Alert – Past weekend’s activities (4 & 5 Feb 2012)

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) this weekend held four consultative meetings and five training workshops as part of its efforts to empower the residents of Bulawayo in the areas of service delivery and local governance. The four meetings were held in Mpopoma (ward 9), Entumbane (ward 10), Nkulumane (ward 23) and Lobengula (ward 14) and discussed issues of service delivery affecting residents such as refuse collection, absence of recreational facilities, poor roads and high city council rates. Meanwhile, training workshops were held in Emabuthweni (ward 13), Emganwini (ward 26), Nketa 6 and 8 (ward 24), Nketa 7 and 9 (ward 25), and Luveve (ward 15). Participants in the workshops were trained in participatory budgeting and gender budgeting. The trainings are part of the second phase of the Residents Leadership Development Programme under which residents’ leaders in all the 29 wards in Bulawayo are being trained in participatory budgeting, gender budgeting, the Urban Council’s Act and the Environmental Management Act. During the first phase, residents were trained in leadership, local governance, peace building, elections, public policy and advocacy, and documentation.