The National District Development Coordination Committee Secretariat, supervised by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development(MoPED), with support from the World Bank’s Accountable Governance for Basic Service Delivery Project, has concluded supervision and provision of technical support to 15 District Development Coordination Committee(DDCC) Bi-Monthly Meetings within October 2022, hosted at their districts Councils, with their respective Councils taking the lead in the coordination process.

The Bi-Monthly Meetings, which are held once every 2 months, are respectively conducted on their specific meeting dates within October, as part of their regular schedule since the pilot phase was completed.

As the process is successfully moving from re-activation to institutionalization, the Ministry which is providing strategic oversight and technical backstopping and support to the overall strengthening of District Development Coordination Structures in all the 16 districts of Sierra Leone, would be continuing its efforts in ensuring that Local Council’s ownership and Leadership (Political, Administrative & Technical), increased participation, Local initiatives to addressing implementation challenges, among others, are sustained in giving the DDCC the seriousness deserves.

The meetings brought together representatives from MDAs, NGOs, Local and traditional authorities, Councils core staff, CSOs and Children’s Forum Network to discuss issues on duplications or uncoordinated development interventions, strengthened coordination, reporting and implementation of action points, time management and transparency and accountability within their districts

In all the districts supervised, the team from the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, on behalf of the Minister, Dr Francis Kai-Kai, his Deputy Rev. Dr Jonathan Titus-Williams and the National Secretariat, expressed appreciation to Committee Members for their solid efforts in pushing the re-activation and strengthening of DDCC process forward.

Committee Members were reminded of their roles in the implementation of the Roadmap that would permanently and sustainably situate or anchor the DDCC Structure in Local Councils, efforts they urged Council players to up the game in their coordination and leadership roles.

In all districts Supervised, the team explained the oversight role that the DDCC National Secretariat provides to the effective operations of DDCC activities, ensuring that they are effectively coordinated and monitored to increase performance. Critical service providers were encouraged to improve on their reporting at the DDCC meeting, whilst Committee Members are advised to prioritize and implement crucial action points raised during their meetings.

The need to heighten sensitization and awareness-raising campaigns on the outcomes of the DDCC Meetings, efforts they described as relevant in harnessing an informed and participating citizenry to the development agenda of their respective localities. Committee Members were also encouraged to adequately utilize the IEC officers and local Radio Station Managers to use a ‘Development Communication Model Approach’ in ensuring that decisions and success- stories emerging from the meetings are well-communicated to the locals in the simplest way they could understand.

In all districts visited, the Councils expressed their commitment to the DDCC and described the process as a success, whilst encouraging stakeholders to improve their cooperation in addressing issues that bordered on the development of the district. They highlighted the critical role of service providers, urging them to be up to the task of addressing key action points that emerged from the meetings.

In all the above meetings held, issues, such as; strengthening reporting, use of local initiatives to address implementation challenges, strengthening of sector coordination, service providers’ performances, compliance with SOPs, strengthening the DDCC National Secretariat, effective sensitization and awareness raising on the DDCC activities among many others, were seriously deliberated on.