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CLGF news
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Secretary-General's latest blog: Energising local economies
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 On 29 June we will be in Cardiff to launch the next Commonwealth Local Government Conference which will take place in Cardiff, UK from 15-18 March 2010. The theme of this conference – energising local economies - is very timely in the current global financial climate and as more and more local councils across the Commonwealth gain increased responsibility for the economic well-being of their citizens and are looking at ways to improve skills, support business and attract inward investment.
Read blog post
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CLGF European members meet in Malta
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 Dr Chris Said, Parliamentary Secretary for Consumers, Fair Competition and Public Dialogue, Office of the PM, Malta welcomed CLGF members from Europe to a roundtable in Valletta, Malta on 24-25 May. Participants from Cyprus, Malta and the UK met to discuss current local government reforms and developments in the three countries, including challenges for local government in the current economic climate.
Read full story
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Mayor Zenaida Moya-Flowers at the FCM conference
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 Mayor Zenaida Moya-Flowers and Lucy Slack, Deputy Secretary General, attended the Federation of Municipalities’ (FCM) annual conference in Toronto 28-30 May 2010. The conference focused around strategies for local government to “take its place at the table” and build on some of the success stories which FCM and its members have achieved through developing a stronger partnership with the federal government.
Read full report
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New plan for CLGF Pacific
Following a successful consultation workshop in Brisbane in April 2010, a follow up workshop was held in Nadi, Fiji on 17-19 May, 2010. It was attended by representatives of the CLGF Pacific Project member countries from the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The Workshop finalised a CLGF Pacific Strategic Plan for the next five years. Each project member country will soon be developing its national three year strategic plans setting out their priorities for the next phase of the Regional Pacific Capacity Building Programme. These national plans will form the basis of CLGF’s submission for a second phase of funding to support a further five year regional local government capacity building programme in the Pacific.
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CLGF launches new website
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 Have you visited the CLGF website lately? Here’s a reason – we’ve just rebranded the website to give it a new lease of life and make it more user friendly.
Check it out: www.clgf.org.uk.
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Welcome to Cecillia Makonyola
Earlier this month Cecillia Makonyola joined CLGF as a Project Officer. We welcome Cecillia to the CLGF family.
Commonwealth Forum debates health of cities
Nine Commonwealth cities met in Ahmedabad, India to discuss the challenges they are facing to provide basic services at a time of increasing population, urbanisation and mass migration and to share good practice in some of the solutions to be more effective.
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Commonwealth around the web
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The Round Table centenary conference, 23 June 2010
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 During his address at the Round Table centenary conference on ‘Democracy and the Commonwealth’, Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma said about the Commonwealth Local Government Forum: “A key area of work has been strengthening not just the culture but the mechanics of decentralised - i.e. local – government, done in part with the Commonwealth Local Government Forum. This kind of institution- and capacity-building is painstaking and unglamorous, yet it is the key to entrenching democracy.”
Read the full speech here.
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Persad-Bissessar is Commonwealth’s first female Chairperson-in-Office
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 The Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar MP is the new Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office, following her victory in the May elections in Trinidad & Tobago.
Read full story
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Freedom and football: South Africa’s long walk to the World Cup
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 A mere sixteen years after its political transformation, South Africa has proven to the world just how far it has walked the path of freedom.
Read full story
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Local government around the Commonwealth
 Kenya: A team of government ministers and development agencies has been set up in Kenya to work on a resource distribution formula to address development differences among and within the country’s various regions. The government is expected to launch social budgeting guidelines next month, effectively giving Kenyans the power to determine how resources are to be utilised and on what projects at community level.
Read more
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Can you help? London’s Victoria and Albert Museum needs you
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 The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is organising a touring exhibition to coincide with the Queen’s diamond jubilee. This touring exhibition will visit the following countries: Jamaica, Bahamas, Barbados, Sri Lanka, Malta, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Rwanda, and Uganda. The V&A is looking for relevant contacts in these particular countries, who might be able to put them in touch with venues (galleries etc...) where the exhibition can take place. If you have any contacts in these countries who you think may be able to help, I would be really grateful if you could put them in touch with the V&A. The best person to contact is Sarah McCabe, Exhibitions Co-ordinator, on s.mccabe@vam.ac.uk or +44 (0)20 7942 2458.
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Booking now open for the Commonwealth Local Government Conference.
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We need your input
Do you have a news story that would be of interest to others involved in local government throughout the Commonwealth? If so we would like to hear from you – please e-mail susan.rhodes@clgf.org.uk or sophia.jackson@clgf.org.uk or
enews@clgf.org.uk.
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/clgf_news
Events
Commonwealth South Asia Conference: Municipal finance for inclusive development
The Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) and Developing Markets Associates (DMA) are hosting a two-day conference in Mumbai to showcase innovative revenue-raising mechanisms to help state and local self-governments to address key infrastructure and service requirements that meet the needs of their citizens and stakeholders.
Date: 6-7 September 2010
Info: www.clgf.org.uk/events
CLGF to attend Annual LGA conference: Changing times, changing minds
 CLGF will be sharing a stand with the UK Local Government Alliance at the Annual Local Government Association conference in July. Please pop by and say 'hello'. We’ll be running a competition for a lucky member to win a free place at our conference which is taking place in Cardiff next year. The competition is open to any members who attend the event and complete and return our Member Survey during the conference.
The UK Local Government Alliance for International Development will be holding a session at this year’s LGA Group Conference (6 July, 6.30-7.30, Bayview Suite). Join them for a glass of fair trade wine, meet with other councils involved in international development and find out why international work makes sense even in tough times. You can also find out more on their online resources to support your international development work.
To get started visit:
http://toolkit.lg-alliance.org/.
View conference programme
Date: 6-8 July, 2010, Bournemouth International Centre
Info: Click here
CAPAM 2010 Biennial Conference
We live in an interconnected world where social, political, economic and ecological changes are not restricted by national borders. In response to these global forces, Public Service reforms are also interconnected. This conference will examine various aspects of this interconnectedness and the management, leadership and reforms necessary to navigate continuous change.
Date: 18-20 October, 2010, Malta
Download brochure
Publications
One world, many places: Citizens’ views of municipal government and local areas across the world
 This short paper, based on data from Ipsos’ Global @dvisor survey, provides a snapshot of the relationship between attitudes towards municipal government and key social outcomes across the world. We look at how satisfied people are with their local area and their municipal government, what drives this satisfaction and what local services can do about it. Download publication
CommonGround: A practical guide to the Commonwealth
How much do you know about the Commonwealth? CommonGround A practical guide to the Commonwealth is written for anyone who wants to know more about the history and work of the Commonwealth today. Written in simple and accessible style, with illustrated case studies and information panels, CommonGround outlines changes from the former British Empire to the Modern Commonwealth of today.
More information
Download publication
Latest Commonwealth e-journal of Local Governance
Read latest edition
We invite research material for issue 8. Please send this by late August for November publication. Papers intended for this section are typically 6-8000 words. Submission guidelines can be found here.
Municipal Infrastructure Financing: Innovative Practices from Developing Countries
 Municipal Infrastructure Financing provides an overview of the municipal finances and the extent of private sector involvement in the delivery of municipal services in selected Commonwealth developing countries. Four cities are examined in detail: Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Kampala in Uganda, Dhaka in Bangladesh, and Karachi in Pakistan.
Download further information on this publication
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