LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND DECENTRALIZATION Newsletter ‐ September 2014 The Local Government and Decentralization Unit sits at the Urban Land, Legislation and Governance Branch at UN‐Habitat. The core role of the unit is to stresses the role of local government as a key actor of development, whose relevance has been reinforced by the Rio+20 Declaration "The World we Want".
7 ‐10 October 2014 ‐Cities for All‐ 11th Metropolis World Congress, Hyderabad, India http://hyderabad2014.metropolis.org/
The unit supports local governments and their associations, working closely with both central and territorial governments to establish mechanisms of dialogue, to exchange best practices and to support projects for the empowerment of local and regional governments through a fair distribution of responsibilities and resources.
8 October 2014 ‐Cities in Transition: European and International experiences governing post‐conflict urban development, Brussels, Belgium 14 ‐15 October 2014 ‐High‐Level Dialogue on the Localization of the post‐2015 Development Agenda‐ Turin, Italy
Upcoming Events
6 ‐7 November 2014 ‐Smart Local Governance: The Challenge of Good Governance in Local Administration, Bilbao, Spain http://www.cities‐ localgovernments.org/committees/cdc/events.asp?IdEv ents=187 14 ‐15 November 2014 ‐Urban Age Governing Urban Futures Conference– Delhi, India http://lsecities.net/ua/conferences/2014‐delhi/
What’s Have We Been Up To Localizing the Post‐2015 Development Agenda As part of the second stage of Dialogues on the Means of Implementation of the Post‐2015 Development Agenda, UN‐Habitat and UNDP, on behalf of UNDG, together with the Global Task Force for Local and Regional Governments, are co‐leading the dialogue on Localizing the Post‐2015 Development Agenda. The main objective of this consultation process is to identify and propose critical elements, processes, tools, institutions and mechanisms that will allow a successful implementation of the new Development Agenda at the local level. 13 National dialogues, 8 regional and global events, and e‐discussions have been held since May 2014 and mobilized more than 5,000 participants from 80 countries, representing national and local institutions, local authorities, civil society organizations, academy, trade unions and private sector. Many of the critical challenges highlighted during this multi‐stakeholder process, includes that implementing the Post‐2015 Development Agenda will depend heavily on local planning and service delivery, community buy in and local leadership, in a sustained inter‐institutional dialogue and trust. More information on the Localizing the Post‐2015 Development Agenda consultation: http://www.worldwewant2015.org/localising2015
Cities, Fragility and Conflict in An Uncertain World‐ London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom, 11 June 2014 On 11 June, UN‐Habitat Deputy Executive Director Dr Aisa Kirabo Kacyira was keynote speaker at a seminar, hosted by LSE Cities, at the London School of Economics. Entitled Cities, fragility and conflict in an uncertain world, the seminar enabled Dr Kirabo Kacyira to draw on her experiences as a former mayor of Kigali and reflect on the place of cities in fragile and conflict‐affected states, and especially the role of local governments in promoting peace building and state building. Dr Kirabo Kacyira was joined by a distinguished group of academics, with Philipp Rode from LSE Cities serving as moderator, and LSE scholars James Putzel and Austin Zeiderman as discussants.
