Partnership for Local Capacity Development

United Nations Human Settlements Programme World Association of Cities and Local Authorities Coordination (WACLAC)

Partnership for Local Capacity Development Building on the Experiences of City-to-City Cooperation

Nairobi May 2003

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries or regarding its economic system or degree of development. The analysis, conclusions and recommendations of the report do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), the Governing Council of UN-HABITAT or its Member States.

Excerpts from this publication may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. Š United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), 2003 ISBN: 92-1-131680-4 HS/687/03E United Nations Human Settlements Programme publications can be obtained from UN-HABITAT Regional and Information Offices or directly from: P.O. Box 30030 Nairobi, Kenya Fax: +(254-20) 624060 E-mail: unhabitat@unhabitat.org Website: http://www.unhabitat.org

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................2 Chapter 1 1.1 1.2 1.3

Partnership for Local Capacity Development (PLCD) Laying the Foundations........................................................................................................................................4 Partner Needs and Priorities ................................................................................................................................6 Emerging Consensus on the Way Forward ..........................................................................................................6

Chapter 2 Background and Context of City-to-City Cooperation 2.1 The Idea of City-to-City Cooperation (C2C) ..........................................................................................................8 2.2 C2C and Development Cooperation ....................................................................................................................9 Chapter 3 The Purpose and Scope of the Initiative 3.1 Advancing Understanding of C2C and Strengthening C2C Practice ....................................................................10 3.2 The Approach and Structure of the Report ........................................................................................................10 Chapter 4 City Priorities and Practices in City-to-City Cooperation 4.1 Framework for Comparing City Priorities and Practices ....................................................................................12 4.2 Cities’ Capacity-Building Priorities ....................................................................................................................12 • Improving Aspects of Urban Management ......................................................................................................12 • Improving Individual Local Government Functions..........................................................................................14 4.3 Defining Features of C2C Practice ....................................................................................................................17 • Geographical Scope ......................................................................................................................................17 • Cooperation Structures ..................................................................................................................................18 • Active Participants ........................................................................................................................................20 Chapter 5 Organising Support for City-to-City Cooperation 5.1 Framework for Comparing C2C Support Options................................................................................................22 5.2 Types of External Support..................................................................................................................................22 • C2C Support Modalities..................................................................................................................................22 5.3 Organisation of External Support ......................................................................................................................24 • Geographical Focus........................................................................................................................................24 • Funding and Resources..................................................................................................................................24 • Facilitating Institutions ..................................................................................................................................25 Chapter 6 6.1 6.2 6.3

Issues Arising from Experience Key Features and Trends in C2C Practice ..........................................................................................................28 Key Features and Trends in C2C Support ..........................................................................................................30 Priorities in C2C Practice and Support Policies ..................................................................................................32

Annex 1: Annex 2: Annex 3: Annex 4: Annex 5:

Information Sources ..........................................................................................................................................36 International Associations and Networks of Cities and Local Authorities ............................................................37 International City-to-City Support Programmes..................................................................................................44 UN-HABITAT and DFID: Sustainable Urbanisation, Foreword, 2002 ....................................................................51 UN-HABITAT and partners: Coalition for Sustainable Urbanisation, Introduction and Partnership for Local Capacity Development, 2002..................................................................52 Contributors ......................................................................................................................................................56

Annex 6:

Photo credits: Topham Picturepoint, Topham/UNEP, Bernd Decker and other UN-HABITAT colleagues.

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Introduction Purpose This publication is background documentation for the dialogues with local authorities and other Habitat Agenda partners during the 19th session of the Governing Council of UN-HABITAT. It is designed to support the dialogue on the Strengthening of Local Authorities, the second of a two-part dialogue on Effective Decentralisation and the Strengthening of Local Authorities held in plenary during the afternoon session of Tuesday, 6 May 2003, and the morning session of Wednesday, 7 May 2003.

During the three-hour dialogue on the Strengthening of Local Authorities, designated representatives of local authorities and other Habitat Agenda partners make short substantive presentations followed by discussions between Government delegations and panellists.

Once adopted, the Chair’s conclusions and the recommendations from the dialogue serve as guidelines for follow-up action by Governments, local authorities, other Habitat Agenda partners and UN-HABITAT. To be substantive, action-oriented and focused on both the conceptual and operational aspects of strengthening local authorities the dialogue is organised to address from a variety of perspectives specific questions such as the following: • Why strengthening of local authorities is important and what the priorities are.

• Whose cooperation is required (e.g. local/national stakeholders in cities, support programmes and donors) and what roles they should play.

• What practical lessons can be learned from the concrete, operational experience of the dialogue participants.

There are many good examples of concrete international initiatives for developing local capacities. UN-HABITAT alone supports dozens of global campaigns, programmes and projects with most, if not all, aimed specifically at local capacity development. Among these, the Partnership for Local Capacity Development (PLCD) has been selected. The reasons behind this choice include: (a) The PLCD is a broad and growing partnership involving more than 20 multilateral and bilateral support organisations, associations of local authorities, Non-Governmental Organisations, and other Habitat Agenda partners; (b) The purpose of the PLCD is to review and improve the match between local capacity development needs and available international support; (c) The PLCD is specifically designed to support implementation of the Habitat Agenda and the settlements dimension of other global agreements such as the Millennium Development Goals and the outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable Development; and (d) the PLCD is a joint initiative between the United Nations and the Global Associations of Local Authorities.

Origins When, in 1996, the Governments of the world met in Istanbul at the HABITAT-II City Summit to discuss the enormous challenge posed by global urbanisation and our rapidly growing cities, they reached a number of historic agreements and enshrined them in the Habitat Agenda. One of these was forging a new partnership approach involving not only central governments and civil society, but also local authorities in a joint plan for systematically addressing the future of the world’s cities and other human settlements. The United Nations also recognised, for the first time, the status of local governments officially at one of its global meetings. This was significant progress towards recognition of local governments as interlocutors with the United Nations, and their participation in the key decisions affecting and requiring cooperation from the cities. Indeed, local authorities were recognised as the closest partners of national governments for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda.

In early 2001, UN-HABITAT agreed to cooperate with the United Towns Organisation (UTO) - the latter acting on behalf of World Associations of Cities and Local Authorities Coordination (WACLAC) and the United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities (UNACLA) - to support a series of events concerned with city-to-city cooperation. These events emphasised the benefits of city-to-city learning and mutual support. They also highlighted the broad range and diversity of city-to-city cooperation practices, showcased the variety of complementary options for supporting cities in their cooperation, and drew and agreed on forward-looking conclusions regarding opportunities to improve the scope for both city-to-city cooperation and support. The series of events culminated with an event on city-to-city cooperation during the 25th Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly (Istanbul+5) in New York in June 2001.

The report prepared for Istanbul+5 was entitled City-to-City Cooperation: Issues Arising from Experience. It was endorsed as a basis for jointly launching a more permanent initiative on city-to-city cooperation, designed to maintain an up-to-date inventory of the various forms of city-to-city cooperation as well as of the modalities of international support. The latest up-date of this report reflects the preparatory process for the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development including prominently the first Session of the World Urban Forum. During this process Habitat Agenda partners concluded that local capacity development is an important prerequisite for sustainable urbanisation (see Annex 4). They also recommended a Partnership for Local Capacity Development (PLCD) , and made the PLCD a key component of the Coalition for Sustainable Urbanisation which was UN-HABITAT’s main contribution to the Johannesburg Summit (see Annex 5).

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...recent global agreements... emphasise the importance of local capacity development for such fundamental development objectives as poverty alleviation as well as social, economic and environmental sustainability Message This joint report of the United Nations and the global associations of local authorities has come a long way since 2001, evolving from a simple descriptive inventory of capacity building approaches to a systematic database with concrete action-oriented recommendations. The change from the old title City-to-City Cooperation – Issues Arising from Experience to the new title Partnership for Local Capacity Development reflects this evolution. At the same time the joint message carried by the report has become sharper and more immediately relevant to recent global agreements such as the Millennium Development Goals, the Declaration on Cities and other Human Settlements (Istanbul+5) and the conclusions of WSSD. All these emphasise the importance of local capacity development for such fundamental development objectives as poverty alleviation as well as social, economic and environmental sustainability.

More specifically, the Commission on Human Settlements, in its Resolution 18/11, asked the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT to intensify dialogue among governments at all levels and Habitat Agenda partners on issues related to effective decentralisation and the strengthening of local authorities. Further, by its Resolution 18/10 on the role of local authorities, the Commission invited the Habitat Agenda partners, with the support of the Secretariat, to strengthen local authorities in their important role in implementing the Habitat Agenda through, inter-alia, improved training, peer-to-peer learning, city-to-city transfers and international exchanges based on documented best practices, good policies and action plans. In this report the United Nations and the local authorities respond to this mandate. The message of the report can be summarised in the following six points: • Local authorities and their associations are key actors in local capacity development and they are ready to assume their important role in close collaboration with the United Nations and other Habitat Agenda partners.

• City-to-city cooperation, peer-to-peer learning and other forms of decentralised cooperation are among the most effective approaches to local capacity development. These approaches, practiced by local authorities with the support of their associations for more than half a century, have emerged in the past decade as a new technical cooperation paradigm of the United Nations, which emphasises the demand-led sharing of operational experience among practitioners rather than the traditional provision of ready solutions.

• Support available for local capacity development differs in many important ways, reflecting the tremendous diversity of interests, purposes, institutions, resources, and situations among support programmes and the cities with which they cooperate. However, this support is often supply-driven rather than demand led and there are significant overlaps and gaps in the support provided by international programmes.

• There is room for improving the match between local capacity development needs and available international support. International support can be made more responsive to local priorities. In the interest of cohesion and collective efficiency, gaps in available support can be filled, overlaps reduced and strategic complementarities can be realised.

• A systematic partnership between key interest groups must be organised to improve the match between local capacity development needs and available support. This must involve (a) local authorities and other stakeholders at city and national levels, (b) international support programmes, and (c) donors.

• The Partnership for Local Capacity Development (PLCD), described in this report, is one option for improving collaboration among the key interest groups. The PLCD consists of (a) an information service based on an inventory of city needs and available support; (b) a periodic report on issues arising from experience; and (c) regular meetings of the interest groups to address arising issues and to chart the way forward. These meetings are to be held as part of the biennial sessions of the World Urban Forum.

Organisation The main text of this publication (Chapters 1-6) has been prepared and agreed in close collaboration between UN-HABITAT and the global associations of local authorities (represented by WACLAC and UNACLA) in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). For the purpose of this publication the concluding chapter of the original text has been moved to the front and minor editorial corrections have been made to improve presentation without affecting the substance. Accordingly, Chapter 1 presents the conclusion of the report by outlining the emerging consensus on the way forward, i.e. the Partnership for Local Capacity Development. Chapters 2 and 3 summarise the historical background and the conceptual basis of the report, highlighting the need to review separately city capacity development practices and priorities on the one hand, and available international support on the other. Chapters 4 and 5 present methodology and initial findings of a survey of city practices (Chapter 4) and of international support programmes (Chapter 5). Chapter 6 provides an overview of issues arising from the operational experience of both city practitioners and representatives of the international development support community.

The expanding inventory of city practices and available international support is presented in Annexes 2 and 3. For space reasons, survey returns have not been included in their entirety as they have been in earlier versions of this report. Instead, brief descriptions of key programmes and organisations are reproduced as they were received during the survey and any information that could be presented in tabular form has been processed into Excel tables for further analysis in Chapter 6. Excerpts from two highly relevant publications prepared for WSSD are reproduced in Annexes 4 and 5 for ease of reference. Annex 6 lists some of the main contributors to this report.

Jochen Eigen Chief, Technical Advisory Branch, UN-HABITAT, May 2003 3

1.

Partnership for Local Capacity Development (PLCD)

1.1 Laying the Foundations Several factors are bringing the practice of city-to-city (C2C) cooperation into the limelight as never before: The increasing importance of development policies based upon decentralisation and partnership, the recognition of cities as key actors in local and national development, and the determination of cities to address their responsibilities effectively. As a result, C2C has acquired a new and growing significance, now being recognised widely as a vital element for the achievement of sustainable development.

Foundations for this were built up through a series of significant events during 2001, notably those which were part of the Istanbul +5 review process, and which focused international attention upon the need to emphasise implementation of the Habitat Agenda and upon its ambitious commitments for efforts at all levels to support and facilitate decentralisation and partnership.

The first edition of this report, the Interim Report of May 2001, was prepared in support of the Istanbul+5 events and it explored C2C in a systematic way, establishing an analytical framework for assessing C2C in terms of city practices and support options. It was based upon a wide-ranging but incomplete inventory of C2C of activities as then documented; it was aimed at expanding and strengthening debate by informing all of the various interested parties (city leaders, local authority associations, national governments, international programmes and donors, representatives of UN partner agencies, NGOs, researchers) about the “state of the art� of City-to-City Cooperation and about the potential for more effective collaboration.

The findings of the Interim Report were discussed at a workshop session on decentralised cooperation within the framework of the IULA/UTO Unity Congress in Rio de Janeiro (May 2001). The representatives of local authorities from both South and North endorsed the report and the broad thrust of its findings. They welcomed its analytical framework as a means of advancing understanding of the various forms of C2C and of devising ways of facilitating such cooperation. The need for enhanced dialogue with international institutions about improving the effectiveness of available support was also emphasised. The workshop also highlighted the need to integrate institutional strengthening of local governments (and their associations) more fully in the various sectoral support programmes of international institutions and agencies; as well as the importance of associating cities more closely in the formulation and implementation of the evolving urban agendas of these institutions.

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UNACLA “confirmed its vision of C2C at the centre of a new development cooperation paradigm which is decentralised, bottom-up, demand-driven, and rooted in inclusive partnerships”

These concerns were also addressed at the Second World Assembly of Cities and Local Authorities (WACLA II) convened on the occasion of the IULA/UTO Unity Congress in Rio de Janeiro to formulate local government’s collective input to Istanbul +5. The WACLA II Declaration reaffirmed local authorities’ wish to intensify their collaboration with UNHABITAT as their primary linkage with the United Nations system, and committed them to promoting direct international cooperation between cities and their associations. The Declaration called upon national governments to recognise and support direct cooperation among cities, and to develop partnership models to ensure complementarity with bi- and multi-lateral cooperation programmes.

The concepts and ideas of the Interim Report were also introduced by the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT in her opening address at the Meeting of Mayors on C2C, which took place within the framework of the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (Brussels, May 2001). That Meeting also underlined the value which cities place upon partnerships and peer-to-peer exchanges as components of sustainable capacity-building and institutional strengthening, calling in particular for further development of under-utilised potential of South-South links.

Concluding this first round of activities, WACLAC and UN-HABITAT jointly organised a parallel event on city-to-city cooperation during the Istanbul +5 UN General Assembly Special Session in New York on 7 June 2001. This event reviewed the findings of the Interim Report and invited debate on cities’ C2C needs and priorities in the light of the participants’ own C2C experience. The meeting looked ahead to the next stage in the practice of C2C as a factor of growing importance in development policy, providing tangible benefits for local authorities and their citizens through peer-to-peer exchange of operationally relevant information and experience. The key stakeholders represented on this occasion endorsed the orientation and thrust of efforts to date, confirmed their interest and commitment to continue exchange and cooperation on C2C through a more structured process of dialogue among cities and their associations, international support programmes and donors, and urged UN-HABITAT to pursue its work in this area in partnership with the international associations of cities and local authorities. The meeting identified the need to develop and maintain an authoritative inventory of the state of the art of C2C, within a structure which will allow continuous updating and refinement and serve as a reference framework for future policy development.

The final milestone event in 2001 was a round table meeting convened during the International Forum on Urban Poverty organised by UN-HABITAT in Marrakech on 16-19 October 2001. Participants at the round table endorsed the value of C2C as a significant contributor to the practical measures that can be taken to tackle urban poverty, and urged UN-

HABITAT and WACLAC to give priority to developing this area of work.

The results of these discussions on C2C, as well as other issues within the Istanbul +5 process, were reviewed by WACLAC’s Committee of Presidents at a meeting in Barcelona on 24 January 2002. WACLAC confirmed the strong wish of its members to take forward the process of developing C2C and asked that the matter be placed on the agenda of the UN Advisory Committee of Local Authorities (UNACLA) for its meeting in Dubai on 17-19 February 2002. It also suggested that a specialist working group be convened to prepare concrete recommendations to be put to the Advisory Committee. On the basis of these recommendations, UNACLA “confirmed its vision of C2C at the centre of a new development cooperation paradigm which is decentralised, bottom-up, demand-driven, and rooted in inclusive partnerships”. UNACLA also approved a series of specific next steps comprising: • further collaboration on developing the C2C inventory and the establishment of an ongoing information system and clearing-house machinery; • recognition of the need to establish a structured dialogue between local authorities, support programmes, and donors, with the aim of reducing duplication, filling gaps, and exploiting synergies; and • commitment to involve all relevant partners (i.e. continued full involvement of WACLAC’s member associations, as well as of support programmes from UN bodies, IGOs, associations of local authorities, national governments, NGOs, the private sector etc).

UNACLA further urged that this work on C2C be placed within the process of preparing inputs to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, linked to UN-HABITAT’s theme of ‘Sustainable Urbanisation’ and with a particular focus upon the building of local implementation capacities which can link the sometimes disparate efforts of the various actors involved. It saw the World Urban Forum, to be convened by UN-HABITAT in Nairobi on 29 April to 3 May 2002, as providing a major opportunity for moving ahead on building the necessary C2C policy partnerships. Accordingly, a thematic session during the Forum was devoted to C2C. It provided an opportunity for C2C to be integrated into the development of UN-HABITAT’s inputs into the WSSD preparatory process.

UNACLA also welcomed the steps being taken to put C2C at the heart of a series of regional forums on local capacity-building and training needs organised jointly by UNITAR and UN-HABITAT, in collaboration with WACLAC and various UN agencies, during the period December 2001 to July 2002.

Finally, there was the announcement that World Habitat Day 2002 in Brussels would have City-to-City Cooperation as its theme, giving extensive publicity and impetus to the further development of C2C ideas.

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1.2 Partners Needs and Priorities Thus, in the period since the publication of the Interim Report there has been a steady build-up of support for C2C – and a broadening of awareness of its significance and of the potentially great role it can play in achieving sustainable urbanisation. Indeed, in terms of the “challenges of sustainable urbanisation”, identified by UN-HABITAT as the central focus of human settlements inputs at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the relevance of C2C is clear: (a) The important contributions that cities and other human settlements can make to social, economic and environmental sustainability are far from being realized; (b) local actors, especially local authorities and their partners in civil society often lack the capacity to effectively play their crucial role in sustainable urbanization; and (c) external support to local capacity-building is often supplydriven, disjointed and collectively inefficient.

...it is a particularly suitable role for the United Nations to lead efforts to develop mechanisms and processes that make external support more coherent, effective, and collectively efficient 1.3 Emerging Consensus on the Way Forward The findings of this Report, and the results of the international discussions summarised above, show the need - and demand - for an effective framework for continuing and further developing C2C ideas, practices, and dialogue. This framework will comprise the three groups of key actors identified above, brought together into a Partnership for Local Capacity Development (PLCD) and mobilised initially by UN-HABITAT and WACLAC. The focus of this partnership will be on the “issues arising from experience” as high-lighted in this Report.

On this basis, and factoring in key considerations such as the role of the United Nations and the global consensus emerging from the WSSD process, the appropriate activities would include the following three components: • Information Service (interactive web-site with database) • Periodic Analytical Report • Periodic Policy Dialogue There would also be a secretariat function to support these components.

Helping build linkages between local capacity-building needs and available support is one of the core functions of C2C, and it is a particularly suitable role for the United Nations to lead efforts to develop mechanisms and processes that make external support more coherent, effective, and collectively efficient. In so doing three groups of partners are of particular importance: • Cities • Support Programmes • Donors.

Each of these groups of C2C actors has its own needs and priorities, although these are clearly inter-related and inter-dependent, as shown by the evidence of this Report.

The first group comprises cities – primarily local authorities – together with their national and international associations (spearheaded by WACLAC as their collective voice vis-à-vis the United Nations). This group will increasingly include local authorities’ partners in civil society such as the private sector, the academic and professional communities, NGOs and CBOs, relevant departments of national and/or regional government, etc. The key needs for this group are: • to identify and clarify local capacity-building needs and priorities • to identify most appropriate support modalities and mechanisms • to identify and effectively link with available support programmes.

The proposed Information Service aims to provide a thorough but highly focused overview of C2C, within an analytical structure which will facilitate continuous updating and refinement of the information. It would also be a reference framework for the relevant partners, serving a key “clearing-house” function to bring them together with each other and with the progressively developed C2C database; its main component would therefore be a dedicated interactive C2C website.

The initial information base for this website would be the data gathered about C2C practices and organisations gathered during the preparation of this Report and its predecessor, especially the survey-based inventories of international support programmes and international associations. This would be progressively supplemented by information contributed by cities and organisations about existing C2C policies and practices, about city needs and priorities, and about facilities offered through support programmes. Web linkages would be made to other relevant databases (such as UN-HABITAT’s Best Practices site) thus making information accessible without duplicating it. The main focus of the website would be to systematically gather experiences and practices that have replication potential and, by organising them in a systematic framework, make them readily available to those who can best use them. In this way the website could build up a valuable clearing-house function focused specifically on bringing together cities, support programmes and donors within a framework which helps match demands from cities, for example, with the appropriate expertise or mechanisms of support.

The second group of C2C actors comprises those who provide support to cities in a variety of ways, primarily (a) international support programmes (of the various bi-lateral or multi-lateral development cooperation organisations) and (b) regional and international associations of local authorities (which have long had a major role in facilitating C2C). For these support agencies, key objectives are: • to better understand and evaluate cities’ needs • to increase their visibility to both cities and donors • to identify appropriate niches in the overall C2C system • to identify overlaps, gaps, and potential complementarities • to increase the individual as well as collective efficiency of their support activities.

The third group comprises those who provide strategic funding to both the local authorities and the supporting organisations – donors, especially in bilateral and multilateral funding institutions, foundations, the international private sector, etc. For these funding providers, their key objectives in relation to C2C are: • to identify strategic investment opportunities • to better fit their own agendas and priorities to those of the cities and support programmes • to gain greater efficiency in the use of their resources.

There would also be Periodic Analytical Reports, the second of which is this present document and the first of which was the report published in May 2001.

Future reports would analyse progress being made in C2C, with a particular emphasis on examining important new or arising issues – for instance, analysing strategic bottlenecks which need to be addressed. Additional reports could be prepared on other topics, depending upon what is identified by the users as being most critical. These reports would both draw from and add to the information base which underlies the website.

The C2C practices outlined and analysed in this Report show how the different needs of these three groups can fit together – to the benefit of all – within the general C2C framework described. Thus not only is there strongly demonstrated international agreement on the importance of pressing ahead with C2C, there is also a convergence of interest based on the benefits to be gained from systematic joint action. To capitalise on this emerging consensus, establishment of a Partnership for Local Capacity Development is proposed.

The progressively developing information system, and particularly the periodic analytical reports, would provide the basis for a Periodic Policy Dialogue.

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Focused on strategic issues arising from C2C experience, for instance the policy dialogue, events would bring together relevant partners of the PLCD to review and explore these issues, leading to concrete recommendations which can be reported back to the membership and, if appropriate, also reported through other channels, such as the UNACLA. The working procedures of the policy dialogues would have to be well designed to ensure a clear focus on outputs, as well as carefully organised, to ensure balanced participation from cities, support programmes, and donors. Policy dialogues might be organised to coincide with larger international events (such as future sessions of the World Urban Forum, general congresses of associations, etc).

duplications or even conflicts could be avoided? This is a critical area of investigation, and results here could do much to improve the coherence, effectiveness and collective efficiency of international support activities. This could, for example, result in better coordination of C2C support schemes, extension of their geographical spread, and improvement of their accessibility to cities and their associations. It also could result in the extension of existing international urban capacity-building programmes to incorporate C2C opportunities.

• Where would additional funding have the most beneficial impact in relation to a donor’s specific support agenda? Answers to this question would help donors to strategically target their investment, while also promoting transparency and donor confidence, as well as providing a framework for attracting funding to C2C. • How is the potential of working with the private sector and civil society partners best realised in given sets of circumstances? There is relatively little experience or understanding of this issue, and focused examination through the PLCD could help to substantiate the effectiveness of multi-actor partnerships and perhaps develop experience-based guidelines to assist C2C efforts more broadly.

• How should the successes and failures of C2C practices and support be measured and monitored? This is a difficult topic, but one of central importance to cities, support organizations, and donors. Accumulation of experience and development of ideas could lead to the preparation of analytical tools for monitoring and evaluation of C2C practices and their contribution to the achievement of local, national and global development goals.

There would need to be a modest Secretariat function to support these activities - to maintain the web-site, arrange for analytical reports, and organise policy dialogue. This secretariat could be provided by one of the PLCD members, or perhaps be set up through a consortium of PLCD sponsors.

Through these various activities, the Partnership could address a variety of different issues and topics, such as: • What are the local authorities’ needs and priorities? Answers could address the contribution of C2C on improving aspects of urban management, or improving the quality of individual local government services, as well as examining the geographical scope of links, the cooperation structures being employed, and the range of partners actively involved (see Chapter 4).

• How can a city use documented lessons of experience to optimise C2C arrangements for its specific needs and circumstances? The aim would be to help cities design successful combinations of thematic focus, geographic orientation, linking modality, etc., for example to gain a better understanding of how to associate the private sector, NGOs, professional associations, and the research community in developing best practice in C2C and spreading its benefits.

• What type of support is most effective for what type of C2C practice?

Pursuing this question could help cities to make better and more informed choices from available options for facilitating structures, funding and resources, and support modalities (see chapter 5).

