Too often, government leaders fail to adopt and implement policies that they know are necessary for sustained economic development. Political constraints can prevent leaders from following sound technical advice, even when leaders have the best of intentions. Making Politics Work for Development: Harnessing Transparency and Citizen Engagement focuses on two forces—citizen engagement and transparency—that hold the key to solving government failures by shaping how political markets function.

The research on which this briefing is based was commissioned by ActionAid International Zimbabwe. Members of the research team were Shingirayi Mushamba, Leopold Bhoroma, Dr Innocent Chirisa and Alouis Munyaradzi Chaumba. The report, A Research Report on the Dynamics of Devolution and the Impact on Youth Participation in Local Government in Zimbabwe, was written by the consultants and submitted in May 2014. It has been shortened and edited by ActionAid Denmark and transformed into this briefing paper

Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have the highest rates of HIV prevalence in the world accounting for an estimated 71% of all new infections (UNAIDS 2010). HIV prevalence is greatest in urban informal areas, caused largely by the proliferation of a variety of risk environments that facilitate the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. As a strategic response to the complex nature of the HIV/AIDs epidemic in urban areas, decentralised multisectoral HIV/AIDs responses at the local government level have been adopted. These are seen as a sustainable way of dealing with the spread of HIV/AIDs in a number of African cities, in line with internationally accepted recommendations. Now that a number of local governments in African cities have adopted HIV/AIDS multisectoral responses, the question can be asked to what degree is this is this response being implemented in these countries, and what challenges are faced by cities as they adopt this approach? This article reviews HIV/AIDS multisectoral responses in African cities, and discusses the challenges that face urban local governments as they implement these responses.

This publication is the result of a collaborative research project of South African and Zimbabwean academics and practitioners active in the field of local government. On 3-4 November 2009 the Community Law Centre hosted a seminar entitled “Policy Dialogue on the Future of Local Government in Zimbabwe”. A diverse spectrum of local government practitioners was assembled to discuss issues related to local government in Zimbabwe.

This report was prepared by the International Labour Office as the basis for discussions at the Joint Meeting on the Impact of Decentralization and Privatization on Municipal Services to be held from 15 to 19 October 2001 in Geneva.