Benin: open day for a meeting between the African Development Bank and Beninese civil society organizations | African Development Bank

The African Development Bank office in Benin invited 80 Beninese civil society organizations to an open day, which took place on December 13, 2022 in the conference room of Kobourou City Hotel, in Parakou.

Objective: to promote dialogue between the Bank and civil society organisations, to raise their awareness of the strategic orientations of the Bank’s interventions at national level and to collect their views. This is an exercise in transparency and accountability to civil society, which the Bank sees as a key stakeholder in achieving national development goals, in addition to representing beneficiaries on the ground.

“Collaboration with civil society is essential to ensure that the operations the bank finances in the country deliver the best results in terms of improving the living conditions of the population,” emphasizes Robert Masumbuko, country manager of the bank in Benin.

Robert Masumbuko, Country Manager of the African Development Bank in Benin, at a press conference on the occasion of the Bank’s Benin office open day with Beninese civil society.

Jamila Hedli, Country Program Officer of the Bank, added: “The Bank cooperates with various civil society organizations in the implementation of projects that the Bank finances in Benin. Organizing an open day is an opportunity to strengthen this cooperation to achieve the country’s development goals. The Bank urges civil society to participate in the formulation of projects and the monitoring of activities on the ground, for example in the transport sector, to ensure that beneficiaries take ownership of the project results and that the lessons learned are sustainable to be”.

The Bank’s office in Benin therefore, with the support of the Civil Society and Community Engagement Department, organized this first day of dialogue with civil society to strengthen their cooperation in monitoring the implementation of the Bank’s intervention strategy in Benin .

This day was also an opportunity to share the successes and lessons learned by civil society organizations participating in the Bank’s activities in Benin and explore opportunities to strengthen this cooperation.

National Director of the Batonga Foundation in Benin, Ella Wama Mara, praised “the attention paid to the specific needs of young people and women in the Bank’s investments in Benin, which is a guarantee of sustainable development”.

“Civil society organizations recall the structured support that the African Development Bank has provided to the African Community of Practice in Managing for Development Results, with the Africa for Results (Afrik4R) program and believe it should consolidate these benefits,” said Aurélien Atidégla , President of the Platform of Beninese Civil Society Actors (PASCIB).