• What type of C2C support is best adapted to which type of urban development support agenda? Answers to this question could assist support organisations in better tailoring their C2C support to their specific areas of mandate and thematic specialisation. It could also help national governments in the preparation of strategies for effectively integrating C2C schemes with national development programmes.

• What complementarities and synergies among the activities of support organisations can be exploited, what critical gaps could be filled, what

All consultations on C2C over the last 18 months, and all the input to this report provided by local government associations and international support programmes, suggest that the time is ripe to create this new Partnership for Local Capacity Development. The establishment of the PLCD together with the mechanisms to support its concrete activities, would significantly raise the visibility of C2C as an important component of development policy and at the same time help “mainstream” C2C in the overall sustainable development context. A relatively modest investment in the potential of new information technologies, combined with the creative use of existing international frameworks, could provide a realistic way of building upon the practical advantages of C2C outlined in this Report and produce a constructive response to the policy issues identified. The public launch of the ‘Partnership for Local Capacity Development’ at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, for example, clearly asserted the determination of governments and civil society at the local level, and of their institutional partners in the UN system, to combine their local capacity-building efforts in common with the coalition for sustainable urbanisation.

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2.

Background and Context of City-to-City Cooperation 2.1 The Idea of City-to-City Cooperation (C2C) During the last two decades of the twentieth century, cities became active participants in international relations as never before – or at least since the Middle Ages, when Europe’s city states had more power than most of the national governments. Three reasons can be attributed this.

Firstly, urbanisation is a growing trend in all developing countries, matching in some respects the rapid development of urban areas which characterised the first industrial revolution in the North. Secondly, globalisation has led to a clearer recognition of the determining position of cities in a world which is both interdependent and committed to sharing finite quantities of natural resources. And thirdly, city governments have taken initiatives to assert their place in the world and to develop international links which will contribute to their future economic and social well-being.

Cities and local authorities have been developing their international cooperation for many decades. The first international association of local authorities was set up in 1913, principally for the purpose of general information exchange and mutual support, and a small number of direct city-to-city links were established. But it was in the aftermath of the Second World War that direct links between local authorities of two or more countries really began to spread. Most of the early initiatives were among the developed countries of the North, but it was not long before the first links with developing countries began to be formed.

With the marked trends towards democratisation and decentralisation of the 1980s and 1990s, the scope for concrete cooperation between local authorities on practical issues of mutual interest expanded considerably. Moreover, cities were increasingly responding to their role in combating the root causes of poverty and fostering sustainable economic and social development, as the political entities closest to the needs of their communities. These advances at the local level coincided with the growing recognition in the international community that the process of urbanisation, particularly with the movement of population towards the cities of the developing countries, raised major issues of governance - as well as of economic, social and environmental policy – which called for new approaches to capacity-building at the local level.

Before taking this discussion further, it is important to state that the terms ‘cities’ and ‘city-to-city cooperation’ will be used in this report without any preconceptions about the size or historical importance of the settlements concerned. Thus, the word ‘city’ will be used in the

...cities were increasingly responding to their role in combating the root causes of poverty and fostering sustainable economic and social development, as the political entities closest to the needs of their communities American English sense of an urban settlement or cluster of settlements of any size, with its own elected or appointed local government body, which may go under a whole range of administrative entities such as ‘municipality’, ‘township’, ‘town’, ‘borough’, ‘district’, ‘metropolitan area’ and so on in all possible language variants. The term ‘cities’ is also frequently used loosely in international contexts to refer to other types of local authorities such as ‘counties’, ‘provinces’, ‘departments’ etc, which exist at an intermediate level between the municipality and the state and may contain a number of larger or smaller urban settlements within their boundaries.

‘City-to-City Cooperation’ - neatly if inelegantly shortened to ‘C2C’ thus becomes an umbrella term to cover all possible forms of relationship between local authorities at any level in two or more countries which are collaborating on matters of mutual interest, whether with or without external support. There is also a highly relevant dimension of cooperation between national associations of cities and local authorities for capacity-building purposes, which in turn facilitates cooperation between cities within a single country. Of course, such national-level cooperation takes many forms beyond that of development-oriented capacity-building which is the focus of this report. The term city-to-city cooperation is sometimes used synonymously with the term ‘decentralised cooperation’, although the latter concept (first embodied in the European Union’s Lomé Convention in 1990) embraces a wider range of actions for development carried out by ‘non-state actors’ and locallybased institutions and voluntary associations of all kinds. Decentralised cooperation policies are based upon the principle of partnership and joint working between public authorities, non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations, cooperatives, the private sector, and the informal sector, a principle which is increasingly being incorporated in C2C approaches.

‘Shifting decision-making power closer to poor communities by devolving authority to local government can help promote poverty reduction - as long as the new responsibilities are accompanied by resources and capacity building. But that is only half the story. The other half is helping poor communities organize themselves to advance their interests. A major source of poverty is people's powerlessness - not just their distance from government. (…) ‘If poverty reduction programmes are to succeed, local government must be strengthened - and held accountable both to the central government for the funds allocated to it and to its constituents

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for how it uses them. Central government has to continue its involvement, monitoring how local government exercises its new authority and disburses funds - and helping prevent the capture of power by local elites. ‘In the long run building stronger and more accountable local government is the only way to make decentralisation pro-poor. But it requires time, resources and capacity-building. For the poor the lasting benefits will outweigh the immediate costs. The current fad, however, is to opt for quick-disbursing mechanisms, even though they are unlikely to be sustainable’.

Source: UNDP Human Poverty Report 2000

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

2.2 City-to-City Cooperation and Development Cooperation The inherent weaknesses of ‘top-down’ development cooperation programmes have become increasingly apparent in recent years. There has been a notable, though still incomplete, shift in development cooperation on urban issues away from the provision of ready-made solutions and textbook approaches through consultants and through outreach from the established western centres of expertise. Decentralised cooperation, whereby cities (and indeed other institutions) work together on defining their problems and devising appropriate solutions on the basis of shared experience among peer groups is increasingly recognised as a powerful means of advancing collective know-how and improving governance at the local level. However, there are signs of a continuing confusion or mismatch between the facilities and services being provided through the international community, and the needs and demands of the cities themselves. Thus a further move is indicated away from a supply-driven approach towards one based upon more effective understanding of demand and of the potential of the various agencies and intermediaries to meet such demand.

C2C may take place between cities in neighbouring countries or between cities at opposite ends of the globe. Town twinning provided the framework for the earliest examples of C2C, and official municipal twinning and partnership links are continuing to develop as the base for a wide range of very productive cooperation activities. But in recent years the practice and scope of C2C has widened considerably on the initiative of city leaders, with the encouragement and assistance of the international associations and networks of local authorities and with support from a growing number of national and international agencies.

Strengthening the capacity of cities to deal with their own problems, in close touch with their citizens and all relevant stakeholders, is now an acknowledged international policy goal. Partnerships between cities are gaining recognition as a cost-effective and sustainable component in achieving that goal. Cities are increasingly working together on topics affecting their responsibilities, enabling their personnel to exchange experience on a peer group basis and transferring and adapting successful practices to new contexts. Cities are also becoming increasingly involved as direct participants in international programmes addressing the problems of urbanisation and sustainable development.

There has thus been a notable convergence between the growth of C2C practices initiated by cities and the growing focus upon urban issues among the international institutions. The challenges of urbanisation and the roles of the various civil society stakeholders as partners in policy formation at local, national, regional and global levels were strongly underlined during the series of major United Nations conferences in the 1990s. This process started at the Rio Earth Summit 1992, and the Istanbul City Summit 1996 went much further in recognising that cities and local authorities, as the level of governance closest to the people, are essential partners of national governments and the international institutions in the processes of translating international agreements on economic, social and environmental issues into effective action on the ground. Agenda 21 adopted in Rio, recognised that these global problems have their roots in local actions and that cities are thus key actors in the quest for sustainable development. The Habitat Agenda adopted in Istanbul underlined the role of cities in socio-economic development at local and national levels, and set out an extensive Global Plan of Action, drawn up in an evolving partnership with representatives of local authorities, for addressing the challenges of achieving sustainable human settlements development in an urbanising world.

Strengthening the capacity of cities to deal with their own problems...is now an acknowledged international policy goal.

Partnerships between cities are gaining recognition as a cost-effective and sustainable component in achieving that goal.

In response to the trends and political developments outlined above, cities and local authorities have also taken significant initiatives of their own to define and project their role as partners in the international policy processes addressing urban issues. With the aim of supplanting the traditional top-down approaches which had too often left unworkable solutions behind them, cities and their associations have stated their wish to participate in drawing up the ground rules for future international programmes and to engage in sustained dialogue with the international community about development priorities and approaches. For this reason they sought, and were readily admitted to, active involvement throughout the HABITAT II Istanbul City Summit process. Through joint action by all the major international associations of cities, they convened the first World Assembly of Cities and Local Authorities on the eve of the Summit to draw up and project their collective policy input to the global debate.

As a direct follow-up to the City Summit a series of steps was taken to develop the dialogue between the UN and local government on the implementation of the Habitat Agenda. Local authorities’ representatives were enabled to participate in the proceedings of the Commission on Human Settlements and the Preparatory Committee for the ‘Istanbul + 5’ Special Session of the General Assembly (New York, June 2001), in which they played an active part. In accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding drawn up between UN-HABITAT and WACLAC in 1997, joint work was initiated in a number of areas.

In response to the growing calls for local authorities to be involved on a more institutional basis in policy development, the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT was mandated by the UN Commission on Human Settlements to set up an Advisory Committee of Local Authorities to associate the cities and their associations still more closely with the development of UN-HABITAT’s policies and programmes. This advisory committee met for the first time in January 2000 and was actively involved in a number of the issues on the agenda of the 18th session of the Commission on Human Settlements in February 2001. At subsequent meetings the working partnership between the local authorities and the UN-HABITAT has been progressively elaborated across a number of urban capacity-building areas of mutual interest, including notably C2C. Given these developments, both at the city level and at the international policy level, it seems timely to carry out a review of the current state of practice of C2C in all its diverse forms, to identify the lessons learned so far, to define the most effective means of extending and improving its implementation, and to establish partnership machinery for taking this forward. This second Interim Report aims to provide a sound foundation of information, experience and lessons learned to assist that process. The scope and approach of the report are explained more fully in the next Chapter.

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3.

The purpose and scope of the initiative 3.1 Advancing Understanding of C2C and Strengthening C2C Practice The fundamental purpose of this initiative is to provide a coherent framework for analysing the by now very wide range of forms in which cities (in the widest sense, as above) cooperate with one another, along with the support mechanisms which have been called into being to facilitate and expand this cooperation. This should then provide a basis for assessing the opportunities and the pitfalls which exist in this field, the complementary factors and also the gaps in current practices, and the policy issues that arise in relation to the further development of C2C. The aim will be to present the cities’ current practices and the support options available to them in a meaningful and comparable fashion, as the basis for a continuing process of collective learning which will be progressively further developed. It is hoped thereby to achieve an enhanced common understanding among all interested parties of the current state of C2C concepts and principles, as a basis for informed policy-making which takes full account of the cities’ perspective.

The issues which the initiative addresses were at the heart of the agenda for the International Union of Local Authorities / United Towns Organisation Unity Congress held in Rio de Janeiro on 3-6 May 2001 under the theme ‘The Community Agenda’, and the practice of C2C was specifically addressed at a workshop devoted to decentralised cooperation. The demands and concerns formulated by local government worldwide on the occasion of the second World Assembly of Cities and Local Authorities as part of the Rio congress programme in turn provided the basis for the cities’ collective input to the Istanbul + 5 General Assembly Special Session in New York on 6-8 June 2001, at which the first published version of this report was provided for reference.

Account is also taken of the results of the Meeting of Mayors on Cityto-City Cooperation convened by UNCTAD in collaboration with UNDPWACAP (World Alliance of Cities against Poverty) and UN-HABITAT in Brussels on 15-16 May 2001 within the framework of the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries.

These issues featured prominently in the dialogue between the national governments and representatives of local authorities held at the Special Session, and were discussed in detail at a parallel event on this occasion organised in collaboration with the United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities. At this Special Session concrete measures for stepping up the implementation of the Habitat Agenda in all continents were mapped out by international agreement in the form of the Declaration on Cities and other Human Settlements in the New Millennium. This means that the institutional base for any future development of support or coordination measures through the United Nations system for C2C has taken significant shape during the last year.

It is hoped that the new report and the debate it engenders will serve a broader purpose for the cities themselves and for the international community. They should provide a point of reference and comparison, both for cities which are already engaged in C2C and for others interested in entering this area of activity for the first time. The intention is to furnish a framework for such users to assess their needs against the background of others’ documented experience, and help them identify and compare possible support mechanisms to which they could turn. And finally, for the United Nations Agencies and the other international and national organisations involved in providing support to C2C pro-

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grammes, the report should offer a frame of reference enabling them to identify complementary factors, overlaps or gaps in provision, and to focus upon new policy development or organisational needs. This in turn should help donors to target their funding in this area more strategically.

3.2 The Approach and Structure of the Report As already indicated, there is a very wide range of activities which fall under the heading of city-to-city cooperation (or “decentralised cooperation”). All share a commitment to working directly between and among cities, on the fundamental premise that cities have a great deal to learn from and teach to each other and that cities are the best judges of their own needs and priorities. City-to-city activities differ, however, in many important ways, reflecting the tremendous diversity of interests, purposes, institutions, resources, and situations.

One purpose of this initiative is to provide the basis for a systematic review of C2C practices and activities, to illustrate the great range and diversity of different ways in which cities work with one another. But a simple listing, however extensive, would not significantly extend our understanding of city-to-city cooperation in its many and various forms.

It is therefore a fundamental purpose of the initiative to take a further step and establish an analytical framework which will allow the full range of C2C practices and support systems to be charted in a more meaningful and comparable way. This framework provides a rationale for organising and sharing information, in a manner which facilitates a constructive exchange of experience and enhances mutual learning among cities, their groupings and associations, and their partners.

The starting point of this analytical framework is a basic distinction between the practices of C2C, on the one hand, and C2C support activities on the other. For clarity of understanding, we should look first and separately at the actual city practices in C2C - the things which cities do in cooperation with one another. This, after all, is the core of our concern: To comprehend the full richness and diversity of activities which cities undertake in direct cooperation with other cities. We can then look separately at the various associations, programmes, and institutions which support cities in undertaking their C2C activities. Having looked at C2C practices and needs, on the one hand, and at C2C support activities and capabilities, on the other hand, it then becomes possible to systematically compare the two, thus identifying gaps, unmet needs, overlaps, mis-matches, complementarities, and potential opportunities. In other words, a systematic approach makes it possible to look system-wide at how best to strengthen and facilitate city-to-city cooperation as a contributor to meeting development needs and how to make external support more effective.

Looking at City Practices in C2C. Actual city practices in C2C differ in many ways, and the task of an analytical framework is to establish sensible categories which will help clarify those differences. As shown in the left-hand column of Table 3.2, five categories (or sets of characteristics) are proposed: • Two categories related to city capacity-building priorities: 1. Aspects of urban management 2. Performance in individual local government functions

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

• Three categories related to C2C practices: 3. Geographical scope 4. Cooperation structures 5. Active participants

Table 3.2: C2C Analytical Framework

Any particular example of C2C practice can then be looked at in terms of the descriptions indicated under each main set of characteristics. For instance, a general city twinning activity might be characterised as being: North-South (geographical scope), one-on-one (cooperation structure), between local authorities (active participants), having no particular focus in terms of urban management functions, but having a specific social/cultural emphasis (functional aspect). Any particular example of C2C practice may be described in relation to all or only some of the categories shown, and it could also be associated with one or more of the detailed descriptions within a particular category. The framework is thus not designed to be limiting or restrictive, but instead intended to highlight the variety and detail of each C2C activity by characterising it in ways which facilitate systematic comparison.

When C2C practices and support to C2C are analysed in this way, in terms of well-defined sets of characteristics, there are several important benefits. First, it becomes possible to see more clearly the defining characteristics of individual practices (or support activities) - information which is typically lost when only generalised (and non-systematic) descriptions are given. Second, being based on a common set of descriptive categories, the information generated is more readily comparable across otherwise highly divergent cases. Third, and following from the first two, this approach demonstrates the richness and wide range of different C2C practices which might otherwise appear quite similar.

Fourth, and perhaps most important, providing this carefully-structured disaggregation of information helps identify the complementary, overlaps and gaps which exist between C2C practices and support for C2C information which is important both for cities and for support organisations. Cities benefit from knowing more about the range of different C2C activities and approaches utilised in other cities; and they also benefit from seeing what kinds of support are potentially available. Support programmes benefit from knowing more clearly what cities actually need and want to have in the way of C2C activities and support, and from seeing as well what other organisations or programmes are doing

2. External Support for C2C

1.1 City Capacity-Building Priorities:

2.1 Type of External Support

1.1.1 Aspects of Urban Management: • information & technical expertise • policy development & decisionmaking • policy implementation • institutional strengthening • managing change & using external support

2.1.1 Principal Modality of Support • direct C2C / other decentralised cooperation • network support • demonstration-replication & guidelines • documentation & dissemination of best practices • provision & exchanges of specialised expertise • training and human resource development • strategic capital investment

1.1.2 Local Government Functions: • municipal finance • environment • urban infrastructure & services • housing / shelter • gender / poverty • employment / economic development • security / disaster management • health / education • social / cultural

Looking at Support for C2C. Similarly, support for C2C includes a wide range of different activities, approaches, programmes, and organisations, and the analytical framework can help these to be seen more clearly. Four main categories (or sets of characteristics) for comparing support options for C2C are proposed, as seen in the right-hand column in Table 3.2: • One category for the type of external support: 1. C2C support modalities • Three categories related to the organisation of the external support: 2. Geographical focus 3. Funding and resources 4. Facilitating institutions Each particular example of support for C2C can then be described in respect to the various characteristics listed under each main category heading. For illustration, the Urban Environment Forum (UEF) supported

by UN-HABITAT might be described as follows: Under modality of support, the UEF focuses on networking support and exchange of information and technical knowledge; in relation to geographical focus, the UEF is global, not restricted to any particular region or countries; in terms of funding and resources, the UEF relies primarily on the participating cities’ own budgets and the use of development programme or project budgets; and finally, in terms of facilitating institutions, the UEF involves both individual city authorities and bilateral and multilateral aid organisations.

1. City Priorities & Practices in C2C

1.2 City C2C Practices: 1.2.1 Geographical Scope: • North-South • South-South • North-North • West-East • Global 1.2.2 Cooperation Structures: • One-on-One • Groups 1.2.3 Active Participants: • local authorities • NGOs and CBOs • private sector • academic / research • national associations of local authorities

2.2 Organisation of External Support 2.2.1 Geographical Focus: • multi-regional / Global • Africa • Asia • Latin America & Caribbean • Middle East & North Africa • Central & Eastern Europe / former USSR 2.2.2 Funding and Resources: • programme’s own budget • local partner budgets • development project / programme funds • other grants and loans • self-funding activities • foundations, trust funds 2.2.3 Facilitating Institutions: • individual local/regional authorities • associations of local authorities • national governments • bilateral/multilateral aid organisations • professional associations • national/international NGOs • private sector organisations

in relation to C2C support. Development agencies and donors benefit from being able to see more clearly how the needs of cities can best fit with their own capabilities and mandate, and to discern what are the best opportunities for partnership - the scope for complementary action and for reinforcing other development-related interventions.

By following this approach, the report will be able to display the vast range of city-to-city cooperation options while also illustrating the variety of complementary international support available from the UN, associations of cities and local authorities, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, and others. Moreover, doing this in a systematic way will provide the basis for identifying important patterns of practice and support - and for drawing useful insights and lessons of experience.

The analytical framework used here is not the only one possible, nor is it definitive. It is instead a “work in progress” which shows the advantages of a systematic approach but which can, and should, be further modified and refined as its use progresses. For instance, different main categories might be proposed, and more or different descriptions might be listed under each main category. These, however, will essentially be secondary adjustments to the basic approach of using a systematic analytical framework, an approach which remains fundamental to the joint UN-HABITAT/WACLAC effort to maximise the potential of C2C. In Chapter 4, City Practices in C2C are presented and described in accordance with the categories and characteristics of the analytical framework (Table 3.2). In Chapter 4, Support for C2C is presented and described in a similar way.

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4.

City Priorities and Practices in City-to-City Cooperation 4.1 Framework for Comparing City Priorities and Practices

4.2 Cities’ Capacity-Building Priorities

The last chapter has outlined the developments leading to the present wide range of activities involved in C2C practices, but has said little of the content of the activities involved. That is the purpose of the present chapter. No report on this subject can aspire to present a fully comprehensive picture of what is going on, because there is no central database, let alone coordination, of activities. The purpose of the analytical framework outlined above is, however, to enable C2C priorities and practices of action to be classified within the broad categories listed in the left-hand column above. The following sections outline the range of priorities and practices within each category and provide some illustrative examples of the wide scope of initiatives underway.

Many C2C activities, especially those which have evolved with a development initiative, are focused on particular aspects of the urban management process. This is a logical response to the difficulties faced by cities, particularly but not only in lower income countries, in addressing the increasingly severe urban development problems they face. There has also been a growing awareness that limited management capabilities, not lack of technology or capital, is generally the key constraint to achieving sustainable urban development, and that therefore changes in approach, policy and governance are required. This has focused attention on the process of managing urban development and growth.

In this context, cities have become much more interested in learning from one another, in other cities have overcome these constraints and have worked out better structures and methodologies for urban management.

It may be that, as this analysis of the state of the art of C2C is further developed, some additional categories may need to be incorporated in the reporting structure to do justice to the whole spread of C2C practices. However, the authors’ hope is that this framework will provide a workable structure for analysing and comparing the key features of C2C practices. As more and more evidence of the benefits, but also the pitfalls, of C2C is assembled, those actively involved in C2C initiatives are warmly invited to provide further inputs of material and illustrative cases that will find their appropriate places within the overall structure that we have traced.

The purpose of the illustrative boxes contained in this part of the report is to provide a representative array of concrete examples of the types of practice being described in the main text, referenced to the specific category of practice under discussion and indicating the lessons learned and any policy issues arising. Space permitting, many other equally representative examples could have been included. Chapter 5 similarly illustrates the characteristics of the various forms of external support provided to C2C initiatives. Chapters 6 and 1 then draw some tentative conclusions, and in particular discuss how the international community can help provide the most favourable environment for developing C2C and how the policy issues arising for local authorities and their associations, for support agencies, and for national and international donors, should be taken forward.

Improving Aspects of Urban Management

The art and science of urban management comprise a complex web of interacting components. Among these, the following five core areas have been identified by a number of global city networks concerned with sharing information and experience in upgrading their urban development planning and management processes: • information and technical expertise • policy development and decision-making • policy implementation • institutional strengthening • managing change and using external support.

Access to and effective utilisation of information and technical expertise, applied to a wide range of thematic tasks, is a key aspect of modern urban management. This is an area of activity, moreover, for which direct city-to-city cooperation is well suited. The provision of technical expertise to a partner city by temporarily seconding specialist staff has been a feature of many North-South C2C projects, for example. There is also a growing trend toward direct exchange of staff among cities, as a device for mutual learning by sharing information and experience between the professional staff of both partner cities (“peer-to-peer”); this is seen also in some South-South C2C activities.

4.2.1 San Fernando, Philippines, strengthens its capacity to manage land use development and emergency preparedness through partnership with Langley, Canada C2C Context: Under the Municipal Partnership Program supported by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and following a successful pilot phase, San Fernando and Langley have agreed upon a twoyear programme of capacity-building in the areas of land use planning and disaster management.

Economic and population growth have placed severe strains upon the city's medium-term strategic development plan, creating urgent needs to deal with unregulated development and urban sprawl and to enforce the observance of planning regulations.

Results/Outcomes: While many of the planned steps in the programme have still to be completed, the partners are confident that at the end of the two years San Fernando will have a Comprehensive Local Urban Plan which can be effectively implemented in collaboration with both the local ‘barangays’ and the provincial government. San Fernando has allocated a proportion of its own budget funds to cover its

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involvement in the programme. The work will include extensive staff training, restructuring and development, the production of tools and systems to improve planning processes, and the introduction of benchmarking for future monitoring of performance.

Issues Arising: Care will need to be taken to ensure compliance with the national legislation governing planning and to secure central government approval of the Comprehensive Local Urban Plan. Enforcement of land use regulations will be a continuing challenge, in which ‘win-win solutions’ for all parties will need to be demonstrated. The Emergency Response Plan and Operations Manual to be developed as the second element of the partnership programme will need to be dovetailed with the Plan and the necessary central government approvals obtained on this basis.

Source: San Fernando / Langley Partnership Agreement, 2002

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

There has been a growing awareness that limited management capabilities, not lack of technology or capital, is generally the key constraint to achieving sustainable urban development In addition, there are numerous international programmes which have sought to increase the flow of technical information to cities; some of these (such as the UK Know-How Fund’s Local Authority Technical Links Scheme for Central and Eastern Europe) aim to deliver technical expertise specifically on a cityto-city basis. Most, however, function primarily on the basis of assistance from the programme to the city, drawing in the process upon the programme’s experience with other cities facing similar issues (“indirect C2C”). In a few cases this has stimulated the formation of C2C networks, through which technical information is spread directly from city to city.

The process of policy development and decision-making - identifying and assessing options, analysing benefits and costs, balancing resource requirements - is an aspect of modern urban management which is quite different from traditional forms of city administration. It involves not only technical processes of analysis and assessment, but also participatory activities to ensure the support of, and information from, a full range of local stakeholders.

Within the framework of a wide variety of international programmes (such as the Sustainable Cities Programme, the Urban Management Programme, Localising Agenda 21, the Cities Alliance, etc.) new approaches are being worked out through direct action in a variety of cities. So far, most of these activities have been implemented through programme-to-city relationships, but there is considerable scope for direct city-to-city forms of cooperation; indeed, this has already begun to develop on an ad hoc basis, as in the cooperation on sustainable urban development between Nakuru and Leuven.

