DeLoG hosted the Knowledge and Dialogue Days from the 28th November to the 8th December 2022. The virtual conference aimed to strengthen the identity and future of the network, to promote exchange, as well as to learn about inclusive and transformative decentralisation and local governance approaches. In total, 15 internal and public sessions took place. During the sessions, the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) presented the implementation of its methodology by local government units in the Philippines and new members of the DeLoG network, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Democracy Works Foundation and Southern Voice showcased their work and highlighted DeLoGs capacity to bring together the triangle of local governments, civil society, and development partners to strengthen decentralisation and local governance. 

The DeLoG Knowledge and Dialogue Days started on the 28th November 2022 with a keynote speech by Kah Walla, a political leader, and activist from Cameroon on the role of local governments and development cooperation. Kah Walla started the session with an example of the Sandaga Market Women to show how the power of citizens can change the status quo in local governments and improve access to economic and political rights as well increase the representation of women within municipalities. The follow-up conversation with Dr. Neila Akrimi, member of the VNG International board of Directors in charge of strategy and development and Chair of the CIB-UCLG: World Assembly for Capacity Institutional Building for the world Organsiation “United Cities and Local Governments”, focused on the role of development cooperation in the dialogue between actors from the state and society and the question of legitimacy when working with ‘informal organisations. 

End of November and beginning of December DeLoG Members gathered virtually for the first edition of the DeLoG Knowledge and Dialogue Days 2022. 18 members organised, facilitated and discussed during 15 sessions on how to strengthen inclusive local governance and decentralisation processes. Part of the virtual gathering was the showcasing of new members of the DeLoG network. The Community-Based Monitoring System Network demonstrated the implementation of its methodology by local government units in the Philippines. 

The DeLoG Network Family is growing. In the following we would like to introduce our new members Southern Voice, the Democracy Works Foundation and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. 

Founded in 2013, Southern Voice is a network of almost 60 think tanks from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia which are all dedicated to generating and leveraging quality local data and research. The network’s aim is to address the existing ‘knowledge asymmetry’ and ‘participation deficit’ in the dialogue on development. It does this by producing, promoting, and disseminating evidence-based policy analysis by researchers from Global South countries. In different ways and across different regions, the network has members who focus on the implementation of the SGDs and related issues in the local and other sub-national levels. Southern Voice aims to provide valuable perspectives from the Global South to meaningfully contribute to the work of the DeLoG Network by presenting research and policy documents and by working on projects together. 

Democracy Works Foundation is a southern African non-profit company focused on democracy development in the region operating in eight countries aspiring to contribute into raising the voices of the South in international platforms, in which experience and lessons on democracy are shared. With headquarters in South Africa, the organisation works through its country offices to provide tools to develop resilient democracies and to build and promote inclusive and sustainable consensus democracies. Democracy Works Foundation opened its doors in 2014 in response to the weakening of public institutions, corruption and declining public participation in South Africa as well as concerns about democratic and development progress in post-liberation Southern Africa. With joining the DeLoG Network, Democracy Works Foundation aims to play a constructive role in deepening the dialogue around decentralisation and local governance with a Southern voice.  

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is the national association of local governments in Canada, representing over 2,000 members. The primary mandate of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is to represent the interest of its members on federal issues in Canada, and to enable knowledge exchange and collaboration within the sector. As part of this mandate, the association implements capacity building programs, including an international program since 1987 which aims to support decentralisation and capacity development of the local government sector in partner countries. As the world is urbanising rapidly and as local governments are increasingly recognised as critical public institutions to enable public participation and improve the quality of life of citizens, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities believes that the DeLoG Network is very important to coordinate efforts, discuss challenges and lessons, and share good practices. 

USAID unveiled a new approach, the Local Capacity Strengthening (LCS) Policy, to highlight the importance of partnerships that result in strengthened local communities. While approaches to capacity strengthening vary by sector and context, the LCS Policy gives a shared framework to inform programming that builds upon the existing strengths of local actors and systems and responds to dynamic local priorities. The policy is organised around seven mutually reinforcing principles to lead to more effective programming and equitable partnerships in local capacity strengthening activities and aims to support local actors to achieve their objectives and lead their communities’ development.  

