Commonwealth Local Government Forum

Americas \ 2030 agenda for sustainable development

The global development agenda impacts directly on the work of local government, which is responsible for the delivery of many of the key services that will contribute towards the achievement of global targets. A Global Taskforce, of which CLGF is a member, has worked to ensure greater understanding and recognition of local government’s contribution to meeting global and national development targets. Local government’s engagement with the Agenda 2030 and the new Sustainable Development Goals; efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change; the Addis Ababa Agenda for Action on financing development; Habitat III and the New Urban Agenda, and others is being increasingly recognised. This section provides material on the global development agenda, information on how local government is contributing to global development targets, and information about multilateral and bilateral donor strategies relevant to local government. CLGFs work is informed by global development initiatives which we proactively contribute to on behalf of our members, such as through the Global Taskforce of local and regional governments for post-2015 development agenda towards Habitat III. This includes the 2030 agenda for sustainable development which will guide and inform development priorities over the next 15 years, and Habitat III - the third UN conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development in 2016.

Sub-topics:

  • Development partner policies
  • International treaties and commitments
  • Sustainable Development Goals
  • Climate change

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New Century Local Government: Commonwealth Perspectives - Book Review

Review of the book: "New Century Local Government: Commonwealth Perspectives" edited by Graham Sansom, Peter McKinlay

Author: Gareth Wall Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2014


Local Government: how does it fit into the post 2015 MDG agenda?

A complex process of global consultation is currently under way to discuss the shape of the MDGs Post 2015. The aim of this paper is to address the question of where Local Government (LG) should fit into this debate, as a modest contribution to the ongoing consultation process1. The paper is structured as follows: the first section describes in more detail the global consultation process on the Post 2015 agenda; the second describes how Local Government relates to the current MDGs; the third section explores how some of the consultation documents see the role of LG before considering what the role of LG could be in the new agenda. The final section speculates on more radical roles for LG, in terms of what we should be asking for, and suggests new roles for LG in partnerships with other civil society organizations in poverty reduction.

Author: Phil Amis Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2014


New century local government commonwealth perspectives

Democratic decentralisation through ‘conventional’ institutions of local government is facing increasing challenges, whether from financial pressures, questions of representativeness, difficult central-local relations and from a perhaps growing belief that local government has failed to realise its potential and there may be better ways of achieving societal goals. It is clear there is need to contemplate quite radical change to ensure local government becomes or remains ‘fit for purpose’. This collection of papers illustrates the way in which the role of local government is evolving in different parts of the Commonwealth and provides practical examples of new local government at work. It showcases emerging practice, and highlights success stories from new ways of working and challenges confronting local government in both developed and developing countries.

Author: Edited by Graham Sansom, Peter McKinlay Publisher: Commonwealth Secretariat Publication year: 2013


Review of the commonwealth local government good practice scheme

The final (third) phase of the Commonwealth Local Government three year capacity building programme, the Good Practice Scheme, funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) came to an end in late 2011. The programme partnered councils and local government associations from six targeted Commonwealth countries - Jamaica, India, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Pakistan and Ghana - with their counterparts in South Africa, India and the UK with the objective to exchange good practice and generate innovative solutions to challenges faced by local governments. A total of 34 projects were active during the Scheme’s lifetime and contributed successfully to having a positive impact on the ground for local communities. The dissemination of the project activities through national workshops in partnership with national local government associations meant that the successes and lessons were shared with local governments throughout the countries concerned. A new focus of the third phase of the GPS was to promote south-south partnerships: six of these partnerships were set up, three of them being tripartite, two having a northern hemisphere partner, with the remainder, both dual and tripartite, being south-south. Despite partners’ diverse cultural, socio-economic circumstances and administrative practices, this methodology of technical support and exchange of ideas allows partners to share and compare their challenges and reflect on own approaches. The south-south partners, with varying cultural beliefs, learnt that cultural practices should not be ignored in advancing new initiatives: traditional norms and practices are a way of life for the majority of communities especially those in the agricultural, small scale farming sector.

Author: Rachael Duchnowski Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2012


New CLGF four-year grant to help local government service delivery and boost CLGF’s research capacity

The UK Department for International Development (UK AID) has agreed £4.5 million funding for a four-year CLGF programme to improve governance and service delivery at local level in several areas of the Commonwealth including Africa and Asia from 2012-16. It will also help to support national policy frameworks for local government service delivery, and increase engagement of local government in regional policy planning and implementation. CLGF will continue to work with its members, UN partners and others to mobilise more resources towards the support of local government in the Commonwealth. The new programme will focus on local government pilot projects in LED, supporting ministries and local government associations in strengthening their national policy making for local government, and establish regional forums to enable local government to engage in and influence regional policy making to reflect the needs and priorities of local government. It will also boost CLGF’s research capacity with targeted research to strengthen CLGF’s policy making and advocacy, including more sustained engagement in international policy debates on key issues affecting local government, such as climate change.

Author: Lucy Slack, Susan Rhodes Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2012


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