Policy implementation is perhaps the most challenging aspect of managing cities today, and to be successful it requires a wider range of more complex activities than has traditionally been designed into local government systems. This involves use of the full range of instruments including regulatory approaches, strategic investments, economic incentive mechanisms, public information strategies etc. It also involves the development of action plans, the synthesis of different implementation techniques and capabilities, the mobilisation of resources, and the strengthening of operational management.

There has been relatively little work specifically focused on this aspect of the urban management function, other than through the international programmes which deal with the process overall (such as the Sustainable Cities Programme). However, some C2C partnerships which focus on particular sectors have often had strong elements of focus on implementation and related operational aspects.

4.2.2 Bangkok, Thailand, transfers techniques from Yokohama, Japan’s flood control system

C2C Context: Rapid development of open land combined with its low elevation result in Bangkok suffering from frequent flooding. Officials of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration learned that innovative flood control methods had been developed by Yokohama in the face of similar problems and sought their advice.

Results/Outcomes: Experts from the Sewage Works Bureau of Yokohama visited Bangkok to work with local officials on implementation of the concept of ‘retention ponds’ for rainwater as now widely used in Japan. Following further joint work, the Bangkok engineers are

now so confident of the validity of the approach that they are developing an application handbook and computer program with Chulalongkorn University to assist in countrywide application of the technique.

Issues Arising: A relatively simple technique already widely used in Japan but unknown in Thailand was transferred effectively through direct peer-to-peer exchanges. Widespread replication of the technique acquired through a C2C initiative is now being facilitated.

Source: Citynet Guidelines for Transferring Effective Practices, 1998

4.2.3 Peer-to-peer exchanges give Poznan, Poland, new capacity C2C Context: Having developed new links with partners in the West in the context of the democratisation process, Polish cities were keen to learn the techniques necessary to upgrade their services to meet rising public expectations. The UK Government’s Know-How Fund Local Authority Technical Links Scheme offered a mechanism to facilitate such transfers.

Results/Outcomes: As existing twinning partners, Nottinghamshire County Council and the City of Poznan were among the first applicants to this experimental scheme of support for short-term exchange projects. The introduction of new waste management methods and recycling techniques, the restructuring of the city’s transport service, the development of the airport for tourist traffic, the training of dairy and meat specialists, and the devel-

opment of a business school were among the projects undertaken.

Issues Arising: The Technical Links Scheme was launched in 1992 and ended in 2001. After an initial period it was operated by the Local Government International Bureau on a delegated basis. 153 projects were carried out, all submitted jointly by a UK local authority and a partner city in one of the target countries. Assessments of the effectiveness of the projects were mostly favourable, but it was not thought appropriate to make a scheme of this kind permanent as it cuts across established development cooperation approaches. Where the partner cities did not have an enduring link the sustainability of the projects was less readily assured.

Source: Local Government International Bureau, Nottinghamshire County Council, 2001

4.2.4 Direct city-to-city partnership in formulating sustainability strategy develops out of the international Localising Agenda 21 initiative (Nakuru, Kenya and Leuven, Belgium) C2C Context: Through the Localising Agenda 21 programme of UN-HABITAT technical expertise from Leuven participated in the early stages of work in Nakuru. From this start, there developed a longerterm “pact” between the two cities, to formalise their cooperation in formulating sustainable development strategies for Nakuru.

Results/Outcomes: The direct C2C links between the two cities have developed steadily, not only in relation to sustainable development strategies but even leading to wider forms of city-to-city cooperation, such as education, exchange of information, and cultural understanding. Creation of the direct C2C linkage was not an intended consequence of the original LA21 initiative but instead grew out of it, in a

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“natural” way.

Issues Arising: The stimulus of an international initiative can boost the idea of C2C, but it requires a significant commitment by the two intending partners, particularly in the North city which needs to allocate financial and other resources. Also, in this particular case the introduction of Leuven was indirect and fortuitous, not part of the LA21 programme design; this suggests that a more deliberate or explicit city-connecting element could usefully be introduced into international development support programmes. readily assured.

Source: LA21 programme office, UN-HABITAT; reports from Municipality of Leuven, 2001

4.2.5 Kharkov, Ukraine formulates a public information strategy through the TACIS partnership with Lille, France C2C Context: This cooperation project supported by the EU’s TACIS City Twinning Scheme addressed ways of formulating a strategy for communicating official city information to the public, as a vital step in strengthening democracy and overcoming historic public suspicion of officialdom in the former capital and second city of the Ukraine.

Outcomes/Lessons: The work plan started with a review of the city administration’s activities and means of communicating them to their target audiences. Trainees from Kharkov studied the various techniques and media used for city communications and observed these in operation in a variety of contexts. The second stage focussed upon the day-to-day responsibilities of the Kharkov staff by providing them with extensive contacts with people in the public and private sectors in Lille aimed at demonstrating how positive communications networks operate in practice.

Issues Arising: It became clear that the transition to open public information is necessarily a step-by-step process in a country where the population is still highly suspicious of official information. Thus the project had to be kept concrete and realistic, and not too ambitious. There were some tensions between the partner cities at both political and administrative levels over the selection of trainees, the implementation and monitoring of the programme, and the consequential restructuring required in the services.

Source: adapted from the TACIS Compendium of Projects, European Commission 1998

Management of the process of institutional strengthening encompasses many different features of a city’s organisational structures, procedures, relations to civil society, etc. - features which are central to a set of issues that are sometimes referred to collectively as “governance”. This area of concern has been a focus for certain C2C programmes, especially North-South partnerships and city-focused interventions by international programmes.

Institutional aspects, particularly in relation to democratisation and transition to a market economy, have been an important part of both C2C and international programme activities addressing the needs of the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

A notable feature of recent developments in urban management has been the need to improve techniques for managing change and using external support. Globalisation trends, new information and communications technologies, advances in organisational thinking, more enlightened approaches to human resources management and planning, readiness to explore a wider range of service delivery mechanisms including collaboration with nongovernmental organisations, new openings for partnership with the private sector – all these have combined with the enhanced interest of the international agencies in capacity-building at the local level to create a new dynamic for change in local government. Positive as these developments are, they in turn create the need for urban managers and policymakers to acquire new skills, and C2C relationships have played a significant part in facilitating the transfer of such skills.

Improving Individual Local Government Functions

4.2.6 Institutional reform in the education service through the partnership between Hillerød, Denmark and Darkhan-Uul, Mongolia C2C Context: Hillerød is a town of 35,000 population not far from Copenhagen with a mixed occupational structure. Darkhan-Uul with 86,600 population is the second largest city of Mongolia, with rich mineral resources, a growing SME sector, wide educational facilities, but also many traditional farms. The cooperation project supported by the EU’s TACIS City Twinning Scheme was aimed at capacity-building and organisational structure development in the education service, in order to improve education provision in reinforcement of the local and regional development of democracy and the market economy. Key features were human capacity-building, institutional linkages and personal relations as a basis for project implementation.

Outcomes/Lessons: The project focused upon the development of Mongolian expertise through intensive study visits to Hillerød institutions.

Four Mongolian educationalists spent three months in Denmark, acquiring the expertise to select priority areas for service development and to act as trainers on their return. Subsequent seminars and workshops in Mongolia on standards and indicators, together with the production of handbooks, have helped to spread a confident new vision for the education service.

Issues Arising: The critical issues were seen as: partnership based upon open and flexible attitudes, ownership of the project by those responsible for implementation, sustainability through this high degree of local commitment, and monitoring and evaluation of performance at every stage.

Source: adapted from the TACIS Compendium of Projects, European Commission 1998

4.2.7 Financial management improvements in Chegutu, Zimbabwe through partnership with Canada C2C Context: An established link with Hinton, Canada enabled Chegutu to draw upon Canadian municipal expertise in financial management.

Outcomes/Lessons: Chegutu’s finance and treasury departments were computerised, such improvements enabling the town’s revenue base to be improved substantially to a tax collection rate of 75%. Once the town’s accounts could be audited on a regular and timely basis, it qualified to receive World Bank funds under the national infrastructure programme.

Issues Arising: This is a classic instance of peer-to-peer exchange in a mainstream local government function of major importance to the efficient functioning of a city. Schemes for replicating such exchanges within and between countries of the South would make tangible improvements to local government capacity and sustainability.

Source: UNDP Report ‘The Challenges of Linking’, 2000

Clearly, the scope of substantive topics addressed through C2C practices can span the whole range of local government activity - as well as encompass areas which are largely outside the responsibility of local government. As a result, one may find C2C undertakings focused on one or more of a great variety of different sectoral themes: municipal finance, environment, water supply, solid waste management, transport, housing, public health, economic development, education, etc. These might be oriented towards specific projects (e.g., building a new sewage treatment works) or involved more with long-term collaboration (upgrading of local tax collection and financial accounting). In either case, a sectoral focus is relatively easier to operate for C2C cooperation simply because both partners tend to be organised in broadly similar ways and focused on generally comparable municipal tasks.

Traditional official twinning links often evolve into a focus on particular local government departments or functions, depending upon the needs and capabilities of the partner cities.

Municipal finance, for example, attracts considerable attention in North-South and in WestEast relationships. In the field of urban renewal, the extensive recent experience of a North partner (Rotterdam) underpinned a highly-focused cooperation project with the South twin (Shanghai) which included training and technical expertise as well as a field demonstration and which also involved the Dutch international development agency.

In relation to basic municipal services, solid waste management has attracted considerable attention among C2C projects. For example, Haarlem (Netherlands) supported Mutare (Zimbabwe) in developing strategies and plans for solid waste management (domestic, industrial, hazardous) and in subsequent implementation. Transport was the focus of cooperation between Kirklees (UK) and Kampala (Uganda), in which personnel exchange and related technical support led to a road and traffic plan which was accepted by the World Bank for implementation.

Health and social services are another municipal sector on which C2C cooperation has been focused, for instance with training of health workers, operational support, and construction of new facilities.

An interesting example in the sector of security has stemmed from the UN-HABITAT Safer Cities Programme, through which a number of cities in South Africa were stimulated to set up their own network for direct city-to-city exchange of experience.

In recent years the urban environment has become a more frequent focus of activity, primarily through international programmes which work with cities (for example the Sustainable Cities Programme of UN-HABITAT/UNEP), but also through networks which have developed out of such work, for instance the Urban Environment Forum. Local Agenda 21 has been a powerful motivating factor for a number of cities, particularly in the North. It is striking, for example, that more than 750 local authorities and associations are members of the European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign, which has been sponsored by the European

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Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

Commission in collaboration both with the European local government associations and with the WHO Healthy Cities Programme to promote best practice exchange.

...one may find C2C undertakings focused on one or more of a great variety of different sectoral themes: municipal finance, environment, water supply, solid waste management, transport, housing, public health, economic development, education, etc.

Action in the urban environment field has been stimulated and guided in many cases by the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), which has promoted a wide range of opportunities for the exchange of information and experience between cities in environmental management and produced extensive guidance materials. As well as denoting a more inclusive approach to policy development, addressing economic and social considerations as much as environmental concerns, Local Agenda 21 calls for the fostering of global awareness regarding the use of resources, and some cities have placed it at the centre of their international relations policies. Under a programme supported by the Dutch Government, a series of ‘sustainability charters’ have been worked out between linked pairs of cities in North and South, involving jointly elaborated and monitored policies for moving towards sustainability.

4.2.8 C2C provides the basis for a housing renewal project (Rotterdam and Shanghai)

4.2.10 Bamako, Mali expands access to primary healthcare through French connection

C2C Context: Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Shanghai, China have a long-standing twinning relationship. In the late 1980s Rotterdam was considered a leading city in the field of urban housing renewal, a task Shanghai was just beginning to address.

Jointly with experts from the Institute of Housing Studies (IHS) (supported by the Netherlands Government), the municipality of Rotterdam undertook a series of training events, held in both cities, and followed up with a demonstration project of renewal in a block of old housing in Shanghai.

Outcomes/Lessons: The exchange of experience through professional visits and training in both cities provided a good foundation for the following demonstration project, which itself succeeded in physically renovating an old housing block thus showing an alternative approach and illustrating new technologies for renovation.

Issues Arising: This cooperation showed a successful way of combining a direct city-tocity collaboration with support from a national government development programme.

The lack of follow-up to the demonstration project, however, limited the impact of the undertaking.

C2C Context: Bamako has been twinned with Angers, France since 1974, and a wide range of municipal services have benefited from inputs of funding and expertise, with the participation of many community groups on both sides.

Outcomes/Lessons: A major area of cooperation has been in the development of primary healthcare services through the provision of several community health centres, upgrading of hospital facilities, training of doctors and nurses, and provision of medical supplies.

Source: experts from IHS

4.2.9 North-South cooperation upgrades waste management in Mutare, Zimbabwe C2C Context: Within the context of a broadly-based twinning relationship formed in 1992, Haarlem, Netherlands and Mutare have worked together under the banner of Local Agenda 21 on improvements to several municipal services including housing, social services, education, and waste management.

Outcomes/Lessons: The programme included the preparation of a master plan for handling domestic refuse and industrial and hazardous waste, and to control dumping and leakage. The plan is being implemented progressively in conjunction with an NGO. The link has provided assistance with vehicles and training, and has also led to the production of national guidelines on the man-

agement of hazardous waste. Funding has come from Haarlem’s own budget, community sources, and technical assistance funds administered by the Association of Netherlands Municipalities.

Issues Arising: The priorities in service improvements have been determined by Mutare but input from Haarlem has served as a catalyst in achieving better living conditions. Reciprocity is a basic principle in the relationship, expressed through dialogue and input of expertise on both sides rather than at a material level. NGO participation is fundamental at both ends of the link.

Source: UNDP Report ‘The Challenge of Linking’, 2000

Issues Arising: As well as contributing significantly to quality of life in Bamako, the flow of technical assistance from Angers institutions (including significant private sector engagement), supported by French Government aid, has had the effect of mobilising public solidarity. The wide span of activities within the link, including major cultural components, has helped to promote multicultural understanding and to combat racism in Angers.

Source: UNDP Report ‘The Challenge of Linking’, 2000

4.2.11 Charlotte, USA, helps develop a new service for disabled people in Voronezh, Russia C2C Context: Within the framework of the Sister Cities International / USAID programme, Charlotte, North Carolina, through the Charlotte Sister Cities Program worked with the Voronezh community and the media to raise awareness on disability issues, and end the prejudice which disabled persons experience in Voronezh, where there is no legal protection for the disabled.

Outcomes/Lessons: The partners developed an outstanding project that contributed to equal opportunity, improvement of access and expanded participation of people with disabilities in Voronezh. Charlotte supported

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the Voronezh Rehabilitation and Training Centre (VRTC) through the donation of medical supplies and the exchange of healthcare professionals. VRTC specializes in the analysis, rehabilitation, and job skill training and placement of young adults with disabilities, and encourages a medical, social and vocational approach to disability rehabilitation.

Issues Arising: This project shows professional staff working together in a relatively undeveloped service area, as part of a broader C2C partnership.

Source: Sister Cities International, 2002

4.2.12 City cooperation on urban security in South Africa through the Safer Cities Programme

4.2.14 How Gulu’s, Uganda link with Lancashire, UK developed out of Local Agenda 21 C2C Context: In the course of an advisory visit by the UK Association of County Councils aimed at developing a technical cooperation programme with its Ugandan counterpart association, an initial contact with Gulu was made by Lancashire’s County Planning Officer. A joint project for developing a Local Agenda 21 programme was then drawn up with Gulu and implemented with co-funding from the European Union.

Outcomes/Lessons: After the funded project was completed, Lancashire decided to reduce its direct commitment and transfer responsibility for the link with Gulu to a non-profit company, which is continuing to exchange Local Agenda 21 information and seeking to develop broader exchanges and community projects

C2C Context: The Safer Cities Programme of UN-HABITAT works with cities to help develop strategies and plans for urban security based on local partnerships. The beginning stages involve the use of experts (often provided by cities in the North) to assist in local analysis of the situation as well as training, before moving on to a local participatory formulation of strategies.

Outcomes/Lessons: The approach has worked well in many cities, particularly in Africa and Latin America. A notable success has been the exchange of expertise among cities, sharing of experiences, and mutual learning - much of which involves directly initiated city-to-city linkages with the Programme acting as facilitator.

Issues Arising: The foundations laid through the Programme’s work with individual cities have enabled the formation of local and regional networks of cities, to encourage greater C2C collaboration. Cities within South Africa have made the greatest progress, responding to an awareness of shared problems and establishing their own network.

The regional networks have not made similar progress.

Source: the Safer Cities Programme Unit, UN-HABITAT

with Gulu. The county council is represented on the board of the company but has no continuing financial commitment to the link. Measures to strengthen the capacity of the link and expand community engagement are actively underway at both ends following the cessation of guerrilla activities in Northern Uganda.

Issues Arising: Relatively few European Local Agenda 21 programmes have comprised an explicit NorthSouth element. This one came about through the enthusiasm of an individual officer taking part in an advisory mission for his association and has survived subsequent organisational challenges on both sides.

The link is now institutionalised at community level.

Source: Lancashire County Council, Global-to-Local

4.2.15 C2C on urban environment facilitated through global networking C2C Context: The Urban Environment Forum (UEF) is a global network of cities and urban development practitioners (including partners from international support programmes), defined by its members’ shared concerns for urban environmental management. It evolved from a global project of UN-HABITAT, focused on the environmental planning and management (EPM) process, which held regional meetings and assembled case study material.

Outcomes/Lessons: The UEF came into existence because of the benefits seen by cities (and by international support programmes) in having a forum of exchange focused specifically on the key issues of

urban environmental management. Global, regional and thematic meetings have brought cities together around specific environmental planning topics and have successfully involved those international support programmes which are concerned with the same issues.

City experiences have also been documented and published in the widely-circulated EPM Source Book.

Issues Arising: It is clear that the UEF met a real need, by providing a global forum devoted specifically to the issue of urban environmental management, since a focused network is more effective than one with generalised aims.

Source: the Urban Environment Unit, UN-HABITAT

4.2.13 C2C on urban environment facilitated through global networking

Over 350 cities* 50 International Support Programmes* * 2000 C2C Context: The Urban Environment Forum (UEF) is a global network of cities and urban development practitioners (including partners from international support programmes), defined by its members’ shared concerns for urban environmental management. It evolved from a global project of UN-HABITAT, focused on the environmental planning and management (EPM) process, which held regional meetings and assembled case study material.

Outcomes/Lessons: The UEF came into existence because of the benefits seen by cities (and by international support programmes) in having a forum of exchange focused specifically on the key issues of urban environmental management. Global, regional and thematic meetings have brought cities together around specific environmental planning topics and have successfully involved those international support programmes which are concerned with the same issues. City experiences have also been documented and published in the widely-circulated EPM Source Book.

Issues Arising: It is clear that the UEF met a real need, by providing a global forum devoted specifically to the issue of urban environmental management, since a focused network is more effective than one with generalised aims. Source: the Urban Environment Unit, UN-HABITAT.

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Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

4.3 Defining Features of C2C Practices Geographical Scope Historically, the first C2C links in the modern age were within Europe, i.e. North-North, and this still represents by far the largest category in numerical terms - although the least relevant to the principal purpose of this initiative. These links number many thousands of traditional twinnings, which are based upon more or less equal resources and the principle of reciprocity, and whose primary focus is upon exchanges of people and groups of all kinds. The European Commission reported the existence in 1995 of some 7,000 twinning relationships among the local authorities of its 15 member states alone, many of these being among quite small municipalities and communities, and the twinnings with communities in the other European countries would add significantly to this number.

4.3.1 Birmingham and its European partners build upon EU opportunities

While the focus of most North-North links may have been social/cultural, rooted in the aim of bringing people together across national boundaries to reinforce peace - and, in the case of many of the European links, explicitly or implicitly to help build a united Europe - many of the links between larger towns also include technical/professional cooperation activities and, increasingly, economic development components. A number thus have a focus in the urban management function and/or a thematic focus on one or more local government responsibilities.

European Union funding programmes in the areas of regional development, transport, environment, energy, research etc have also led to the formation or reinforcement of many North-North links and networks. In some cases, project proposals have come forward to EU programmes from cities already linked; in others EU research programmes on a wide range of thematic areas related to local government functions have attracted new involvement by cities in C2C practices. These programmes have stimulated extensive networking among elected members and officials of the participating cities and have led to the formation of ongoing collaborative structures loosely facilitated by the European associations of local authorities. The dissemination of the results of these programmes to a wider group of cities which could benefit from them, not only among the EU countries but also more widely, offers considerable potential for an expansion of C2C practice addressing concrete local government responsibilities.

The next category to develop, albeit much more slowly, was North-South links, most often initiated from the North, frequently on the basis of previous colonial links. A significant number of new links also arose from associations with solidarity movements, the most striking case being that of Nicaragua, where coordination mechanisms were set up among the European cities involved in cooperation programmes.

North-South links were sometimes, but not always by any means, seen primarily as constituting a humanitarian aid / charity rather than a technical cooperation / partnership relationship. However, some which started in that way have developed a broader base through subsequent activities and through the realisation that the link truly brings twoway benefits.

There are examples of North-South links between cities in nearly all the European countries and countries of the South, and there are many North-South links involving partners in North America, Japan and Australia.

The development of West-East links started well before the end of the cold war, being promoted notably through the Embassies of the USSR. They were politically controversial, and were supported in particular by those who saw them as a means of establishing contacts with partners in cities at a human level, without thereby giving any signal of approval for the nature of the central regime. This area has expanded greatly since 1990, assisted by a number of national and European programmes to promote democratic practice and facilitate technical cooperation. Many of the links established in the earlier times have endured through the major political changes, and have been at the forefront of those taking part in the new cooperation programmes. An interesting extra dimension here has been the promotion of North-South-East links, a concept promoted by the Netherlands Government in particular and given an extra push through a Trilateral Municipal Cooperation Programme projected jointly with IULA as a follow-up to the IULA World Congress on Municipal International Cooperation held in The Hague in 1995.

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C2C Context: Birmingham (UK) has several well-established twinnings with other large European cities and participates actively in European networking through Eurocities and other channels. A mutually agreed action programme is drawn up for each link and regularly reviewed. This incorporates joint projects for which EU support can be obtained.

Outcomes / Lessons: Joint work is carried out with partner cities across the whole range of the city’s responsibilities. Examples of recent projects, most benefiting from EU support, include: a joint project with Lyon on the illumination of public buildings; a joint scheme with Leipzig on canal regeneration; a network of chief officers from all European partner cities to share experience of benchmarking schemes in city services; the ‘Headlamp’ scheme whereby every newly appointed head teacher in the city’s schools is sent on attachment to a corresponding school in a twin town to widen their experience of the education system and develop potential new links; and participation in a major exhibition in Milan of works by young artists from partner cities.

Issues Arising: Cooperation with the partner cities across a wide range of areas facilitates mutual learning and contributes to tangible improvements in the delivery of services. Through their action programmes the partners set mutually agreed goals in the context of their enduring relationships and define means of achieving them by means of the proactive use of EU support opportunities.

Source: Birmingham City Council, 2001

4.3.2 North-South partnership for improving public services and strengthening democratic governance: Europe and Nicaragua C2C Context: In 1985 a group of European cities (Bielefeld, Germany; Delft, Netherlands; Essen, Germany; Evry, France; San Felix de Llobregat, Spain; and Sheffield, UK) together with a German NGO formed a partnership with the Nicaraguan city of Esteli, to assist with water, sanitation and ecological projects.

Outcomes/Lessons: Building on 10 years’ experience of cooperation, the partners shifted the emphasis to institutional reform, specifically to strengthen democratic governance during the transition period of change to a multiparty system. This attracted support from the European Commission and led to a series of successful local activities in Esteli aimed at citizens and newly elected mayors and councillors, and including technical support on aspects such as finance and administration, planning, international relations. One result was strengthening of the links between Esteli and the six European cities.

Issues Arising: This was one of the first North-South C2C partnerships to focus on institutional reform and governance issues. Its concern for operational aspects of local democracy is probably the strongest feature, giving the partnership a concrete purpose and leading to visible results. This case is notable also for involving six cities from the North working together with one city from the South.

Adapted from “Europe - Central America Decentralised Cooperation Programme”, UTO, 2000

...in some countries of the South, the development of international links is not as yet recognised as a legitimate city function in local government legislation.

4.3.3 Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea, and Orange City, Australia, use Commonwealth funds to add practical substance to their sister city relationship

In recent years interest has grown considerably in the concept of South-South links, although the number of such links, especially on a one-to-one basis, is still limited. In theory, such links between cities at a broadly equivalent level of development could operate on the basis of similar concepts of reciprocity and exchanges of people and experience as apply in North-North links. Their potential relevance to the building of continental and inter-continental solidarity, as happened in Europe, may also be recognised. Limitations of resources as well as problems of distance represent special challenges for such links, particularly among the Least Developed Countries.

In addition, in some countries of the South, the development of international links is not as yet recognised as a legitimate city function in local government legislation. A number of South-South links are, however, facilitated by networks and associations to which cities in the South adhere. Moreover, increasing numbers of cities of the South are associating themselves in programmes of exchange of experience and good practice sponsored by international agencies, and these experiences may provide the impetus for the development of direct bilateral and multilateral links.

In some countries of the South, the opportunities for interchange between city practitioners is itself a challenge. National associations of local authorities and professional bodies are weak, and resources for such networking are severely restricted, particularly in the Least Developed Countries. The South-South cooperation taking place within particular countries as a spin-off of international cooperation programmes is indeed a dimension worthy of note. Relevant examples are the replication, through a UN-HABITAT project within nine cities of Tanzania of aspects of the Sustainable Dar-es-Salaam Programme and the similar replication process for sustainable cities in the Philippines facilitated by the Philippines League of Cities.

