The Dar es Salaam Healthy City ProgrammeChallenges and constraints
Despite wide-scale acceptance of the principles of HCPs, the true democratic process
required to obtain nominations for the Steering Committee proved to be very difficult to
achieve. Calling meetings of 300 or more delegates who represented the wide range of
NGOs, CBOs, local government and academic institutions, led to lively discussions but it
was difficult to keep the momentum going from meeting to meeting in order for decisions
to be taken. Despite considerable information having been presented, many NGOs and
CBOs remained unwilling to commit themselves or nominate members for the Steering
Committee. People need information in order to give their basic support to the concept
but they will often require evidence of success, and preferably in their own setting,
before they will commit time or other resources. Finding the appropriate balance between
following optimal processes and actually moving ahead is a constant challenge within
programmes of this kind. Bold steps were sometimes needed to get things moving.