SUPPORT TO DECENTRALIZATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES NEWSLETTER Nº 6/ MAY 2012
Content:
Project advances
Indicators: overview of first results
FLACMA congress, in Santiago de Chile, Chile
Launch of the Council of Local Authorities (CCT), in Niamey, Niger
EALGA meets with the Secretary General of the EAC
Southeast Asian high level conference held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Project Advances and Recent Activities The first round of pilot trials for the Indicator on Local Government and Decentralization were finalized and their results analyzed in view of revising and improving the methodology before the 2nd round of pilot trials. Important meetings were undertaken or in the final stages of planning in each of the project regions to strengthen the dialogue between local governments and ministers within the context of each regions institution of integration.
Results of the first pilot trail of the Indicators on Local Government and Decentralization (ILGD) The survey was completed in nine countries: Benin, Kenya, and Mali in Africa; Honduras, Mexico and Panama in Latin America; Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam in Asia. Over 500 questionnaires were collected from local authorities (an average of 40-80 mayors by country). In parallel a questionnaire for experts from the local government association was also run in the same countries. The questionnaires were divided into four thematic areas: Local Democracy, Administrative Capacity, Local Finance and Central-Local Relations. The mayor’s questionnaire was also answered by a few members of the UCLG World Council, from developed countries, which allowed for some comparison of the understanding of the questionnaire between local authorities in different hemispheres. Some first conclusions: A) Local governments in developing countries tend to over evaluate the situation of local government; while local governments in developed countries tend to be pessimistic with regard to the situation of their cities halls, in particular with regard to the economic crisis.
Results of the 1st Pilot phase of the indicators
This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of UCLG and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union
This has resulted in a tendency for lowering the final scores of developed countries and raising that of developing countries (see graph) B) Local governments from developing countries tend to increase the value they assign in the political section and reduce the value given in the administrative and financial questions, while developed countries the opposite phenomenon was found. In the section on local finance answers were the more coherent. C) Within developing countries local authorities in African and Asian countries were the most “optimistic”. Their responses did not allow for a clear correlation with the advances of the decentralization (and local democracy) in those countries. The cases of Vietnam and Cambodia are with highlighting, both countries where local government is still in the process of consolidation or which has a limited local independence. However in the questionnaires they gave very high score to the political section (local democracy and central and local relations). Within the observations collected from the local authorities the need to
simplify and clarify the questionnaire was stressed, in particular in the section on local finance. Provisional calendar of the upcoming activities in 2012: May 2012: Annual project Coordinators’ meeting (14 – 15 May, in Barcelona, Spain) June 2012: 1st Local Government Forum held between EAC and LGAs, (27 – 29 June, in Arusha, Tanzania) October 2012: VII Summit Iberoamerican Local Authorities (Madrid, Spain)
The entire survey is being revised to take into consideration the full diversity of recommendations and these first conclusions so as to improve the rating system. The 2nd phase of the pilot tests will begin in June to continue the exploration of how best to construct an indicator which will accurately reflect the state of decentralization and the situation of local governments in the different countries.
UCLG FLACMA holds its Congress in Santiago de Chile (March 20-23)
In the city of Santiago de Chile the IV Congress of Latin American Cities and Local Governments “American Experience” of FLACMA took place the 20th to the 23rd of March. In this summit of local authorities nearly 1300 mayors, including near 600 councillors (municipal legislators), deliberated on key themes of relevance to Latin American local governments, such as: decentralization, strengthening of local government, country development tendencies, international cooperation, available resources, and the impacts of the global crisis. Also participating in the parallel session and thematic forums of the Summit were the Minister Canciller, representing Mr. Miguel Inzulsa, the President of the Republic of Chile, Secretary of the Organisation of American States (OAS), the UN HABITAT representative from the United Nations for Latin America and the Caribbean, the representative of the Latin American Parliament, Representatives from other multilateral agencies and the development banks and a representative from the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), who exchanged with mayors and with the UCLG President Kadir Topbaz, the co President for Latin America and the Caribbean Johnny Araya and the Secretary General Josep Roig, who also participated in the FLACMA Executive Bureau. In the inaugural session al participants appreciated the publication Decentralization in Latin America developed by FLACMA with the direct cooperation of UCLG and the EU in the framework of the Project “Support to Decentralization in Developing Countries”. In the most important declarations and resolutions of the Summit the Declaration of Santiago must be mentioned, which was massively supported by the participants within the general framework of the proposals of the Association Chilean of Municipalities and the resolutions of the Bureau of FLACMA approving the priority themes of the Latin America Municipal Agenda which committed to push for regionally and in each of the countries. These priorities were established following long processes of participative consultation by FLACMA with the Support of UCLG and the EU through the Project “Supporting Decentralisation in Developing Countries”.