The European Union, UNCDF and the French Development Agency joined Southern Mediterranean countries and partners in boosting access to climate finance at local government level. In the framework of COP27 they launched the ‘Advancing Climate Adaptation in the Southern Mediterranean’ programme (ACA-MED) which aims to increase climate and environment resilience with a particular focus on supporting economies and communities at the local level. The Mediterranean region has been identified as a climate change hotspot, especially in urban areas, climate change impacts are aggravated by high population density, and continued urbanisation trends are expected to further exacerbate the climate crisis. The programme has an estimated value of €16,6 million over three years. 

The 6th edition of the African Forum of Territorial Managers and Training Institutes targeting Territorial Communities opened its work in the city of Agadir on 28th November at the Ibn Zohr University and ended on 3rd December 2022. The Forum was organised by UCLG Africa, through its African Local Government Academy (ALGA) and other partners under the theme ‘The challenge of training and building the capacities of Local Elected Officials and of Local Government Staff in Africa in terms of Climate Action’. About 40 countries were represented at the Forum, including 33 African countries, with a strong presence of representatives of (local) governments, international organisations, territorial managers, representatives of training institutions, as well as representatives from the private sector and civil society. Plenary Sessions on issues related to climate action, around fifteen Workshops and Master classes, as well as field visits to inquire about transformational projects and cultural heritage were offered.  

On 25th November, the International Day for Violence Against Women, the United Nations and UN Women started the annual campaign ‘16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence’ to combat the global scourge of violence against women. The campaign was started by activists at the inauguration of the Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991. It continues to be coordinated each year by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership. In support of this civil society initiative, the United Nations Secretary-General launched in 2008 the campaign UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women, which runs parallel to the 16 Days of Activism. 

In November 2022, the Government of the Republic of Moldova, together with LPSA and UNDP organised an expert forum entitled “Territorial-Administrative Reform in the Republic of Moldova: National Proposals and Global Experiences” which featured a panel of leading global experts on decentralisation and local governance reform. The experts discussed the options for administrative reform and solutions to increase capacities at the local level, in the view of national and international experts. Attending the event were Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița and Government Secretary General Dumitru Udrea, as well as representatives of the Decentralization Coalition, including the Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova, the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul and Promo-LEX Association.  

ICLD will fund the development of Voluntary Local Reviews – monitoring of progress toward the SDGs on the local level – conducted using community-based, participatory methods in the framework of a joint project between academic researchers and local governments. During 2023, ICLD will support at least three action research projects to co-create Voluntary Local Reviews with local governments and communities, placing a strong emphasis on citizen’s dialogue. Eligible countries are Tanzania, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda and Bosnia. Junior (including PhD students) and senior researchers affiliated to a university with experienced and knowledge in community-based participatory research can submit their project proposal until 15th January 2023. 

WeThe15, which aims to become the biggest human rights movement to represent the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities, has added UCLG as its 19th partner, further strengthening the coalition of international organisations behind the initiative. By joining WeThe15, UCLG will ensure that disability inclusion is at the heart of the municipal movement through continued advocacy, learning and training with its members on equitable development, particularly through its Community of Practice on Inclusive and Accessible Cities and Territories. Launched in August 2021, WeThe15 is spearheaded by the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and supported by a coalition of international organisations that span sport, human rights, policy, business, civil society, arts and entertainment. 

On 14th November 2022, the Belgian Development Agency Enable and the AFD Group, which includes the French development agency and Expertise France, signed a Memorandum of Understanding defining the framework for deeper European cooperation and a strengthened partnership to address the main global challenges that people face in Africa and the Middle East. The Memorandum was signed in Benin in the framework of a five-year project that is jointly led by Enabel and the AFD Group – EQUITE, which aims to improve the health of the most vulnerable populations in the Benin. This Memorandum is part of a new European cooperation architecture reflected in the Team Europe approach. It is a concrete expression of the ambition of European actors to develop open and strong collaboration with a view to tackling the development challenges. 

On the 21st and 22nd November the closing conference of the ‘Maintaining Strength and Resilience for Local Governments in Iraq and Lebanon’ (MASAR) programme took place in Brussels. The MASAR programme, funded through the European Union’s Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis and implemented by VNG international in consortium with PCPM, ACCD and Komponent, is now wrapping up after 4 years of implementation. During the Conference, results of the programme as well as learning points were addressed amongst the MASAR staff members, representatives of beneficiary institutions, and EU representatives. Local governments both in Iraq and Lebanon have proven to be an effective actor in establishing cohesive policies towards host and guest communities and enabling inclusiveness and equal access to services for all types of population.   