Dr. Aisa Kycyira, Deputy Executive Director, UN‐Habitat at Cities, Fragility and Conflict in An Uncertain World‐ London School of Economics, London, England
United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Executive Bureau – Liverpool, UK, 17‐19 June 2014 The LDG unit organized a special session on the role of urban governance in the new global agenda. The purpose of the session was to introduce to UCLG members the ongoing survey termed “Governing Urban futures” jointly conducted by LSE Cities, UN‐Habitat and UCLG Committee on Decentralization and Local Self‐government. Results from the survey will be part of the Governance Chapter of the IV GOLD Report that will represent the contributions of UCLG to the Habitat III process. Additionally, the Unit was present in the panels about Urban Priorities on Public Spaces and the dialogue on Localizing the Post‐2015 development agenda co‐organized by UNDP, UN‐Habitat and the Global Task Force for Local and Regional Governments for the post 2015 international agenda. Click to see website http://goo.gl/AYcovC
Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) Policy Committee Lodz, Poland 23 ‐24 June 2014 The LDG unit was pleased to be invited to the CEMR policy committee held in Lodz, Poland. The unit participated in the session titled “Urban agenda in the making” providing an update of the role of local governments in the design of the new post 2015 global agendas, including the process of definition of the Sustainable Development Goals and Habitat III. Other panelists included Mrs. Annemarie Jorritsma, President of the CEMR, Mr. Wladyslaw Piskorz, representative of the EU Commission, Head of Unit of Urban development and Territorial Cohesion and Mrs. Cecile Jodogone, Mayor of Schaerbeek, Belgium. http://www.uclg.org/en/node/22663
Ms. Diana Lopez of the LDGU Unit, amongst other panelists discussing the “Urban Agenda in the Making”
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Marketplace and Project Design Exercise for SMART Technologies for Municipal Sustainability‐ Santander, Spain 30 June‐ 1 July, 2014
As technology becomes ubiquitous in every aspect of our lives, so does its role in the management and governance our cities. The LDG unit organized the ‘SMART’ technologies for Municipal Sustainability in Santander, Spain. This event launched the new project to share experiences and collect solutions regarding the application of SMART technologies to local public management. The event was attended by 22 cities and other partners, including 9 representatives from the private sector. One of the key components of this event was to map out a needs assessment of cities regarding public management and municipal tax income. The event also engaged with the private sector to highlight some of the existing SMART technologies that contribute to the improvement of public management or municipal revenues. Last but not least, the role of the citizen was deliberated in a bid to explore increased participation through SMART technologies and how to improve the transparency of public services and private‐ public‐partnerships.
Participants visiting the control centre of SmartSantander, at the University of Cantabria
Visit the project Platform uraia.org
DeLoG 9Th Annual Meeting in Visby, Sweden 2‐4 July The Development Partners Working Group on Decentralization and Local Governance (DeLoG) held its 9th annual meeting in Visby, Gotland, Sweden, hosted by ICLD (Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy) and SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency). The LDG unit, a member DeLoG, was present at this meeting where more that 40 participants from 21 members and partner organizations were in attendance. This year’s theme was “Decentralization & Local Governance: Delivering Development Outcomes, Strengthening Democracy”. The opening session depicted the role of the local level in the post 2015 agenda where panelists from SIDA (StinaKaltrun), the Hunger Project Sweden (Sara Wettergren) and the Urban Institute (Jamie Boex) discussed local democracy and poverty reduction. An upcoming study on “the local public sector’s role in achieving development goals.” was deliberated as well as the ongoing global consultation on “localizing the post 2015 agenda.” Further thematic sessions included measuring the impact of decentralization reforms, decentralization in fragile environments, gender in DLG and new technologies to improve urban services. http://www.delog.org/cms/upload/pdf/9th_Annual_Meeting_Report.pdf
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‘Mapping Urban Governance’‐ A New Approach In collaboration with the London School of Economic and the United Cities and Local Government Committeee on Decentralization and Local Self‐Government, the Unit launched an online survey on urban governance. The results will be presented during the forthcoming Urban Age Conference in Delhi on November this year. The premise is based on a novel approach to mapping, understanding and defining the complexities and nuances of urban governance as opposed to measuring it. A bottom‐up approach based on concrete city experiences, is a more informed approached that can generate context‐specific indicators and approaches in order to re‐define and understand urban governance from a more holistic perspective. Visit the website http://www.uclg.org/en/media/news/take‐part‐survey‐urban‐governance
Collaboration with GIZ on Metropolitan Governance
UN‐Habitat and GIZ are engaging in a joint exercise to improve the understanding of metropolitan governance in developing countries ‐ especially in fast growing and emerging metropolis in low income countries – with a view to developing relevant assessment methodologies and policy recommendations. The LGD Unit is organizing a joint session with GIZ at the Metropolis World Congress, taking place in Hyderabad, India from 6 to 10th October http://hyderabad2014.metropolis.org/ The session will deal with Metropolitan Governance arrangements ‐ policy recommendations for improved equity, accountability and participation. Heads of metropolitan regions will participate (Stuttgart, Medellin, Telangana).
On top of exchanging on existing practices and successful experiences, the session aims at identifying the more frequent challenges for metropolitan governance in developing metropolises and to perform a needs assessment with the participants. The analysis of metropolitan dynamics needs to take into account spatial and economic aspects as well as institutional frameworks. An effective metropolitan governance framework is necessary in order to tackle problems of institutional fragmentation, accountability, economic competitiveness, and sustainability.
Contacts Local Government and Decentralization Unit Urban Land, Legislation and Governance Branch jane.lumumba@unhabitat.org http://mirror.unhabitat.org/categories.asp?catid=365