Policy and Advocacy Manager of ActionAid International The Gambia (AAITG) has called for ‘villagisation’ as urbanisation robs the rural areas of its indigenes who could play pivotal roles in the development of their communities.
Mr Lamin Nyangado said, villagisation however, requires uplifting the status of villagers by providing essential services to enable people settle-down, instead of permanently settling in the urban areas.
 “In almost all African countries, structures of local administration exist, but are often subordinated in their legal creation, mandate and operation to the central state, especially the executive,” he noted.
Nyangado made these remarks at a weeklong training on good governance organised by the Youth Ambassadors of Peace sponsored by ActionAid International The Gambia at Friendship Hostel, Independence Stadium, Bakau from 23 to 28 May 2011. He presented on ‘Decentralisation, Accountability and Empowerment’.
He said colonial legacies have taken share on centralised territorial administration with command and control which neither accompanied with requisite powers and resources, nor allow people’s active participation in decision-making.
“Decentralisation is the transfer of authority and responsibility for public functions from the central government to sub-ordinate or quasi-independent government organisations. This transfer often takes place at political, administrative or fiscal level,” said Nyangado.
Throwing light on the daunting challenges of decentralisation, he said, harped on inconsistent legal and policy frameworks, inadequate capacity and resources for local government administration, low awareness, elite capture - patronage and clientelism and abuse of power, governance, rent-seeking and abuse of systems, effective participation of women, conflicting role of traditional leaders and emigration/urbanisation rate of between 40 & 70 per cent.
He said there are two types of decentralisation: evolution, which involves the transfer of responsibility in terms of power, authority and resources and devolution - deconcentration,  which is limited transfer of authority in policy, financial and administrative functions to lower levels, without any significant independent local input or freedom in determining the affairs of their geographies.
On accountability and empowerment, Nyangado said that human rights universal legal guarantees that protect individuals and groups against conducts that interfere with fundamental freedoms, entitlements and human dignity.
He added that human rights law obliges governments and other duty bearers to do certain things and prevents them from doing others.
He stated that human rights-based approach is a conceptual framework that is normatively based on international human rights standards and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human rights.
He said the approach is the cconscious and systematic integration of human rights principles in all aspects of programming inorder to create conditions for people to live in dignity and peace and develop their full potential.
 “Poverty is a lack of power to access, use or control resources,” he said, adding that the poor are rights holders by virtue of being born.
He went further to state centrality of the ‘natural’ person (women) in development, support rights holders to organise and claim their rights, hold duty bearers accountable take sides with the poor and excluded, analyse and confront power imbalances.
“Human right principles promote equality and non-discrimination, participation and inclusion and accountability and rule of law as rationale for human rights-based approach,” said the Action Aid policy expert.
He stated that right/claim holder are entitled to enjoyment of civil, political, social, economic and cultural right e.g. groups, communities, movements and organisations of the poor and excluded while the duty bearer is the individual or institution with the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil a right e.g. Governments, traditional leaders, family members.