The Podcast by the Forum of Federations examines the principles and practice of federal and multilevel governance systems with a comparative international perspective. The episodes focus on federalism, gender equality, and decentralised governance. Each episode aims to address a key governance issue with world-leading practitioners and scholars from the Forum of Federations’ international expert network. The 6th episode explores Canada’s and Switzerland’s gender equality and governance development assistance approaches, and the work being done on the ground to improve the lives of women and girls, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global gender equality. 

When: 12 January 2023
Where: Online
Apply by: Registration open

LPSA’s newly-formed Expert Working Group on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will have its first public meeting on the 12th January 2023. The Working Group aims to bring together government officials, policy practitioners, scholars, civil society organisations, and citizens who share an interest and expertise on decentralization, multilevel governance, intergovernmental relations, local governance and local development in the SSA Region. As part of setting up the Working Group, LPSA looks forward to identifying decentralisation experts and partners in Africa who would be willing to co-chair and contribute to the efforts of the Africa Expert Working Group. 

When: 6 - 17 March 2023
Where: New York, USA
Apply by: 27 January 2023

The sixty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will take place from 6 to 17 March 2023 in New York. The CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The priority theme is ‘Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.’ The review theme will focus on ‘Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls.’ Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to contribute to the session. UCLG, through UCLG-Women, usually convenes a Local and Regional Governments’ Day to gather the local and regional constituency and keep promoting the Feminist Municipal Movement. 

When: 16 - 17 March 2023
Where: Torino, Italy
Apply by: Registration will open in January 2023

The 5th edition of the Cities Forum will be held in Torino, Italy from 16 to 17 March 2023. The event brings together key urban stakeholders at European, national, regional and local levels who are committed to a green and just future of cities. The Cities Forum is a biennial event of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy. The Cities Forum 2023 will offer high-level debates, participatory sessions and interactive workshops on cohesion and recovery in cities. It will provide participants with a unique opportunity to network and discuss the recent developments of various EU initiatives and policies as well as to explore the host city through several site visits.  

When: 7 - 10 February 2023
Where: Ottawa and online
Apply by: Registration open

The Sustainable Communities Conference, organised by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, brings together municipal staff, elected officials, federal officials, and private sector experts to discuss and share best practices for making Canadian communities more environmentally, socially, and economically vibrant. The conference will be opened with a key note speech by Søren Hermansen who will present his methods and results from his work in Samsø in Denmark. Since 2007 the island has been self-sufficient and carbon-neutral. The following session ‘Local democracy for net-zero transitions’ will reflect on collective efforts to drive citizen led transformation for climate action and respond to strategies of energy self-sufficiency. 

Municipalities in secondary cities in rapidly urbanising countries face grave climate risks. With limited resources on hand, they will be forced to confront sea level rise, extreme precipitation, drought, landslide risk, and other geophysical shocks. These challenges add to existing obstacles, including inadequate service provision, rapid urban expansion, and proliferation of informal settlements. The publication by Cities Alliance explores options for synergising climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts with a methodology for managing urban growth in secondary cities in rapidly urbanising countries. The methodology is an important tool for helping cities prepare for rapid rural-urban migration and urban spatial expansion. 

Authors: Patrick Lamson-Hall and Shlomo Angel
Publisher: Cities Alliance
Publication Date: 2022
Copyright: Cities Alliance 

The policy brief by ICLD analyses inclusion in local decision-making processes in Kenya and Lebanon. It provides recommendations for policymakers working in post-conflict contexts that are divided along ethnic or sectarian lines. The study concludes that participation and inclusion in local decision-making in post-conflict contexts can promote inclusion of excluded actors nationally. At the same time, the findings show that inclusion also risks promoting further exclusion within the local arena, primarily on basis of ethnicity, religion, gender, age, and disabilities.

Authors: Hanna Leonardsson and Jean-Bosco Habyarimana
Publisher: ICLD
Publication Date: 2022 
Copyright: ICLD

Over 59 million people remained forcibly displaced within their own countries at the end of 2021 due to conflict, violence, disasters, and climate change. Internally displaced persons can live for years without adequate access to basic services, social protection, and decent work, unable to exercise their full rights as citizens. Their marginalisation hinders long-term peace, stability, and recovery, and constitutes a major obstacle to achieving the SDGs. The report by UNDP recommends ways how governments and development partners can address forced displacement and build resilience. The report highlights that overcoming internal displacement depends on governments implementing key development solutions, including ensuring equal access to rights and basic services, promoting socio-economic integration, restoring security, building social cohesion, and better data and research. 

