Mobility, a cornerstone of public services in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic
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Live Learning Experience #BeyondTheOutbreak
Public Service Delivery, a Pillar to Address the Pandemic
Local and regional governments around the world are at the forefront of the current crisis, working together with communities and health authorities to mitigate the current outbreak of COVID-19 while maintaining an orderly functioning of public services in their cities and territories.
UCLG, Metropolis and UN-Habitat have launched a live learning experience with local and regional governments which, through solidarity and political will, are pushing more than ever to fulfill their critical role. They are working to carry out an affordable and fair service delivery, fostering the preservation of the commons, and promoting human rights.
The live learning experience, launched on March 25th, 2020, is built around three blocks:
- To create a virtual and living community, a safe environment, to share experiences of crisis management and protection of the commons through series of virtual exchanges on specific topics related to the role of public service delivery between cities and partners.
- To make available online resources for local governments and allow for the active sharing of materials, strategies, and protocols by members and partners around the world to help others succeed and rapidly scale up the fight against the virus.
- To develop briefings or guides together with UN-Habitat and other partners in response to the needs of local governments and on the basis of new learnings of local authorities when preparing and responding to Covid-19 and in support of the social and economic recovery later.
This collective exercise will involve the participation of a limited group of local and regional governments, across different regions of the world and in different phases of contagion of the current pandemic including Barcelona, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Durban, Guangzhou, Lampedusa, Madrid, Montevideo, Rome, and Xi’An. Participating governments, and their associations, will share and discuss the challenges they confront and the different actions taken to raise public awareness and implement emergency mechanisms that help maintain an orderly functioning of services.
International partners, including Habitat International Coalition, the International Union of Public Transport, Public Service International, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing, together with UN Agencies coordinated by UN-Habitat, will provide specific inputs to enhance and collecting of learnings to better prepare for such challenges in the present and future that require fast and comprehensive action by local governments. The initiative is open to more partners of UCLG and UN-Habitat, for participation, cross-dissemination and the further development of specialized resources.
Available resources
While each online Live Learning Experience will be limited to selected representatives from local and regional governments, their associations, and partners, the inputs and outcomes of these sessions will be shared on this website and through our social media channels.
The Cities for Global Health platform, facilitated by Metropolis, is an integral part of this experience, providing a living repository of LRGs’ responses to the crisis, where all cities are welcome to engage in the exchange of local initiatives.
Key messages
Video gallery of Key Inputs (short videos)
Upcoming sessions:
For more information, contact: policy@uclg.org
Implementation Status of Local Economic Development (LED) in Benin
Video Interview with Ms. Georgette Djenontin Bada , Officer in charge of Local economic development and resource mobilization within the National Association of Municipalities of Benin (ANCB). Find transcription below .
In Benin, what is the implementation status of Local economic development?
In In Benin, it is true that several activities have been carried out in terms of Local economic development. Several strategies have been developed, in particular the ECOLOC approach, formerly steered by the PDM (Partnership for municipal development), the players of which are today at the level of the continental umbrella organization, UCLG Africa. It is a program which had designed a local economic development strategy in certain municipalities in Benin. I admit that after the Partnership for Municipal Development (PDM) there have been other partners who have also initiated some actions in the sector but I must recognize that the little that I fundamentally know in Benin concerns the ECOLOC studies. As regards the issue of LED, there is a problem that remains: we do not have a national policy for local economic development. There are attempts at strategies.
In 2012, UCLG Africa was willing to support Benin, which has started to draw up such a strategy, and UCLG Africa has implemented PADEL, the Support Program for local economic development, which has gained ground between 2012 and 2014. What did we have to do? There was talk of developing a national strategy for local economic development. Over time we have identified a certain demand for legislation that needed to be revisited. It was a question of seeing local economic development taken into account in that legislation . We were able to do this thanks to the technical and financial support of UCLG Africa.
We have continued the process up to a given level: for the moment things are a bit in a standby mode. The ECOLOC studies had been implemented in the department of Borgou. We started in a commune of the Donga area called Djougou. The process has been implemented up to a certain level. Unfortunately after these studies carried out at great cost with the help of the PDM over time and recently with the help of UCLG Africa, the municipalities have not been able to implement the projects initiated. However, the purpose of the ECOLOC studies is to identify a certain number of projects to be implemented at the level of local authorities to promote youth employment, income sharing, etc.
How long ago has the implementation of LED been really started in Benin ?
I can tell you that there is a first period from 2000 until around 2008 when the first ECOLOC studies were carried out in Benin and there is another period from 2012 in 2014. These are the 2 main stages of ECOLOC studies in Benin.
How can you define Local Economic Development (LED) in a simplified way ?
Before answering your question, I would like to say that local economic development is a very broad and multi-thematic concept that brings together all sectors. When someone talks about transport, economic development is part of the equation because farmers who are in their field and who cultivate, harvest, and who do not have enjoy infrastructure to transport products from the field to the market are facing a problem. So people say that everyone must be able to feel concerned by Local Economic Development: people in the agricultural sector, in fisheries, in transport, and other sectors. For me, local economic development is a whole-government approach that brings together all the sectoral ministries. Even when one talks about health, local economic development is there.
In summary what is it all about ?
It is about actions. One must think, see for example within a territory for example what the economic potential is ? What value should be added to this potential to generate income ? And when one talks about income, one means jobs and when one talks about jobs, it is also about paying taxes. It is a whole chain. Local economic development is not like an object that you have to touch to say this is local economic development, but it is a whole process.
In The Press: African Local Governments in Action in the Fight Against Coronavirus
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.
Survey on SDG Localization: LRG Report to the HLPF 2020
Acknowledging the new difficult situation created by the COVID19, we would like to kindly invite our regional sections, the national associations of local and regional governments and all our members, local governments and regions to answer the Survey on SDG Localization before April 20, 2020.