Cooperation Structures The majority of C2C links comprise a one-on-one partnership between just two communities. Many communities in the North have more than one twinning link, and some have as many as 20 twinning partners - though a proportion of these may be of historical importance but involve little concrete activity - as well as participating in ad hoc technical cooperation links with other cities or networks. Where communities have two or three twinnings in other countries, these are most often discrete links with their own history, personalities and characteristics, with each one steered by its own twinning association. In a significant minority of cases, however, bilateral links have been widened to take in another of the partner community’s own links, leading to tri- or multilateral links, a proportion of which also include partners in the East or South.

Not all one-on-one C2C links take the form of conventional twinnings or enduring partnership links, however. The recent emergence of funding schemes aimed at promoting technical cooperation between municipalities - such as the UK-funded Commonwealth Local Government Good Practice Scheme, the EU’s TACIS City Twinning Scheme and Asia-Urbs programme, or The Netherlands Government Inter-Municipal Development Cooperation programme - has led to new C2C practices which involve mutual commitment only for the duration of the externally supported project. Recent experience with support programmes of this kind for the East and South has indicated that those cities with existing twinning links are the best placed to present effective project proposals within a short timescale, because they already know and are used to working with their partners. However the existence of these schemes has led to the formation of many entirely new C2C relationships. It will be interesting to assess in time how many of these become formalised into enduring links.

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C2C Context: Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea, and Orange City Council, Australia, have a long- standing sister city relationship and welcomed the opportunity to access Commonwealth Local Government Good Practice Scheme funds to implement a practical partnership project on planning.

Results/Lessons: The partners have recently finished designing a project on planning, which will help build the technical capacity of Mount Hagen and enable them to work together on the delivery of a practical demonstration project. The strong relationship between the partners already involves active cultural links and they have started shooting a video, which will cover the whole project period. The footage to date is used to explain why Orange City Council is involved in the project work and what they feel the City will gain from such a partnership.

Issues Arising: Cities which are used to working together are well placed to benefit from new external funding opportunities, and can bring into a technical project wider aspects based upon their existing relationship. This project also illustrates the importance given to providing feedback to the 'donor' community.

Source: Commonwealth Local Government Forum, 2002

4.3.4 The North-East-West-South (NEWS) programme C2C Context: A three-year trial programme of cooperation between partners in the Netherlands, the Czech and Slovak Republics, and Nicaragua was initiated in 1992 with a view to integrating experience of democratisation and developing relevant cooperation projects in the East and the South. Within this programme, administered by the Union of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG), ‘triads’ of municipalities were established in cooperation between the local authority associations concerned through which the Czech and Slovak municipalities transferred municipal skills and assistance to development projects in Nicaragua, with financing from the Netherlands partner. The Czech and Slovak cities then used their experience of these projects to raise awareness in their communities of the need for development cooperation with the South.

Outcomes/Lessons: Eight ‘triads’ were established, some based on existing city links, and 20 concrete development projects were implemented in Nicaragua. Significant awareness-raising activities concerning development needs and approaches took place in the Czech and Slovak Republics, including the production of films for national television (co-financed by a Dutch NGO).

The programme was continued for a second phase and expanded to other countries in Central Europe and the South.

Issues Arising: National platforms of the cities involved in each country needed to be formed to ensure continuity and overcome problems arising from changes in personnel and priorities. The complexity of the linkages required special organisational effort, and communication in a common language was not always easy. However the global perspective achieved through the collaboration between three cultures and the correspondingly wide span of experience brought to bear on problems reaped considerable rewards.

Source: Adapted from IULA Publication ‘Trilateral Municipal Cooperation’, 1996

4.3.5 West African towns work with a facilitator to strengthen revenue collection C2C Context: In response to a shared problem of collecting local revenues, a group of municipal authorities in West Africa came together and, with the aid of an intermediary-facilitator provided through the Best Practices Programme, exchanged ideas and jointly worked out ways to proceed. The team from each city included a political leader, the chief financial officer, and the town clerk.

Results/Lessons: The facilitation helped the teams to understand more clearly the steps and processes involved in improving local non-fiscal revenue collection, and the intermediary undertook a comparative analysis of cost per unit of revenue collected. The teams worked in a structured learning environment, allowing the different actors to discuss and compare ideas about the systemic changes required. Three out of five municipalities introduced changes in revenue collection methods and systems within three months, resulting in a 2030% improvement in revenue collection efficiency.

Issues Arising: This South-South cooperation, stimulated by an external facilitator and operated through a carefully structured process, produced early tangible results for most of the group. Combined political and professional involvement helped to cement the cooperation.

Source: UN-HABITAT Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme, 2002

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

4.3.6 City-to-City replication of the Sustainable Dar es Salaam Project (Tanzania) C2C Context: The Government of Tanzania initiated a programme to extend to nine other cities the successful experience of the Sustainable Dar es Salaam Project (SDP), which had been implemented as part of the Sustainable Cities Programme (SCP) of UN-HABITAT. National replication was seen as a city-to-city exercise, using staff with experience in the SDP to help support similar SCP activities in the other cities.

Outcomes/Lessons: The replication programme has progressed steadily with most of the nine cities having also attracted additional international support. The ability of the

4.3.7 City and association links fostered through the Commonwealth Local Government Good Practice Scheme

replication cities to learn from the prior experience of Dar es Salaam was seen as a considerable advantage, especially in the early stages.

Issues Arising: The manpower resources available from Dar es Salaam were insufficient for the task of supporting nine cities and had to be supplemented with a nationallevel support unit. The building up of direct links among the nine cities helped as well, by providing a direct peer-topeer C2C network for information exchange and comparison of experience.

Source: UN-HABITAT, DANIDA, Government of Tanzania

4.3.9 Medcities: A geographically specific North-South network of cities focusing on environmental strategies and management

C2C Context: The Commonwealth Local Government Good Practice Scheme, funded by the UK Government, supports joint technical cooperation projects between cities and associations in two or more Commonwealth countries.

Outcomes/Lessons: The collaboration which the Scheme has enabled between the Local Government and Shires Association of New South Wales (Australia) and the Papua New Guinea Urban Local Level Government Association has in turn led to the strengthening of three existing city-to-city links between the two countries (Mount Hagen/Orange, Townsville/Port Moresby, and Cairns/Lae) through individual cooperation projects.

Issues Arising: C2C links can receive new impetus when they are enabled to operate within a broader support framework. Local government associations are important intermediaries in the development of C2C but often require capacity-building measures of their own in order to fulfil their members’ expectations.

Source: Commonwealth Local Government Forum

C2C context: Medcities was formed in 1991 to provide a structure for exchanges of experience and know-how on urban environment issues among the cities bordering all sides of the Mediterranean. It was initiated by the Mediterranean Action Programme (METAP) in collaboration with UTO. It currently comprises 27 cities and its membership basis has recently been widened to allow for two cities per country. Medcities’ aims are to strengthen the notion of interdependence and joint responsibility regarding environmental protection policies in the Mediterranean area; to strengthen the role and the capacity (institutional, financial and technical) of the cities in implementing local environmental policies; to promote awareness and involvement among users and the local population; and to facilitate direct cooperation policies by implementing partnerships among Mediterranean cities within the framework of national strategies.

Outcomes/Lessons: The Medcities approach aims to integrate economic, social

4.3.8 A Eurocities Network facilitates the European Car-Free Day

and environmental considerations. Recent work has included environmental audits, creation of a public information service on the environment for citizens and SMEs, promotion of Local Sustainable Development/Local Agenda 21, and participation in the Mediterranean Waste Management Programme (EU/UNDP). A model Urban Observatory in Tripoli, Lebanon and an associated Air Quality Monitoring Service were recently set up with assistance from network partners and external donors.

Issues Arising: Medcities’ core funding is provided by the European Union and by METAP, and individual projects are supported by national governments or multilateral donors. However, member cities are having to review the means of raising new revenues through charges or public/private partnerships to compensate for reductions in core funding.

Source: UTO paper, 2001, and Medcities newsletter, Aug 2000)

4.3.10 METROPOLIS: a decentralised urban management network among the world’s major metropolitan areas

C2C Context: The European Car-Free Day is an initiative to promote sustainable transport in urban areas by raising public awareness about the environmental impact of private cars, and the advantages of less polluting alternatives (such as walking, cycling, buses and trams, etc.). The Car-Free Day started in France in 1998, and in 1999 the idea spread also to Italy and Switzerland. Since then the European Car Free Day has really taken off, with Eurocities playing a pivotal role, working with the European Commission and other partners, in particular through the ACCESS network (formerly Car-Free Cities Network).

Outcomes/Lessons: In just two years, the initiative has spread across all of the EU Member States and 17 other countries, with more than 1,000 towns and cities participating in 2001.

There are plans to build on the success of the Car-Free Day by holding the first “European Mobility Week” in September 2002.

Issues Arising: Growing concern for sustainable urban development and control of pollution led a number of cities, networked by an association which facilitated EU funding support, to envisage a radical way of bringing home to their populations the possible alternatives to expanding car use in towns, with major media impact. Ways need to be developed of opening the results of networking activities of this kind in one region to others which could benefit from such exchanges of experience and practice.

Source: Eurocities, 2002

C2C Context: The cities and metropolitan authorities covering the world’s largest urban centres share particular problems, which were highlighted in the Habitat Agenda, and need to work together with the best available expertise to address these.

Outcomes/Lessons: Some 70 cities and metropolitan regions belong to METROPOLIS, together with some 50 associate members including companies, research institutions and consultancies serving the world’s biggest agglomerations. Through four decentralised commissions run by member cities on such subjects as transportation, social policy, spatial planning, culture etc,

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METROPOLIS organises exchanges of experience and develops policies which it promotes through the international community.

It also operates a Technical Assistance Service and an International Training Institute for the Management of Major Metropolises Issues Arising: The exchange of experience facilitated by the network is highly valued but the work programme depends heavily upon the input of a small number of institutions.

External support would help to maximise the potential of the network in furthering effective South-South cooperation on major urban issues.

Source: METROPOLIS 99 Barcelona Report

Another recent phenomenon is the development of a wide variety of technical cooperation networks between groups of cities. These tend to focus upon discreet topics of importance to the participating cities’ services, and they are set up either in response to an initiative or a call for tenders by a funding agency or else with a view to bringing project proposals forward to such an agency, often through facilitation by an established association. Programmes addressing sectoral issues such as waste disposal or traffic management, as well as broader programmes to promote sustainable development or participatory democracy, have provided the basis for such ongoing cooperation networks to develop.

Much of the work of these networks among cities in developed countries would be of potential benefit to cities in other regions, and ways may need to be found of expanding access to it. Yet another form of network is that constituted in accordance with political party affiliation. A number of such networks have emerged in Europe, but their potential for facilitating sustainable C2C practice is necessarily limited by changes in political party fortunes.

4.3.11 Cebu works with Fort Collins & Larimer County and with many local partners to upgrade its waste management plans

C2C Context: The partnership among Cebu City in the Philippines, and Fort Collins and Larimer County in Colorado, USA, assisted Cebu to address the critical service delivery needs of its citizens, especially in solid waste management. The resulting action plan defines the following partnership objectives: to design a frame-work for a ten-year solid waste management plan that incorporates donor and private sector projected investment, to develop a pilot project for recycling and composting, to improve solid waste management, and to reduce the volume of waste entering the landfill.

A different and wider category of network is constituted by sectoral membership organisations or associations. These may focus upon particular city characteristics – examples are METROPOLIS, which brings together the biggest metropolitan authorities world-wide, or more specialised groupings of port cities, historic towns etc – or upon a shared culture – such as the Association of Francophone Mayors, the Union of Lusophone Capital Cities, or the Organisation of Islamic Capitals and Cities. Some of these organisations undertake substantial and ongoing programmes of joint work, while others comprise such a diversity of members that the shared interest other than, for example, language, is more limited. Where these groupings comprise a lead country in the North, they are sometimes seen as integral parts of that country’s development cooperation mechanisms leading to significant technical cooperation programmes, and they all have the potential to generate interest in the development of new direct South-South links.

Results/Lessons: To date, the Cebu City government has developed a number of policy proposals to support the initiatives in the action plan. Cebu has also engaged citizens groups, NGOs, universities, and the business community in the proposed pilot areas to secure their support and input.

Issues Arising: The C2C partnership link with the USA shows Cebu the potential of working with the private sector and a wide range of partners from all sectors in the local community.

Source: ICMA, 2002

4.3.12 Stakeholder involvement – a key element in the vitality of C2C links which spearheaded a wide range of concrete projects for environmental improvements, waste management, air pollution control, solar energy implementation, and reforestation.

Issues Arising: The link has been mutually beneficial, and in the context of Local Agenda 21 new structures have been developed through which much broader sections of society in both cities have participated in the process of sustainable development.

NGOs have facilitated private sector cooperation, and the Pune link provided the incentive for the University of Bremen to join the Local Agenda 21 process.

Source: Adapted from ‘Partnerships for Sustainable Development – Asia’, Towns and Development, 1999

It is relevant also to mention here a further rapidly expanding and effective form of international cooperation among cities which does not rely upon direct C2C links. This is the exchange of ‘good’ or ‘best practices’, which is promoted by a number of international agencies and associations, in many cases supported by an award scheme. Cities submit their experience to these schemes individually, but the processes of dissemination may well bring them into direct contact with other cities which wish to learn from the experience documented and adapt it to their own needs. These ad hoc contacts, which are being increasingly facilitated by the international agencies, may or may not lead to ongoing exchanges and the creation of formal links. But the experience of international exposure which such schemes provide undoubtedly encourages cities to go forward in looking beyond their own boundaries for solutions to their problems.

C2C Context: Bremen, Germany and Pune, India started their collaboration over a project in 1976 to support handicapped children in a Pune hospital. In 1980 NGOs were established in each city, known as City Solidarity Forums, to develop links across a wide range of community organisations and institutions.

Outcomes/Lessons: Official agreements were signed between the local authorities, universities and chambers of commerce, leading to widespread exchanges, training programmes, business links, joint projects, cultural events, and education programmes. This in turn led to joint work on Local Agenda 21, and the formation of a round table of administrators, scientists, industry representatives and NGOs in Pune

Active Participants

4.3.13 German Local Authority Associations’ Participation in a National Platform for Development Cooperation

The diversity of inter-connections between cities are very wide in this era of globalisation, ranging from enduring city twinnings through technical cooperation partnerships to individual ad hoc contacts. A distinguishing feature is whether each city’s own local government body is formally committed to the link. Such a commitment need not necessarily be to a long-term or indefinite relationship, it can simply be related to the undertaking of a specific time-limited programme of cooperation. On the other hand, the performance of an ad hoc consultancy assignment by an individual councillor or member of staff on behalf of an external agency could not normally be regarded as falling within the general concept of C2C practice, although such assignments may also be potential building blocks of C2C.

C2C Context: The three main local authority associations in Germany have joined with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Development Ministries of nine of the sixteen Länder, the Carl Duisburg Foundation, and a range of other national foundations, NGOs and development agencies to form a new Service Agency ‘Municipalities in One World’. Based on the principles of Agenda 21 this agency will provide advice and guidance to local authorities, NGOs, and private sector clients over the implementation of development cooperation projects, together with associated exchange of experience, research and training activities and database services.

Outcomes/Lessons: It is too early to assess the results of this new initiative, but it builds upon the 2,000+ Local Agenda 21 programmes launched by German local authorities and also upon the experience of

Equally, there may be international partnership linkages maintained by local institutions or organisations in a city which involve no formal engagement by the city authorities yet which address city development issues and thus form part of the wider C2C canvas. Many such linkages do, however, operate under the aegis of official city links and indeed serve to strengthen and add substance to the links. Indeed, relatively few C2C relationships or exchange of experience

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a previous informal cooperation network of cities involved in North-South cooperation.

The active involvement of the Federal and Länder Ministries, the national associations of local authorities, foundations, and representatives of the private sector, trade unions, and NGOs in the governance of the Agency and its Programme Board is particularly promising.

Issues Arising: The focus upon NorthSouth cooperation may need to be tempered by awareness of the practice and potential of other forms of C2C in which German cities are or could be involved.

Means need to be found of associating partnership bodies such as this, and their accumulated experience of developing joint work between sectors, in any ongoing partnership structures that may be established internationally to facilitate C2C. Source: Servicestelle Kommunen in der Einen Welt, Konzeption brochure, 2002

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

schemes, engage only the city authorities themselves. In most cases there is an involvement by stakeholders who have an interest in the cooperation underway. Such stakeholders may in particular include private sector companies and chambers of commerce, which are increasingly recognising the extent of their dependence upon the fortunes of their city and the potential which their resources offer for helping to tackle urban problems and to provide a secure environment for the development of their businesses.

deal for its quality upon the particular strengths and focus of the institutions concerned. Thus, for example, the City of Birmingham, UK has taken steps to associate the University of Birmingham, which is the major national centre for local government studies with a large training facility for city personnel from developing countries, as an active partner in many of its extensive international partnership activities. Similarly, the City of Bremen, Germany has drawn in the University of Bremen as an active partner with corresponding institutions in the city’s international links. The University also played a major part in drawing up the concept for the 2000/01 Bremen Initiative and international award scheme to promote best practice in the operation of city partnerships with the private sector.

Voluntary associations and community-based organisations, universities and colleges, trade unions etc., are also increasingly involved in city policymaking and service provision. Just as governance at the local level is increasingly recognised as needing to engage stakeholders, one of the key messages of the Habitat Agenda and Local Agenda 21, so C2C links also increasingly involve the relevant partners in the community.

National associations of local authorities are less often primary cooperating parties in the operation of C2C schemes, while undoubtedly having a key role in helping to initiate them and ensuring the most favourable support framework.

Given that their role is primarily a national one, involving policy advocacy with the national government and the provision of general services to the membership as a whole, national associations are not usually in a position to participate closely in the projects of individual member cities. They increasingly, however, have a role in facilitating C2C links and programmes, brokering new links through collaboration with their opposite numbers in other countries, and providing general advice and guidance. There are many examples of national associations taking initiatives to create opportunities for C2C to take place and, in some cases, administering a support scheme. There are also some recent examples of local authority associations in the North joining with NGOs, development agencies, and other partners to create a broader national platform for the promotion of development cooperation at the local level.

NGOs and CBOs are important components of many C2C practices in both North and South. A large number of projects with a thematic focus upon local service delivery rely upon NGO/CBO partners for their implementation. NGOs are often key partners of the city authorities in assessing local communities’ needs and communicating these to officials, and their own international links and networks can be brought into play in advancing C2C initiatives. The ‘joint action’ approach to development projects promoted by Towns and Development focuses upon bringing together the respective strengths of cities and NGOs in combined action programmes. Development NGOs in the North have an important further role to play in facilitating C2C, in that they can integrate these activities in their own urban programmes. They can also be sources of valuable practical advice to local authorities interested in participating in C2C initiatives who may have limited knowledge or understanding about the circumstances of a prospective partner community and the country concerned and may benefit from guidance concerning the wider contextual and cultural background to any new C2C endeavour.

Increasingly, the strengthening of national associations of local authorities is itself seen as making an important potential contribution to development. This has been the focus of a major programme administered by IULA as a follow-up to the 1995 Hague Congress on Municipal International Cooperation, which involved associations in North and South working in partnership with one another on the development of their representative functions and their services to members. It will be interesting to track the extent to which these linkages lead on to the fostering of new forms of cooperation between the associations’ member cities.

The extent to which local private sector interests become engaged in C2C activities also varies greatly according to the nature of the cooperation. The promotion of dialogue with the private sector about their contribution to achieving sustainable development is a key aspect of modern, broad-based participatory management. The shared interest of business in the good functioning of cities and quality of life issues is increasingly recognised. The capacity of private sector concerns to contribute resources of money and skilled staff to projects, often upon a more dynamic and flexible basis than the public authorities, makes them particularly attractive partners in C2C activities. While they can never lose sight of their primary duties to their shareholders and customers, their enlightened self-interest may in particular circumstances lead them to play a major part in providing investment in infrastructure or public services which is beyond the capacity of the city on its own.

In the South, the capacity of national associations to help initiate and operate C2C projects is often more limited despite the potential which they may see in this area. However, there are examples of national associations building upon members’ C2C initiatives to extend their implementation more widely within the country.

It is also important to note, as a general principle applicable here, that the sustainability of partnership projects is conditioned by the capacity of each local authority to design and maintain them effectively, through engaging the active participation of a wide range of stakeholders.

The involvement of academic and training institutions in C2C practices is a particularly promising development, although one which must depend a great

4.3.14 The International Union of Local Authorities Association Capacity Building Programme makes a key contribution to strengthening cities' capacity within particular countries C2C Context: Local government associations have a key role to play in development, decentralisation and effective governance, but often need strengthening before they can effectively support their individual local government members or liaise well with central governments, donors and other actors.

The IULA Association Capacity Building (ACB) Programme aims to address this need and to promote the value of working in partnership with local government associations at international and national levels. The Ministry of Development Cooperation of the Netherlands is the key donor of the Programme. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Spanish International Development Agency (AECI), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the

Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) and individual member associations of IULA are making complementary activities possible. IULA's Capacity and Institution Building (CIB) Platform plays a key advisory and support role in the operation of the Programme.

Results/Lessons: The programme has sought to promote the role of national associations of local government at international and national levels by focussing on strengthening six national associations of local government in Colombia, Nicaragua, The Philippines (2 associations), Ghana and Zimbabwe. Wider aims being pursued are to support SouthSouth cooperation and networking, to promote the involve-

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ment of women in local government decision-making; and to provide evidence supporting the effectiveness and value of Municipal International Cooperation.

Issues Arising: The limited capacity of many local government associations in developing countries severely hampers their ability to negotiate legislative changes in favour of local autonomy with central government or to provide effective support services to their members. The associations are thus key components of the C2C scene, and the programme extends the classic function of the international association in facilitating exchanges of experience. The relative effectiveness of North-South links and South-South links in this area deserves particular attention.

Source: International Union of Local Authorities, 2002

5.

Organising Support for City-to-City Cooperation 5.1 Framework for Comparing C2C Support Options An increasingly wide range of support mechanisms has developed over the years to support the process of C2C and to broaden its scope and increase its effectiveness. In the early period, support came through international organisations of local governments (the earliest being the International Union of Local Authorities - IULA) and later, especially in Europe, with strong support from national governments and also facilitated through national associations of cities (see Annex 2). As C2C activities spread beyond Europe and other developed countries, however, the supporting frameworks become progressively more diverse.

Both national (bilateral) and international (multilateral) development assistance agencies and programmes became important support mechanisms, particularly as C2C activities moved more into NorthSouth, West-East, and South-South forms of cooperation. Just as the range of C2C practices (described in Chapter 4) has become ever more varied, so too has the range of C2C support options.

In order to make clearer not only the diversity of support options, but also their relative strengths and focus of activity, it is important (as discussed in Chapter 3.2) that support options be compared in terms of a systematic set of characteristics. For the purposes of this report, four main categories of characteristic are used to compare support options: • support modality • geographical focus • funding and resources • facilitating institutions.

5.2 Types of External Support C2C Support Modalities Initially, the modalities of C2C support were fairly limited, the links being concerned primarily with goodwill exchanges and similar social-cultural relationships, often based on shared language, language learning or historical background and typically with an objective to raise mutual

5.2.1 European CITIES project (Cities’ initiatives towards employment strategies) builds partnership between European, national, regional and local spheres of government C2C Context: The Eurocities association facilitated a project running from January to September 2001 between the cities of Antwerp, Barcelona, Berlin, Birmingham, Bilbao, Helsinki, Leipzig, Lyon, Rome and Rotterdam aimed at supporting cities in the development of local actions plans based on the European Employment Strategy.

Outcomes/Lessons: The project was carried out through the preparation of “mapping profiling reports” developed by the project partners, which included a SWOT analysis on each city’s labour market, as well as a report of the key processes and partnerships involved in cities’ local employment action planning. Some of the key recommendations submitted by the project partners to the European Commission were reflected in its Communication on

“Strengthening the Local Dimension of the European Employment Strategy” (November 2001) such as, for example, the need for the concept of multi-annual contracts between the local, regional and national levels to support the implementation of local action plans.

Issues Arising: A group of cities already used to working together through Eurocities joined in a specialised short-term network to carry out a specific task. Such networking activities facilitated by an international association produced practical benefits for the participating cities and also helped to influence future EU policy on employment generation. The replication-adaptation of this kind of project in other parts of the world could produce many benefits for cities facing employment problems.

Source: Eurocities, 2002

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awareness and understanding. Local authorities and community organisations initiated such direct C2C links of their own volition, using a wide variety of channels for establishing the initial contacts. A primary modality for this cultural linking activity was personal exchange, with groups and individuals (youth, sports teams, musical groups etc) visiting each others’ cities. Exhibits and information displays, films, media coverage were often included as well.

In recent times, the modalities of C2C support have become very much more diverse, the established approaches still being used but with many new and different avenues being introduced, particularly in the context of C2C associated with decentralised cooperation work.

A striking phenomenon during the last 20 years has been the rapidly growing emphasis on networking among cities and local authorities establishing flexible systems of communication and exchange among groups of cities. This fits the emerging new paradigm of development cooperation and its fundamental idea that cities and urban practitioners can most effectively learn from one another, pooling information and exchanging experience through peer group exchanges. A network is the most basic way in which this can be done, by providing a structured basis for presenting and obtaining information and know-how which is relevant and useful to the cities. The network serves its members at a variety of levels from the mayors downwards, through the senior managers to the professional and technical staff. In this way, networks provide a facilitating structure for C2C, supporting cities in making direct contact with one another, in pairs or in groups, on practice issues of mutual concern.

