The Aid Projects officer for the Churches of Norway, Nelson João, encouraged, yesterday, in the province of Cunene, the participation of citizens in the budget as a way of influencing or deciding on public projects, integrating the processes of choices for the development of communities
The person in charge was speaking within the scope of the Diocesan Conference launching two reports linked to the participatory assessment of poverty 2022 and the monitoring of public services 2023 at the level of the municipalities of Cuanhama, Cuvelai, Curoca and Namacunde.
According to the official, it is important for citizens to regularly participate in surveying needs and identifying the actions that communities really need for a more comprehensive impact.
According to Angop, he made it known that, since 2010, his organization has made available USD 64 thousand annually for citizens’ participation in the programs that the Executive has for the development of communities.
He mentioned that, within the framework of the Participated Budget, citizens have, through civil society organizations, space to present their contributions in the process of preparing the budget proposal.
The director of the Diocesan Commission for Justice and Peace, Gaudêncio Yakuleinge, said that the aforementioned reports are the result of research and data collection from communities in five randomly selected villages from each municipality.
In these actions, he said, 60 percent of inhabitants made their contribution and pointed out the low coverage of the school network, the lack of teachers, the lack of health units, access to water, poverty and food insufficiency as challenges that must be addressed. overcome.
For his part, the advisor to the governor of Cunene, José Vehelengue, justified that the problems exposed were within the Government’s domain, which have gradually been resolved, aiming to reduce asymmetries.
According to the person responsible, with the materialization of the Integrated Plan for Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM), the Executive has resolved a large part of the country’s social problems through the construction of schools, health posts, improvement of access roads, among others.
He also highlighted the execution of structural projects such as the Cafu dams, already in operation, and two other dams being implemented on the Ndúe and Calucuve, as well as on the right bank of the Cunene river with the rehabilitation of the Cova do Leão dam, with a view to minimizing the effects of lack of water.