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Participation of UCLG Africa in the meeting on the GOLD V Report 

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The World Organization of Local and Regional Governments (UCLG) brought together the secretary generals of the various sections at its headquarters in Barcelona, Spain from 9 -10 September, 2019. The main objectives of the meeting were to discuss the GOLD V report, to evaluate the progress in localizing the global agendas and to share their progress towards the World Congress next November in Durban.

UCLG Africa was represented by its Secretary General, Mr Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi.  The first day the meeting was opened by Mrs. Emilia Saiz, Secretary General of UCLG and Salvador Gausa i Gascón, Director of IR of Barcelona Provincial Council and focused on discussing the contents of the GOLD report in order to define its conclusions. The sections also made recommendations for the different regional chapters.

The Global Report on Local Democracy and Decentralization (GOLD Report), is a publication that examines the state of decentralization and local democracy around the world. This fifth edition pays particular attention to localizing global agendas. It has contributions from a wide range of local experts, representatives of municipal and regional authorities and professionals involved in policy-making.

The general secretaries of the various sections (Africa, Europe, Asia Pacific, Eurasia, North America, Latin America, Middle East, West Asia and Metropolis) were given a presentation on the progress made towards the UCLG World Congress, which will take place in Durban, South Africa, from 11-15 November, 2019. In the introduction, a general perspective of the progress in each of its axes (Assembly, Town Hall, Local4Action and Statutory) was proposed.

The Assembly’s focus was strengthened in the second half of the morning, with UCLG sections providing their key messages and political priorities in order to create in Durban an Assembly capable of responding to continental challenges and the organization’s political priorities.

Finally, the meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the statutory matters of the organization and the general secretaries were informed of the candidatures for the formation of the World Council, the Executive Bureau and the presidency of the organization, which will be defined at the Durban Summit.

In Durban, Africa will run for the presidency of the World Organization (UCLG) with the candidacy of Mr. Mohamed Boudra, President of the Association of Presidents of Moroccan Communal Councils (AMPCC).  The appointment of African representatives to the various world bodies was made at the meeting of Statutory Bodies of UCLG Africa held in June 2019 in Cairo (Egypt) and at the extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of UCLG Africa held on 28 July, 2019 in Libreville (Gabon).

Registration for the congress is open and available here.

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

Communiqué on the attacks on African migrants in South Africa

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The media and social networks show unsustainable images of African migrants being attacked in South Africa under the pretext that they take the work away from nationals. It will be recalled that just before the general elections held in May 2019, such acts were also perpetrated, which provoked an outraged protest reaction from the African dean of the diplomatic corps to the Republic of South Africa. The regular recurrence of these acts of xenophobia in a country that has enjoyed an unprecedented outpouring of solidarity from other African countries in its liberation struggle continues to raise questions about the nature of the political and civic education provided by the authorities to their fellow citizens.

For its part, the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) denounces these acts, which do not honor the people who commit them and damage the image of South Africa and Africa as a whole. UCLG Africa recalls that the leaders of African local and regional governments meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, in December 2015 and in Marrakesh, Morocco, in November 2018, adopted a charter of African local and regional governments on migration which unambiguously condemns all acts of xenophobia, discrimination and injustice against migrants, and instead establishes local authorities as protectors of migrant populations whose welcome and integration into local communities is guaranteed by them.

UCLG Africa therefore calls on its members in South Africa to comply with the principles set out in the Charter of Local and Regional Governments of Africa on Migration and to act without delay to protect the rights of migrants living within their jurisdiction and bring to justice the perpetrators of acts of aggression against migrants solely because they are, to formally apologize to the individuals, families and communities affected by such acts, and to consider possible remedies and compensation for their benefit.

UCLG Africa is happy to see that SALGA has taken a clear stand against these abominable acts, showing the resolve of the South Africa Local Government Community not to tolerate these shameful behaviors.

UCLG Africa encourages SALGA and its members in South Africa to engage in immediate and in-depth historical and civic education work targeting residents of their constituencies in collaboration with civil society organisations to create conditions conducive to harmony between migrants and local communities and to living together in peace.

Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi,

Secretary General of UCLG Africa

 

Dowload the PDF here.

Read the charter of African local and regional governments on migration here.

The applications for Online Course of SDGs Localization are open (3-17 september)!

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The world organization United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and the Barcelona Provincial Council, ​​through the Observatory for Decentralized Cooperation and UCLG Learning, are launching an online training under the name “Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Tools for Local Transformation”.

This online course, with the collaboration of UN-Habitat and UNDP, responds to local and regional governments’ need around the world to address the challenge of adopting the 2030 Agenda and implementing the SDGs in their territories.

In this sense, the course aims to train and provide tools for local and regional governments (LRGs) and their associations to implement and adapt the SDGs at the local level, a process known as “localizing the SDGs”.

In order to enable the participation of as many countries as possible, the course will be available in three languages: Spanish, English and French. This entails a greater diversity of visions and experiences that can only enrich the training.

This training is based on the road map developed by the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, UNDP-Art and UN-Habitat, to assist local and regional governments in formulating national policies to create an enabling environment for action at the national, local and regional levels.

Admission criteria:

A total of 35 places are offered for each of the three language modalities (English, Spanish and French). The course carries no cost for participants since it is fully funded by the Barcelona Provincial Council and UCLG.

Any person, regardless of nationality and whose professional activity consists of managing public development policies in any country may enroll in the course. Once all applications have been received, the Evaluation Panel will review the different profiles and decide who are the 35 individuals selected for each of the three modalities. The selection process will take into account the adjustment to the target audience profile described above and it will attempt to ensure a balanced composition of the group with as many different countries as possible. All course registrants will receive an email at the end of the process informing them if they have been selected or not.

The training will take place over 3 months and will have a total duration equivalent to 63 teaching hours.

Key dates:

September 17, 2019: End of registration period
September 30, 2019: Beginning of the course
December 22, 2019: Course completion

Contact: ocd.bcn@diba.cat / learning@uclg.org

More information here.

REGISTRATION

Online Course in Decentralised Cooperation ( registration open until 15 September)

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The Observatory of Decentralised Cooperation EU-LA is launching the fourteenth edition of the online training course in Decentralised Cooperation.

The online training offered by the Observatory will be taught in English, Spanish and French. This will lead to a broader diversity of visions and experiences that will unquestionably result in a richer training.

This course aims to provide local governments with the tools to tackle the challenge of finding opportunities to improve the well-being of their citizens through decentralised cooperation relations. This is a specialisation within international relations and cooperation, closely linked to development and local governance.

Target audience:

The programme primarily targets technical and political decision-makers in international relations and development cooperation at local and regional governments. Similarly, it encourages the participation of applicants from other spheres of government, who guide and manage decentralised cooperation programmes.

The course will run in Spanish, English and French, at the same time, so that candidates from all countries in the world speaking either of those two languages may apply.

Training goals:

·         Pinpoint the benefits of international projection.

·         Highlight the difference between the logic of international cooperation and development in decentralised cooperation actions.

·         Identify the challenges of decentralised cooperation.

·         Embrace the culture of partnerships and agreements.

·         Acquire notions of the management of decentralised cooperation initiatives and instruments: planning, establishment of partnerships, project management and communication management.

·         Learn the rules of cooperation: appropriation, harmonisation, alignment, sustainability, etc.

·         Share various real experiences of decentralised cooperation.

 

Syllabus:

TOPICS
Lesson 1: The international action of local and regional governments

Lesson 2: General framework of development cooperation
Lesson 3: Decentralised cooperation

Lesson 4: Modalities of decentralised cooperation

Lesson 5: Management and evaluation of cooperation projects

 

Method:

The training is designed specifically for experts with a professional activity. It is NOT compulsory to be connected to the Campus at any specific time, so each participant may adapt the learning hours to their own agenda.

Furthermore, this online course is clearly designed to be practical.  Accordingly, there is a strong bias towards activities, most notably those that generate an underlying debate or that are conducted in groups and in relation to practical cases.

