During her participation in the first congress of mayors of Senegal, from 22 to 24 March 2016, the President of the Network of locally elected women of Africa-REFELA, Mrs. Celestine Ketcha Courtès, have proceeded to the installation of the REFELA-Senegal (Refela-Sen). Mrs. Aïssatou Sow Diawara, Mayor of Golf Sud municipality in Senegal will be at the head of this newly established organ.

The REFELA President took part in the first congress of mayors of Senegal with other mayors and members of the important delegation coming from Cameroun to share the experience of partnership between Bangangte municipality and the Special Fund for Equipment and Intercommunal Intervention (FEICOM) in terms of financing Cameroun’s Development.

Africa’s Network of Locally Elected Women (REFELA) held its general elective assembly on 1^st December 2015 which marks the third day of Africities 7 Summit taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The session (SU-15) titled “Locally Elected Women-A New Vision” was marked by the participation of important number of elected women from different parts of Africa. The session was organized following two main lines: 1) the renewal of REFELA bodies and 2) the presentation of a new vision for the network at almost 5 years of its inception on the 8^th of March 2011 in Tangiers, Morocco.

The panel comprised Mme. Fatimetou Mint Abdel Malick who chaired the session, Mme. Célestine Ketcha Courtès of REFELA Central Africa, Mme. Maria Helena Jose Correira Langa of REFELA Southern Africa, Mme. Fatna Khiel and Mme. Milouda Hazeb of REFELA North Africa. The session was facilitated by Mme. Malicka Ghefrane.

In the first part of the session, the outgoing president, Mme. Fatimetou Mint Abdel Malick, presented the moral report of her presidency as well as the activities report of the outgoing office. A presentation that inspired the admiration of all the elected women present in the room. They seized the occasion to congratulate the outgoing president for her remarkable work as president of the REFELA network.

The new vision for REFELA, according to Mme. Fatimetou, must be oriented towards an approach which is more concrete translated into actions on the ground in order to assist all women of Africa. She also stressed the importance of going into partnerships with national and international partners to make the voice of women heard inside the different spheres of governance.

Following her presentation, the outgoing president announced the election of Mme. Célestine Ketcha Courtès of REFELA Central Africa as the new president of the Locally Elected Women of Africa Network. Mme. Célestine Ketcha Courtès has committed to continue the work of Mme. Fatimetou Mint Abdel Malick who knew how to lift the network up internationally.

The new president seized the occasion to present her profound thanks to Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, UCLG Africa Secretary General for his support to elected women. She also thanked UCLG Africa Secretariat for all their efforts.

You can watch the entire session recorded here.

The meeting of the Network of the Locally Elected Women of Africa (REFELA, in its French acronym) was held in Rabat, on 12-14 April 2015. This meeting was in line with the strategic partnership developed in Morocco between the REFELA, UN-Women Multi-Country Office for the Maghreb (Morocco) and the Direction des cadres administratifs et techniques du Ministère de l’Intérieur, the Moroccan body responsible for administrative and technical officers.

The meeting was also consistent with the partnership project developed in 2013 between the UN-Women Multi-Country Office for the Maghreb (Morocco) and the Direction générale des collectivités locales du Ministère de l’Intérieur, the official Moroccan body responsible for local authorities, in order to promote the participation of women in local matters management and to strengthen gender-responsive territorial governance.

The meeting aimed to encourage exchanges based on sharing fundamental concepts and best practices, related to the networking, planning and budgeting responsive to gender and to recreate a space for dialogue and advocacy for the strengthening of women leadership on the regional and local levels.

Several personalities and officials participated in the opening session of the meeting, namely Mr. Abdellatif Bencherifa, Wali Directeur Général des Collectivités Locales, Mr. Abdelouahhab El Jabri, Gouverneur Directeur de la formation des cadres administratifs et techniques du Ministère de l’Intérieur of Morocco, Mr. Souleymane Idrissa Maiga, UCLG Africa Operations Director, Mrs. Fatimattou Mint Abdel Malick, REFELA President and Mrs. Leila Rhiwi, UN-Women Maghreb Representative.

The opening session was then followed by the meeting of the Executive Bureau of the REFELA where many questions were addressed by the members present. The working groups followed and continued for the second day where the participants discussed gender-responsive budgeting and presented some of their experiences and best practices.