Cameroon Open Participatory Budget (COPB) – Phase III

Project Introduction & Context

The Cameroon Open Participatory Budget (COPB) project is a pioneering initiative implemented by AfroLeadership, a Cameroon-based civil society organization specializing in citizen participation mechanisms, digital transparency, and local governance. Funded to the tune of $94,500 by the Embassy of the United States of America in Cameroon, this project spanned from September 30, 2022, to March 29, 2024.

The core mission of the COPB project was to dramatically elevate citizen participation and institutional accountability within municipal budgetary processes. By deploying innovative digital tools, opening public financial data, and establishing community-driven citizen monitoring frameworks, the project successfully enhanced access to public services and elevated grassroots citizen satisfaction.

Strategic Objectives

To transform local governance ecosystems, the project pursued four interconnected specific objectives:

• Digital Governance: Strengthening the operational capacity of local councils through the deployment and integration of modern digital governance tools.

• Data Openness: Improving public access to information by institutionalizing open data practices around communal finances.

• Institutional Collaboration: Fostering structural collaboration and direct dialogue between local elected officials and their constituents through open public policy mechanisms.

• Budgetary Literacy: Building citizens’ budget literacy to equip communities with the technical skills needed to effectively monitor public actions and local investments.

Geographic Scope & Stakeholder Ecosystem

Initially centered in the Far North region across 5 key target municipalities—the sub-divisional communes of Maroua I, Maroua II, Maroua III, Tokombéré, and Yagoua—the project successfully expanded its horizontal impact. Through a strategic synergy with the Fiscal Transparency Innovation Fund (FTIF) program, it extended its reach to 20 additional partner communes managed by allied civil society organizations (ADGEL in the West, Mandela Center in the East, and LUKMEF in the South-West). In total, the project directly transformed 25 municipalities across Cameroon.

To build a critical, self-sustaining mass of institutional actors committed to open data, the project integrated an inclusive array of stakeholders from inception:

• Communal Executives & Staff: Mayors, Deputy Mayors, Municipal Councillors, Secretaries General, and Municipal Receivers.

• State & Administrative Authorities: Representatives from MINDDEVEL, MINFI, MINJEC, and United Cities and Local Governments of Cameroon (CVUC).

• Civil Society & Grassroots Communities: Women’s associations, youth networks, organizations of persons living with disabilities, traditional and religious leaders, academics, students, traders, and local media.

Implementation Strategies & Core Activities

The execution strategy rested heavily on a dual-track approach: democratizing financial data through technology and building community capacity from the ground up. The project achieved an exceptional 99.5% execution rate, successfully delivering 18 out of the 19 initially planned major activities.

Core Strategic Pillars:

• Digital Ecosystem Deployment: Designing, deploying, and maintaining tailored web platforms and open budget infrastructures hosted on a secure virtual international server (InMotion Hosting).

• Inclusive Capacity Building: Training youth, women, persons with disabilities, and elected officials in technical budget monitoring, civic accountability, and anti-corruption strategies.

Major Achievements & Quantifiable Impact

Digital & Technological Milestones

• Platform Ecosystem: Launched three core project monitoring and civic interaction domains: www.openparticipatorybudget.org, [https://www.weparticipate.info](https://www.weparticipate.info), and www.copb3.afroleadership.org.

• Local Portals Deployed: Designed, validated, and hosted 25 dedicated municipal budget transparency platforms and websites (e.g., maroua1.openlocalbudget.org), giving millions of citizens unprecedented access to localized budget registries.

• Data Collection: Successfully collected and digitized comprehensive budget documents and administrative accounts spanning four fiscal years (2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023) across all 25 participating councils.

Knowledge Management & Media Visibility

• Technical Literature: Produced and distributed bilingual user guides, technical support manuals, and comprehensive FAQs ensuring smooth citizen interaction with the platforms.

• Physical Visibility: Distributed 1,000 presentation leaflets, 350 T-shirts, 50 polo shirts, and large-format banners/posters to maximize grassroots awareness.

• Audiovisual Legacy: Produced 5 localized video vignettes broadcasted across social media and AfroLeadership TV, alongside an ongoing professional documentary tailored for national TV syndication.