In many cases, networks have been set up on a quasi-permanent basis among a group of cities with a strong common interest. In other cases, networks are called into being to carry out a specific joint project and then dissolve. Some networks have been set up entirely at the initiative of the participating cities, but more often they are helped into existence by international programmes and funding schemes. Thus, networks often have their origins in specific international programmes or initiatives, and they represent a creative way of moving beyond the time and resource and geographic limitations of programmes. For example, the Urban Environment Forum (UEF) grew out a project for developing an urban environmental planning and management process and benefited from a close early association with the global Sustainable Cities Programme (see box 4.2.15). A wide variety of networks have been developed in recent years, with varying topical or geographical focus and often as a spin-off of an international funding programme, all having the clear potential to support a wide range of city-to-city interactions.

Derived very much from national and international aid programmes’ experience in the development field, the support modality of demonstration-replication, together with the creation and dissemination of guidelines and working tools or toolkits, has also become a feature of many C2C practices. The underlying idea is that a development programme will undertake a specific city project as a “demonstration” - to show how this new approach can work out in practice. But to achieve the fullest possible impact, it needs to be implemented much more widely by a range of cities going beyond the select few an individual programme can deal with directly. Therefore, the emphasis is on replicating the demonstration – reproducing and adapting it in numerous other cities, based on the activities and lessons of the original demonstration.

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

An increasingly wide range of support mechanisms has developed over the years to support the process of C2C and to broaden its scope and increase its effectiveness A support modality of rapidly growing importance, greatly aided by new information and communications technologies, is the documentation and dissemination of good or best practices and related assistance in transfer of experience and replication.

By documenting good practice examples of how cities have undertaken particular tasks, it is possible to make that information known to a great many other cities - a much wider dissemination of information than could ever be possible through one-on-one exchanges. The leading example of these activities is the Best Practices Programme of UN-HABITAT (which is in turn supported by the city of Dubai through its Awards for International Best Practices - see Box 5.3.6) The steadily expanding base of information gathered through the Best Practices process, available on a web-site and on CD-ROM, provides an extensive array of useful knowledge about how cities have addressed their problems of sustainable urban development, thus facilitating the establishment of task-related links between cities desiring information about specific solutions and cities with the relevant experience.

One of the more commonly used modalities, for many different kinds of C2C activity, is the provision and exchange of specialised staff expertise. This can take place in a number of different ways, starting from the transfer of technical documentation and related professional papers, especially where these relate to specific items of technology with which one of the partner cities is unfamiliar or untrained. It may take the form of providing specialist scientific skills and information, for instance one city providing an analysis of particular water or soil samples which the partner city is not equipped to handle, or assisting with the advanced analysis of statistical information.

In many cases, the technical and professional staff responsible for certain activities in one city physically go to the partner city and work with their counterparts there. Most frequently, this involves staff from cities in the North going to their partner cities in the South to assist them directly with particular work. Often, however, there is two-way exchange, which allows both parties to learn from the different circumstances and approaches of the other. Part of the Rotterdam-Shanghai cooperation, for example, involved bringing officials from China to The Netherlands to study urban renewal in Rotterdam (see box 4.2.8 above), and the TACIS City Twinning Scheme projects frequently included staff attachments to the Northern partner city. Such exchanges and attachments do not have to be restricted to local government staff, of course; there have been exchanges involving doctors and public health workers, academics and researchers, private transport operators, etc.

A natural extension of this approach is the modality of training and human resource development, in which staff of one of the partner cities take on specific capacity development tasks with their peers in the other city. An element of training is near-

5.2.2 CityNet as a South-South technical cooperation network facilitating transfers of effective practices C2C Context: CityNet was established with the assistance of the United Nations regional organisation ESCAP as a technical cooperation network of cities, NGOs and private sector partners concerned with urban services in the Asia Pacific area.

Headquartered in Yokohama, Japan it runs a wide range of conferences and seminars on urban management issues, facilitates transfers of experience and learning, and participates actively in regional and international cooperation fora.

Outcomes/Lessons: Through a partnership with the UNDP Special Unit for Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries and the UN-HABITAT Best Practices programme, CityNet has produced detailed

practical Guidelines for transferring effective practices on a South-South basis. It provides for the exchange of expertise and experience among stakeholders on a continuing basis, identifying information and resources needs and ways of meeting them.

Issues Arising: The potential for building up effective C2C practices in this large and rapidly urbanising region is vast, and the challenge is to reach out to ever increasing numbers of cities, using to the full the benefits of new communications technologies.

The relative advantages of pursuing C2C within and between regions should also be explored more fully.

Source: CityNet ‘Guidelines for Transferring Effective Practices’, 1998

5.2.3 Scaling up the results of an international support programme among Indian cities

C2C Context: As part of the preparations for the launch of the Indian Campaign for Good Urban Governance, a national city-to-city ‘sharing workshop’ was organised. The Sharing Workshop documented and disseminated recent experiences of Indian cities in decentralisation, integration of the poor and marginalised groups, environmental sustainability, improved municipal finance, transparency and civic engagement, better municipal management, and capacity-building.

Results/Lessons: About 1,500 participants from central and local government, civil society and the private sector interacted in thematic workshops led by 20 ‘Champions of Change’ – cities that have attempted to improve governance, make their serv-

ices more efficient, build accountability, and develop partnerships. Cases were selected based on their novelty, innovation, scalability and replicability.

Cities from outside India also attended, specifically to learn from Indian cities about how to launch an Urban Governance Campaign.

Issues Arising: The positive results of an international support programme’s intervention can be multiplied through exchanges with other cities in the same country, and also spread to other countries.

The degree to which the approaches are more widely adopted, and any handicaps encountered, should be carefully evaluated.

Source: UN-HABITAT Global Campaign for Urban Governance, 2002

ly always involved in C2C development cooperation activities – and indeed one may well argue that virtually all international cooperation work incorporates a staff development aspect, sometimes indeed on the basis of very steep learning curves. A number of C2C practices have, however, focused on human resource development as a key objective in itself. This approach is inevitably conditioned by practical circumstances and cultural considerations, and it is likely to be easier, for example, to carry out training related to the use of specific items of new equipment or software than to import more complex management development techniques into very different working situations. The Lille-Kharkov TACIS example in box 4.2.5 illustrates the challenges of training public relations staff in a city adapting only slowly to new concepts of transparency and accountability.

The area of strategic capital investment currently receives little emphasis in C2C programmes, possibly because the international sources of capital investment are separate from the support programmes addressing the needs of cities and tend to focus upon relatively large projects. The World Bank/UN-HABITAT Cities Alliance programme is something of an exception here, with its focus upon quite large slum upgrading projects, but it does not, at present at least, comprise a C2C component.

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Financial resources for supporting C2C can be drawn from a wide variety of sources, individually or in combination 5.3 Organisation of External Support

grammes to help the countries of Central and Eastern Europe apply for accession to the Union (e.g. ECOS and OUVERTURE), the former Soviet Union countries (e.g. the TACIS City Twinning Scheme). As part of its mandate to help build the Europe of the citizen, the EU also puts money into small grants in support of more or less conventional European twinning links, as well as investing much larger sums under many policy heads in a whole range of demonstration programmes, action research programmes, campaigns etc in which cities and towns from its own member states work together on a wide variety of topics.

The benefits of reinforcing such C2C cooperation within a region, and the potential scope for opening access to the results to cities from other regions, are surely issues for further consideration.

Geographical Focus As earlier chapters have shown, support for C2C has grown up incrementally from a variety of sources. On the one hand, international associations and networks of cities have a potentially global reach, as do a number of support programmes, while a substantial and growing range of activities are focused upon specific world regions. Support programmes by national agencies focus most heavily upon the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, often determining their scope on the basis of historic colonial - and cultural - connections. Hence the priority given by Spanish development cooperation to the countries of Central and Latin America, or by France to its former colonies in Africa, or by the UK to the developing countries of the Commonwealth.

Looking at UN-HABITAT’s own programmes, some have a specific regional focus (e.g. the Water for African Cities programme), several focus on the three developing country regions (e.g. the Urban Management Programme, the Sustainable Cities Programme, the Safer Cities programme), while others (e.g. the Best Practices Programme and the local government training activities) are global in scope development and poverty alleviation as their principal goals.

International agency programmes may also be global in their scope or, more often, have a regional focus. The geographical scope of the various support programmes is indicated clearly in Tables 6.3.1 and 6.3.2. One of the largest donors, the European Union, focuses its major development cooperation programmes upon the African, Caribbean and Pacific area countries with which the EU has a formal cooperation agreement (as laid down in the LomĂŠ Conventions and now the Cotonou Agreement, which refers specifically to decentralised cooperation involving local authorities and civil society).

Funding and Resources Financial resources for supporting C2C can be drawn from a wide variety of sources, individually or in combination. This support can take many different forms: Financial contributions toward an agreed project or programme of joint work, longer-term financial support for the overhead costs of C2C links, underwriting exchanges of expertise and information, travel and communication costs etc. But however they may be used, the important question is how the funds are raised and from what sources, What are the different ways in which financial resources can be mobilised and applied to the support of city-to-city cooperation? Because finance comes from a wide variety of sources, it is useful to examine the different options for financial support for C2C.

However the EU, as part of its external relations policy, also runs some C2C support programmes with Asian countries (AsiaUrbs) and with Latin America (UrbAL). Within Europe, it has supported a substantial range of C2C pro-

5.2.4 Using the Best Practices database to identify a source of relevant know-how on micro-credit

In many, perhaps most cases, finance is derived not from one single source but from several sources in combination, often with different financial resources being applied to support different aspects of the cooperation activity. For instance, for its partnership with Bamako (Mali), the city of Angers (France) raises substantial funds from each of four different public and private sources (see Box 4.2.10).

C2C Context: A municipal authority in South Asia wished to know how to deal with an ineffective CBO-based micro-credit scheme, which was failing in terms of drop-out and recovery rates. Through the Best Practices database, a well-functioning community-managed micro-credit scheme was identified.

Results/Lessons: A one-week study tour brought a political leader, a community leader, and a loan officer from the problem scene to see and exchange ideas with those in the municipality with the well-functioning scheme. Subsequently, changes were made in lending policy which had an immediate beneficial effect. The most significant change was the removal of loan ceilings

The most important option for financial support for C2C is to rely on the budgets of the participating cities - own-budget funding. There is some variation, reflecting the legal framework regulating local government expenditure, but in general all of the cities involved in city-to-city cooperation provide significant financial support out of their own budgets. This may be through the funding of in-kind services (such as paying the salaries of city employees working on C2C activities) or it may be through special budget lines specifically for supporting C2C (for instance to pay for travel and communication costs). Cities in richer countries typically provide a proportion of the necessary finance out of their own budgets - although this has become harder through the combined pressures of public sector budget cuts and cost-centre accounting. Obviously in lowerincome countries this is often not possible.

when it became apparent through the exchange of ideas that (i) the urban poor are not necessarily enabled to graduate to formal sector financing despite a strong reimbursement record; (ii) loan ceilings allow the poor to become less poor but not to create wealth; and (iii) the availability of bigger loans enabled certain entrepreneurs to come to the fore, to provide jobs for others and to serve as role models.

Issues Arising: In this instance, the access to relevant practice information provided suf-ficient incentive for the city to take action, and a well-focussed study tour enabled the exchange to take place efficiently. Source: UN-HABITAT Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme, 2002

Another important option for raising finance for C2C is by mobilising contributions from a variety of local partners in one or both of the cities. There is a wide range of potential local partners: Private business and industry, charitable foundations and trusts, community fund-raising, local institutions etc. For example, the small city of Boston in the UK raises the bulk of the funds for its 24

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

cooperation with Jalchatra (Bangladesh) through voluntary fundraising efforts in the local community.

5.3.1 Ongoing C2C develops between Yokohama and Penang on engineering issues as a result of an externally funded project

The role of development programme or project funds in relation to NorthSouth, South-South, and West-East linkages is extremely important. Indeed, this is a crucial support option for the majority of such C2C activities. The growing willingness of development agencies to work with and through cities has meant that the financial resources of their programme and project budgets can increasingly be tapped to provide support for C2C. Very few, if any, of these international programmes are focused primarily on C2C, but many have components or parts of their budgets which can be directed towards support for such cooperation. Thus, several of the examples mentioned earlier illustrate the ways in which cities (or their associations) can access funds from international development programmes or projects. For example, it was programme funds for the national Sustainable Cities Programme in Tanzania which funded the exchanges among the nine cities, and it was the UK Department for International Development’s funds which paid for the C2C activities supported by the Know-How Fund (see box 4.2.3 above).

C2C Context: Yokohama involvement in Penang City development was started in 1983 when experts from Yokohama were dispatched to Penang under a Japan International Cooperation (JICA) scheme.

JICA funded a three-year project on Area Traffic Control Systems. After project completion in 1986, both cities made an agreement to establish further technical cooperation on various issues. The objective was to improve the standard of urban infrastructure and deepen mutual understanding. This led to a new three-year plan (1990-1993) in which fields of cooperation were identified, focusing on urban design, road maintenance and waste management.

Outcomes/Lessons: As budgets were very limited, a cost-sharing concept was introduced and small-scale projects were implemented. Several exchange visits were held within the years 1991-1993. A Yokohama engineer visited Penang every year to stay for three months and worked together in the field with local engineers and technicians. Yokohama covered the travel costs, while Penang partially met local costs. In term of road maintenance, Yokohama engineers introduced very sim-

Self-funding activities are another option for financing C2C activities, although this generally applies only to relatively narrowly defined investment project activities, such as two cities cooperating to establish a solid waste management service paid for by the users. Such self-financing activities are expected to generate a stream of revenue which then pays for the original capital investments.

This also promotes sustainability of the improvement and makes it easier to link it to an international development initiative.

Another option for financial support is to secure backing from a charitable foundation or trust fund. Usually located in a country of the North, few such trusts or foundations will have C2C as an explicit purpose, but it is possible nonetheless to use available funding to support specific aspects of C2C. For example, there are a number of foundations, such as the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (UK) and the political foundations in Germany which have provided finance for travel and expenses for staff and representatives from the partner city.

ple methods to reduce traffic accidents in Penang by installing road safety equipment: chatter bars, reflective directional signs in strategic locations, marking line etc. Second-hand chatter bars were donated by Yokohama. They also introduced Penang to a mixed-asphalt technique to increase the lifetime of road surfaces. As result, the number of traffic accidents reduced over recent years and Penang become one of the cleanest cities in Malaysia with much improved road and traffic conditions. The working styles of Penang and Yokohama engineers were very different, with much more hands-on work by engineers on construction sites in Yokohama.

Issues Arising: High-level political support combined with professional engineers’ commitment and close working relations and a focus on low-cost practical solutions ensured the success of the project, although language barriers and differing professional approaches acted as constraints. In general the C2C approach proved practical and sustainable because costs had to be kept low and there was a focus on basic applicable techniques.

Source: Citynet, 2002

5.3.2 C2C supported by community fund-raising

Facilitating Institutions Perhaps the most straightforward way of characterising and comparing support options is in terms of the organisational structure and function: What is the nature of the institution or group which is providing support to C2C? The most fundamental of these, of course, is the individual local government itself: Cities themselves provide the essential support without which C2C cannot function - administration, staff time, other in-kind resources, and perhaps finance as well - and above all, cities provide the official framework within which C2C activities can function. In some C2C activities, especially traditional town twinning, there is sometimes no organisation involved other than the two local governments themselves.

In most countries of the North, and increasingly elsewhere, there are national associations of local governments which link cities within that country.

These generally originated as voluntary self-help organisations to promote the interests of the country’s local authorities, for example by lobbying at national government level or by taking part in collective negotiations. Some, however, have a basis in national legislation, and many more are recognised in law as necessary partners for consultation about future legislation affecting local government. Increasing numbers of associations have gradually expanded their areas of activity and have become significantly involved in support to C2C activities, not only within the country but across national boundaries, acting as a clearing-house and intermediary between member cities and cities in other countries.

C2C Context: Boston, UK has been linked with Jalchatra, Bangladesh since 1975 and raises about $40,000 per year through a variety of promotional activities involving many partners for the purpose of supporting projects focusing on health, education, income generation, and community participation.

Outcomes/Lessons: Extensive improvements have been made to healthcare and educational facilities and water supply in Jalchatra, and various measures implemented to expand rice and textile production.

Literacy levels and incomes have improved substantially, and infant mortality has

Some national associations offer modest support grants to help establish new C2C links, although more commonly they will negotiate with national govern25

reduced dramatically. The Boston community feels close to the Bangladeshi partner and contributes generously to upholding the link.

Issues Arising: Through creative use of revolving funds the Jalchatra community has contributed to income-generating projects, and it provides labour and materials for the health and education facilities. The strong community base of the link at each end and the shared decision-making ensure effective and sustainable use of limited funds which can make a major impact on quality of life.

Source: UNDP Report ‘The Challenge of Linking’, 2000

ments for such financial support. The Dutch local authority association (Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten - VNG) for example is very active in supporting North-South C2C, and has been particularly successful in integrating member cities in the Dutch development assistance programme. The Flemish regional Government and more recently the Belgian national Government have established support programmes for C2C in collaboration with the regional and national associations. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has similar achievements, both in promoting C2C and in working as an agent of the national development cooperation agency.

have promoted international C2C links by direct support to C2C activities, for instance through national programmes which may provide a clearing-house service for new links or financial support (especially for North-South linkages).

This is often but not exclusively, the case when the target partner cities are in countries with linguistic and/or former colonial ties. In Europe, the effort to build goodwill among former warring nations led the national governments of France and Germany to support town twinning as a way of bringing communities together, and the Franco-German Youth Office still supports exchanges among twinned cities.

In addition, there have arisen a variety of international associations of local government, the fundamental purpose of which is to promote the interests of local governments around the world. They are the primary mechanisms through which cities can make their voices heard on the world stage. These comprise the global associations, notably IULA and UTO, sectoral associations such as the Organisation of Islamic Capitals and Cities or the International Association of Francophone Mayors, as well as active regional associations of local governments in Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Arab states. These various associations, several of which are grouped within the WACLAC coordination structure, have been increasingly instrumental in promoting and facilitating city-to-city cooperation as well as representing the views of their members towards the international support agencies.

In recent years a new support approach has emerged, as national governments in the North have begun to give cities or their associations a bigger role to play in the implementation of international development policies and programmes (as described in the following paragraph). In the South there have also been similar developments. In Tanzania, a national government programme to replicate in nine cities the experience of the Sustainable Dar es Salaam project has provided explicit and direct support for C2C among the designated cities and between them and Dar es Salaam.

The role of international development organisations, both bilateral and multilateral, has been rapidly increasing in importance for C2C. Broadly speaking, the most important shift in attitude has been the growing willingness and desire of development agencies and programmes to work in and with cities. This shift can be seen in the changing policies and practices of national (bilateral) development agencies in several countries, such as The Netherlands, Canada,

In a variety of ways, national governments can provide important support to C2C, both within the country and internationally. Many national governments

5.3.3 A national municipal international cooperation programme administered by a national association of local authorities C2C Context: The Netherlands Inter-Municipal Development Cooperation Programme was launched in 1994 with the twin aims of strengthening local governance through peer-to-peer cooperation and of fostering public support for international cooperation in the Netherlands. The programme, jointly designed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) and operated by the latter, permits Dutch municipalities to respond to requests from overseas cities for technical and managerial assistance.

Outcomes/Lessons: During the first three years more than 110 Dutch municipalities and their partners took part in the programme, 400 advisory missions took place, and 500 municipal officers from the South held internships in the Netherlands.

The evaluation of the first phase underlined the effectiveness of peer group exchanges in furthering institutional development. The creation of new consultation and decision-making bodies between cities and citizens’ organisations in housing projects, municipal strengthening through innovative environmental and housing measures, improved communication

between councillors and citizens and better knowledge of democratic procedures, and the development of an enabling role for cities towards the private and voluntary sectors, were mentioned as positive benefits by cities from the South.

Issues Arising: The programme is ongoing and a large proportion of the Dutch municipalities are engaged in it, but to date few other national governments have developed programmes of this kind. The contribution of the programme to establishing longer-term C2C linkages is worthy of examination.

Source: Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG)

5.3.4 A sanitation project in Peru facilitated by an international association C2C Context: Four small towns in France (Eybens, Gières, Meylan, and Poissat ) have since 1998 been supporting the reconstruction of water and sewerage services in the poorer parts of the district of Independencia in Lima, Peru (population c 250,000), where some 20% of the population are not connected to these services. The purposes of the cooperation are to improve basic services in the poorest parts of Independencia, to help strengthen local government capacity in the Lima metropolis, and to develop exchanges of experience between French and Peruvian municipalities.

Outcomes / Lessons: The French municipalities, with French Government funding, provide the materials and the work is carried out by local people under the supervision of the water company, with some construction work and technical assistance

made available by the municipality of Independencia. UTO administers the funds and coordinates the work via its representative in Peru. Since it started the project has provided fresh water and sewage connections to some 5,000 dwellings. The project has led the local population to recognise the value of local self-government and the need for its institutional strengthening.

Issues Arising: It has not proved possible to extend the cooperation into other fields owing to political and institutional constraints. However, a new awareness has been generated of the value of cleansing public areas, to which the municipality has responded with new services. A need is seen to create a wider exchange of experience network in North Lima and to link up with other support programmes.

Source: UTO report

5.3.5 Global C2C network (UEF) incorporating international programmes C2C Context: The Urban Environment Forum (UEF) is a network of cities and international support programmes focused on urban environmental management (see box 3.6.7). The UEF exists solely as a network, to bring its members together to share experience and learn together how best to approach common urban environmental problems. Although it originated in an international project (the Sustainable Cities programme of UN-HABITAT), the UEF was established as an independent network, with UN-HABITAT providing only the

secretariat function.

Outcomes/Lessons: The UEF has sponsored a series of global, regional and thematic meetings and workshops, which have been quite successful both for experience exchange and for raising awareness of common tasks and of the potential for C2C collaboration. It has been particularly successful in bringing international support programmes together with the cities for whom their support is aimed. Experiences have been documented in a series of publications (the EPM Source

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Book and meeting reports) and a web-site has been established.

Issues Arising: The UEF shows that C2C practice through this type of networking can be quite successful. It also shows how international programme initiatives can lead to wider C2C activities which move beyond the original programmeled undertaking. The challenge, however, is to maintain momentum and to assure continuity between network events.

Source: the Urban Environment Unit, UN-HABITAT

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

the UK and others. For example, Dutch development assistance includes programmes which are administered by the VNG (the Dutch local authority association - see box 5.3.3 above). Equally, British development assistance has responded to proposals put forward by cities and their associations by providing limited support to C2C via a Local Authority Technical Links scheme within its much broader Know-How Fund to assist democratic development in Central and Eastern Europe and, on a broadly similar basis more recently, via the Commonwealth Local Government Good Practice Scheme administered by the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (which is an international network headquartered in the UK).

5.3.6 C2C activities springing from the Best Practices Programme C2C Context: The Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme (coordinated by UN-HABITAT) is an initiative to collect, document and disseminate information about “good practice” in urban development. It is integrated with the Dubai Awards for International Best Practices, the submissions to which are added to the Best Practices database. A dedicated web-site is the primary mechanism through which this information is compiled and accessed.

Outcomes/Lessons: As the database has grown, and become gradually more systematised, its usefulness for cities has increased, and this has led to a steady growth in C2C linkages being created.

These linkages, however, are not planned

The potential of international (multilateral) development agencies for support to C2C has slowly begun to be realised, as they have changed their attitudes and practices in relation to cities, especially in response to the urban components of Agenda 21 (since Rio 1992) and to the Habitat Agenda (since Istanbul 1996). The basic shift has been their growing willingness to work directly with cities, with local governments and their local partners, rather than working exclusively through national government agencies. In the past decade a wide range of programmes have been put in place by different UN agencies, the World Bank, the regional development banks, the EU, and others - all aimed at directly addressing urban issues and working with cities. Most of these, however, remain initiatives in which the linkage is simply between the international programme and the city, usually a one-way link not involving any other cities. For example, the Urban Management Programme (UNHABITAT/UNDP/World Bank), the Healthy Cities Programme (WHO), the Cities Alliance (UN-HABITAT/World Bank), the Safer Cities Programme (UN-HABITAT), and the Urban Governance Initiative (UNDP) have developed strong and diverse links through working with cities, but are only just beginning to evolve programme elements or activities which are specifically focused on city-to-city cooperation. The potential benefits of direct exchanges of experience and expertise among the cities involved in these programmes must be considerable.

or organised, but are self-created by cities in response to particular needs and desires, e.g. a city seeking information about best practices in relation to a particular topic can be matched with relevant city examples.

Issues Arising: As the original data comprises self-written submissions to the Dubai Awards, there is a considerable variety in form and content even thought the reporting framework is pre-defined, and this can hinder the “match-making” function. However, the structure and organisation of the web-site is progressively being up-graded to facilitate this process of seeking and finding the appropriate C2C links.

Source: Best Practices Unit, UN-HABITAT

Box 5.3.7 Involvement of a local government association in an international urban development project (the Local-EPM Project, the Philippines) C2C Context: The Local-EPM Project in the Philippines is an initiative of the global Sustainable Cities Programme (of UN-HABITAT and UNEP). National replication was built into the original project design, with the three initial project cities intended to become regional focal points from which the experience would be extended to other cities. The League of Cities of the Philippines was brought in as a partner in the project, specifically with the responsibility for facilitating the sharing of experience and supporting the replication of the process to other cities.

Outcomes/Lessons: The League has utilised its existing system of “sharing workshops” as a way of sharing information

In a few cases, however, direct support to C2C activity has evolved out of the original programme-to-city activities. For example, in the case of the Sustainable Cities Programme (UN-HABITAT/UNEP), support to global and regional meetings and exchanges of experience became an important element, latterly becoming integrated with the Urban Environment Forum, a global network to promote and support direct city-to-city exchange which developed out of related work in UNHABITAT. Similarly, some support for direct C2C has evolved out of the Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme of UN-HABITAT, as an extension of its basic focus on networking for information exchange. Even more rarely, some international development programmes have begun to involve national associations of local governments as direct partners, specifically to promote C2C linkages, as happened with an SCP-initiated project in the Philippines.

and extending awareness and understanding, and the Project thereby gained from being connected to this well-established C2C mechanism. Although the national government is the leading partner, it is clear that practical cooperation and collaboration are most effectively organised in a decentralised way, which is the strength of the League and its direct C2C role.

