For immediate release Lusaka 20 June 2007 CLGFPR05/07
Senior Local Government Practitioners including Ministers, Mayors and officials from Botswana, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe met in Lusaka 18-20 June 2007 and agreed to move forward and innovative programme to promote local democracy and good governance in the SADC region.
The Local Democracy Enhancement Programme builds on successful work undertaken by the workshop organisers, the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) and the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ) since 2003 in five Cities in Zimbabwe and their counterparts in other Commonwealth countries, notably Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.
A core feature of the new programme is the development and application of local indicators to measure good governance at the local level including the accountability of local councils and the effectiveness of their delivery of key services to the community. Other central elements have been the use of an International Peer Review (IPR) to assess council performance conducted by partner cities and extensive consultation of civil society and local stakeholders.
The workshop was hosted by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing, Zambia and the Local Government Association of Zambia and it was agreed that the next new programme should be undertaken in Zambia. The Zambian Cities chosen for the programme are Kitwe, Livingstone, Lusaka, Mufulira and Ndola and it is planned that on completion the programme will be rolled out throughout the country.
Among those addressing the event were Hon Sylvia T Masebo, Minister of Local Government, Zambia and a member of the CLGF Board, Hon Dr James Burty David, Minister of Local Govrnment, Mauritius and CLGF Vice Chairperson and Carl Wright, Secretary-General, CLGF.
Speaking on conclusion of the workshop, Hon Sylvia T Masebo said:
“The CLGF Local Democracy Enhancement Programme provides a key to ensuring good governance and effective delivery by local government and Zambia is committed to its implementation. Its international peer review moreover ensures an objective assessment of performance at local community level and provides a valuable compliment to the existing African Peer Review Mechanism. It is my hope that the innovative methodology developed under the Programme will see widespread adoption throughout the SADC region, Africa and the Commonwealth”.
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