UCLG AFRICA REGIONAL STRATEGIC MEETING IN ACCRA (GHANA)
The regional strategic meeting of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) for the Western Africa Region will be held at the Tang Palace Hotel in Accra, Ghana, on May 28th and 29th, 2018. The meeting is organized by UCLG Africa, the Pan African representative and the voice of local governments on the continent in collaboration with the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG).
Accra, will host the fourth meeting of a series of UCLG Africa strategic meetings that will take place across the five regions of Africa (North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, Eastern Africa, Southern Africa). The third first meetings were held in Nairobi, Kenya from 10 to 11 April 2018 for the East Africa region, in Libreville, Gabon from 16 to 17 April 2018 for Central Africa region and in Walvis Bay, Namibia from 7th to 8th May for Southern Africa region. As the representative voice of local authorities on the continent, UCLG Africa aims to:
- Take stock of the state of decentralization in the different regions and address the priorities of the decentralization agenda in the regions
- Deliberate on the priority actions required to support local governments to become reliable partners for national governments; the regional economic communities; other development partners and stakeholders.
The meetings will address specific issues such as:
- Updating the UCLG Africa members in the region on the Global and African Agendas and the involvement of local governments in their implementation, especially the African Union Agenda 2063, the New Urban Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Climate Change Agenda, and The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction;
- The status of the signature and ratification of the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralization, Local Governance and Local Development in the different countries of West Africa
- The participation of the UCLG Africa members in Western Africa in the preparation and implementation of the Africities 2018 Summit, the flagship event of UCLG Africa, which will be held from November 20 – 24, 2018 in Marrakesh (Kingdom of Morocco), around the theme: “The transition towards sustainable cities and territories: The role of African local governments.”
- The preparation and participation of the members of the Western Africa Region in the Elective General Assembly of UCLG Africa to be held on 23 November in the framework of the Africities Summit.
The official opening of the meeting will be chaired by Honourable Hajia Alima Maham, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Ghana, in the presence of:
- Hon. Nii Felix Anang, President of NALAG and Mayor of Tema Metropolitan Assembly
- Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General of UCLG Africa.
The meeting will be attended by the presidents of the national associations of local governments, leaders of the Network of Locally Elected Women (REFELA) and the permanent secretaries of national associations of local governments. Other participants in the meeting will include experts on decentralization, urbanization and climate change.
The national and international media based in Accra are invited to cover the opening ceremony this Monday, May 28, 2018 at 09:00 am at the Tang Palace Hotel in Accra, Ghana and the closing press briefing on Tuesday, May 29 at the same venue at 04:15 pm.
The last UCLG Africa regional strategic meetings will take place in Rabat (Morocco) on 18 -19 June 2018, for the North Africa Region.
For further information, please contact:
Gaëlle Yomi: Tel: + 212 610 56 71 45
Email: GYomi@UCLGa.org
Em Ekong: Tel: + 44 7801 701 675
Email: eekong@uclga.org
