ADL : Extension de l’Observatoire National de Décentralisation et du Développement Local.

The Director General of the Local Development Agency (Adl), Abdoulaye Ndao , co-chaired with the Governor of Ziguinchor on January 27 and 28, 2023, on behalf of Mr. Mamadou Talla, Ministers of Territorial Communities, Regional Planning and Development, the opening ceremony of the workshop for sharing results and official launch of the extension of the National Observatory for Decentralization and Local Development. In his speech, the Director General of the Local Development Agency returned to the importance of territorial information. According to him, local authorities, populations and other actors produce and consume information every day. As such, territorial information is a strategic resource for the management of local authorities and the formulation of development strategies adapted to local realities. The meeting is important in the eyes of central and local authorities. It is part of the overall framework of the modernization of local authorities and the democratization of territorial information. Indeed, the new challenges of territorial development require municipalities and departments to adopt a new approach and development strategy. “No local authority can develop without a good mastery of its potential. This is the importance of this IT platform which integrates, within it,

The mastery of territorial information allows local authorities, in particular mayors and presidents of departmental councils, to have steering instruments and decision-making support tools, with a view to playing their leadership role in planning and the implementation of their priority investment projects and programs. Due to the lack of disaggregated and reliable information, the absence of relevant indicators to inform local authorities about the nature and extent of their expectations and needs, local authorities experience enormous difficulties in planning and carrying out appropriately their development projects. A diagnosis of the premises revealed some temporary constraints. This is, according to the Director General of the Adl, the multiplicity of initiatives and tools for mastering territorial information to genuinely respond to the concerns of territorial actors, the lack of synergy and integration between the various tools and stakeholders, thus causing redundancies and duplications. To provide a lasting solution to all these constraints, the Ministry of Local Authorities, Planning and Territorial Development through its technical arm (ADL), has set up, in conjunction with the actors, the National Observatory of Decentralization and Local Development (ONDDL). This instrument is, among other things, a platform for exchanges, consultation, monitoring and multi-stakeholder and multi-level reflection set up since September 2015 in the Casamance cluster. For its operationalization, the Local Development Agency has mobilized substantial resources for the benefit of the players. Training sessions have been carried out to empower/equip them. During this two-day workshop, results and deliverables from the observatory’s pilot phase, which lasted five years, will be presented for validation. The extension phase will also be officially launched in other regions such as Kédougou, Tambacounda, Koalack, Fatick and Kaffrine.

KEBEKEBA   URACSENEGAL