Authors: Henny Ngu and Catherine Osborn
Publisher: UNDP
Publication Date: 2022 
Copyright: UNDP

The Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality’s (UFGE) Annual Report provides a retrospective of its achievements and impact since 2012, marking the UFGE’s ten-year anniversary. The UFGE seeks to promote a transformative approach to the advancement of gender equality and empowerment. Since its inception, the UFGE has been instrumental in anchoring gender equality and women’s empowerment in the design and implementation of World Bank Group projects and policy reforms. As illustrated in this report, the global public goods developed under the UFGE have been leveraged effectively across countries and regions; fostering innovation and bringing knowledge to operations for impact. The UFGE has supported projects and programs that have contributed to women’s empowerment increasing their job opportunities, earnings, voice and agency, access to education, assets and financial services. 

Authors: Fareeba Mahmood, Jessica Gesund Forero, Sandra Karolina Jensson, Deepika Davidar, Maria Lourdes Abundo, Hana Brixi, Andrea Kucey 
Publisher: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development /The World Bank
Publication Date: 2022 
Copyright: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development /The World Bank

There is a global shift towards digitalisation that is driving technical, social, and organisational changes. However, the heightened reliance on information and communication technologies (ICT) resulting from COVID-19 lockdowns has illustrated that many countries are unprepared for this drastic digital shift. During the pandemic, governments faced difficulties ensuring inclusivity in the delivery of digital public services. Given the shift towards digitalisation in the face of COVID-19, and the newfound importance of connectivity and digital literacy for accessing public services, the need to bridge the gender digital divide has become ever more pressing. Based on experiences from the pandemic, the policy brief conducted by Southern Voice argues that facilitating women’s and girl’s access to ICT, addressing sociocultural barriers, are key priorities for advancing gender equality and women’s digital empowerment in the Global South. 

Author: Daniela García Villamil
Publisher: Southern Voice
Publication Date: 2022 
Copyright: Southern Voice

The ability of cities and municipalities to effectively deliver infrastructure and services and productively manage built environments and local economies depends on their institutional capabilities, quality of local governance, and financial resources at their disposal. Therefore, a core priority of governments is to strengthen the financial and institutional systems for cities and municipalities to enable them to perform these functions. One tool the World Bank has used to address this challenge over the past two decades is performance-based fiscal transfers to urban local governments - a type of financing mechanism designed to improve institutional and service delivery performance of these local governments. The report by the World Bank takes stock of the results and implementation experience of these programs and identifies key lessons and good practices for the design of the next generation of such programs.  

Authors: : Hyunji Lee, Sohaib Athar, Jesper Steffensen, Roland White and Ayah Mahgoub
Publisher: The World Bank Group
Publication Date: 2022 
Copyright: The World Bank Group

The policy brief by Southern Voice shows that the COVID-19 pandemic had adverse effects on economies across the Global South, impacting small and large businesses alike. During this period, digitised solutions were touted as the panacea for businesses to adopt. However, small, and medium enterprises (SMEs), in particular, found it difficult to integrate digitisation into their businesses. To address this challenge, the policy brief proposes the development and implementation of a digital roadmap which would guide economies in the Global South to help facilitate the digitalisation of SMEs to advance their recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Author: Zamiyat Abubakar
Publisher: Southern Voice
Publication Date: 2022 
Copyright: Southern Voice

Over the coming years, significant infrastructure investment will be required to sustain economic growth and improve well-being in many regions and cities. Subnational governments will have a key role to help provide this infrastructure - they are responsible for almost 60% of total public investment in G20 countries. Meanwhile, rural areas will also need investment to build sustainability, increase resilience, and improve well-being in the face of demographic change, climate change and the digital transition. The G20-OECD Policy Toolkit, developed with input from ADB, aims to support inclusive and quality infrastructure investment by subnational governments across developing, emerging, and developed countries. It outlines key elements of creating an enabling environment for subnational infrastructure investment. Rather than recommending specific instruments, it provides a ‘toolkit’ of options for policymakers and practitioners.  

