UCLG Position Paper v_2 (eng)
22/12/09
18:13
Página 38
A Compilation of Case Studies
the public that we’re not about our language or religion: at the end of the day it’s that we want to support our communities. As an Association we can have a stronger voice.” Already the Association has advocated for and won seats on the District Development Council after years of trying to have the Council recognize the importance of local governments in the planning and implementation of development policies and programs.
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Results and Lessons Learned
As the above examples attest, FSLGA has become a key actor in reforming and strengthening the local government sector in Sri Lanka, and will likely play a leading role in ensuring that local government service provision and improved governance is on the agendas of provincial and central governments, and international assistance directed towards the country.
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The FSLGA is possibly the only truly national forum in Sri Lanka that has brought local government voices together. There was historically very little eastern (or northern) participation in the associations, mainly due to language barriers (primarily Sinhala and Tamil, with Sinhala being the most widely spoken in the country). Through its inclusive governance structures, the FSLGA has membership from every province in the country, including the north. The Ministry of Local Government Affairs now seeks FSLGA’s assistance in selecting representatives to sit on the national committees established for local government policy reforms, and the FSLGA is the sole association attending monthly coordination meetings at the Ministry of Local Government Affairs and Provincial Councils.
For more information about FCM's post-tsunami programming in Sri Lanka (2005-2009), please contact FCM at international@fcm.ca For more information about the Federation of Sri Lankan Local Government Authorities, please contact FSLGA at fslga.srilanka@gmail.com
The FLSGA has also become a key focal point for coordination of aid in the local government sector in Sri Lanka, and serves as a hub of knowledge on local governance issues in Sri Lanka, housing and distributing a range of information and knowledge products. Since its establishment in 2007, the FSLGA has been approached by several organizations to partner on local governance strengthening in Sri Lanka: •
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FSLGA is providing information and networking support to a professional women’s volunteer group whose goal is to increase women’s representation in local government in 2010; and VNG (the Association of Netherlands Municipalities) partnered with FSLGA to establish a young councillors national platform (launched in May 2009), for which FSLGA maintains a database.
the Commonwealth Local Government Forum and United Nations-Habitat approached FSLGA to organize workshops and study visits to local authorities, recognizing that it was the best network to reach local authorities across the country; LirnAsia, a regional based organization supporting the establishment of regional solid waste management training centers and development of curriculum for solid waste management workers, identified FSLGA as the coordinating unit of local government in Sri Lanka. FSLGA will help identify local government innovations in solid waste management in Sri Lanka and will support national level knowledge sharing on the initiative; 38