Milagros’ story

“The way we will get a new school is the same way we got the water supply,” says Milagros, a resident of Altamira in the Dominican Republic: “by getting involved in the participatory budgeting process.”

Under this process, people in poor neighbourhoods have a real, decisive say in what local government spends its money on.

To those in the west, participatory budgeting is a bit of a mystery, but to communities in the Dominican Republic, it’s life-changing. Here’s how it works. Community leaders bring their ideas to the local government committees that decide what development projects the municipality is going to fund. They sit in on the meetings that agree the development plan and budget. They also monitor the spending of the funds.

It means that government money is spent on doing what the people in poor neighbourhoods really want – such as a water supply for the community of Higuero in Altamira.

“The women of the community used to build a pool in the river, fill heavy cans with water, and hoist them through long, muddy and steep paths to their homes,” says Milagros.

“But since last year, the water comes to the door of the houses thanks to our aqueduct. And that aqueduct is there because it was built with the effort of the entire community.”

Milagros and the 80 families in Higuero formed a Neighbourhood Committee which secured funds through the participatory budgeting process. Once the aqueduct was built, they formed a Water Committee to manage and maintain the water supply.

“Advice and support from Progressio’s development worker Fernando Umaña was essential throughout the whole process,” says Milagros.

Fernando and two other Progressio development workers, Sergio Vergne and Edgar Noguera, working with local partner organisations, played a key role in introducing the participatory budgeting process in municipalities in the DR: training staff in partner organisations; training community leaders and community groups; training the local government staff; and building up a collection of practical manuals.

Participatory budgeting strengthens democratic engagement, empowers communities and holds state power to account.

It started out in one municipality - but it’s been so successful that other municipalities have asked for help to introduce it. Now, more than 120 municipalities (out of a total of 151 across the country) have set up participatory budgetting. This means the majority of the Dominican Republic’s 8.5 million people now benefit from accessible, transparent and accountable local government.

As Milagros says: “Now we know how to improve our own lives.”