CLCB is a Non-Profit Organisation that seeks to improve local governance by interacting with key players to ensure efficient participatory democracy
About
The Centre for Local Capacity Building (CLCB) is an NPO (Non-Profit Organisation) that seeks to improve local governance by interacting with key players (citizens, civil society, local government and businesses alike) to ensure efficient participatory democracy. Aim
The goal of CLCB is to capacitate and strengthen society by equipping it with the necessary tools to effectively interact with
local government authorities. CLCB also seeks to support municipalities with the aim of making them more transparent, accountable, efficient and effective in serving local communities and businesses. Origins
CLCB was founded to address the local government issues affecting public participation and provision of services from a non-profit approach. The aim was to address these issues from the community to the municipal level (bottom up approach). Many municipalities are faced with several challenges including poor financial management, poor service provision, irregularities and deficiencies with procurement procedures and a lack of consultation with civil society organisations, local communities and private enterprises. Many of these challenges can be addressed through capacity building in terms of expertise and human resources, promotion of public participation and civic education. It is argued that the decentralisation of governance to the local level could lead to municipalities being more accountable and responsive to the needs of the communities and businesses. However, the lack of skills, technical personnel, financial resources and systems continues to hamper the ability of municipalities to execute these responsibilities. Approach
CLCB seeks to build local governance capacity with the overall aim of improving the functioning of municipalities, participation of the public in municipal processes and better relations between the municipalities and the business community. This is achieved through:
• Tailor made support
• Promotion of Public Participation
• Civic Education (through social media, seminars, information days and other platforms we deem necessary to teach people about their rights and responsibilities in local governance)
• Facilitating Public Private Partnerships
• Training of municipal officials and councillors
• Facilitating the placement of unemployed youth and recent graduates in municipalities to build the necessary skill base.
• Strategy development and implementation
Through such activities CLCB hopes to contribute to the capacitation and strengthening of citizen groups to actively participate in governance while enhancing municipalities’ ability to respond to the needs of communities the serve.
