Commonwealth Local Government Forum

Southern Africa \ Local government service delivery

Equitable and efficient service delivery is at the heart of local government’s mandate. The resources in this section focus on the management and delivery of key strategic, corporate and technical services, ranging from those for which local government has direct responsibility, to shared service provision, and services for which local government is a partner.

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Distance, Services, and the Decoupling of Citizen Perceptions of the State in Rural Africa

In most poor countries, basic services in rural areas are less accessible and of lower quality than those in urban settings. In this paper, we investigate the subnational geography of service delivery and its relationship with citizens’ perceptions of their government by analyzing the relationships between service access, satisfaction with services and government, and the distance to urban centers, using data from more than 21,000 survey respondents across 17 African countries. We confirm that access to services and service satisfaction suffer from a spatial gradient. However, distant citizens are less likely than their urban peers to translate service dissatisfaction into discontent with their government; distant citizens have more trust in government and more positive evaluations of both local and national officials. Our findings suggest that increasing responsiveness and accountability to citizens as a means of improving remote rural services may be less effective than promoters of democratic governance and citizen-centered accountability presume.

Author: Derick W. Brinkerhoff, Anna Wetterberg and Erik Wibbels Publisher: RTI International Publication year: 2016


Local governance to tackle multidimensional poverty and inequality

The general objective of this paper is to describe the position of Oxfam and ARCO on how local governance processes play a crucial role in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We believe that a common understanding and framework for local governance is urgently required to build more consistent and effective development strategies and initiatives. In particular, we aim to emphasise the importance of enabling local actors to lead and influence policy action and practices within a system of multilevel relations, in order to tackle multidimensional poverty and inequality. To achieve this end, we embrace the Sustainable Human Development approach in order to analyse local governance and policy issues in relation to the SDGs and the localization of these goals. In this respect, this paper contributes to Oxfam’s Theory of Change – based on the combination of active citizens and effective states (Green, 2012) – by integrating in both conceptual and operational terms the synergies between local action and national policies leading to social change for human “flourishing”.

Author: Mario Biggeri, Andrea Ferrannini, Lorenzo Paoli Publisher: Oxfam Publication year: 2016


Sustainable Human Development: A New Territorial and People-Centred Perspective

Integrating Amartya Sen's approach with the literature on place-based territorial development processes, this book recognises the interplay between the evolution of local development systems and the expansion of individual and collective capabilities.

Author: Andrea Ferrannini, Mario Biggeri Publisher: Palgrave Macmillian Publication year: 2016


Holding local government to account. Can a performance index provide meaningful accountability?

One powerful political idea is the following: if you give people a voice then they will be able to hold leaders to account and put pressure on them to take decisions that will improve public services and reduce poverty. This research starts with this idea. We want to know how (and whether) an index based on local research data and shared amongst citizens could put pressure on local politicians and civil servants to perform better in Tanzania.

Author: Andrew Mushi Publisher: INTRAC Publication year: 2015


Local governance and ICTs in Africa

This volume presents important original research on ICT and local goverance in Africa that must not be ignored by public policymakers – at municipal, regional, national and continental levels – in the respective countries in Africa. It is strongly recommended that this work be used and debated.

Author: Timothy Mwololo Waema and Edith Ofwona Adera Publisher: International Development Research Centre Publication year: 2011


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