UCLG Africa Regional Strategic Meeting in Libreville
The regional strategic meeting of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) for the Central Africa Region will be held at Le Méridien Re-Ndama Hotel in Libreville, Gabon, on April 16th and 17th, 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 Municipality of Libreville.
The Gabonese capital will host the second 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, East Africa, Southern Africa). The first was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 10 to 11 April 2018 for the East 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 Central Africa
- The participation of the UCLG Africa members in Central 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 Central 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 His Excellency Mr. Lambert Noel MATHA, Minister of the Interior, Security, in charge of Decentralization and Local, in the presence of:
- Mr. Diderot Moutsinga Kebila, Governor of the Estuary Province
- Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda, Mayor of Libreville, UCLG Vice-President for Africa;,
- Mr Christian Roger Okemba, Mayor of Brazzaville (Congo), Vice President of UCLG Africa for the Central Africa Region;
- 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 Gabon are invited to cover the opening ceremony this Monday, April 16, 2018 at 09:00 am at at Le Méridien Re-Ndama Hotel in Libreville, and the closing press briefing on Tuesday, April 17 at the same venue at 05:00 pm.
The upcoming UCLG Africa regional strategic meetings will take place respectively in Walvis-Bay (Namibia) on 7 – 8 May 2018, for the Southern Africa Region; Accra (Ghana) on 28 – 29, May 2018, for the West Africa Region; and 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