The survey aims to assist the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments in the realization of the report on local and regional governments’ role in the localization of the SDGs. This information will be shared at the forthcoming High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) – i.e. the United Nations central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – in July 2020, in New York.
Specially this year, we would like to underline innovative actions or integrated initiatives developed by our members to contribute to accelerate the localization of the SDGs (including actions to face the COVID19 crisis). We need your support to share and include in your answers cases studies or information about these experiences that could be included in our report to show the implementation efforts of our constituency.
We remind you that you may download the survey and send it back to the following address: gold@uclg.org or complete it online.
This call is especially important for the local governments, and their national associations, from the 51 countries that have committed to submit their national reviews to the 2020 HLPF.
International Women’s Day 2020: Message from the President of the Network of Local Elected Women of Africa (REFELA)
Read the message transcribed here.
Postponement of the Official Launch of the celebration of Rabat, African Capital of Culture
The Organizing Committee of the African Capitals of Culture informs the public and interested institutions that the official launch of the celebration of Rabat, African Capital of Culture, initially scheduled for March 26, 2020, is postponed to a later date in accordance with Order No. 4917 of the Ministry of the Interior dated March 4, 2020, on the measures taken as part of the fight against the risk of propagation of the Coronavirus – COVID19.
For the Organizing Committee,
The President
Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi
The Secretary General of UCLG Africa
Download The Release here.
Read the press release relating to the designation of Rabat, African Capital of Culture 2020-2021.
We are Hiring : Staff for the Academy of Local Governments of Africa (ALGA)
UCLG Africa is launching a call for applications to join the staff of its ‘African Local Government Academy (ALGA).
Two posts are open:
– Officer in charge of Accreditation, Labeling and Quality Assurance
-Officer in charge of the African Local Human Resources Observatory
To have all the necessary information to apply for one of the proposed positions: the requested profile, missions, tasks, required skills, … interested candidates are invited to click on the document here and read it carefully.
Please note that interested candidates for each position MUST include:
1- A cover letter, specifying salary expectations;
2- A detailed CV;
3- Certified copies of degrees and work certificates;
4- Professional references;
5- And a photo ID.
A candidate can apply to only one of the three positions.
Applications should be submitted to The Secretary General of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG-Africa) before March 31, 2020 at the following e-mail addresses: info@uclga.org and najat_zarrouk@yahoo.fr or to: The United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG-Africa), 22, Essaadyine Street, Hassan District, Zip Code 10020, Rabat- Morocco, with the mention in the object “ALGA RECRUITEMENT STAFF”.
CULTURE – AFRICA’S SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
During the World Urban Forum 10 in Abu Dhabi, 8-13 February, the theme Connecting Culture and Innovation was the focus of UCLG Africa’s sessions that took stock of the emerging innovative approaches and practices that harness culture and innovation as drivers for sustainable development. Culture provides the connections between urbanisation, innovation and pride as a basis for achieving inclusive, safe, and resilient cities and to this end, UCLG Africa’s side events were organised to explore how Africa’s Rich Cultural Heritage specifically lends itself to the sustainable development of Africa’s cities.
What Culture means to Africa’s Sustainable Development.
One of UCLG Africa’s newest projects, the “African Capitals of Culture,” consolidates culture as the fourth pillar of the sustainable development for African cities and territories. “Culture is at the beginning and end of all development,” said poet-president Leopold Sedar Senghor. From the cities of Rabat in North Africa to Maputo in Southern Africa, rapid urbanization is impacting on city development creating many challenges, but also emerging opportunities. The programme will bring together African cities, home to immeasurable cultural richness and diversity, to share best practice on how this cultural wealth and expression can contribute to the development of cities and its populations.
Read more here.
African Territorial Agency: What is expected in 2020
In this year 2020, the implementation process of the Africa Territorial Agency, which is a financial cooperative institution to facilitate the access of African cities and local authorities to the financial market, is following its course. After the meeting of the members of the Agency’s founding club held in November 2019 in Durban (South Africa), the roadmap foresees for this year the holding of two general assemblies.
The first on “Approval of the economic model and risk assessment framework”. The second on “Approval of the institutional structure and internal rules”.
In view of these deadlines, two studies will be launched on the economic model and risk management. The results of these studies will make it possible to adopt the best model adapted to the realities of African cities and local authorities, taking into account the specificities of each region.
While waiting for these two deadlines, the ATA is being popularized among local authorities and UCLG Africa’s partners. This was the case in Abu Dhabi during the WUF. A working session was held with the African Development Bank (ADB), with whom collaboration on this issue has been underway since the beginning of the process. Notably, during the definition in 2019 of the “Readiness” program which was done with the support of the AfDB to prepare the first candidate communities for the loan, to strengthen their institutional capacities, improve the mobilization of own resources, ensure sound financial management and improve the quality of local public expenditure.
The working session was held in the presence of : Mr. Léandre Nzué, President of UCLG Africa, Mr. Jean Pierre ELong Mbassi, Secretary General of UCLG Africa, Mr. Amadou Oumarou, AfDB Director of Transport and ICT, Mr. Stephan Atchia, Manager of the AfDB Urban Division and Mr. François Paul Yatta, Director of Programmes of UCLG Africa.
As a reminder, the roadmap extends over the period 2019-2022, to reach the first issue and the first loan in 2022. Three key factors support this approach:
– To have cities and territories invested to convince the international financial community;
– Have a sequenced process to guarantee the solidity of the institutional and financial set-up;
– Have States and institutions to sponsor an innovative and ambitious approach.
More information on the Africa Territorial Agency (ATA) : see LEDNA Newsletter here.
