In The Press: African Local Governments in Action in the Fight Against Coronavirus

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The coronavirus pandemic currently affecting the world places cities and local authorities at the heart of the fight against the spread of COVID19. In Africa ,  mayors are stepping up awareness raising actions among the populations.

Find below a brief overview of the media reporting on the actions carried out by local authorities on the continent in March 2020.

Press review (12  -17 April 2020): Here 

Press review (30 March -03 April 2020) : Here .

Press review (23-27 March 2020):  Here .

Press review (16-20 March 2020):  Here.

REFELA: Advocating for the involvement of more women

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During the World Urban Forum, the Network of Locally Elected Women in Africa (REFELA) advocated for the involvement of women in more decision-making bodies.  Mrs Fatna El Khiel, President of REFELA Morocco insisted on this aspect in her introductory remarks to the session organised by the network under the theme “Role of REFELA of UCLG Africa in the successful implementation of sustainable development objectives (SDGs)”.  During the session, Ms. Khiel presented the 3 REFELA campaigns: “African cities without children on the streets”, sponsored by Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco; “African cities with zero tolerance for violence against women and girls” and the campaign of “African cities for women’s economic empowerment and women’s leadership”.

The local elected women present in Abu Dhabi have shown an interest in REFELA’s actions. Mrs. Bongile Mbingo, Ezulwini City Councillor, (Eswatini , Ex Swaziland) is in charge of setting up the REFELA country chapter in Eswatini. The official launch is hoped for March 2020. The number of women involved in local governance is very low. “There are not enough women elected to municipal councils. Most of them are appointed. In our municipal council we are 02 women out of a total of 10 members,” says Ms. Bongile. This situation can be explained firstly by the fact that women are afraid to go out and campaign. Therefore, she welcomes the existence of REFELA, which presents itself as an excellent platform to learn from other locally elected women on the continent and also as an opening to allow local women elected women of Eswatini to address issues encountered on the ground. For her, the priority REFELA campaign for her country is the “African Cities for Women’s Economic Empowerment and Women’s Leadership”.

Watch her video interview  

“It’s time for women to take power”, Mrs. Soham El Wardini, Mayor of Dakar

The mayor of Dakar, Mrs. Soham El Wardini has appealed to women for their involvement in local governance. “I call on women to get involved in local governance and even in politics. You know that in Africa, it is women who elect men. Why elect people who then leave you stranded? Women are powerful, they run the world. Because everything that men do, it is women who push them to do it. It’s time now for women to take power“.

Watch her video interview below:

First issue of the Newsletter of the Local Economic Development Network of Africa (LEDNA)

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The year 2020 is the year of the launch of the first issue of the new version of the newsletter of the Network for Local Economic Development in Africa – LEDNA. It will be published every two months with the main objective of sharing with all the African protagonists of Local Economic Development (LED) the innovations, experiments, programs and projects in progress in African countries.

This newsletter is therefore yours ; it will also collect and disseminate your experiments and experiences in terms of Local Economic Development, in addition to the rich information already disseminated by our  www.ledna.org website which we strongly invite you to visit.

Aimed at the greatest number of people, the LEDNA website has several objectives: to provide a world-class knowledge hub whose access is free and with impartial and analyzed information; to promote the sharing of knowledge and experiences using the latest communication and networking techniques; to allow users to have access to their LED counterparts and establish communities of practice; and to capitalize and disseminate lessons learned from LED experiences in Africa.

Keep reading here.

