municipal budget.

Background and Objective

The effects of colonial and civil war have left their scars in Mozambique. The implementation of the Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique, in 1990, led to some improvements in the country. Nevertheless, poverty, exclusion, neighbourhoods that lack public investments, basic sanitation, schools and markets are visible throughout the country.

Actions and Implementation

PB comprehends two cycles: decision making and implementation. In Mozambique the process was implemented in four phases. The first consisted of the diagnosis to determine the pre implementation conditions. The result of the diagnosis was the negotiation and drafting of the methodology. Capacity building for the decision making cycle was done during the second phase, which means training the teams that will be in the terrain organising the meetings with the communities. Those meetings would be held ensuring the participation of both men and women in order to select the priority projects for each neighbourhood. The final step was training the teams in charge of the technical evaluation and transforming proposals into projects. Once concluded it was necessary to prepare the third phase which was capacity building for the implementation cycle. It implies doing the meetings’ balance, proposals’ technical analysis and preparing a strategy for drafting the projects and their implementation. Finally the process is closed with the evaluation of all the results and necessary recommendations and improvements for the next year. PB allowed the participation of marginalized communities and guaranteed the access to non-existent infra-structures (such as sanitation, schools, health, accessibilities, water wells), in some of the poorest slums. This influenced life quality of local communities, and had a positive impact particularly on women (due to their condition of family caregivers) and children. The methodology was designed to promote women participation (e.g. including them as target groups on communication campaigns, adapting the schedule of face to face decision-making sessions to their daily routines). This resulted on a high representation of women on every phase of the process. Participatory Monitoring Groups were created (composed of 2 men and 2 women) with the condition that no one could be part of the municipal or local administration. Institutional diagnose revealed the municipalities’ technical fragilities and their lack of resources. To assure the right implementation of the process by them, a methodological guide was produced and training was provided to the teams involved, aiming to clarify the process and its implementation. The same strategy of training was applied to Civic groups, local radios, universities and communities, to reinforce transparency and accountability. Privacy protection during the decision-making process was a main concern, assured on the methodological guide. In addition to the guide, all other management and monitoring instruments were created specifically for each municipality and for this process bearing in mind all particularities.

Outcomes and Impacts

One of the essential premises to achieve a satisfactory level of sustainability is the political and technical commitment of the municipalities involved to continue with the process. This means that they are required to allocate an annual percentage of their investment budget to the poorest neighbourhoods, in which the communities will submit proposals and decide the ones to be implemented, through the PB methodology that stands for a public and universal right to participation and equal access to both men and women. So, in the decision cycle, citizens choose the priority investments, and in the execution cycle the municipality implements them. PB is also a powerful mean of civic education because it allows a collective definition of the priorities within a community, raising awareness, responsibility and sense of ownership that helps to maintain the investments, enhances territorial solidarity by understanding priorities within the neighbourhood and from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. PB has a positive impact in the environment, for example, some of the selected projects consisted in the construction of drainage ditches and providing easier access to water to the communities, which increase the quality of life and help to decrease the propagation of diseases. From the local authorities’ side, PB increases the effectiveness and efficiency in the distribution and allocation of public resources to the poorest neighbourhoods because it makes possible to listen to the communities and know the territory better. It also increases transparency mechanisms and accountability of the investment budget allocated to the process.

Gender and Social Inclusivity

The implementation of PB in Mozambique has benefitted from IL experience in other countries, like Cape Verde and Portugal. The methodology differs from country to country, so it is necessary to perform a diagnosis in each municipality to establish the pre-existing conditions. Once that is done, the methodology is consolidated and contextualized, otherwise it won’t have meaningful transforming effects in governance models, development of citizenship belonging and life quality. The replication of PB can be simple if the initial diagnosis and adaptations are efficiently. Other important dimension is to build capacity for the budget planning and execution cycles: training the technical teams, building suitable work instruments and make sure the information reaches the communities. Also the municipality commitment to the process by executing the winning projects decided by the communities is crucial to build confidence, both in the process and in local authorities. The diagnosis, the methodology and summary sheets of the pilots have been consolidated and distributed in a guide. IL in articulation with ANAMM, are building a national strategy for participatory municipal governance. Other important step in the transfer of the methodology was the creation of the Mozambican PB Network, a space to share experiences, difficulties and solutions.

Innovative Initiative

The most important lesson to withdraw from the implementation of the PB methodology is that whenever there is the need to implement a pilot to test the methodology, you should never do that pilot per invitation. The interested municipality or municipalities should volunteer and provide guaranties of their political commitment to implement and make sure the project lives on once the external help ends. Whenever there is the involvement of external entities to the country it’s inevitable to create expectations of entry of financial resources which can subvert the original purpose of the implementation of the project. In this sense it is very important to do an effective management of the expectations. What was done with the PB implementation in Mozambique consisted on the transference of knowledge, providing training to the technical teams so that they can continue the project independently, and never to transfer financial resources. The third lesson learnt is that all contexts are different, which means that when implementing a methodology such as PB, it cannot be fully copied or transferred. There are small characteristics that need to be addressed, for example, in Mozambique, due to the partisanization and the political context, the vote to prioritize projects must be secret, something that doesn’t happen in other countries. It might be a small detail, but for the local community is important, because they are afraid to be connoted with a specific project or political view. The design of the methodology has to guarantee total freedom to the communities without political interference.

Resources devoted to delivery

No. Title Source Author Publication Title Volume Number Date Page Number 1 Edit 2 Orçamentos Participativos e Planificação Participativa em Moçambique - Proposta de diferenciação e articulação metodológicas Associação In Loco Nelson Dias Orçamentos Participativos e Planificação Participativa em Moçambique - Proposta de diferenciação e articulação metodológicas 1 August 2015 0-58 Edit 3 Orçamentos Participativos em Moçambique. Conjuntura, trajectórias e equívocos Associação In Loco Nelson Dias e Vanessa Sousa REDE - Refelexões (in)Oportunas - Democracia Participativa N.2/2015 March 2015 60-69 Edit 4 A experiência moçambicana de orçamento participativo Associação In Loco Eduardo Jossias Nguenha Esperança Democrática - 25 anos de orçamentos participativos no mundo 1 2013 125-131

Conclusion

The participatory budgeting process is not supported by specific legislation nor it is mandatory in a legal point of view in Mozambique. Although the methodology does benefit from the municipalities creation law and the Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique. The first municipal elections took place in June of 1998. Law 2/97 denominated Foundation Law of the Municipalities foresees the “gradualism principle” which means a progressive creation of the municipalities and the gradual transference of competences from central to local govern. This generates a bigger autonomy at local level which benefits the implementation of participatory methodologies. There are multiple references to the importance of citizens’ participation in the Constitution. For example, Art. 122 nº2 mentions the importance of women’s participation “The State recognizes and values the participation of women in the struggle for liberation, defence of sovereignty and democracy.”. Art. 263 nº 2 states that local authorities “guarantee the active participation of citizens and encourage local initiative in solving community problems.”, and, Art. 271 nº 1 refers that “The Local Government aims to organize the participation of citizens in the solving of the problems of their community”.