On Friday, December 18^th, the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Unit of the Institutional Reform and Capacity Building Project (IRCBP), held a one-day experience sharing forum at the Kimbima Hotel in Freetown.

The objectives of the forum were to get Local Council representatives to share experiences on the communication activities within their councils and learn best practices from each other. It further meant to get stakeholder input and participation in deciding the most appropriate methodology for setting up IEC offices within Local councils.

L-R, John Braimah , Research Officer LGSC, Issac Massaquoi, Acting Head of Mass Communication Unit of F.B.C, and Dandeson Smith, IEC Officer, Dec-Sec

Speaking at the opening session, the organiser of the forum, IEC Officer of the Decentralisation Secretariat, Dandeson Smith, said that “If local councils are to serve as catalysts in bringing about change in local communities, they must have a system of dialogue with the communities, and such a system should be reliable and dependable, and should obviously be structured into the permanent work schedules of councils”.  

IEC Officer Dec-Sec, Dandeson Smith

He further said that as the decentralisation agenda is geared towards changing people’s perceptions, to get all parties committed to the decentralisation process, a more realistic information and communication input into the system must be designed and implemented. Thus, it is considered imperative that information/communication functions in the local government set-up are decentralised. He said the aim is to cause local councils to take responsibility for carrying out information and communication interventions that should amount to a meaningful contribution towards the scaling up of development activities in their respective localities. 

A Cross section of participants

 

Mr. John Braimah of the Local Government Service Commission reiterating the need for IEC functions in councils said that such interventions can only be consistently and systematically made if Information Education and Communication Units are drafted into the structure of the councils. Mr. Braimah said that in the revised draft of the Human Resource Management Policy for Local Councils, a position for an Information Officer had been created in the administrative organogram for Local Councils in Sierra Leone.

Group two sharing their Local council communication experience

Participants at the workshop included mayors, chairpersons and chief administrators from the 19 Local Councils and representatives from donor and development partners and civil society. The workshop was chaired by Mr. Isaac Massaquoi, Acting Head of the Mass Communication Unit, at the Fourah Bay College.

The workshop resulted in a draft Terms of reference for the proposed IEC officers in councils and a six month action plan which includes monitoring indicators.

© Copyright 2005, IRCBP.