Local councillors from across Pakistan met this week for a two-day workshop. Top of the agenda was setting the priority activities for a new programme to support the local councils associations in more effectively representing their members and helping them to deliver for their communities.

Grant agreement

In January 2017, CLGF, in partnership with the Local Councils Association of the Punjab (LCAP), signed a grant agreement with the EU Delegation of Pakistan for a three year project running from 2017 to 2020. Worth €1.7 million, largely funded by the EU, the programme seeks to strengthen Pakistan’s national local councils association - the Association for Development and Local Governance (ADLG) - and the four provincial associations.  
Delegates at the workshop - Strengthening the associations of local governments and their members for enhanced governance and effective development outcomes in Pakistan - set out their needs and priorities with a plan of how they will take the project forward to meet the objectives and priorities of their members.

As well as helping to build the institutional and delivery capacity of Pakistan’s local government associations at provincial and national level, the programme will support advocacy, capacity building and training, exchange of good practice, and peer to peer support.

Direct benefit to councils

In the second year ten district councils will benefit directly from the project. Enhanced awareness and increased capacity of the councils will allow them to play a full role in territorial development; in turn, this will successfully demonstrate the use of the territorial approach to local development and this can be disseminated more widely. The ten councils will be selected through an open and transparent process.

By the end of the project the LCAs will be more active member organisations, delivering against an agreed action plan and raising the profile and voice of local government in all four provinces. 

Opening remarks

“CLGF has been working in Pakistan since 2004, supporting the Pakistan local councils associations, and was actively involved with the advocacy campaign for reintroducing elected local government, in line with the Commonwealth Aberdeen Principles.  Now local government elections have been held across all the four provinces and local council associations re-established, this is an important moment to strengthen and reinforce their role as advocates for all local councils in their provinces,” said CLGF Deputy Secretary-General Lucy Slack who gave the opening remarks at the event along with LCAP Chairperson Syed Asghar Shah Gilliani.

“Local council associations are important in supporting councils in their work by advocating for them, supporting training and policy development and sharing good practice. This project will pilot a multi-stakeholder to promote a more participatory, accountable, responsive and inclusive approach to their processes including in development planning and budgeting,” she said.

“By the end of the project all the LCAs will be active membership organisations, delivering against an agreed action plan and raising the profile and voice of local government in all four provinces.”

LCAP Chairperson Asghar Gillani said:
“We are very pleased be working in partnership with CLGF’s to develop and implement this important programme. This project will make sure that our associations are on the right track to develop their vision and strategy and will have the institutional capacity to continue to represent, support and strengthen our local councils.”