The workshop which focused on "Promoting participatory decision-making" was attended by senior party leaders from sister parties that included the Labour Party (UK), Botswana Congress Party, Young Social Democrats (Uganda), Chama Chama Party (Tanzania), AFORD (Malawi), and South Africa's African National Congress. This was a follow workshop to one that was held in Kampala, Uganda in 2004, whose theme was "Strengthening parliamentary oversight."
The workshop was a resounding success mainly because it accomplished the objectives that were set at the beginning of the meeting that were to exchange notes on how the different parties involved different stakeholders in decision making with special emphasis on policy formulation to ensure public policy ownership, especially the involvement of women, youth people living with disabilities.
The workshop also discussed minority groups in policy formulation; networking between sister parties and coming up with effective and sustainable fund raising strategies.
The workshop was also a success in that it helped in strengthening the relationship between sister parties from Africa and the British Labour Party and the relationship between sister parties from across the African continent.
At the end of the workshop the parties came up with practical country specific strategies of enhancing the involvement of all stakeholders in policy formulation. Special emphasis was given to women, youth, people living with disabilities, and minority groups. The meeting developed sustainable fund raising strategies since the party funding in some countries was found to be insufficient for robust electioneering.
The only setback was that four delegates from the Social Democratic Front (Cameroon) reached Johannesburg only to return home because they did not possess visas to enter Botswana.
The next NEPAD workshop whose venue is still to be decided will focus on "Adopting effective measures to combat corruption and embezzlement".