Photo UCLG World Congress – Durban 2019

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View the photo albums of the congress

#UCLGCongress #Durban2019 :Notre Journée du 12 novembre en images

#UCLGCongress #Durban2019 :Notre Journée du 13 novembre en images

#UCLGCongress #Durban2019 :Le REFELA en Action le 14 novembre

#UCLGCongress #Durban2019 : Notre journée du 14 novembre

#UCLGCongress #Durban2019 : Notre journée du 15 novembre

Durban2019- Réunion club fondateur Agence Afrique Territoriale (11 novembre 2019)

Durban 2019: Session -Façonner des villes résilientes (11 novembre 2019)

Durban 2019- Session des jeunes élus locaux africains (11 novembre 2019)

Comité de pilotage LEDNA (10 novembre 2019)

Réunions statutaires CGLU Afrique -Durban 2019 (9 novembre 2019)

 

 

Vienna Migration Conference

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The Vienna Migration Conference (VMC) is ICMPD’s annual flagship event for discussing the most challenging and politically relevant issues in the field of migration together with political decision makers, government experts, and representatives from the academic world, the media and the civil society.

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Africa Investment Forum 2019

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In just a few weeks, the second edition of the annual Africa Investment Forum will kick off in Johannesburg, South Africa, with development finance institutions determined to tackle the continent’s infrastructure investment challenges and advance Africa’s economic transformation agenda.

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Libyan mayors on a study tour to Morocco

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UCLG Africa and the National Association of Libyan Municipalities are organizing a study tour to Morocco for a delegation of Libyan Mayors from 13-21 September, 2019.  The delegation, led by the President of the Association, Mr Hussein Khalefah Edawadi Daiab, will be comprised of mayors from the municipalities of Zlitne, Zintan, Azawya South, Al Bawaniss and Daraj.

The study tour aims to give Libyan mayors a better understanding of the vision, mission, activities and initiatives of UCLG Africa, as well as to present Morocco’s advancement in decentralization, local governance and territorial development in Africa.

Libyan municipalities face a challenging, difficult and complex context due to the political crisis and insecurity that has plagued the country since 2011. Under these circumstances, more than ever, they need multidimensional, multi-level and accompanying support at all levels to anchor stability and peace enabling them to meet their responsibilities in providing basic services to their population and to ensure safe and resilient cities. It is essential for Libyan local authorities to become more integrated into the ecosystem of African local governments through UCLG Africa, the umbrella organization for local and regional governments in the African continent.

Over the course of the week, the delegation will participate in working and exchange meetings in Rabat and Ifrane with UCLG Africa’s partners associated with this study trip. These include: The Ombudsman Institution of the Kingdom of Morocco, the Ministry of the Interior of the Kingdom of Morocco/DGCL, the Secretariat of State for Housing, the City of Rabat, the Association of Moroccan Regions (ARM), the Moroccan Association of Presidents of Prefectural and Provincial Councils (AMPCPP), the Moroccan Association of Presidents of Community Councils (AMPCC) and the University Al Akhawayn in Ifrane.

The delegation will hold working meetings at UCLG Africa’s headquarters with the various departments of the organization. They will have an audience with the President of the Rabat Communal Council, The Ombudsman Institution of the Kingdom of Morocco, the Presidents of the Associations of Local Government of Morocco, the President of the University Al Akhawayn of Ifrane and the President of the Ifrane Communal Council. The mayors will also be received by Mrs. Fatna Elk’hiel, Secretary of State for Housing, President of the Aarbawa Communal Council, Vice-President of the Network of Local Elected Women of Africa (REFELA) for the North African Region and President of REFELA-Morocco.

On the Libyan side, this visit is in line with the ambitions and objectives of the “Nicosia Initiative.”  Initiated in 2015 by the European Committee of the Regions and with the support and accompaniment of several partners in Europe, the initiative aims to establish a close political link and maintain a strong relationship with the cities of Libya. This relationship has the dual objective of contributing to the improvement of public services in Libya and helping Libyan cities reintegrate into the international community.

For UCLG Africa, this is an opportunity to strengthen cooperation, partnership and solidarity with the National Association of Libyan Municipalities and with local authorities and territorial managers in the country. It is also an opportunity to identify the priorities, expectations and needs of Libyan municipalities, particularly in terms of learning, training and capacity building and to enable the African Local Government Academy (ALGA) of UCLG Africa to support them.