Issues Arising: The League can only devote limited resources of its own to the substantial task of supporting replication.

Training in the project concepts and methods, as well as financial and technical assistance to the League, will be required.

Source: the SCP team, UN-HABITAT, and project consultants

5.3.8 Moving professional association activities towards support for direct C2C (USA)

An interestingly different approach to support for C2C has come through professional associations concerned with cities - associations of municipal managers, planners, city engineers, etc. Such associations are usually national, sometimes regional, in scope and are primarily concerned with promoting and developing the shared professional interests of their members. However, some of them have been moving toward a more explicit outreach activity, in which the professional association, either alone or in partnership with national associations or national development agencies, provides direct technical support to city-to-city initiatives. In addition, some combined trade and professional associations are also discovering the potential of utilising the expertise of their members to support C2C activities. The time would now seem to be ripe to draw these groupings of ‘urban professionals’, which are still classified in the UN system among the NGOs, more actively into the policy dialogue on C2C and the design of future C2C support programmes.

C2C Context: The Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) is a professional and trade body in the USA which brings together cities, private companies, and professionals who are concerned with air quality and waste management. They

Finally, although it has not traditionally been a strong focus of their activity, international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have started to become involved in C2C, usually as an extension of their normal work with cities. There are examples of this involving the NGO working with or on behalf of a development agency.

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hold very large annual meetings, which are both trade fairs and technical exchange events and function as large and diverse C2C meetings. Recently, the AWMA established an International Urban Environmental Infrastructure Forum, specifically to bring in cities from the South, as well as international support programmes, for direct C2C technical exchange.

Outcomes/Lessons: Two international meetings have been held (the second in association with UNEP and under the umbrella of the UEF) and both succeeded in extensive C2C information exchange on the topic of urban air quality management. The participation of cities from the USA, particularly those with no previous history of international involvement, was a key feature, as was that of various international development programmes.

Issues Arising: As the North-South C2C linkages from the international forum were a new undertaking for the AWMA, there was not yet a clear mechanism for followup, and this has somewhat reduced the longer-term impact; steps are underway to provide a more durable mechanism for ensuring continuity.

Source: UEF Salt Lake City 2000 - Meeting Report (UN-HABITAT and UNEP)

6.

Issues arising from Experience

6.1 Key Factors and Trends in C2C Practice

General:

The analysis of C2C practices set out in Chapter 4 illustrates the array of linkages existing within and between the continents, the wide diversity of activities and approaches, the extensive range of partners involved or potentially involved, and the breadth of the thematic content being addressed. It is hoped that this comparison of practices on the basis of a systematic analytical framework will provide cities and local authority associations with an accessible guide to the C2C scene. Such a guide, when further developed with full illustrative material, should both help new entrants to find their way more easily and enable those already involved to identify and explore relevant new areas.

• Cities see tangible benefits for themselves and their citizens in engaging in international exchange. The development of C2C from the original culturally-based town twinning concepts to the present much broader range of motivations related to urban governance in all its aspects could not have occurred without the keen interest and active commit-ment of elected members and officials.

• Formal city council resolutions of support for a C2C project help build commitment and prevent possible disruption caused by changes in political leadership.

• The establishment of clear objectives and work plans between participating cities is critical to the overall success of the programmes.

The work plan provides a guidepost to the partnership, which requires the cities to stay on course through the term of the partnership. Longer-term goals should be set in terms of sustainable development, re-ciprocity, equity and social justice, with realistic stages being defined for progress to-wards them. Clear definition of mutual expectations is paramount.

• C2C initiatives, defined by the cities themselves on the basis of their own assessment of their needs, tend to be less formal and bureaucratic and more flexible than programmes led by external agencies.

However, the time required to develop a true understanding of the behaviour patterns, working styles and ethics of the partner local authority should not be underestimated.

It is a fact of life that both the existing C2C links and the various support schemes have grown up incrementally over the years, each according to their own rationales. Inevitably, the present spread of C2C relationships is complex, with some overlaps but also many gaps. This complexity has meant that the range of opportunities available to cities has often been difficult for them to assess without access to tailored advice and guidance.

Against this background, the analysis, together with the commentaries provided by a number of associations and programmes, suggests that the following factors and trends in navigating C2C practice can be noted in relation to the five categories used for the analysis:28

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

South-South C2C has proved to be an effective way to transfer skills and technology, as the partners are geographically, socially and culturally similar Geographical Scope: • C2C has spread widely within the North, where cities generally have clear legal powers to commit resources and the political motivation to build up cooperation.

• Development policies of national governments and international agencies are increasingly recognising the impact of urbanisation trends and giving more emphasis to addressing urban issues. They are more ready to see cities as partners in delivering effective cooperation in both East and South, and cities are eager to respond.

• North-South C2C practices are beneficial to both partners, denoting much more than a one-way transfer of resources and expertise to the South. The Northern partners gain new ways of looking at issues and resources, which can widen their horizons, and they often become advocates for the cause of development in their own communities and countries. Confidence-building may be needed on both sides, and the positive benefits for the Northern partner should be recognised.

• Relatively few cities in the North have personnel trained in overseas development issues. Where staff members are to be newly involved in partnerships in the South, they need help in developing awareness concerning cultural differences and sensitivities, material disparities, political nuances, coping strategies, techniques for listening to partners, and differing value systems and priorities.

• South-South C2C has proved to be an effective way to transfer skills and technology, as the partners are geographically, socially and culturally similar. However, it is difficult to initiate and sustain at city level alone, owing to limitations of resources and/or legal powers, and is currently most often advanced through involvement in support programmes.

• South-South C2C within countries can also be facilitated by international support programmes, and is needed in view of the limited capacity of local authority associations and professional networks to provide for such interchange.

• South-North C2C is a largely untapped concept but has significant potential in facilitating sustainable development.

Cooperation Structures: • Networks of cities having shared characteristics or pursuing issues of common concern provide valuable opportunities for C2C to develop incrementally. The benefits of many networking projects could usefully be spread more widely through scaling up and replication exercises.

• There appears to be greater emphasis upon technical and professional exchanges than upon exchanges between political leaders, yet effective local leadership would normally be a key component of successful decentralisation processes. Projects engaging both political

leaders and professional staff on the basis of a clear set of shared objectives and work plans seem to offer the best chances of success.

• Peer-to-peer exchanges offer particularly effective means of transferring experience and expertise. A number of available databases of experts and good practices help to provide access to appropriate experience and know-how, although the complexities of transferring established practices to a new context should not be underestimated. C2C experience can also make a substantive contribution to staff training and development.

• The existence of long-term links between cities which have carried out a partnership project provides an in-built maintenance capacity for the project after any externally funded element has been completed.

Active Participants: • Stakeholders in the private sector, NGOs/CBOs and academia are playing a still limited but increasingly active part in C2C practices.

Their commitment can be important for the ongoing sustainability of projects. An interdisciplinary team can help promote better understanding of respective roles and responsibilities.

• Joint action between local authorities and NGOs/CBOs can play a key role in ensuring the appropriateness of development projects to the needs of local communities and thus assure their sustainability.

• The important role of national associations of local authorities in facilitating C2C links and providing for exchanges of experience and best practices within countries should be recognised. C2C-type initiatives to strengthen the capacity of these associations to negotiate with central governments and to provide support services to their member cities can make a significant contribution to meeting development objectives.

• Cities may need to take care not to multiply their international commitments beyond a manageable level. Partnerships require consistent and reliable inputs from all parties.

Focus in the Urban Management Process: • Cities must have constitutional stability and some core financial and human resources capacity in order to be able to make best use of C2C opportunities.

• Cities are best able to engage in C2C initiatives where they have the ability to apply resources of their own or those generated within the local community to this purpose.

• Systematic evaluation of existing C2C activities is lacking at the moment and is important to improve current practice, with sensitive but structured monitoring of active partnerships. This could help to avoid repeating past mistakes and failures with all the bad experiences these can generate.

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National associations of local governments are important contributors to the processes of C2C, both within countries and internationally 6.2 Key Features and Trends in C2C Support Through its systematic comparison of C2C support options, Chapter 5 has shown the wide range of support which can be given to city-to-city partnerships. Indeed, even with the limited examples so far available, Chapter 5 shows clearly the great diversity of different ways in which C2C can be supported. It also shows that this diversity is increasing, with newer forms of support for C2C steadily being developed and brought into play. Within this general context of diversity and increasing complexity, a number a common features and trends may be identified, grouped under the three main headings from Chapter 5.

•

Facilitating Structures: • National associations of local governments are important contributors to the processes of C2C, both within countries and internationally. Many of their mainstream activities serve to facilitate C2C within their own countries and, especially in the North, they are major players in promoting and facilitating C2C links with other countries. In some cases, they administer national C2C support schemes or work closely with development programmes or agencies.

• There is a growing trend towards involving national associations in the South as partners in development initiatives precisely because of their potential to facilitate C2C. However, institutional weaknesses of many national associations in the South need to be recognised as a serious constraint.

• International associations of local governments (global or regional) have been supporting C2C partnerships for a long time, and their activities are expanding. On the one hand, they have joined together (through WACLAC) to provide a common front for political negotiations and lobbying, especially in the global arena. On the other hand, they are beginning to work with UN and other agencies at the operational level, to combine their experience in C2C

•

•

•

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linkages with the new approaches to development cooperation increasingly being promoted. This focus on operational support needs further development, which can most usefully be done through the establishment of still closer partnership between the representative associations and UN-HABITAT as the UN’s designated focal point for collaboration with local authorities, under the aegis of the United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities.

National governments have generally not been very active in promoting C2C, with the exception of some European governments supporting 'good-will' twinning and promoting ties with former colonies. In recent times, however, some national governments in the North have launched C2C support programmes as part of national aid policy. In the South, however, there has been relatively little interest in C2C on the part of national governments, and efforts should be made at this level to increase governments’ awareness and understanding of the potential of C2C. Bi-lateral (national) development organisations are gradually growing interested in supporting C2C activities, particularly by showing an increasing willingness to involve their national associations of local governments directly as partners in particular development initiatives.

Multilateral (international) development organisations have over the past decade become more active in working directly with cities and their associations, but on the whole have not incorporated the potential of C2C linkages as an integral part of their work. Some programmes, however, particularly those of UN-HABITAT, have begun to incorporate explicit C2C linkages and partnerships into their development initiatives, and this new approach should be reinforced and extended.

Professional associations of urban practitioners are potentially significant sources of support for C2C, and their expertise and networks need to be drawn into the process, even though they have not been particularly active in this field to date. New ways need to be found of associating them in the development of UN policies on urban issues.

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

The most important sources of funds for C2C activities are the participating cities' own budgets Funding and Resources

gerial capacity and resources for effective absorption of support and implementation require special attention.

• Democratisation and decentralisation trends in many countries of the East and South, reinforced by the international community, require the strengthening of local government and enhancement of its accountability to local citizens. This trend makes it necessary to expand capacity-building measures at the local level, and C2C offers a range of effective mechanisms.

• Successful funding of C2C activities, especially where this involves more than traditional twinning, increasingly requires the pooling of financial resources from a variety of different support sources. The ability to assemble a 'consortium' of funding sources in support of C2C is likely to be a critical skill for the future.

• The most important sources of funds for C2C activities are the participating cities' own budgets. Local authority budgets are usually under pressure, however, and it is not easy to ensure an allocation of funds for this purpose.

Nonetheless, for long-term sustainability of C2C partnerships, own-funding is critical. Even in low-income cities it is desirable to have visible counterpart contributions, however modest.

• There is also a potentially important financial support role for private sector business and industry, and other local institutions, community fund-raising, etc. These local partners are an under-utilised resource, yet in some cities their involvement has been very successful. In addition, it sometimes possible to find charitable trusts or foundations which provide financial support for some aspects of C2C, such as international travel and exchanges.

• Probably the most important financial support option for promoting C2C in the South is the utilisation of international development programme or project funds. Although so far seldom focused directly on C2C, such programmes or projects have begun to accept that C2C linkages can be an important element in successful and sustainable implementation of development initiatives. As a result, many new approaches are being worked out, and it is likely that in future there will be expanding scope for international development funding for C2C activities.

• Cities in some of the Least Developed Countries stand to gain substantial benefits from C2C but the constraints upon their administrative and mana-

Support Modalities • The most familiar modality of C2C support is probably the sort of social, cultural and good-will activities which have developed extensively through city twinning and similar programmes. However, more diverse forms of support to C2C have been rapidly developing in recent years, particularly in the context of local capacity-building initiatives, and these can be expected to continue growing in importance.

• The exchange of specialised staff and of technical know-how has been a notable form of C2C support in the past and remains so today. Indeed, in the context of cities in the South, these exchanges (which can be two-way) are increasing in importance. They can provide highly focused support in response to very specific needs and are usually both successful and widely appreciated.

• Systematic documentation of good practice in urban management and development is a relatively recent development but one which is growing rapidly in importance. It is a specialised form of information exchange which also includes some of the characteristics of a network. More steps need to be taken to draw the policy consequences from best practice experience into adaptations of national legislation and regulations.

• Networking as a form of support to C2C has excellent potential for bringing together cities in ways which one-on-one cooperation cannot. With a properly organised network, cities can link with one another in various combinations, depending upon the topic of interest, and can join with as many other cities as have common interests to share. The linkages are thus not institutionalised, but they are valuable and useful nonetheless, precisely because they quickly respond to demand. It can be expected that networks will continue to grow in importance.

• Considerable benefits for practitioners in the South and the East could be drawn from the results of the extensive networking activities of cities in the North on issues of urban management.

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There is thus a strong convergence in thinking and practice which is bringing the UN, especially UN-HABITAT... together with cities, notably through the joint promotion of C2C approaches.

6.3 Priorities in C2C Practice and Support Policies

economic development rank relatively high, while housing/shelter and health/education rank rather lower: social/cultural concerns rank considerably higher for associations than for support organisations.

• The promotion of group working and networks ranks slightly ahead of the promotion of one-on-one links.

• As to the partners actively participating in the operation of C2C, the local authorities and their associations are the most involved, NGOs/CBOs and the academic/research sector feature quite significantly, while the involvement of the private sector is very low.

A preliminary analysis has been carried out on the replies provided by international local authority associations and networks and by multi- and bi-lateral support organisations (as summarised in Annexes 2 and 3) to questionnaires addressing the main characteristics of their involvement in C2C. This serves as a first attempt to highlight the duplications and the gaps in current provision and to indicate to C2C practitioners, support programmes and donors alike the areas where synergies may best be exploited.

A fuller picture of the scope and priorities of each association and support organisation may be obtained by examination of their respective profiles in Annexes 2 and 3.

The following tables 6.3.1, 6.3.2, and 6.3.3 are based on the (still incomplete) selection of responses received to date, and will be updated in the light of the submissions yet to be received. A number of salient points seem to emerge from the analysis at this stage: • While all the major areas of city capacity-building are covered to a degree, individual profiles of associations and support organisations show that they differ markedly in their scope and order of priorities, highlighting the complementarity of their respective roles.

• South-South cooperation is given significantly more emphasis by support organisations than by associations.

• In terms of the geographical focus of support programmes, a significant proportion are global in scope while those which are regionally oriented are spread broadly equally between Africa, Asia and Latin America, with lower scores for the Middle East and North Africa and for Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

• In terms of urban management functions, the areas of information exchange, training and provision of expertise feature more strongly than the more complex areas of policy development and implementation, institutional strengthening and change management; it is worth noting in this context that the management of change and effective use of external support, which scores particularly low, is one of the primary focus areas of UN-HABITAT's input to the World Summit on Sustainable Development via the World Urban Forum.

• Among the range of thematic concerns, municipal finance, environment and

General – Convergence A final point is worth emphasising here. Looking over the different forms of support to C2C and the ways in which they have been evolving and changing, it is clear that the UN’s emerging new development cooperation paradigm (bottom-up partnerships based on information exchange and mutual learning and committed to developing ideas from practice) is very well-suited for close collaboration with cities and for active support to C2C. There is thus a strong convergence in thinking and practice which is bringing the UN, especially UN-HABITAT as its lead agency on urban affairs, together with cities, notably through the joint promotion of C2C approaches.

Cities and their associations should become increasingly closely associated in the decision-making by international agencies, thus helping ensure that support is more demand-led than supply-driven. A possible mechanism for institutionalising this dialogue between cities and their associations, support programmes and donors around a strategic information system is put forward in the first chapter of this Report.

32

Towns And Development International City-County Management Association

Sister Cities International

Medsafe Network

Eurocities European Sustainable Cities And Towns Campaign

Citynet

African Union Of Local Authorities Commonwealth Local Government Forum Council For European Municipalities And Regions International Council For Local Environmental Initiatives International Union Of Local Authorities Latin-american Federation of Cities, Mun. and Assc. (FLACMA)

Overall Score (percent of max. poss.)

1 2 2 2 1

2

1

1

2

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

1

2

1

focus/modality of primary emphasis

2

2

1

2

1

2

1

2

2

2 1

2

1

1

2 2

1

2

1

1

2

2 2

1

2

2

1

1

2

2 2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2 1

2 1

2

1

1

2

1

2

1

1

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

2

1

2

1

2

2

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

1

2

1.2 thematic concerns

1

1

2

1

1

2

1

1

1

2

1

2

2

1

2

1

2

2

2

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

1

1

2

2

2

1

1

2

1.3 orientation of linkages

1

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

2

1

1

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

1.4 modality

1. City priorities and practices addressed

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

2

2

2

1

2

1

1

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

1

2

1

1

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

1

2

2.1 support modality

2

2

1

1

1

focus/modality of secondary emphasis

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

1.5 operational partners

1

1

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2.2 geographic focus

2

2

1

1

2

2

2

2

1

1

2

2

2

1

2

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

2

2

1

1 1

2.3 funding and resources

2. Type of support provided

Table 6.3.1: Focus and Modality Local Capacity Development Support Provided by 13 programmes from associations of local authorities and city networks

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2.4 type of supporting institution

1. information and technical expertise 2. policy development & decision-making 3. policy implementation 4. institutional strengthening & HR development 5. managing change and using external support 1. municipal finance 2. environment 3. urban infrastructure & services 4. housing/shelter 5. gender / poverty 6. employment / economic development 7. security / disaster management 8. health / education 9. social / cultural 1. North-South (from richer to poorer) 2. South-South (among LDCs) 3. North-North (among richer countries) 4. West-East (from richer to trans. countries) 5. Global (no specific orientation) 1. One-on-One (twinning, sister cities) 2. Groups (regional, thematic, groupings, etc) 1. the local authority 2. NGOs and/or CBOs 3. private sector 4. academic / research 5. national associations of local government 1. direct C2C and other decent. cooperation 2. network support 3. demonstration-replication and guidelines 4. Docum. and dissem. of best practices 5. provision of specialised expertise and tools 6. training and human resource development 7. strategic capital investments 1. Global (not limited to specific regions) 2. Africa 3. Asia 4. Latin America & Caribbean 5. Middle East & North Africa 6. Central & Eastern Europe / former USSR 1. programme’s own budget 2. local partner budget 3. development project/programme funds 4. grants and loans from other sources 5. self-funding activities 6. foundations, trust funds 1. local authority/association 2. City network 3. Bilateral aid organisation 4. multilateral aid organisation 5. professional association 6. international NGO 7. private sector organisation

1.1 urban management functions

92% 73% 38% 69% 46% 42% 65% 54% 35% 54% 58% 46% 38% 46% 65% 38% 46% 31% 46% 77% 62% 96% 42% 31% 42% 69% 65% 73% 69% 88% 73% 65% 27% 35% 23% 23% 23% 15% 31% 54% 38% 38% 38% 15% 4% 46% 46% 0% 0% 8% 0% 0%

focus/modality of primary emphasis

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2 2 2 2 2

1

2

1

2

1

2

1

2

1

1

1

1

2

1

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

2

1

2

1

1

2

2

1

1

1

1

2

2

2

1

1

2

2

1

1

1

1

2

2

2

1

2

1

2

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

1

1

2 1

2

1 1

1

1

1

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

1

2

1

1

2

2

1

1

1

2

2

1

1

1

2

City Network Caucasus (GTZ)

Local Authority Technical Links Scheme (DFID/LGIB) Association-To-Association Capacity-Building (GTZ) Strengthening Local Governance Municipal Twinning (GTZ) Urban Quality Programme (GTZ Indonesia) Best Practices And Local Leadership Programme (UN-HABITAT) Global Campaign On Urban Governance (UN-HABITAT) Municipal Development Programme (Italian partnerships) Local Leadership And Management Training (UN-HABITAT) Managing The Environment Locally In Subsaharan Africa (WB/EU) Mediterranean Action Plan (MCSD/EU) Public Private Partnerships For The Urban Environment (UNDP) Support To Solidarity Among Cities (UNV/IULA) TCDC Transfer Process Of Good/Best Practices (Citynet) Urban Environment Forum (UN-HABITAT/UNEP)

1

Overall Score (percent of max. poss.)

1.2 thematic concerns

2

1

1

2

2

1

2

1

1

1

2

1

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

2

2

1

1

1

2

1

2

2

2

2

1.3 orientation of linkages

2

2

1

2

1

2

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

1

2

2

1

1

1

1

1.4 modality

1. City priorities and practices addressed

1

2

1

1

2

1

2

2

2

2

1

2

1

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

1

2

1

2

1

2

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

2

1

2

2

1

1

1

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

1

1

2

1

2

1

1

2

2

2

focus/modality of secondary emphasis

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

2 1

2

2

2

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

1 2

1

2

1

2

1

1

2

1

1

2

1

1

1 1

2.1 support modality

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

1.5 operational partners

1

2

1

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

1

2

1

2

2

1

2

1

2

1

2

1

1

2.2 geographic focus

1

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

1

1

2

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1 1

2

1

1

2.3 funding and resources

2. Type of support provided

Table 6.3.2: Focus and Modality Local Capacity Development Support Provided by 15 programmes from multi- and bilateral development organisations

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2.4 type of supporting institution

1. information and technical expertise 2. policy development & decision-making 3. policy implementation 4. institutional strengthening & HR development 5. managing change and using external support 1. municipal finance 2. environment 3. urban infrastructure & services 4. housing/shelter 5. gender / poverty 6. employment / economic development 7. security / disaster management 8. health / education 9. social / cultural 1. North-South (from richer to poorer) 2. South-South (among LDCs) 3. North-North (among richer countries) 4. West-East (from richer to trans. countries) 5. Global (no specific orientation) 1. One-on-One (twinning, sister cities) 2. Groups (regional, thematic, groupings, etc) 1. the local authority 2. NGOs and/or CBOs 3. private sector 4. academic / research 5. national associations of local government 1. direct C2C and other decent. cooperation 2. network support 3. demonstration-replication and guidelines 4. Docum. and dissem. of best practices 5. provision of specialised expertise and tools 6. training and human resource development 7. strategic capital investments 1. Global (not limited to specific regions) 2. Africa 3. Asia 4. Latin America & Caribbean 5. Middle East & North Africa 6. Central & Eastern Europe / former USSR 1. programme’s own budget 2. local partner budget 3. development project/programme funds 4. grants and loans from other sources 5. self-funding activities 6. foundations, trust funds 1. local authority/association 2. City network 3. Bilateral aid organisation 4. multilateral aid organisation 5. professional association 6. international NGO 7. private sector organisation

1.1 urban management functions

70% 53% 37% 87% 43% 57% 63% 67% 40% 43% 53% 30% 20% 23% 50% 60% 13% 47% 23% 63% 73% 97% 57% 30% 37% 60% 67% 67% 37% 47% 67% 67% 3% 53% 37% 27% 17% 17% 33% 53% 53% 60% 30% 7% 17% 0% 0% 33% 67% 0% 0% 0%

1.3 orientation of linkages

1.5 operational partners

2.4 type of supporting institution

Support from Local Authority Associations & Networks

Support from Multi and Bilateral Organisations

1.1 urban management functions 1.4 modality

1. City Priorities And Practices Addressed

1.2 thematic concerns

2.1 support modality

2.3 funding and resources

2. Type Of Support Provided

2.2 geographic focus

t t t t r nt ion ural rer) Cs) ies) ies) ion) ies) etc) rity es es ols ent nts ns) ica Asia ean rica SSR get get nds rces ities nds tion ork tion tion tion GO tion Os tor rch ent ion ort ise king tion en por ance en ices elte erty en it v b tr tr lt v m me at m m p CB sec sea rnm erat upp delin actic d to pm tme egio Afr a fu cia fu ou ert at ho , ta tw isa isa cia l N isa h Af r U bud bud oo LD tiv rib o s i s r xp n-m en elop l su l fin iron ser g/s / po elop age educ / cu o p ng coun coun ient ter c ings aut /or e ve e p e r ac rust sso y ne gan gan sso iona gan u e p t o an evel nves fic r n r Ca orth rme wn tner mm er t v l a o l io pa Env e & usin er lem ev nd riva ic / l go . co work nd g est ise i i N o s o ar d de ma h / cial her (am her ns. ic o , sis roup loca & th ding s, t ity/a Cit d or d or al a rnat r or a a c f ica ecis imp R d xtern nici d l r o o r P t t t e b a f t n a n r & c r rce p / l H tu ’ or h og ca ai l ai sion Inte cto d So ric h on e tra eci ning c, g he em loc cen Ne on a of un ric H Os pit o sp Ge omi aste Hea pe Mu uc eri ast t e pe me ocal ct/pr from elf-f dati auth ad tec t & olicy ng, ing T . se NG to ex sou ca t sp in ra fes ral ng ati is str ati on om ou Ac s of er d d L S oun al Am le E Euro ram P eni je ns ate tilate Pro us lic ssem ised n re egic ited (tw hem ec / d (fr th-S (amo cher (no fra l o ate an men i n g r p n c h a d n i F t i h i o l / o B l d e p o t o t i d ern Pr i t riv a rat lim l y o i r d n r p t u u a n L a t e h g l i t P i t , o n o a o t a m L n M st i n c M n d h u S al ba St ot en cur nd en ati evel ba hu oc and tio an spe tre ge So ort (from Glo on-O gion Ea Ur (n ym Se ss d pm s a . tra hf orm d l s han -N l plo l a C2C ns cum n o g an elo rant (re na Inf licy l& ort c ne rth ast a a v o o a m N o O i b n e r t o o o t G E g m D N t-E D P nt tio ec isi nin ps Glo De titu gin s Ce ov Trai Na Dir ou Ins ana Pr We Gr M

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Table 6.3.3: Focus and Modality of Local Capacity Development Support as provided by 28 international programmes

ANNEX 1

Towns And Development, International Council For Local Environmental Initiatives, IULA • Partnerships for Sustainable Development (Africa, Asia, Europe)

Information Sources Further information about any of the matters discussed in this report may be obtained from the organisations responsible for its production (details given on reverse of the title page). The following is a selective list of publications from which material was drawn for the purposes of the report. It may be supplemented by the periodical publications and the websites of the international institutions and agencies, the international, regional and national associations of local authorities, and of the cities themselves.

