Tag Archive for: UCLG Africa

Presentation of the ESSEC Grand Prizes for the City of Solidarity and Responsible Real Estate

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The winners of the second edition of the ESSEC Grand Prizes for the City of Solidarity and Responsible Real Estate were announced on 21 September 2020 at a ceremony held at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal in Paris.

As in the first edition (2019), UCLG Africa is among the partners of the event alongside the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF), the Federation of Real Estate and Property Companies (FSIF), the Métropole du Grand Paris (MGP), the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, the Abbé Pierre Foundation, Housing Europe, the Sustainable Building Plan, Solidarités Nouvelles pour le Logement (SNL) and Uniopss.

About sixty applications were registered in the 5 competing categories and 7 trophies were awarded, including special jury prizes.

The African City of Solidarity and Sustainability Prize was awarded for the initiative: Rural reintegration by the ASA: urban exodus, solution to rural exodus. ASA is a Malagasy association that offers homeless or at-risk families in Antananarivo a path to reintegration into agriculture. The rural reintegration project consists of training homeless Malagasy families in agriculture over a period of three years, enabling them to migrate to rural areas 300 km west of the capital. These new farmers become self-sufficient and become owners of their homes and land within a few years.

The jury particularly appreciated this project for its impact on the population of the slums of Antananarivo, its long-term vision of accompanying the beneficiaries through professional training for a sustainable solution over time (More details on the project here).

Other projects nominated in the category were: Sustainable waste management in the city of Lomé through selective sorting and recycling presented by African Science and Technology for Sustainable Development, Support Project for Housing Reconstruction in the Suburbs of Dakar, Senegal, presented by URBASEN and FSH, Manguissa Eco Neighborhood presented by Messibat International, Ecodome Maroc presented by Youness Ouazri and Program Ecocollect, presented by RED PLAST.

The winners of the other categories are:

Grand Paris Prize for Urban Innovation: Weco, a project led by the Quatorze association in Metz, Triel-sur-Seine and Montreuil ( More info)

Hospital City Award: Lodgings for a new form of social housing for homeless families, a project led by the Samu Social de Paris et Galia (More info)

Responsible and Innovative Housing Award: Living in the Beguinage, a project led by the Vivr’Alliance Group, France Béguinages and the Association Vivre en Béguinage (More Info)

Solidarity Financing and Sustainable City Award: Solifap, the solidarity investment company that fights for better housing (More info)

Special Jury Prize: Day care and therapeutic apartments for autistic children and young adults by the Association Le Silence des Justes by Quartus Résidentiel.  (More Info)

Special Jury Mention: (Special Mention exceptionally awarded by the jury to a candidate to salute all of their solidarity actions): awarded to Julien Beller, architect. (More Info).

Consult the presentation brochure for details of the winners.

Cities and Local Responses in the Management of the Coronavirus Pandemic in Africa: Sub-regional Consultations for Eastern and Southern Africa

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The Coordination for the Africa Region of the International Observatory for Participatory Democracy (IODP Africa), in collaboration with Enda ECOPOP, United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) and its ALGA Academy, have launched a series of regional consultations on the response of cities and localities in the management of the coronavirus pandemic in Africa.

On 03 September and 15 September 2020, the 4th and 5th consultations for the Eastern and Southern Africa region were held.

The objective of the consultations is to share and discuss the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic in African cities through lived experiences, impact on local development, democracy and citizen participation and to advocate for the support of IOPD Africa activities.

Both sessions were moderated by Mr. Bachir Kanouté, IOPD Coordinator for Africa and ENDA-Ecopop.

Mr. Jean Pierre Elong MBASSI, Secretary General of UCLG Africa was represented by Dr. Najat ZARROUK, Director of ALGA of UCLG Africa.

UCLG Africa, through its Academy, has sought to mobilize speakers from South Africa, Mauritius, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia to present their experiences and responses to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read the scoping note here.

Guangzhou Award Submission Deadline Extension

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2020 marks the beginning of the 5th cycle of the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (Guangzhou Award). As always, we encourage cities and local governments around the world to share their innovative practices in supporting the local implementation of the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda.

Unfortunately, the beginning of the year saw the whole world affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Too many lives are being lost and public health is at risk. An unprecedented number of cities, regions and communities have been affected, economically, socially, culturally and psychologically as a result of prolonged physical distancing and lock-downs.

Many cities and regions have expressed their keen interest in joining the 5th cycle. But the COVID-19 crisis has made their application difficult and the submission deadline easily missed. Further to their requests, the Guangzhou Award Organizing Committee has decided to adjust the deadlines as follows:

  • Early bird submission deadline extended to: 23:59:59 (UTC+08:00), 30th September 2020;
  • Final submission deadline extended to: 23:59:59 (UTC+08:00), 31st October 2020.