 

For further information please contact:

Gaëlle Yomi: Tel: + 212 610 56 71 45

Email: gyomi@uclga.org

 

PDF Version.

Registration for Climate Chance Summit – Africa 2019

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The first Climate Chance Summit – Africa in 2018 gathered the actors around operational road maps, to prepare the specific messages of the African continent, to show engagement, and to specify the demands and proposals of the local actors who are fighting against climate change in Africa. The African position was presented during different international climate events, notably during the Global Climate Action Summit in California, as well as it has contributed to the Talanoa Dialogue in COP24.

The second edition of the Climate Chance Summit – Africa in 2019 will insure the continuity of the first edition et will be spread on three days. For a second time, it will gather the subnational governments and climate non-state actors in Africa, eventually proposing a call for proposals that will reinforce the African sectoral coalitions hosted and supported by Climate Chance and that will feed our cartography of actions in Africa. It will also allow to work more thoroughly on the sectoral and operational roadmaps that were established in June 2018 in Abidjan and to reinforce the adopted engagements.

Local governments, busineses, NGOs, trade unions, scientists, representatives from agricultural, youth, women and indigenous organisations, citizens, are invited to take part in the Climate Chance Africa Summit 2019 to show the progress of their actions across Africa, to deepen the analysis of successes and difficulties, to promote the pooling of experiences and innovations, to point out solutions for a more significant scale and highlight the opportunities for new initiatives emerging from climate action in the African continent. By promoting these exchanges between stakeholders from different families, this resolutely action-oriented summit will make it possible to:

  • Stimulate the operational mobilization of non-state actors that must accelerate the implementation of the commitments made by States at COP21.
  • Consolidate the dynamics of cooperation between non-state actors who are still working in isolation.
  • Dialogue between non-state actors that have an international influence with actors more focused on their local issues in Africa to allow an adequate articulation between local issues and global issues.

Register for free here. 

4 formats

  • 2 Plenary sessions with key people from the climate action in Africa.
  • Workshops of the African Coalitions, reinforced by a call for contributions, to work on the advancement and the development of the sectoral and thematic African road maps (energy, mobility, agriculture, adaptation and water, access to finance, urban planning, circular economy etc.)
  • Focus sessions to follow-up on the important initiatives in Africa.
  • Side-Events dedicated to the activites of our partners : CoMSSA, UCLG Africa, IFDD, etc.

9 themes

  • Access to climate finance in Africa
  • Developing African cities in a sustainable way
  • Agriculture, food and reforestation in Africa
  • Renewable energy and energy efficiency in Africa
  • Mobility and sustainable transport in Africa
  • Adaptation and Water in Africa
  • Sustainable Building and Construction in Africa
  • Education and Training on Climate Change in Africa
  • Circular economy in Africa

Organisation of the themed workshops

These workshops will be the occasion to gather the subnational and non-state actors in their diversity in order to :

  • Present 2 or 3 good inspiring practices from the call for proposals launched during the Africa Climate Week.
  • Do the follow-up (evaluation after a year) on the sectoral road maps that were defined during the first edition of the Climate Chance Summit Africa 2018

Each workshop should lead collectively to the development of the sectoral and operational roadmaps, that are meant to create a favorable environment to action, to spread the strategic information and to reinforce the climate action in Africa. It would be thus important to take stock at the defined objectives in each road map, and at the indicators of the action’s advancement, etc

Register to ALGA Colleges for the second part of the year 2019

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The African Local Government  Academy  (ALGA) of UCLG Africa announces the launch of 14 Colleges for the second part of the year 2019 (September – December 2019).

These colleges  cover the SDGs, local governance, participatory budget, gender equality, human resources management at local level, territorial coaching, migration, etc.

Consult the table of presentation of the different colleges here.

 

Climate Chance Summit Africa

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The Climate Chance Association alongside the National Association for local authorities of Ghana (NALAG) held a press conference during the 50th session of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations in order to present the Climate Chance Summit Africa 2019.

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