ANNEX 1

CITYNET • Guidelines for Transferring Effective Practices – a Practical Manual for South-South Cooperation, 1998

UN-HABITAT • The Habitat Agenda, Istanbul 1996 • Environmental Planning and Management Source book: • Volume 1: Implementing the Urban Environment Agenda • Volume 2: City Experiences and International Support • Volume 3: Urban Environment Forum Directory • Chengdu International Conference on Urban Construction and the Environment for the 21st Century: Conference Report, 2001 • Political Resolution for Istanbul +5: Cities and other Human Settlements in the new Millennium, 2001 • City-to-City Cooperation: Issues Arising from Experience, 2001 • Sustainable Urbanisation – Achieving Agenda 21, 2002 • Coalition for Sustainable Urbanisation – Partnership Commitments for Achieving Agenda 21, 2002

Commonwealth Local Government Forum • Partnerships in Governance – People-Centred Development in the New Millennium, 2000

UNDP • The Challenges of Linking – City-to-City Cooperation as a Development Modality for the 21st Century, Interim Report, 2000 • Human Poverty Report 2000 • Guide to Successful City-to-City Cooperation, Exposure Draft, 2001

European Centre For Development Policy Management • Decentralised Cooperation and Joint Action: Building Partnerships Between Local Government and Civil Society in Africa, 2000

United Towns Organisation • Europe-Central America Decentralised Co-operation Programme, 2000

European Commission • A Europe of Towns and Cities – a Practical Guide to Town Twinning, 1997 • TACIS City Twinning Programme Compendium of Projects, 1998

World Associations Of Cities And Local Authorities Co-ordination • WACLA I Declaration, 1996 • WACLA II Declaration, 2001

International City-County Management Association • Resource Cities Program Annual Report 2001

International Union Of Local Authorities (IULA) • Trilateral Municipal Cooperation – Who? What? Where?, 1996 • Local Challenges to Global Change – A Global Perspective on Municipal International Cooperation, 1995 • Into the New Millennium – A Framework for Action in Municipal International Co-operation, 1996 • Municipal International Cooperation - The Role of Government in Decentralised Development Cooperation, 1999

Local Government International Bureau • Know-How Fund Local Authority Technical Links Scheme, 1999

Metropolis • 6th Worldwide Congress Report: A Network of Cities for World Citizens, 1999

Towns And Development • Berlin Charter and Action Agenda, 1992

36

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

ANNEX 2 International Associations and Networks of Cities and Local Authorities

National associations of local authorities and their central service agencies also play a significant part in facilitating C2C practice, often providing advice, support and partner search brokerage for their members. Such services are currently much more developed in the North than the South, and this Report recognises that capacity-building among associations has an important contribution to make to the process of democratic decentralisation as a whole and to the development of C2C in particular. It is beyond the scope of this Report to examine the role and activities of the hundreds of national associations, but most of them are in any case linked with one or other of the international associations examined here. Two associations consisting predominantly of members in the United States are, however, profiled here for their substantial C2C focus and their outreach to members in other countries.

To demonstrate the range and diversity of associations and networks set up to serve local authorities, this Annex provides a representative selection of international associations, drawn from the organisations themselves, their websites, and a variety of other sources. Each organisation is described separately, in a standard format which provides the basic information together with a summary analysis based on this Report’s analytical framework. The brief “profiles” in this Annex can only give a limited amount of information, of course, and readers seeking further details are encouraged to contact the persons listed.

International Associations and Networks are described in this Annex (in alphabetical order of names in their main working language – information on organisation identified in italics is still expected): 1. Africities 2. African Union of Local Authorities 3. Arab Towns Organisation 4. Association Internationale des Maires Francophones – International Association of Francophone Mayors 5. Citynet

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

Commonwealth Local Government Forum Council of European Municipalities and Regions Eurocities European Sustainable Towns and Cities Campaign Federación Latinoamericana de Ciudades, Municipios y Asociaciones Fédération Mondiale des Cités Unies – United Towns Organisation Ibero-American Organisation for Intermunicipal Cooperation International City-County Management Association International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives International Solidarity Fund of Cities Against Poverty International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) IULA Asia-Pacific Section IULA Central America Section IULA Eastern Mediterranean and Middle-East Section Latin-American Federation of Cities, Municipalities and Associations (FLACMA) Medcities Medsafe METROPOLIS Organisation of Islamic Capitals and Cities Sister Cities International Summit Conference of the World’s Major Cities Towns and Development Union des Villes Africaines – Union of African Towns Union of Capital Cities of Latin America Union Interamericana de Municipalistas Union of Lusophone Capitals and Cities - UCCLA World Alliance of Cities Against Poverty

2. African Union of Local Authorities (AULA) Contacts: Charles C. Katiza, Secretary General, AULA, Second Floor, Local Government House, 86 Selous Avenue, P O Box 6852, HARARE, Zimbabwe, E-mail: iula@ecoweb.co.zw Tel: +263 4 795561; 263 4 796288; Fax: +263 4 795560/1 Objectives: AULA’s mission is to become the generally representative association for local authorities and their associations throughout Africa.

It is the African regional section of IULA. Its principal aims are: 1)To promote and defend the interests of local government at local, regional and international levels and strengthen their capacity to deliver services effectively and efficiently to their constituents. 2) To promote the establishment of a well engrained system of decentralised governance conducive to the proper and effective services delivery operations of local government within the African region. 3) To be the representative and respectable institution of local governments and associated institutions in Africa that are committed to delivering improved services to the satisfaction of their communities. AULA plays a representative, catalyst role. It aims to achieve its mission through lobbying and advocacy, capacity-building and training, good governance programmes, research and policy development, information dissemination as well as promotion and brokering of municipal partnerships, networks and linkages.

Institutional set-up: AULA member Associations are in: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa, Nigeria, Swaziland, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, The Gambia, [total 20] Other members are in Morocco, Cameroon, Senegal, Togo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Burundi, Lesotho, Mauritania. AULA is governed by a Council, Executive Committee and Executive Bureau elected by the membership, served by a permanent Secretariat.

37

ANNEX 2

As the main Report has shown, the principle of developing international cooperation among cities is strongly promoted by the international associations of local authorities, and its implementation is in many cases facilitated by one or other of such associations or more specialised networks of cities. While the first international associations were set up in the early part of the last century, their international advocacy and service provision roles have developed rapidly in recent years with the widespread moves towards decentralisation and democratisation and the growing international awareness of sustainability issues and urbanisation trends. The emergence of more specialised sectoral networks of local authorities has been a notable recent development, partly as a result of the growing involvement of the international institutions in areas of policy and practice for which local authorities have responsibility.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

5. Regional Network of Local Authorities for the Management of Human Settlements (CITYNET) Contacts: Ms. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, Programme Manager CITYNET, 5F, International Organizations Center, Pacifico-Yokohama, 1-1-1 Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku, YOKOHAMA 220-0012, Japan Tel: +81-45-223-2161; Fax: +81-45-223-2162, info@citynet-ap.org; bernadia@citynet-ap.org, Website: www.citynet-ap.org

ANNEX 2

Objectives: CITYNET is a multi-actor network of urban local governments and their national associations, development authorities, NGOs/CBOs, research institutions, and private companies mostly in Asia and the Pacific region. It serves as a focal point and facilitator in the region for promoting information, expertise and technical exchange among various urban stakeholders to create people-friendly cities: environmentally sustainable, economically productive, politically participatory, culturally vibrant, socially just and globally connected. CITYNET works to strengthen the capacity and capability of local governments; develop their partnerships with other various stakeholders; provide timely and relevant information to its members and partners and optimise the use of information technology; address complex global issues locally; strengthen the voices of local governments and their close partners; promote networking.

Activities: CITYNET is a member-driven network in which the activities are planned on the basis of members’ needs and demands. Issues-based themes are: urban environment and health, urban poverty, urban infrastructure and services, municipal finance, and urban governance.

Process-based themes are: capacity-building, good governance, participation and partnerships, and local government as facilitator. Activities are carried out in the form of seminars/workshops, training, study visits, advisory services, and information dissemination. Rapid Response Activities (RRAs) are CITYNET’s timely approach to meeting members’ requests for study visits or expert exchanges. Based on past experience, RRAs have been found to be one of most effective modalities to promote city-to-city cooperation. The following key activities were implemented over the last three years: 1. Urban Governance – (a) Best Practices Transfers – TCDC Transfer Process of Best Practices is an example of an urban governance modality that promotes effectiveness and efficiency. By supporting the direct technical exchange and transfer of expertise between cities, the TCDC transfer programmes have proven to be politically more acceptable, institutionally more viable, and economically more efficient (result: publication and series of successful transfers). (b) First Regional Consultation on Good Urban Governance and Responses to HIV/AIDS in Asia and Pacific (result: partnerships between LGs and NGOs, city action plans developed by both actors). (c) Building Partnerships for Good Urban Governance in the region (result: Esfahan Declaration). (d) Empowerment of Women in Local Governments (result: Phitsanulok Declaration). (e) Building Partnerships between Local Governments and NGOs/CBOs. The significant presence of LGOs and NGOs in CITYNET members provides potential for such cooperation (result: successful cooperation among members, ie.

Sevanatha and Colombo Municipal Council, Mumbai and SPARC). 2.

Environment and Poverty – (a) Linking Poverty and Environment (result: Hanoi Declaration). (b) Established interactive forum for local governments and private companies dealt with environmental technology and services (result: SMART-Cities Web portal at http://www.smart-cities.net) Institutional set-up: CITYNET has 73 member cities in nineteen countries in the Asia-Pacific region and three members in France. CITYNET is governed by General Council and Executive Committee and administered by a Secretariat in Yokohama. The General Council is the highest authority of CITYNET and comprises of all members: it meets every four years to review the activities, approve the Medium-Term Plans and Charter amendments and elect the President, Vice-Presidents, Executive Committee, Secretary-General and Auditor. The Executive Committee

38

formulates annual and biennial work programmes and sets policy guidelines for the Secretariat. It meets at least once a year. The Secretariat is the executing and coordinating body of CITYNET, headed by the Secretary General who reports to the General Council and Executive Committee. Following the First Regional Congress of Local Authorities for the Development of Human Settlements in Asia and the Pacific (Y’LAP) in Yokohama in 1982, the idea was proposed of building a linkage of cities at regional level. The Congress was sponsored by UNESCAP, UN-HABITAT and the City of Yokohama. CITYNET was officially established at the Second Regional Congress in Nagoya in 1987. Having started with 12 city members, CITYNET has grown to an international organisation with 130 members from more than 20 countries. Institutional Costs – (35% from membership dues, 60% from member’s subsidy, 5% in-kind contribution). Programme Costs – (15% from membership dues, 60% from development funds and 25% in-kind contribution).

6. Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) Contacts: Lucy Slack, Senior Policy Adviser, 59_ Southwark Street, London SE1 0AL, UK. Tel: +44 207 934 9693, Fax: +44 207 934 9699, E-mail: Lucy@clgf.org.uk Web-site:www.clgf.org.uk Objectives: CLGF is a membership organisation bringing together local government and Ministries of Local Government from within the Commonwealth on a common platform. It has 170 members in 40 countries. It has three key objectives: advocacy for local government in the Commonwealth, exchange of experience work, and capacity-building. CLGF also has associate members from research and academic organisations with an interest in local government.

Activities: Main activities include the operation of the Commonwealth Local Government Good Practice Scheme, and regional projects focusing on exchange of good practice in the Pacific and Southern Africa. CLGF is also doing research into local government and local government good practice in the Commonwealth. CLGF organised the first panCommonwealth local government leaders and ministers conference in 2000, this will now be a biennial event. CLGF is governed by a Board made up of local and central government representatives from the different regions of the Commonwealth. The Secretariat is based in London and is responsible for implementing the Board’s decisions, it works in close partnership with its members to implement activities and has project staff based in Harare and Suva. We are active across the Commonwealth.

Through the Good Practice Scheme we have been working directly with approximately 40 cities. Background: CLGF was formed in 1995 in response to the moves towards decentralisation across the Commonwealth. It has received Commonwealth Heads of Government recognition as the responsible Commonwealth body representing local government. Activities are funded through grants and project funding from a variety of sources. The Good Practice Scheme, relevant to the C2C context, is currently funded by DFID, UK and AusAID, Australia.

7. Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) Contacts: Jeremy Smith, Secretary General, 15, rue de Richelieu, F - 75001 PARIS, Tel: + 33 1 44 50 59 59, Fax: + 33 1 44 50 59 60.

E-mail:cemr@ccre.org Website: www.ccre.org Objectives: The Council of European Municipalities and Regions originated out of two essential prerequisites: Local democracy is the

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

basis of all States' democratic public life: deeply attached to the principle of democracy, CEMR may only accept as members local and regional authorities resulting from free universal suffrage. Because, as one of the founders of CEMR, Edouard Herriot, Mayor of Lyons, asserted, “everything divides States and everything unites municipalities”, local authorities have an essential role to play in the realisation of the European Union. Indeed, they provide popular support incited by local leaders, as the elected representatives closest to the citizens. Today, CEMR represents around 100,000 local authorities in membership of 42 large national Associations of local and regional authorities in 30 countries within the 15 Member States of the EU and other Council of Europe Member States.

8. EUROCITIES Contacts: Carine Leleux, Personal Assistant, 18 Square de Meeûs, B-1050 BRUSSELS, Belgium Tel: + 32 2 552 08 63; Fax: + 32 2 552 08 89; E-mail: c.leleux@eurocities.be Objectives: The aims of the Association are:- to enhance links among European cities and promote transnational cooperation through involvement in EU projects; to participate in the European policy debate ensuring that greater weight is given to cities at both the Community and national government levels; to disseminate, publish or otherwise provide information, as well as organise and promote conferences, conventions, assemblies, seminars and meetings.

Activities: Since its launch more than 10 years ago, the main objective of Eurocities has been to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of citizens of Europe’s major cities. While this core objective has not changed over time, the Association must continually redefine itself as well as its vision. As part of this, Eurocities will dedicate 2002 to “Reinforcing the European Urban Lobby” assessing the challenges faced by cities within their regional context as well as in the European context. Through this, Eurocities aims to bring Europe closer to the city and the urban reality closer to Europe. Eurocities is involved in facilitating or managing upwards of 30 EU-funded projects covering a wide range of urban-related topics ranging from social integration to telematics. Policy development, exchanges of experience and expertise and European campaigns will continue to be the main instruments for Eurocities to achieve its objectives in 2002. In particular with a continued focus on the development of European campaigns, Eurocities will reach out to the European citizens and contribute to bringing Europe closer to them. Activities in 2002 will include campaigns on sustainable mobility and entrepreneurship; policy work on new European governance and EU institutional reform, the future of the EU structural funds, the fight against poverty and social exclusion, development of local action plans for employment, education policy development,; and the facilitation of networking through the Telecities network, the ACCESS network of cities for a new mobility culture, and the expansion of links with the EU accession countries and the cities of the Mediterranean basin.

Institutional set-up: CEMR is a federation of National Sections which gather together: 1) either one or several national representative associations of the various local authority categories; 2) or National Sections having individual local authorities of a country as its direct members; 3) or both one or several associations and their direct members. These National Sections delegate a certain number of their representatives, depending on the size of their country's population and in accordance with the CEMR constitution, in a general assembly (called the Assembly of Delegates). This Assembly then elects a set number of representatives of each country to the Policy Committee.

The latter then elects the President, Vice-Presidents and Secretary General, and appoints an Executive Bureau. Currently the Council of European Municipalities and Regions is actively chaired by Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. The Council of European Municipalities was founded in Geneva, in 1951, and consequently became the Council of European Municipalities and Regions in 1984. Following the merger of CEMR with the European activities of IULA in 1990, CEMR is by far the most generally representative association of local and regional authorities in Europe. The activities of the CEMR are financed by annual membership fees from its members. This fee is set according to the GDP of each country and the number of inhabitants of the member association’s country. Furthermore, the CEMR receives a grant from the European Commission as an organisation of European interest. CEMR has also received management fees for the operation of programmes funded by the EU.

Institutional set-up: Established in 1986, EUROCITIES is the network of some 103 major cities in the European Union, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States (NIS). Membership of Eurocities is open to democratically elected city governments, as well as to their economic and scientific partners, in cities that have a minimum population of 250,000; have an international dimension; and are important regional centres. Eurocities was established in 1986 against the background of the increased acknowledgement, at EU level, of the need to take into account the interests of Europe’s regions and cities in EU policies and policy-making processes.

The founding members of the association, which has a Brussels-based office since 1991, were Barcelona, Birmingham, Bologna, Frankfurt, Lyon and Rotterdam. The uniqueness of the network as compared to other associations/networks representing local authorities, is twofold.

On the one hand, it fosters transnational cooperation projects between large cities not in one single, theme-specific area, but covers all issues of interest to policy-makers and administrators in large cities (i.e. employment and social affairs, environment, transport and sustainable mobility, new technologies, culture). On the other hand, it develops joint policy initiatives, representing the views of large cities to partners within the EU institutions and with national governments, based on the wealth of experience drawn from the practical work carried out at the local level. The association is funded exclusively by the membership fees of its members. It raises funding on a project basis from the EU institutions.

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ANNEX 2

Activities: At National Level - Each National Section sets its policies as it sees fit and organises its dialogue with its central government as it considers appropriate. It may also take inspiration from examples of other European countries, and sees to it that its government adopt and respect the entirety of the Council of Europe's European Charter for Local Self-Government, which was drawn up in 1985 as a European Convention due to the impetus of CEMR members. At European level - CEMR works for the promotion of local and regional authority interests within the European institutions; CEMR facilitates dialogue and the exchange of experiences among local and regional authorities; CEMR encourages inter-regional and intermunicipal co-operation in supporting local and regional authorities in their search for Community funding linked to programmes set up by the European Union; CEMR supports all the National Sections and all their members upon request in the establishment of twinnings between two or more European local authorities. As part of the preparation for EU enlargement, CEMR works for intermunicipal co-operation in Central and Eastern Europe. Thus, for example, under the EU ECOS/OUVERTURE programme, 340 co-operation projects were carried out over a period of eight years in the four priority fields of environment and energy, local and regional democracy, local economic development, and regional and urban policy and services. CEMR takes action for the cooperation of Mediterranean local and regional authorities; CEMR participates in the world dialogue among local and regional authorities ; CEMR is the European Regional Section of IULA.

9. European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign (Campagne des Villes Durables) Contacts: Anthony Payne, Campaign Coordinator, Rue de Trèves 4951, Box 3, B-1040 Brussels, Tel: +32 2 230 53 51; Fax: +32 2 230 88 50; Campaign.anthony@skynet; Campaign.office@skynet.be; Website: www.sustainable-cities.org

ANNEX 2

Objectives: The Campaign aims to support all relevant actors in European cities and towns in implementing LA21 or similar strategies; to facilitate information exchanges and networking with a view to developing policy, planning, management, measuring and monitoring tools; to co-operate with networks, organisations and sectors that have an important influence on urban development in Europe; to promote and support the local action component in European, national and sub-national sustainable development policies and provide input and help put into practice EU policies and programmes for sustainable development.

Activities: Information dissemination, raising awareness and supporting the 1,450 Campaign participant cities and towns throughout Europe on issues of sustainable urban development. Organisation of thematic working sessions on urban sustainable development, which is led by the Campaign’s partner Networks. Organisation of an open platform for urban sustainability, with the objective of placing the local and regional perspective at the heart of EU thinking on urban sustainability.

Organisation of a European Sustainable City Award, with the aim of raising awareness and encouraging exchange of experience of sustainable urban development.

Institutional set-up: The Campaign is an informally constituted network comprising 1,479 participant cities and towns from 38 countries. The participants join the Campaign by committing themselves to the Aalborg Charter. The structure of the Campaign is based around a Steering Committee, a Political Board and a Campaign Office. The Steering Committee is comprised of the following 10 Networks of local authorities: Association of Cities and Regions for recycling (ACRR), Climate Alliance, Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), Energie-Cités, Eurocities, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEIEurope), Med-cities, Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC), World Federation of United Cities (UTO), World Health Organisation – Healthy Cities Project.

The Political Board is comprised of local political representatives. The Campaign office co-ordinates the activities of the Campaign and is based in Brussels. The Campaign was launched at the end of the first European conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns, which took place in Aalborg, Denmark in May 1994. The conference gave rise to the Aalborg Charter, municipalities participate in the Campaign by signing up to the Charter and committing themselves to work towards the goals of the Lisbon Action Plan and the Hannover Call, which were developed in 1996 and 2000. The Campaign is an initiative of local authorities, co-ordinated through the support of local authority networks and a Campaign Office.

The Campaign forms part of the European Sustainable Cities Project of the European Union, which aims to contribute to thinking on urban sustainability in Europe, to encourage the exchange of experience and disseminate local best practice, and to influence sustainable development policy at European Union, Member State, regional and local levels. 95% of the funding comes from the EU (DG Environment). The Campaign is financed under the EU Community framework for co-operation to promote sustainable urban development. It is co-financed (5%) by the City of Hannover, City of Malmo, Diputacio and Ajuntament of Barcelona, and Coordinamento Agende 21 Locali Italiane.

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10. Latin-American Federation of Cities, Municipalities and Associations Federación Latinoamericana de Ciudades, Municipios y Asociaciones (FLACMA) Contacts: Eric Sarvan, Urban Development Specialist, Latin American Training Centre for the Development of Local Governments CELCADEL, IULA - FLACMA, Agustín Guerrero 219 y José Ayora, P.O. Box 17-01-1109, QUITO, Ecuador. E-mail: eric.sarvan@iula.net; Tel.: + 593 2 2 469 366; Fax: + 593 2 2 435 205 Objectives: To further solidarity between cities, thereby advancing the development of their human resources, the institutional capacities of their municipalities and the quality and coverage of their urban services.

Activities: FLACMA operates as the Latin American Section of IULA and also runs a number of its own programmes, including establishment of the Internet Site PIMEX – Platform for International Municipal Exchange.

A prototype of the Platform is to be launched in April 2002, a final freely accessible version by June 2002.

Institutional set-up: IULA-FLACMA is the oldest regional section of IULA. It started as a regional section in 1981, with the presence of five countries of the region. Since then it has incorporated the other main associations of South America and Mexico. In 1999 it acquired a more Latin American flavour as well as a broader-based organisation as the Latin America Federation of Cities, Municipalities and Associations.

13. International City-County Management Association (ICMA) Contacts: Jon Bormet, Director, Resource Cities Program, 777 N. Capitol, NE, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20002; Tel: +1 202-962-3508; Fax: +1 202-962-3681; jbormet@icma.org; Web-site: www.icma.org, www.icma.org/resourcecities; See also: http://www.makingcitieswork.org/rcities.asp (USAID website), http://www.flgr.bg/techtwin_new/homeen.htm (Bulgarian partner’s website).

Objectives: ICMA is a membership organization with a mission to create excellence in local governance by developing and fostering professional local government management worldwide. ICMA achieves its mission by providing technical assistance, publications, research, peer exchanges, and training services for local government professionals to help them improve their skills and increase their knowledge.

Activities: Since 1989, ICMA has actively pursued its mission internationally by combining the experience of local government practitioners and international consultants to design, implement, and evaluate municipal development and urban management projects worldwide.

ICMA has completed more than 400 project activities and has developed a strong reputation in the sector for its unique “hands-on” approach using experienced city managers, finance directors, local economic development directors, and public works directors. Numerous US agencies and international organizations have awarded ICMA contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements to produce practical solutions for increasingly complex urban issues in more than 50 countries around the world. ICMA is registered with USAID as a Private Voluntary.

Institutional set-up: ICMA’s international programmes are complemented by capabilities of ICMA domestic programmes, many of which are very relevant to the issues confronting international communities, covering topics such as research and development, performance measurement, best practices, ethics in local government, etc. ICMA headquarters is located in Washington DC, with field offices in Indonesia, Montenegro and Kazakhstan that support programmes in the region. In

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

addition to staff in field offices, ICMA headquarters staff include 25 fulltime professionals working on international municipal development programmes. Another 100 staff support ICMA’s member services and programmes, as well as international activities as appropriate. ICMA was founded in 1914 to respond to the needs of a burgeoning class of professional “city managers” in the US. The association now represents over 8,000 professional local government administrators—typically chief administrative officers – serving over 3,000 communities in the USA and 25 other countries.

14. International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Contacts: Bowdin King, International Coordinator, Local Agenda 21 & Water Campaigns, ICLEI World Secretariat, City Hall, 16th Floor, West Tower, 100 Queen St. West, TORONTO, ON, M5H 2N2, Canada.

