Overall Objective

The overall objective of the Municipal Outreach Project is to contribute to the alleviation of poverty through the execution of more efficient policy interventions by local government authorities. This will be achieved through improving the capacity of local government authorities in South Africa. This can be achieved through the development of the capacity of local government officials to identify and implement best practice policy interventions sourced both locally and from the developing world.

Improving the capacity of local government officials will aid in strengthening local government structures in South Africa. This will allow for two things:

• It will promote accountability in governance through enhanced comprehension of policy mechanisms and formulation procedures. It will promote an understanding of the broader policy environment ranging from the national to the local government level.
• It will also promote confidence in democratic structures in South Africa through the improved development strategies implemented by more accountable government structures in the eight target authorities.

Specific Objective

The specific objective is to empower approximately 1 800 elected councillors and local government officials, as well as other stakeholders, to better understand the anti-poverty interventions available to them in order for the afore-mentioned overall objectives to be effectively implemented.