CLGF Board Member Mayor Darrell Bradley, Mayor of Belize City, addressed a special session on building trust at local level during the 17th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) in Panama City on 3 December. Mayor Bradley emphasised that trust should be at the heart of local democracy and engagement with citizens, citing that recent world events show that many people do not trust the establishment and there is often a lack of confidence in the public sector. Read More

Managing urbanisation and the consequences of urban growth continues to be a big challenge facing the Pacific island countries and communities. Speaking at a Workshop on Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asian and Pacific Cities, organised by UNESCAP, CLGF Pacific Regional Director Karibaiti Taoaba looked at how the Pacific Urban Agenda ties in with the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed in 2015 and the New Urban Agenda agreed in Quito in November 2016. Read More

If the objective of leaving no one behind as envisaged by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to be achieved, local government must be empowered to effectively engage all people at the local level, according to CLGF Chairperson Cllr Rev Mpho Moruakgomo. Speaking on the first day of the 2016 South African Local Government Association (SALGA) annual conference in Johannesburg , Rev Moruakgomo said that inclusion means paying attention to all voices including women, youth, the poor, the displaced, and local government is the sphere of government which is best placed to do this. Read More

The United Cities and Councils of Cameroon (UCCC) has launched a position paper on fiscal decentralisation with the assistance of CLGF. The document was presented to stakeholders including local governments, development partners and the media at a meeting in Yaounde on 21 November, by UCCC President Dr Emile Andze Andze, CLGF Project Officer Claire Frost, and David Abouem A Tchoyi who was commissioned as a consultant to put together the report. Read More

Using local economic development as an approach to tackling poverty and encouraging sustainable development is having a positive impact on communities in West Africa, according to the results of CLGFs work with national and local governments in the region being discussed at a regional conference being held in Accra, Ghana from 23-25 November. Read More

CLGF Secretary-General Dr Greg Munro addressed an international conference on Marginalisation, Poverty and Decentralisation held at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) in India on 19 November. Read More