Author: OECD 
Publisher: OECD 
Publication Date: 2022 
Copyright: OECD 

The publication by ADB presents effective SDG localisation strategies, factors for the effectiveness of DLG reform and conceptual analyses focusing on the country cases Nepal, Mongolia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Pakistan. The authors examine and discuss the linkages between core concepts of decentralisation and local governance on the one hand, and the requirements and aspirations of global agendas on the other. The authors also examine responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and whether any lessons can be learned  for strengthening the existing multi-level arrangements. The publication addresses policymakers, scholars, students, and practitioners with a focus on the Asia and Pacific region. 

Authors: Bruno Carrasco, Hanif A. Rahemtulla, Rainer Rohdewohld, Hiranya Mukhopadhyay, Roger Shotton, Gerhard van’t Land, Sebastian Bartsch, Gabriele (Gabe) Ferrazzi and Hans van Rijn
Publisher: Asian Development Bank
Publication Date: 2022 
Copyright: Asian Development Bank

The need to accelerate progress towards inclusive and resilient development in Africa is more urgent than ever in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. To strengthen the ability of local and regional governments to accelerate progress towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 and their role in the COVID-19 recovery process, increased attention must be focused on implementation, monitoring and review of both agendas, and the climate and biodiversity agendas. Voluntary local reviews are increasingly recognised as being critical in this regard. The guidelines developed by UN-Habitat and UCLG-Africa serve as a practical tool to support the preparation of VLRs by African local governments. They draw on both global best practices and specific experiences from African cities, towns and districts to set out key guiding principles and to define a detailed VLR template that can be adapted by local governments.  

Authors: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa / UCLG Africa / UN-Habitat 
Publisher: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa / UCLG Africa / UN-Habitat 
Publication Date: 2022 
Copyright: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa / UCLG Africa / UN-Habitat 

Over the next 35 years cities will shape global development, including the way that human rights are respected and put into action. The growing movement in urbanisation gives opportunities for social inclusion, equitable access to services and jobs, and engaging communities that are often ignored, particularly older persons and persons with disabilities. The UCLG Peer Learning Note on the ‘Building Cities for All’ training program provides practical content to the concept and statements on accessibility, making contributions to decision-makers, public policy implementers and participatory monitoring bodies in human rights and sustainable development at the national and international levels. The goals of the peer learning series were to find common problems to working on accessibility at the city level, to understand common benefits of accessibility for the community by showing good practices and learning from Mersin, (Turkey), Villa Carlos Paz (Argentina), Lisbon (Portugal), Banjarmasin (Indonesia), La Paz (Bolivia) and Santa Fe (Argentina).  

Author: UCLG
Publisher: UCLG
Publication Date: 2022 
Copyright: UCLG

As city governments undergo digital transformation, the digital and physical aspects of the city become more closely connected with digital technologies being used to deliver services, manage urbanisation processes and communicate with residents. The use of digital technologies, platforms and data by governments and the private sector affect urban residents, sometimes in unforeseen or unintended ways. For example, young women may face cultural and gender-related barriers that prevent their access to the internet and technology. The guide by UN-Habitat shows mechanisms that can be used by city governments to embed digital human rights in the structure of the city administration and highlights examples of policies, guidelines and methods that illustrate how cities can operationalise human rights in digital contexts. 

Authors: Livia Schaeffer Nonose and Milou Jansen
Publisher: UN-Habitat
Publication Date: 2022 
Copyright: UN-Habitat

Digital technologies have had a huge impact on governance around the globe. While increasing access to communication technologies has made it easier for citizens to mobilise politically, it also presents security risks. Yet, policy instruments and frameworks have not kept up with the rapid adoption of digital technologies and their impacts on democratic processes. This is also the case for the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG), which was adopted in 2007 to improve the quality of democracy and electoral processes across Africa and promote human rights and governance. The discussion paper by ECDPM zooms in on the ACDEG and analyses the interlinkages between digital transformation, political activism, and governance. The authors argue that the ACDEG should be adapted to respond to new challenges such as disinformation, hate speech and the digital divide. 
 

Authors: Ennatu Domingo and Lidet Tadesse Shiferaw
Publisher: ECDPM
Publication Date: 2022 
Copyright: ECDPM

When: 1 May - 12 May 2023

Where: The Hague

Apply by: 31 March 2023

When: Self-paced 

Where: Online 

Apply by: Registration open 

When: Self-paced 

Where: Online 

Apply by: Registration open 

When: Self-paced 

Where: Online 

Apply by: Registration open