There is no doubt that the pandemic has also exposed and highlighted challenges in achieving the SDGs, especially Goal 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10. What COVID-19 has brought to the fore is that we neglect primary health care, basic infrastructure and services, decent housing and decent work at our own peril. Never before has a singular event revealed the weaknesses and failures of these systems and their governance.

Cities and regions are most welcome to share their initiatives in responding to the pandemic. We are all too aware of the delicate balance between containment and mitigation, and the transition from emergency response and mitigation to recovery.

Applications are also welcome with forward looking post COVID-19 initiatives regarding how cities and regions are rethinking of their local governance mechanisms, reconsideration of the urban morphology and typology, addressing of the problems exposed, and improving the resilience of urban economy.

We look forward to your receiving and sharing your initiatives for a more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable living place for all.

About the Guangzhou Award

The Guangzhou Award is co-sponsored by United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), World Association of the Major Metropolises (Metropolis), and City of Guangzhou, and supported by ICLEI and C40. The award aims to recognize innovation in improving social, economic and environmental sustainability in cities and regions and, in so doing, to advance the prosperity and quality of life of their citizens.

Eligibility

The Guangzhou Award is open to all local governments worldwide, including members of UCLG, Metropolis, ICLEI and C40.

Assessment Criteria

The criteria that are applied to the Guangzhou Award assessment include: innovativeness, effectiveness, replicability/transferability, significance and relevance of the initiative to the SDGs and the NUA.

What to expect

●       Up to 15 shortlisted cities and up to 30 deserving cities will be discerned and selected by the Technical Committee. All 45 cities will be featured in specialized publications and many will be invited to share their experiences in international events.

●       2 representatives of each of the 15 shortlisted cities will be invited to share lessons learned at the International Seminar on Learning from Urban Innovation. This seminar will be held under the framework of the ‘Global Mayors Forum 2020, XIII METROPOLIS World Congress 2020 & 2020 Guangzhou Award’.

●       Up to 5 winners among the shortlisted cities will be selected by the Jury and each will be granted US$ 20,000, a trophy and a commemorative certificate; shortlisted cities other than the winners will be granted Medals of Honour.

●       The shortlisted city that obtains the most votes in the ‘Online Vote: The City of Your Choice‘ will be recognized as the ‘Online Popular City‘.

Timetable of 2020 Guangzhou Award (Updated on 29th May 2020)


How to submit

Fill out and submit the application form at:

http://www.guangzhouaward.org/index/user/login.html

 

More details can be found in the following attached files:

Rules and Procedures

Submission Guidelines (Updated on 29th May 2020)

Application form (with deadlines updated on 29th May 2020)

The 5th Guangzhou Award and COVID-19

 

Towards a post-Covid-19 economic and financial recovery of local and regional governments in Africa : Overview of recovery plans and economic support measures

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The health wave of the Covid-19 pandemic seems less important than those experienced in Europe and Asia. However, Africa remains fragile in terms of health with coverage rates of health structures among the lowest in the world, and all the more so as successive waves of the pandemic are to be feared. In all countries, central, regional and local governments have anticipated by taking the barrier measures that have slowed the spread of the disease. If the contamination figures remain at low levels, the repercussions of the measures taken to prevent the pandemic from developing could call into question the progress made over the past decade in terms of improving the living conditions of the populations.

The economic situation is therefore likely to deteriorate structurally to the point where the African Development Bank (AfDB) forecasts that “nearly 50 million Africans will fall into extreme poverty and that a third of Africans, or 425 million people., live below the poverty line[1]“. The face of this poverty will largely be represented by the increasing numbers of slum dwellers in our cities and informal sector workers [2].

At the territorial level, the impact is likely to be greater according to UCLG Africa [3], particularly in terms of financial resources and investment expenditure of local authorities. The results of simulations carried out from two scenarios[4], based on data from the Observatory of Local Finances, suggest a real collapse in the financial resources of local authorities, of the order of 30% to 60% depending on the regions of Africa and the sizes of cities. As for investment expenditure, their level will drop by around 25% to 40% depending on the regions of Africa and the sizes of cities ; the level of investment spending would be close to 0 for small towns and intermediate towns[5].

On another level, many analysts agree that beyond the issue s of public health, management of the pandemic now questions the development model that most states have adopted in the context of globalization. Beyond issues related to the development of short circuits rather than long circuits, the territorialization of public policies must be at the heart of the changes to come. Among these, the local authorities must, while managing the emergency and the daily problems, put in place the conditions for anticipating the changes that will take place in the long term.

To organize the process of exiting the crisis, it is important to have in sight not only the response to the emergency, but also the implementation of strategies to revive economic activity. The local authorities should fight Covid-19 in three – and often overlapping – phases:

Read more in the latest issue of LEDNA’s bimonthly Newsletter, available here . 

