By Politico Staff Writer
The Strengthening Accountability and Building Inclusion (SABI) project implementing partners of Christian Aid on Wednesday 3rd March, hosted a one-day Roundtable discussion on Governance and Accountability, with the objective of sharing ideas on gains and challenges made in the last five years.
SABI, which is a UK government-funded project, was initially designed for four years, but it was extended for a year more at the beginning of 2020, and it is wrapping up its activities ahead of closure on March 31.
The Roundtable held at the Family Kingdom in Aberdeen brought together both the donors and implementing partners, including civil society and the media. It offered a platform to share experiences by individual partners in the course of the implementing period, highlight challenges and proffer recommendations.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Jeanne Kamara, Country Manager of Christian Aid, who chaired the sessions, said the “trailblazing” event was symbolic in that it came at a point Sierra Leone was gearing towards celebrating its 60th independence anniversary, which called for serious reflections on the country’s development path. Kamara added that much of the discussion around Sierra Leone’s development had been about the challenges it faces, noting that there was need to re-focus on solutions as epitomized by the SABI project.
SABI was designed as a citizen-led accountability initiative that encouraged and showed people the pathway to seeking development and to participate in its realization, sometimes using locally sourced resources. The goal of the project was to increase service delivery.
Kobi Bentley, development director at the British High Commission and a representative of the Foreign Commonwealth Development Organization (FCDO) in Sierra Leone, spoke about the idea behind the creation of SABI, noting that it was a response to calls for support for Sierra Leone’s recovery efforts from the devastating impact of the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic.
Bentley said the program did not tell citizens what to do or what their needs were, rather it accompanied them with tools and knowledge to help them achieve their goals.
As the program comes to a close, she noted, the hope is that Sierra Leone as a nation could reflect on its gains and sustain it for continued development.
While a lot has changed, Bentley added, citing developments since 2016 when the project was first launched and the change in government, the “fundamental approach of SABI remains as relevant as ever.”
SABI was implemented in all 16 districts, 54 chiefdoms and 94 wards. It focused mainly on healthcare, education and social protection. Citizens and duty bearers, including Members of Parliament, Ward Councilors, as well as traditional leaders, were brought together to discuss development. Through community engagement, citizens were also given the opportunity and encouraged to talk face to face with national authorities on development issues concerning their communities.
Christian Aid is heading a consortium of local and international civil society organizations and NGOs in the implementation of the project.
Saiku Bah, SABI Team Lead at Christian Aid, said a lot of development was achieved through these engagements, including construction of health and educational facilities, provision of medical and educational supplies as well as staffing of schools and health facilities, all of which contributed to life changing experiences across the beneficiary communities.
“When we started SABI, one thing we realized was the level of apathy in the people towards participating in development,” he said, noting that throughout the last five years they have helped instill in the people a sense of unity and cohesion and “this shows that you can achieve progress by working through governance and accountability approaches.”
An important achievement of the SABI project, according to its proponents and donors, is the aspect of inclusion, vis-à-vis promotion of gender equality and the involvement of people living with disability and youths in development issues.
The Roundtable saw SABI partners, including FOCUS 1000, Send Sierra Leone and SLAVA, as well as other civil society organizations like the Institute for Governance Reform and the Campaign for Good Governance, make presentations on governance and accountability and their respective roles in achieving them.
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