| United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), the Pan-African Organization of Local and Regional Governments, is organizing from 17 to 21 May 2022, in Kisumu (Kenya) the 9th edition of the Africities Summit (Africities 9). The Summit is organized, under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic of Kenya, by UCLG Africa, in close collaboration and partnership with the National Authorities of Kenya, the Council of Governors and the County of Kisumu.
As a flagship event of UCLG Africa, the Africities Summit is considered to be the most important platform for dialogue organized in Africa on Decentralization, Local Governance, and Local Development, as well as on the contribution of Local and Regional Governments to the unity, the development and the integration of Africa.
The Africities 9 Summit will welcome more than 5,000 participants representing the whole eco-system of Decentralization, Local Governance, and Local and Territorial Development. The theme chosen for the 9th edition of the Summit is: “THE ROLE OF AFRICAN INTERMEDIARY CITIES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS AGENDA 2030 AND OF THE AFRICAN UNION AGENDA 2063“.
The Africities Summit will take place over 5 days and normally includes on the one hand, a series of conferences, sessions and workshops; and on the other hand, an international exhibition offering a market place where public and private suppliers of goods and services to Local Government meet decision-makers from Local and Regional Governments, with the possibility of organizing a series of B2B meetings.
This flagship event of UCLG Africa offers you the opportunity:
– to meet the various actors and stakeholders involved in the process of Decentralization, Local Governance, and Local and Territorial Development in Africa, and learn from them;
– to organize thematic sessions and workshops related to the general theme of the Summit;
– to rent a booth at the Africities9 International Exhibition to give visibility to your organization, achievements, projects and good practices, and to highlight and share your experiences, partnerships and networks. We encourage you to be party of the Country Pavillon ;
– to further consolidate the management of territories and strengthen the contribution of African local authorities to African integration and unity.
The Summit is also the moment when UCLG Africa holds its ordinary General Assembly during which the members of the bureaus of the organization’s statutory bodies are elected and renewed.
The 9th Edition of the Africities Summit will be held for the first time in an Intermediary City, in this case at Kisumu in Kenya.
The Summit is divided into the following main segments:
I- An opening speech after the official opening ceremony of the Summit;
II-Parallel thematic sessions during the first day of the Summit. Thus, Five (5) thematic sessions will take place, supported by respective reference documents on:
* The state and dynamics of intermediary cities in the urbanization of Africa;
* The role of intermediary cities in the creation of wealth and the economic development of Africa;
* African intermediary cities facing the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate and biodiversity crisis;
* The challenge of financial and human resources in the management of intermediary cities in Africa;
* African intermediary cities in the urban social and cultural fabric.
III- Sessions on Local Policies and Strategies
These Sessions are aiming to explore the different ways of thinking and managing the five basic functions of local and subnational governments in the context of intermediary cities, namely 1) feeding the city and its hinterland, which involves organizing and planning food systems; 2) building the city, which implies taking care of town planning, land use, access to housing; 3) providing the city with basic services, which involves planning and developing equipment and infrastructure for access to services such as water, drainage and sanitation, energy, transport, waste management, as well as education and health; 4) maintaining the city, which implies ensuring the maintenance of basic infrastructure and services and their proper functioning; and 5) managing the city through appropriate platforms and governance arrangements that ensure citizen participation and mutual accountability.
During the Africities Summit in Kisumu, the sessions on Local Policies will focus on:
– Planning and programming policies for intermediary cities;
– The human resources policies of the administrations of intermediary cities;
– Environmental policies in intermediary cities;
– Social inclusion and gender equality policies in intermediary cities;
– The contribution of the digital economy and information systems in intermediary cities.
Whenever possible, these sessions will also address the Strategies that need to be defined and designed to implement Local Policies, namely:
1) Public health strategies;
2) Strategies for employment and income generation;
3) Strategies for mobilizing financial resources;
4) Strategies for sustainable food systems;
5) Strategies for access to water and sanitation;
6) Strategies for universal access to waste management services;
7) Strategies for access to mobility and transport for all;
8) Land management strategies;
9) Strategies for citizen mobilization and engagement.
These sessions should be organized mainly around the presentation of concrete projects, the exchange of experiences and lessons learned from these projects as they are implemented on the ground.
IV- Open sessions proposed by local actors and coalitions, the various programs of UCLG Africa, as well as the Local and Regional Governments of the Host Country and City of the Summit.
V-The organization of thematic days on the priority axes of UCLG Africa and its Members, such as Climate, women, youth, migration, town and country planning, culture and communication, as well as the Diaspora.
VI- The organization for the first time of the African Investment Forum which will be a space dedicated to the world of African businesses and companies.
VII-The participation and animation of the International Exhibition, also called Africités 9 Salon.
The Africities Salon 9 is held in the same venue as the Summit and is an integral part of it. It allows institutions, organizations and companies to present what they do and what they offer, which can contribute to improving the living conditions of the population and the governance of intermediary cities. More specifically, the Salon Africities9 makes it possible to organize “B2B” meetings between mayors, including decision-makers from Local and sub-national governments, and businesses, supplyers and other institutions that offer their support and services to local and sub-national governments to fulfill their mandates. The 9th edition of the Africities Summit in Kisumu plans to offer the possibility of hosting up to 500 exhibitors for 4 days at the Salon Africities, and of organizing more than 100 “B2B” meetings. The Salon Africities is developing a separate program, although it is an integral part of the Africities Summit.
Based on your successful participation and involvement in the previous editions of Africities Summit, and especially during the 8th Edition of this Summit, held in Marrakech in the Kingdom of Morocco, in 2018 and having seen the participation of more than 8,000 people and institutions, UCLG Africa has the honor to send you this general invitation to ask you to kindly engage again with this Organization and its Partners, in order to contribute to the creation of the conditions for the success of the 9th Edition of this event.
UCLG Africa therefore has the honor to request your commitment again as well as your support and mobilization in order to:
– Inform your Network of members and partners about this Summit to encourage them to participate in its work;
– Propose the organization of Sessions/Workshops in connection with the General Theme of the Summit and in accordance with the different segments of its Agenda;
– Participate in the Africities Salon 9, by renting a Booth to exhibit your vision and projects, to discuss with a multitude of actors and Stakeholders, to strengthen your partner networks. We encourage all of you to be part of Country Pavilion.
– Mobilize your Partners, your Development Partners and your Donors to sponsor your participation.
For all information on the Africities 9 Summit, we invite you to consult regularly the UCLG Africa Portal : www.uclga.org.
We also provide you with a Mobilization Kit including the following documents:
1. UCLG Africa at a Glance;
2. Africities Summit at a Glance;
3. The Concept Note on the Africities 9 Summit;
4. Breifing note -Organizers Open Sessions & Green_Actors;
5. A call for expressions of interest for the organization of Sessions ;
6. Template presentation of sessions
7. A Technical Sheet on the International Africities 9 Salon.
“Looking forward to welcome many of you in Kisumu, Kenya, to build together the African Intermediary Cities We Want”./.
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