Call for contribution to the Issue N°4  of the AFRICAN LOCAL MANAGER VOICE

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As part of the activities of the Local Africa Network HRnet and the Observatory of Local Human Resources in Africa of UCLG Africa, a call for contribution for the issue  N° 4 of the “African Local Manager Voice”,  is open.

The theme of this second issue is : “Managing the Human Resources of Local Government in Africa in Time of Covid-19 Pandemic and beyond: between Lockdown, Continuity of Local Public Services, Isolation and Work-From-Home”.

WHO CAN CONTRIBUTE ?

The newsletter is mainly open to contributions from African Territorial Managers regardless of their field of activity or professional field. However, in a spirit of openness to the environment of African Territorial Communities and Benchmarking, any other contribution having an added value.

Contributions are expected before 15 Novembre 2020.

Read More here.

Celebration of the African Day of Decentralization and Local Development 2020: the contribution of local authorities to conflict prevention and peacekeeping on the continent

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On 10 August 2020, UCLG Africa is organizing a webinar for the African Day of Decentralization and Local Development (ADD). The meeting will be held online from 2:00pm to 4:30pm on the theme selected by the African Union for the 2020 edition, “The contribution of local authorities to conflict prevention and peacekeeping on the continent.”

This theme is inspired by the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the decision of the continent’s heads of state who proclaimed 2020 as the year, “Silencing the guns: creating the conditions for Africa’s development”.

UCLG Africa welcomes this theme, which is all the more justified as conflicts and wars primarily affect populations and communities at the local level. When violent conflicts occur, victims often find their first aid comes from the local population or authorities. It is often the local authorities that are faced with receiving displaced people or migrants due to situations of open conflict or war. Local and regional authorities are therefore in the front line both in conflict prevention and in dealing with post-conflict situations.

As the umbrella organization of local and regional governments of the continent, UCLG Africa will contribute to this webinar by exploring two sub-themes selected by the African Union:

Sub-theme 1: “The participation of Africa’s local and regional authorities in the African Union’s conflict early warning system.”

Sub-theme 2: “The contribution of local and regional authorities in Africa for the reconstruction of peace and harmony between communities in post-conflict situations.”

The first panel will address the crucial involvement of territorial authorities in the African Union’s early warning system on conflicts. Participants will reflect on how to improve the system via the contribution of local and regional authorities, in particular:

  • how to articulate the different levels of public governance and apply the principle of subsidiarity in the prevention and management of conflicts and in the treatment of post-conflict situations;
  • The role local authorities should play.

The second panel will draw on the many post-conflict situations encountered on the continent and discuss the role that local authorities play or could play when returning to peace. Participants will develop proposals by answering the following questions:

  • How can we ensure that all the actors involved are indeed stakeholders in the peace talks?
  • What mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that the return to peace is a shared responsibility?
  • What specific role should women and youth play in building peace and harmony between groups and communities?
  • What initiatives should be taken at the local authority level so that the return of tensions can be avoided?

Proceedings will be chaired by Mr. Léandre Nzué, Mayor of Libreville (Gabon) and President of UCLG Africa in the presence of presidents of national associations of local and regional governments, representatives of the African Union, representatives of international organizations and academics, amongst others.

It should be noted that the African Day of Decentralization and Local Development was decreed by the African Union in 2012 at its first celebration.

Since 2014, African heads of state and government have adopted the African charter on the values and principles of decentralization, local governance and local development. This charter recognizes local and regional authorities as privileged partners of national governments in the promotion of the well-being of their populations.

The media are invited to attend the webinar (registration by return email) or by following the live webcast on UCLG Africa’s Facebook page, Monday 10 August 2020 from 2 pm to 4:30 pm.

For further information, please contact:

Gaëlle Yomi: Tel: + 212 610 56 71 45

 E-mail: gyomi@uclga.org

 

African Local Governments saddened by the death of Dr. Alioune Badiane

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Local Africa mourns the death of one of Africa’s most influential advocates of the New Urban Agenda, Dr. Alioune Badiane. During the memorial organized and anchored by UN-Habitat, held on the 4th of August 2020, members of the international development fraternity came together to celebrate the life and achievements of Dr Alioune Badiane.

Read the tribute of UCLG Africa Secretary General, Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi , here.

Theme of the African Day of Decentralization and Local Development (ADD) 2020: “The Contribution of Local Authorities to conflict prevention and Peacekeeping on the Continent”

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The African Day of Decentralization and Local Development (ADD) is celebrated on August 10 of each year. For 2020, the African Union has chosen the following theme: «The contribution of local authorities to conflict prevention and peacekeeping on the Continent “.

This theme is inspiring from the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the decision of the Heads of State in declaring 2020 as the year on “Silencing the Guns on the continent: creating conducive conditions Africa’s development”.

The Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission in the verbal note specifies the sub-themes that accompany the celebration of ADD 2020.

“Sub-theme 1: “The participation of Africa’s local and regional authorities in African Union’s conflict early warning system“.

Sub-theme 2: “The contribution of local and regional authorities in Africa to the reconstruction of peace and harmony between communities in post-conflict situations“.

As every year, UCLG Africa invites the local and regional authorities of the continent to mark this celebration.

Consult the concept note on the theme and sub-themes here. 

 

2nd Meeting of the Africa-Europe Committee and of the UCLG Africa working group, in support of the drafting of the “Charter of Local Authorities for Gender Equality in Africa”

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Tuesday, 28 July 2020 was the second meeting of the Africa-Europe committee and the UCLG Africa working group, which was held to support the drafting of the “Charter of Local and Regional Authorities of Africa for Gender Equality. “The online meeting was organized by UCLG Africa’s Network of Locally Elected Women of Africa (REFELA) in collaboration with CEMR/Platforma and UCLG, the other stakeholders of the project and signatories of the Marrakech Pact for the promotion of local equality.

The drafting of the Charter forms part of the implementation of the “Marrakech Europe-Africa Pact for Local Equality,” which aims to make progress on issues of gender equality in Africa. The Pact was adopted at the 8th edition of the Africities Summit in Marrakech in November 2018.

The work chaired by Mrs Macoura Dao Coulibaly, President of REFELA, was attended by some 60 members and participants from Africa, Europe, including other continents and countries such as Peru. Opening speeches were made by Mr Léandre Nzue, Mayor of Libreville in Gabon, President of UCLG Africa, Mrs Thembisile Nkadimeng, Co-President of UCLG, Mrs Emilia Saïz, Secretary General of UCLG, Mr Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General of UCLG Africa, Mr Frédéric Vallier, Secretary General of CEMR-PLatforma and Mr Emil Broberg, President of CEMR’s Standing Committee for Equality.

M. Léandre Nzué, the president of UCLG Africa, emphasized the need to make the charter a reference guide for local and regional authorities on the continent withthe “objective being to arrive at a final text to be submitted to African local elected representatives at the next Africities summit in November 2021“; this to be achieved by encouraging the continuation of the partnership between the 3 organizations of UCLG Africa and its network, REFELA, CEMR-Platforma and UCLG, and to bring the draft charter to completion.

Mrs. Thembisile Nkadimeng stressed the importance of the continent’s local and regional authorities in adopting the charter. “I am convinced that the Charter of Local and Regional Authorities for Gender Equality in Africa is now more necessary than ever, if we want to adopt a path towards generational equality, where women’s leadership is no longer an exception but the new norm. The time has come to ensure the full inclusion and participation of women and girls in the political and social fabric of cities and regions. Equality, especially gender equality, must be placed at the heart of all development processes to ensure that decisions are made conscientiously, without forgetting half of the world’s population when it comes to making decisions that affect us all,” she explained.  (Read More).

Evolution of the negotiation process between the national associations of local and regional authorities and the European Union Commission for the programming period 2021-2027

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Since June, UCLG Africa has been providing technical assistance to all national associations of African local and regional authorities in the framework of the dialogue with the central government and the EU delegation at country level for the next EU programming cycle (2021-2027).

Some forty consultants are working with national associations to produce a reference document that will enable local elected officials to conduct national country seminars and produce a road map for programming 2021-2027. These national seminars will bring together all the members of the national association of local and regional authorities to equip them for the major role they must play in the negotiation process.

It should be noted that for the first time, local authorities will participate in this process as a public player alongside the central state, which was previously the only public player involved in defining the priorities of European cooperation.

The reference document prepared by each country consultant will focus on three main points:

– The national development policy and priority sectoral strategies defined and/or implemented by the national government and the level of participation of local authorities in its implementation (including for SDOs and NDCs: National Determined Contributions for the Implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement);

– The implementation of the decentralization policy by indicating the level of involvement of local governments;

– The implementation of EU cooperation in the country, including the National Indicative Programme (NIP) supported by the European Union, the Development Fund under the EU-ACP Cotonou Agreement and any information providing an assessment of the involvement of the different actors in the definition, implementation and monitoring of the interventions defined by the NIP.

The month of July enabled the various consultants to present a compendium on the three points mentioned above and an analytical report, documents which will be included in the final reference document. The reference document will also address the strengthening of the participation of local authorities in development and cooperation policy, as well as a roadmap planning the actions of national associations of local authorities.

In addition, national associations of local and regional authorities have already initiated contacts with the ministries, parliament and its committees concerned and involved in the dialogue process and the EU delegations in their respective countries.

October 2020 will mark the end of the negotiation phase of the next EU programming cycle (2021-2027).