Strong and effective leadership by elected representatives and their administrations are critical for successful planning for resilience, said CLGF Deputy Secretary-General Lucy Slack speaking at the Commonwealth People’s Forum which took place on 23-26 November. Speaking on the theme of Resilience for sustainable development, she said that councillors must be able to provide leadership and vision which responds to the needs of the community.

Ms Slack emphasised the importance of seeing rapid urbanisation as a transformative, powerful canvas for democratic governance, economic growth social inclusion and environmental sustainability.
“Urbanisation and the changes in human settlement patterns, whether as a result of the search for economic opportunity, migration, climate change or other factors, is a challenge now, but for the first time the international architecture is also starting to recognise the need to focus on urbanisation; this is reflected in SDG 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable and in 2016 there will be a new urban agenda debated at the Habitat III meeting, both of which foresee a renewed emphasis on the importance of effective local governance” she said.
Held in the run up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta, one of the People’s Forum’s key sessions was on Planning for resilient urbanisation to help identify the various characteristics of governance systems specifically at the local and national level, that need to be in place to enable inclusion of women and young people.

Read the People’s Forum declaration