The Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs (MLGCA), in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has held the Enhancement of Local Services Delivery (ELSD) Project evaluation meeting in Bo City.
The evaluation event which was also the 6th Joint Coordination Committee Meeting(JCC) of the ELSD Project, held on Thursday, March 6th, 2025, at the Bo District Council Hall, Falaba section, Bo City, gathered key personnel from Local Councils in the Southern and Eastern Regions, JICA, MLGCA, and the ELSD Project.
Page 131 of the Government of Sierra Leone’s Medium Term National Development Plan envisaged the operationalization of development Guidelines in all 22 Local Councils by 2023. JICA partnered with MLGCA to create a mechanism to ensure the use of the Development Operational Guidelines among Local Councils in the Southern and Eastern Regions of Sierra Leone.
Alfred Morie Jamiru, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Community Affairs, highlighted the objectives of the program. He described the ELSD project as a major help to the 11 Local Councils that benefited from the first phase. He referred to the development guidelines document as one that was designed to enhance the capacity of Local Councils in project implementation, thereby promoting accountability, and transparency in project selection, procurement processes, and coordination with citizens and stakeholders.
“The guidelines aim to guide Local Councils and Ward Committees towards more efficient management of local development programs, clarify the roles of stakeholders, strengthen development structures, and increase citizen participation in projects,” Jamiru explained.
He acknowledged the challenge of inadequate training for Local Council staff and expressed the ministry’s commitment to exploring partnerships for developing training modules. He ended by appealing to JICA to extend the ELSD Project to other Local Councils that did not benefit from the first one.
Naoya Kuboshima, Project Leader and Local Development Expert at JICA underscored the importance of community engagement in project implementation. “These guidelines will foster community participation and ownership in development projects,” he remarked. Kuboshima emphasized transparency, accountability, and inclusivity as crucial aspects of guideline implementation across all sectors.
He urged Local Council staff to effectively disseminate the guidelines and engage communities transparently throughout project planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation phases.
The different participants later made presentations on the progress of the project, monitoring its implementation, amongst others.