Launch of the Council of Local Authorities (CCT), presentation and approval of the “roadmap”, in Niamey Niger (April 11, 2012) The Council of Local Governments (CCT) was official installed within the Commission of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), this past April 11th in Niamey (Niger), following a process of mobilization on the part of the national local governments associations (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo), and with the support of the UEMOA Commission. Launch of the CCT within the UEMOA took place the 11th of April 2012
The CCT constitutes an important step in the recognition of the place of local governments within the Union. This initiative was supported by UCLG and UCLGA through the project “Support to decentralization in the developing countries”, and constitutes a significant advance for dialogue between local and regional authorities and regional institutions in Africa
CONTACT: Should you require any additional information on the project, please contact: At the UCLG World Secretariat Claire Frost [c.frost@citieslocalgovernments.org] for East Africa Simon Bendera [info@ealga.org] for West Africa Sègla Lihoussou [segla.lihoussou@yahoo.fr] for Latin America and the Caribbean Diego Peña [dpenacarrasco@gmail.com] for Southeast Asia Gero von Harder [gero.vh@web.de]
The different speakers spoke highly of the work of the precursors of the UEMOA among the economic communities of the African continent. The President of the Commission of the UEMOA, Mr. Cheikhe Hadjibou Soumare, stressed that the CCT will contribute to reinforcing the partnership between the various levels of decision making (regional, national and local). The Prime Minister of the Republic of Niger, Mr. Brigi Rafini, emphasized the interaction between the dynamics at work at ground level and higher up which will make it possible to contribute to strengthening the regional integration process. The installation was followed by the first CCT General Assembly, in which the draft internal statutes were adopted. Mr. Elong Mbassi, UCLGA Secretary General, presented a report on the situation of decentralization in West Africa to the General Assembly, along with the roadmap for the CCT over the next 24 months developed with the support of UCLG. The General Assembly adopted the road map and designated the CCT Bureau: President : François AMICHIA from Côte d’Ivoire, Mayor of Treichville and President of the Union des villes et communes de Côte d’Ivoire (UVICOCI) 1st Vice-president : Soulé ALAGBE from Bénin, mayor of Parakou, and President of the Association nationale des maires du Bénin (ANCB) 2nd Vice-president : Boubacar BAH from Mali, Mayor of Commune V, district of Bamako, and President of the Association des Municipalités du Mali (AMM)
Secretary General of the East African Community Meets East African Local Government Association Begun in 2007, the relationship between the East African Local Government Association (EALGA) the East African Community (EAC) has advanced significantly over the last six months. Following the participation of the speaker of the East African legislative assembly in EALGA’s Annual General Meeting in August 2011 the dialogue between the two organizations has increased.
Meeting of the EAC Secretary General and the EALGA Presidency
March 7th, 2012 the Secretary General of the EAC, Dr. Richard Sezibera, participated in a special meeting with Councillor Taraiya Kores, Chairman of EALGA and Chairman of the Association of Local Government Authorities of Kenya (ALGAK) and President of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA). During this meeting the two organizations shared their views on the role and responsibilities of local government in the east African region, and discussed the integration process and its impact on local government. EALGA also took this opportunity to inform the EAC Secretary General of the proposal of the East African local government ministers and local government associations to establish a East African Local Government Forum (EALGF) to provide a permanent space for dialogue between ministers and local government and to work closely with the EAC. The first Forum is tentatively planned for the last week of June 2012.
This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of UCLG and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union
Southeast Asian Regional Conference on Support to Decentralisation and Local Government in the countries of the ASEAN The conference took place the 3 and 4 May in Phnom Penh (Cambodia). Bringing together 70 representatives of local government, national government, the ASEAN, international organisations and CSOs to advance the definition of a regional agenda of support to local government and in the creation of a permanent forum for dialogue between local and national government in the framework of the ASEAN. More information on the outcomes will be shared in the next newsletter.