Marking the end of the two year CP4D project to strengthen democracy across the Commonwealth, representatives of a number of countries came together for a three day conference in London from 4-6 March. 

Political inclusion

Local and national government representatives, civil society activists and other key to actors joined to discuss the outcomes of the work to promote the political inclusion of the most marginalised within their communities, including women, people with disabilities and young people. Representatives from India, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago and the UK described the work to support democracy, in general, and local actors specifically, to promote inclusive politics. This included CLGF’s speaker, Bhim Raskar, Director of the Research and Support Centre for Development in Inda, who described CLGF’s project in Maharashtra in which voter awareness kits were developed for local women, and mentors identified and trained to deliver training using the kits. (A further account of Mr Raskar’s experiences can be found in a separate item).

Other activities from the project, led by the partners and managed by The Westminster Foundation for Democracy, included: regional activities in Asia, Africa and the Pacific; and in-country projects such as the training of over 3000 student leaders in Ghana in parliamentary practices; the development of a disability curriculum to help train MPs in Sierra Leone; and the first reading of a Disability Bill in Kenya.  

CLGF Chair closes conference

Closing the conference, CLGF Chair and President of the Botswana Association of Local Authorities, Rev Mpho Moruagomo praised the efforts of CLGF and the other organisations involved in CP4D over the last two years.  He said the conference had stressed the importance of strengthening efforts to promote exchange of best policy practices and this had been reiterated by participants from the floor.

He talked about the Importance of supporting capacity building efforts to strengthen governance at local, national and regional levels - including through Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s extensive work on benchmarking.  The CLGF Chair stressed the need to strengthen independent oversight institutions and build regional networks, citing the work to strengthen public accounts committees being undertaken by CPA UK.

Local government first point of contact for democracy

Representing local government across the Commonwealth Rev Mpho Moruagomo reminded participants that local government leaders are often the first, and in many cases, only contact that citizens have with their elected representatives, and must work closely with Members of Parliament.  He said: “We share constituents and work towards similar objectives of service delivery, reduction of poverty and an end to inequalities. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) frame this and it is our collective leadership that will ensure we can deliver.”

Critical opportunity at CHOGM

He concluded by saying that CP4D has brought together the strengths of institutions working to build capacity at all levels of governance across commonwealth and: “Going forward, we must sustain this momentum to harness the expertise of each of these institutions.” He thanked donors, project partners and participants and urged everyone to use the invaluable exchange to take back to individual countries a renewed commitment and ready to implement what we have learned. CHOGM in Rwanda 2020 provides a critical opportunity to advance these issues and he urged everyone to brief their national delegations accordingly.

Thanks to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) for the following video clips from the conference.

CP4D

CP4D is managed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and implemented by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in partnership with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the UK branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and CLGF.