Before starting the training as such, the course includes a Module 0 that introduces students to the dynamics and strategies of online training; enabling them to become familiar with the virtual environment and its main tools for communication and interaction with the group.

There will be a teacher and a reference tutor to walk the group through the course materials and the activities linked of each topic.

Applications and admissions:

A total of 35 places are offered for each of the three language modalities (English, Spanish and French). The course carries no cost for participants since the training is offered entirely through scholarships sponsored by the Barcelona Provincial Government.

Once all the applications have been received, the evaluation committee will review the various profiles and select the 35 successful applicants for each of the two language modalities. The selection process will take into account the applicant’s suitability in connection with the target audience profile described above, and will seek to ensure a balanced intake, with participants from as many countries as possible.

The course takes place over 3 months and has a total of 60 equivalent class hours. Participants. 

Key dates:

15 September 2019: Registration period closes.

23 September 2019: Course starts.

15 December 2019: Course ends.

Pre-inscriptions: Application form

Observatory contact email: chararara@diba.cat/ o.cooperaciod@diba.cat corsoc@diba.cat/

 

“There is a need for local authorities to understand that architects are there to provide urban policy solutions,” Vinesh Chintaram, Secretary General of the African Union of Architects (AUA)

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At the 3rd edition of the Forum of Territorial Managers and Training Institutes targeting the Local Level in Africa (FAMI), the Secretary General of the African Union of Architects (AUA), Vinesh Chintaram, highlighted the need for greater collaboration between local authorities and architects from the continent.

See the video below (in french; also available as a transcript) recorded at the end of the FAMI, which was organized by the African Local Government Academy (ALGA) of UCLG Africa, 10 -14 June 2019, in Ifrane (Morocco).

Given that over 1.3 billion Africans will live in cities by 2050, what contribution can African architects bring to local and regional authorities that face the challenge of urbanization? 

The training of architects is not solely limited to technical support.  We can also provide many solutions for the transformation of cities ranging from city planning to urban planning codes, in order to create cohesion between the development and dynamism of cities.  It is through the integration of these parameters that we can create development that is controlled and manageable. There is a lot of talk about the management of cities. What we need to understand is that cities must also be autonomous. It is this self-management that allows cities to generate financing for their development and for the maintenance of the city, such as the physical maintenance of building infrastructures, as well as providing activities and services to the urban population.

 

How can African local and regional authorities work in concrete ways, with the continent’s architects, whether in cities or rural areas, to ensure that they have buildings that are adapted to our realities?

There are issues relating to buildings that do not necessarily reflect the context in which they are built. As an architect, we must consider that we are there to promote sustainable development that adapts to a context, a climate and a culture. We cannot do this without consultation or without the participation of the inhabitant directly concerned, which we are doing more and more now, because there is an awareness of the need for interaction with the public. This is called the participatory approach.  This really means understanding what they need, in terms of ease of use of buildings and facilities. I think there is a need for public decision-makers and local elected officials to understand that architects are there to provide solutions that can be urban policy solutions, to understand people, their expectations and transform the perception of these expectations into reality. Local and regional authorities have everything to win by integrating urban planners, architects and all those involved in spatial planning and the implementation of infrastructure projects.

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Call for contribution to the 2nd Issue of the African Local Manager’s Voice

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As part of the activities of the Local Africa Network HRnet and the Observatory of Local Human Resources in Africa of UCLG Africa, a call for contribution for the second issue of the “African Local Manager’s Voice”,  is open.

The first issue of the bulletin focused on “The main functions of Human Resources Management at the African Local level: sharing of experience”. 

The theme of this second issue is : “Creating a conducive and attractive environment for the development of the human resources at Local Level in Africa: sharing best practices”.  

 

WHO CAN CONTRIBUTE?                                    *

The newsletter is mainly open to contributions from African Territorial Managers regardless of their field of activity or professional field. However, in a spirit of openness to the environment of African Territorial Communities and Benchmarking, any other contribution having an added value.

Contributions are expected before 10 October 2019.

More details here.