Clgf

Encouraging Local Governments to Develop Local Economy

WITH the coming of Habitat III Conference getting closer, more and more parties acknowledge the importance of 17 Sustainable Development Goals implementation. Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF), adhering to its core activities focusing on decentralization and local economic development, believes that local economic development and smart cities can provide framework for local governments to deliver the SDGs. Within this background, CLGF held a meeting under theme Local government: a partner in achieving the SDGs in Asia on August 3-4, 2016, co-hosted by Jabalpur Nagar Nigam in Madhya Pradesh.

Participated by mayors, local authorities and other leaders, CLGF members and partners, this event exposed them with projects that were part of CLGF programme, such as a pilot project in Bangladesh with 3 union parishads on participatory budgeting and project in North Central province, Sri Lanka.

In this opportunity, participants also acknowledged key challenges in the region. Several of them include uneven levels of decentralization, women’s

under-employment, harnessing the opportunities of new technology and inadequate access to financing for development. However, participants agreed that, within the scope of local economic development, the implementations need to consider local contexts.

Built on the discussed shared lessons, participants set actions for follow-ups in order to achieve the SDGs as well as preparation to improve local economic development. The actions include strengthening local government’s ability to partner civil society and private sector as well as ensure productive partnerships for local development, strengthening community development in addressing inequalities and increasing engagement between citizens and local governments. UCLG ASPAC was invited to speak at the Forum.