Musoma Regional Workshop

City Development Strategy: Bukoba | Entebbe | Homa Bay | Kampala | Kisumu | Musoma
Workshops:Entebbe | Kampala | Kisumu | Musoma| Meetings: Kisumu| Documents:Publications

Introduction
The Musoma Workshop was held from 21-24 July 2003. It was necessitated by a need to consolidate the outcomes of the first phase of the project and exchange experiences and agree on a future course of action at the municipal and Sub-regional levels.

Participants
Participants to the workshop included key stakeholders, including representatives from the three councils among them, mayors and deputy mayors, opposition leaders, representatives from Local Authorities Associations, officials from national governments' agencies dealing with environment, representatives of various media houses representatives of municipal officials and various representatives of civil society organization in the CDS working groups from Kampala, Kisumu, Musoma and other towns in the Lake region. Representatives of the donor agencies and support agencies working in the Lake Victoria region were also present. The Participants also deliberated on the need for a joint initiative for Lake Victoria region for improved Urban Environmental management and poverty reduction.

Objectives
The main objectives of the workshop were to consolidate the outcomes of the initial phase of the programme and to exchange experiences. The specific objectives of the workshop were:

• To review the individual city development strategies produced by the participating municipalities;
• To review experiences in using participatory methodologies in city development strategies;
• To consolidate partnership arrangements at the city and regional level;
• To review the findings of other relevant studies carried out in the region;
• To raise awareness of the CDS activity to the public through the media;
• To agree on a strategy for follow-up action and implementation of the City Development Strategies.
  

Recommendations
The workshop recommended that the following activities be developed in order for the programme to gain the necessary impetus and direction:

• Internal and external resource mobilization mechanisms
• Priority Action Plans through demonstration projects.
• Development of a Regional Implementation Framework
• Capacity building.

Potential Joint Activities by cities
The workshop discussed possible joint activities that could be undertaken by the three Cities around the Lake Victoria Region (Musoma, Kisumu and Kampala). Among the activities highlighted are:

• Carrying out joint lobbying for implementation of East Africa Community resolutions
• Designing a joint marketing strategy for the three cities as a vibrant tourist destination and an economically vibrant district.
• Implementation of lake transport within the region
• Networking through websites, exchange, educational and research programmes as best practices.
• Establishing joint grassroots activities such as sporting and a clean-up day

The Way Forward
Following the deliberations of the workshop several issues were considered as resolutions for the way forward for the regional and national levels CDS initiatives. Among the most important is the consolidation of the CDS process. This would be done through the implementation of the following three key strategies:

• Documentation of CDS experience
• Agreeing on action areas, both at the national and regional levels
• Institutionalizing the CDS and entrenching them in the development policies not only at the national levels but also in sub-regional development policies