Tel: +1-416/392-1462; Fax: +1-416/392-1478; Email: iclei@iclei.org, Regional Offices are located in Freiburg, Germany (Europe), Melbourne, Australia and Tokyo, Japan (Asia-Pacific), Rio de Janeiro (Latin America and Caribbean), and Johannesburg, South Africa (Africa); Website: http://www.iclei.org

Activities: Much of ICLEI’s work is linked to the following campaigns: (a) Local Agenda 21 Campaign. ICLEI’s Local Agenda 21 (LA21) Campaign is working with local governments and their associations to achieve sustainable development through participatory, multistakeholder sustainable development planning and the implementation of resulting LA21 action plans. (b) Cities for Climate ProtectionTM Campaign. The Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) Campaign, active since 1992, enlists cities that adopt policies and implement measures to achieve measurable reductions in local greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and enhance urban liveability and sustainability. The campaign presently includes over 500 municipalities that collectively account for nearly 7 percent of anthropogenic global greenhouse gas emissions. (c) Water Campaign. The Water Campaign, launched in June 2000, seeks to build a worldwide movement of local governments committed to achieving tangible improvements in the sustainable use of fresh water resources by protecting and enhancing local watersheds, reducing water pollution, and improving the availability and efficiency of water and environmental sanitation services. In addition to its campaigns, ICLEI also facilitates guidance and exchange of experiences among its membership through a variety of thematic or regional networks and technical projects. ICLEI also seeks to build an international policy environment that is understanding and supportive of local-level environmental protection and sustainable development initiatives. In preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, ICLEI is facilitating the worldwide review of local government progress in implementing Agenda 21, as well as coordinating preparations and devising strategies for the future.

16. International Union of Local Authorities (IULA), Unión Internacional de Autoridades y Gobiernos Locales, Union Internationale des Villes et Pouvoirs Locaux Contacts: Emilia Sáiz Carrancedo, Programmes Director, World Secretariat of IULA, PO Box 90646, 2509 LP THE HAGUE, Netherlands.

Tel: +31 70 3066066; Fax: +31 70 3500496; e-mail iula@iula.org; Website: www.iula.org; www.iula-acb.org Objectives: IULA’s mission is to promote and unite local governments worldwide. This mission translates into four strategic objectives: development of a strong network, advocacy for local governments, being the source of learning and exchange, and being the source of key information. IULA works in all the regions of the world.

Activities: IULA’s advocacy role has ensured the presence of local government through the co-ordination mechanism WACLAC in all UN Conferences. The last World Congress of IULA held in Rio de Janeiro attracted over 2000 delegates. 5 Regional Conferences have taken place on the topic Association Capacity Building. IULA has published a series on the role and tasks of Local Government Associations as well as a Toolkit on LGAs and a book of cases on gender equality and local government. With UNICEF IULA has gathered information on childfriendly cities. The Regions of IULA have developed hundreds of initiative worldwide.

Institutional set-up: IULA is decentralized. Its highest policy making body at global level is the Council representing the whole membership, which in turn elects the President, the First Vice-President and the World Executive Committee. This Committee comprises 47 members throughout the world and oversees the implementation of the policy priorities established by the Council. The Regional Sections are represented in all global bodies and have a similar structure. The beginning of this century saw the emergence of associations of municipalities in many European countries. The first tentative international contacts between them took place at a fairly early stage. In 1913 a major initiative towards a formal and regular contact was

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ANNEX 2

Objectives: ICLEI’s mission is to build and serve a worldwide movement of local governments to achieve tangible improvements in global environmental and sustainable development conditions through cumulative local actions. ICLEI serves as an information clearing house on sustainable development and provides policy guidance, training, technical assistance, and consultancy services to increase local governments’ capacity to address global challenges. Through its campaigns, ICLEI helps local governments generate political awareness of key issues, build capacity through technical assistance and training, and evaluate local and cumulative progress toward sustainable development. Through its diverse membership, campaign, and program activities it provides many city-to-city cooperation opportunities.

Institutional set-up: ICLEI is a democratic membership association of local governments and national and regional local government associations that have made a unique commitment to sustainable development. Full membership is offered to local governments and associations of local governments. More than 400 cities, towns, counties, and their associations worldwide in over 60 countries comprise ICLEI’s growing membership. They and hundreds of other local governments are engaged in ICLEI’s regional projects and international campaigns. ICLEI works in all world regions. Each local government Member holds a position on the Council, which establishes and oversees the implementation of ICLEI’s Strategic Plan and elects an international Executive Committee of local government representatives. In September 1990, more than 200 local governments from 43 countries around the world met at ICLEI’s inaugural conference, the World Congress of Local Governments for a Sustainable Future. The conference took place at the United Nations in New York, and established ICLEI as the international environmental agency for local governments. ICLEI is an unincorporated international association of local governments. Its affairs are carried out through affiliated not-forprofit companies nationally incorporated. International Sources of Income (2000), National, sub-national governments & international organisations 56%; Foundations & associations 20%; Memberships 9%; Municipal contracts and grants 7%; Host community contributions 5%; Other 3%.

taken by the director of the Belgian association, Senator Emile Vinck.

He organised in Ghent, Belgium a highly successful international congress of municipalities. More than 400 representatives of municipalities from more than 20 countries attended and determined upon the establishment of IULA. IULA is an autonomous organisation and its core operations are financed by the membership fees of its members.

Additional resources from bilateral or multilateral agencies are sought for Programmes.

22. MEDSAFE Network, Réseau MEDSAFE, Thematic Network on Urban Safety and Sustainable Development of Mediterranean Urban Areas

ANNEX 2

Contacts: Armando Mauro, Director, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE STOP DISASTERS (IISD), Via di Pozzuoli 100, 80124-NAPLES, Italy, Tel./fax: +39 081 5704665; E-mail: info@medsafe.org; Website: www.medsafe.org Objectives: The MEDSAFE NETWORK is aimed at supporting and promoting sustainable development in the Mediterranean by promoting urban safety from natural and man-made disasters. MEDSAFE was recognised as a Thematic Network by the members of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (Mediterranean Action Plan, Barcelona Convention).

Activities: The Network builds its activities based on a Communication Platform (interactive Website) and on meetings and missions carried out by its partners. - EUROMED-SAFE ‘99 International Conference, Naples – Ravello, 27 – 30 November 1999; EMI Cluster Cities Meeting. Naples, 23 November 2000; UATI-ICET SID-MED III Meeting, Ravello, 24-25 November 2000; Int. Meeting on Urban Safety and Sustainable Development, Naples, 18-20 December 2001. MOU signed between the Municipality of Naples and the Metropolitan Municipality of Istanbul (Turkey) in the field of Seismic Risk Reduction 23 November 2000; Participation of the City of Naples in the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MAP, Barcelona Convention).

Institutional set-up: MEDSAFE is a multi-actors Network composed by partners willing to contribute to its finalities and activities in cities of the Mediterranean. The Network is regulated and supported by a Secretariat established in the International Institute Stop Disasters of Naples (Italy).

A pilot Committee is responsible for elaborating a Plan of Action. The Network officially started on 2000, when the Municipality of Naples decided to support such a networking action through funds and support by its Services of Foreign Relations and Civil Protection in conjunction with proposals by the EMI International NGO. Main funds are provided by the Municipality of Naples and by financial and logistic support by three main international partners are: the Secretariat for the MAP (UNEP), the Earthquake and Megacities Initiative (EMI) international NGO; the International Council for Engineering and Technology (UATI-ICET).

Additional support is provided by the University of Naples, Regione Campania and Province of Salerno. A strong collaboration is also ensured by the European University Centre for Cultural Heritage, Ravello (Italy).

Objectives: Sister Cities International (SCI) is a non-profit citizen diplomacy network creating and strengthening partnerships between US and international communities in an effort to increase global cooperation at the municipal level, to promote cultural understanding and to stimulate economic development. SCI leads the movement for local community development and volunteer action by motivating and empowering private citizens, municipal officials and business leaders to conduct longterm programmes of mutual benefit.

Activities: 1) Developing municipal partnerships between US cities, counties, and states and similar jurisdictions in other nations; 2) Providing opportunities for city officials and citizens to experience and explore other cultures through long-term community partnerships; 3) Creating an atmosphere in which economic and community development can be implemented and strengthened; 4) Stimulating environments through which communities will creatively learn, work, and solve problems together through reciprocal cultural, educational, municipal, business, professional and technical exchanges and projects; 5) Collaborating with organizations in the United States and other countries which share similar goals. Over the next five years SCI aims to double the number of members, and to increasingly focus upon underserved parts of the world including Islamic countries and the Middle East, Africa, and the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Institutional set-up: SCI is a non-profit network of 700 American communities partnered with 1500 international communities in 121 different countries. In the US the sister city programmes are typically organized around a community-based NGO in close partnership with the local government. These NGOs along with their local governments are the members of SCI. A 24 member Board of Directors elected by the membership governs SCI. Sister city, county and state affiliations between the United States and other nations began shortly after World War II and developed into a national initiative when President Dwight D Eisenhower proposed the “People-to-People” program at a White House conference in 1956.

Originally a part of the National League of Cities, Sister Cities International became a separate, non-profit corporation in 1967 due to its tremendous growth and popularity. SCI is a membership organisation. Every US community that wants to be officially recognized under the SCI umbrella must become a dues-paying member. International communities that have a sister city relationship with a US member may become a member by paying dues, however this is optional. SCI also receives a Core Administrative Grant from the US Department of State, as well as other programme-specific funding from various government, private sector and foundation sources. SCI also generates revenues from the sale of insurance and from its J-1 visa programme.

27. Towns and Development (T&D) Contact: Jan Rademaker, Coordinator, Towns and Development, Postbox 85615, 2508 CH The Hague, Netherlands. Tel. no.: +31 70 350 2789, Fax: +31 70 350 2753; E-mail: towns-dev@wxs.nl.

25. Sister Cities International (SCI)

Objectives: T&D is a service network for local authorities, NGOs and community-based groups to promote local partnerships and joint action for poverty reduction and good governance, both North and South, and through North-South partnerships between key stakeholders including local authorities to promote sustainable development.

Contacts: Tim Honey, Executive Director, 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 850, WASHINGTON DC 20004, USA, E-mail: thoney@sister-cities.org Tel: +1 202-347-8630; Fax: +1 202-393-6524; Website:www.sister-cities.org

Activities: The main activities have been to facilitate and document joint action and municipal international co-operation between Europe and developing countries and more recently within Africa and Asia. For Asia, there have been various investigatory workshops, and recently a

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Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

study for working out an action strategy in India was completed. A series of studies and consultations in East and Southern Africa culminated in an international conference on Local Agenda 21 partnerships between local authorities North and South, in Mombasa in 1999. T&D also played a major facilitating role at an international conference in 2001 on the Southern perspective on North-South partnerships. T&D has also produced handbooks and case studies about various kinds of partnerships between North and South including local authorities and other stakeholders in the linked communities. T&D is not working directly with individual cities but facilitates meetings of city and local authority association representatives to distill information from a range of experiences, and documents the results in a variety of publications – e.g. “Partnerships for Sustainable Development in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America” and “Decentralised Co-operation and Joint Action”.

T&D also facilitates exchange of information on North-South partnerships between national networks.

ANNEX 2

Institutional set-up: The T&D network is small but effective. Its decision making is done through an international steering committee and its regional co-ordinators are answerable to a steering committee in the case of Africa and for Asia, through the UMP Asia office in Delhi and the Indian Institute for Youth Welfare in Nagpur. The European programme is currently run from the international secretariat in The Hague. T&D is an associated organisation of IULA. T&D was established as the follow-up to the 1985 ‘From Charity to Justice’ conference, in Cologne, which was about the added value of cooperation between local authorities, community groups and NGOs for project implementation and development education. At first the activities focussed on European campaigning re.

North-South issues, and this included generating and disseminating good practice in North-South city-to-city and community-to-community partnerships. From this, small national and regional chapters of T&D were developed. Originally, T&D was financed from membership fees and donor funding such as from the EU and certain national governments. Now its main source of funding is from the Bremen State Office for Development Co-operation. Amounts have ranged from 100,000DM to 400,000DM per programme.

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ANNEX 3

Objectives: To support implementation of the Habitat Agenda through the dissemination and exchange of lessons learned from good practices, policies and enabling legislation.

International City-To-City Support Programmes

ANNEX 3

Many different international programmes and initiatives provide direct support to City-to-City activities, as illustrated in Chapter 4. This great diversity of support programmes reflects the variety of City-to-City practices and needs - and shows clearly the range of creative interventions which have been developed. This in turn demonstrates an increasing and important convergence: Support programmes responding to city priorities and cities more actively engaging international support.

To illustrate the range and diversity of support being offered, this Annex provides information about a representative selection of international support programmes, drawn from a variety of sources. Each programme is described separately, in a standard format which provides the basic information together with a summary analysis based on this Report’s analytical framework. The brief “profiles” in this Annex can only give a limited amount of information, of course, and readers seeking further details are encouraged to contact the persons listed.

The following Programmes are described in this Annex: 1. Best Practices & Local Leadership Programme (UN-HABITAT) 2. City Network Caucasus (GTZ) 3. Global Campaign on Urban Governance (UN-HABITAT) 4. Italian Decentralised Cooperation within the framework of the Metropolitan Development Programme (MDP) 5. Local Authority Technical Links Scheme (DFID Know-How Fund) 6. Local Government Association Capacity-Building Through Association-to-Association Partnerships (GTZ) 7. Local Leadership & Management Training Programme (UN-HABITAT) 8. Managing the Environment Locally in Sub-Saharan Africa MELISSA (World Bank) 9. Mediterranean Action Plan (Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development) 10. Public Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment (UNDP) 11. Strengthening Local Governance - Municipal Twinning (GTZ) 12. Support to Solidarity Among Cities (UNV-IULA) 13. TCDC Transfer Process of Good/Best Practices - Promoting South-South Cooperation (CityNet) 14. Urban Environment Forum (UEF) 15. Urban Quality Programme: Civil Society and Inter-Municipal Cooperation for Better Urban Services (GTZ-Indonesia)

1. Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme Contacts: Mr Nicholas You, Co-ordinator, Best Practices & Policies Unit, UN-HABITAT, P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya.

E-mail: Nicholas.you@unhabitat.org; Tel: 254-20-623029; Fax: 254-20-623080; Website: www.sustainabledevelopment.org/blp; www.bestpractices.org

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Activities: Dissemination of peer-reviewed good and best practices, urban policies and enabling legislation; development of learning tools including policy briefs, case studies and casebooks; analysis of lessons learned and their policy and capacity-building implications; testing and dissemination of peer learning tools and methods; global awarenessbuilding through best practices Award systems. Scope of activities: Global programme and network of 30+ partners working in all regions in Capacity-building, policy advocacy and leadership development.

Institutional set-up: A global network of public, private, civil society organisations and capacity-building institutions committed to the sharing and exchange of best practices knowledge, expertise and experience. Established in 1997 in direct response to the Habitat Agenda calling for the use of documented best practices as key instruments for monitoring and assessing its implementation. Strengthened in 2002 to respond to the UN Declaration on Cities and other Human Settlements calling for the systematic documentation and dissemination of urban policies and enabling legislation. Of the Programme Approximately US$2 million per annum in partners’ in-kind contributions.

Approximately US$250,000 per annum in own funds (staff).

2. City Network Caucasus (GTZ) Contacts: Dr. Ernst Hustaedt, Regional Section Europe, Mediterranean, Central Asia, Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1-5, P.O. Box 5180, 65726 Eschborn, Germany. E-mail: Ernst.Hustaedt@gtz.de; Phone: 0049-6196-79-2133; Fax: 0049-6196-79-6331 Objectives: The project objectives are to promote local democracy, strengthening local self-government, improving public service delivery on the local level and mobilising the developing potentials of municipalities.

Activities: 1) Initiating Local Agenda 21 processes within the city network; 2) Supporting small projects for municipal development; 3) Identifying priorities for administrative reform on the local level; 4) Exchange of experience between local politicians, NGOs and journalists.

Institutional set-up: The Caucasus Initiative is a two-year project (orientation phase). The project is being implemented of the GTZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ). German municipalities are cooperation partners.

The core team is one project manager and one consultant. Scope of activities: The project is working in the Caucasus region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia). Eight cities are so far involved: four in Germany (Ludwigshafen, Biberach, Saarbrücken, Mainz), two in Azerbaijan (Baku, Sumgait), two in Georgia (Tiflis, Telawi), and none yet in Armenia (to be decided). The project started in March 2002. First meetings were held in July 2001. The project originated from a request by one of the partner communities to establish a cadastre and land information system. This project was implemented successfully and extended to cover the entire country. Based on the contacts established the now launched projected was initiated. The activities are financed by the project budget. The project budget is funded by BMZ. German municipalities support the project financially and with personnel.

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3. Global Campaign on Urban Governance Contacts: Raf Tuts, Ag. Coordinator, Urban Governance Section, Urban Development Branch, UN-HABITAT, P.O Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya E-mail: governance@unhabitat.org; Tel: 254-20 623726; Fax: 254-20 624264 Objectives: The development goal of the Global Campaign on Urban Governance is to contribute to the eradication of poverty through improved urban governance. It aims to increase the capacity of local governments and other stakeholders to practice good urban governance in order to realize more inclusive cities.

Institutional set-up: The Global Campaign on Urban Governance provides an overall framework for the activities of the Urban Development Branch (UDB) of UN-HABITAT. All UDB global programmes, regardless of their entry point (environment, urban safety, disaster management, urban management) promote participatory decision-making processes as a key element of good urban governance. The Campaign has also established a Global Steering Group, responsible for providing overall policy and operational guidance. In addition, regional steering groups have been established in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean to ensure that global norms respond to specific regional priorities. Finally, national campaigns have been launched in selected countries, bringing together the resources of UN-HABITAT, Campaign partners and other support agencies. The Global Campaign on Urban Governance was launched in 1999 to contribute to the implementation of the Habitat Agenda goal of “sustainable human settlements development.” It has grown out of an emerging recognition of the importance of good urban governance in poverty reduction goals, including those contained in the UN Millennium Declaration. Activities are financed through a small core Campaign budget used as “seed capital” to mobilize additional resources. At the global and regional levels, the Campaign seeks to leverage its funds with contributions from UN-HABITAT regional offices and Steering Group members. At the national level, the Campaign increases its leveraging significantly by mobilizing national and donor support for comprehensive urban governance programmes.

Contacts: Jossy S. Materu, Senior Regional Adviser, Eastern and Southern Africa office, 116 rue des Amoureux , 01 BP 3445 Cotonou, Benin. E-mail: pdm@pdm-net.org; E-mail: jmateru@pdm-net.org; Tel: (229) 30 05 60/30 42 42; Fax: (229) 30 19 76 Objectives: 1) strengthen the technical and management abilities of the Sub-Saharan African regions, provinces and municipalities in the light of the essential role they play in supporting the socio-economic development of their peoples, and optimising the use of investment; 2) involve Italian Local Authorities in the activities of official Development Aid by supplementing them with the other activities carried out by the MDP and DGCS. Interventions would cover technical assistance, training activities and supply of equipment.

Activities: 5 projects involving 4 African and 5 Italian municipalities: (1) Montesilvano (Italy) –Mekkale (Ethiopia): Upgrading of an old historic neighbourhood in the central area of the municipality of Mekkele. (2) Biella (Italy)-Dessie (Ethiopia): Construction of a central market in the municipality of Dessie. (3) Roma (Italy)-Maputo (Mozambique): Improvements of the urban water supply and waste collection (4) Padova (Italy)-Beira (Mozambique): 5 projects focusing on: 1) Staff Training and equipment for the Pedagogical University of Beira; 2) Training of social workers in Beira; 3)Training of doctors at Beira Central hospital. 4) Improvement of Urban Health Centres; 5) Construction of an elementary school in one neighbourhood. 5) Genoa (Italy) -Beira (Mozambique) partnership: Management and control of the Aids pandemic in the city of Beira. Scope of activities: 5 projects involving 4 African and 5 Italian municipalities. The countries and regions of focus in Africa are: Maputo and Beira (Mozambique) and Wolo - Dessie and Tigray - Mekkale (Ethiopia).

Institutional set-up: The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGCS) provides 50% of programme funding through the MDP trust funds in the World Bank and the same is channelled to MDP for projects in Mozambique and Ethiopia. The request to the World Bank for project funds is made by the Association of Italian municipalities (ANCI) upon receipt of such requests from MDP. The participating Italian municipalities provide the remaining 50% of the project funds. Such funds are channelled to the partner municipalities in Africa through MDP. The contribution by DGCS is to enable the participation of the African municipalities in the C2C projects. Project accounts have been opened in each of the participating municipalities in Ethiopia and Mozambique for each of the projects. MDP assists the municipalities in Mozambique and Ethiopia to identify demand for C2C projects, monitor their implementation, and provide backstopping support. ANCI reports to the World Bank on the financial accounting of the DGCS contribution. MDP accounts directly to the participating Italian municipalities for their contribution.

During Phase II of the MDP/East (1995-1997), the Italian Ministry of Foreign (DGCS), one of the main bilateral donors for the MDP, provided funding to be used by Italian Local Authorities for specific decentralised co-operation activities within the framework of the MDP. Subsequent to the allocation of the funding, the DGCS produced some guidelines to be used in the utilization of the resources. Further more, DGCS identified the focus countries for the first phase of this programme, namely, Maputo and Beira regions in Mozambique and Wolo and Tigrey regions in Ethiopia. The guidelines provided for the roles and responsibilities of MDP, the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI), and the Italian and African municipalities. Programme funding provided by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGCS), as well as funding provided by the participating Italian municipalities.

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Activities: The campaign objectives are achieved through the following mutually supportive strategies and flagship products: (1)Normative Debate, through a Declaration on the Norms of Good Urban Governance, Policy Papers and support to the dialogue on decentralisation.

(2)Advocacy, through public information campaigns, campaign launches, the Inclusive Cities initiative, and the Good Urban Governance Index.

(3) Operational Activities and Capacity-Building, through the implementation of national campaign action plans, demonstration projects, and technical support, including for revising national legislation. (4) Knowledge Management, Lessons-learned, Research, Good Urban Governance Toolkit Series. Scope of activities: To date, the Campaign has been launched in Nigeria, India at the national level and at the regional level in Latin America and the Caribbean. Additional national campaigns are planned for 2002 in Burkina Faso, Senegal, The Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil, Jamaica and Nicaragua. In each country, at least five cities are involved; in some cases many more.

4. Italian Decentralised Co-operation within the framework of the Municipal Development Programme

5. Local Authority Technical Links Scheme Contacts: James Beadle, Head of International Partnerships and Projects; International Partnerships and Projects Team, Local Government International Bureau, Local Government House, Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HZ, England; James.beadle@lgib.gov.uk; Telephone: 44-20-7664 3118; Fax: 44-20-7664 3128 Website: www.lgib.gov.uk

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Objectives: The aim of the programme was to promote the development of local democracy and the free-market economy in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe. The aims were latterly modified in the light of the UK Government’s White Paper on International Development. As a result priority was given to projects with a poverty focus, with the aim to support sustainable livelihoods, promoting human development, conserving the environment and encouraging economic growth which benefits the poor.

Activities: The Programme supported a wide range of local authority to local authority technical co-operation projects covering the full range of local government management and service delivery issues. Scope of activities: The Programme approved over 150 projects in the following countries Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In all over 100 local authorities in the UK and 100 local authorities in Central and Eastern Europe.

Institutional set-up: The Programme was managed by the Local Government International Bureau on behalf of the Department for International Development Know-How Fund. The Programme started in 1992 following lobbying from UK local government who wanted to make a positive contribution to the process of transition on the region.

The Programme ended in 2000 as the Department for International Development felt that the Programme no longer fitted in with the UK government’s international development strategy. The Department for International Development provided grants of up to £30,000 to support individual projects, however this finance was frequently supplemented by substantial in-kind contributions from the participating local authorities, particularly in the form of staff time.

6. Local Government Association Capacity Building through Association-to-Association Partnerships Contacts: Mr. Gerd Juntermanns, Division 42, State and Economic Reform, Civil Society, GTZ, Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1-5, P.O. Box 5180, 65726 Eschborn, Germany; Gerd.Juntermanns@gtz.de; Phone: 49-6196-79-1660; Fax: 49-6196-79-6105.

Mr. Walter Leitermann, Deutscher Städtetag (DST), Linde-nallee 13-17; 50968 Köln, Germany; Walter.Leitermann@Staedtetag.de; Phone: 0049–221–3771-310; Fax: 0049–221–3771-150; Objectives: The project objectives are to promote local government association-to-association partnerships in order to strengthen the learning dialogue between local government associations in industrialised, transition and developing countries. This form of cooperation permits the transfer of local authority association’s know-how; practitioners can learn from each other. Association-to-association partnership arrangements support long-term governmental and administrative reform in partner countries of German development cooperation.

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Activities: Planned: a) Developing a concept for association-to-association partnerships aiming at integrating these partnerships in projects and programmes of German development cooperation. b) Establishing an information exchange service unit in the field of inter-municipal and inter-associational cooperation. c) Initiating pilot association-to-association partnerships in selected regions and drawing lessons learnt. Scope of activities: The pilot regions have not as yet been assigned, but Latin America will probably be one.

Institutional set-up: The supra-regional project is running for two years. It will start in August 2002. The project is being implemented on behalf of the GTZ in cooperation with the Deutscher Staedtetag (DST).

The core team will be two project managers (one from GTZ and one from DST) and one project officer. The project idea was born in autumn 2001 during an interlocution between the German Minister of Development Cooperation, the President of the DST and a German Mayor. The different actors are interested in bringing forward the German local actors into international cooperation. The activities are financed by the project budget. The project budget is funded by GTZ. The DST supports the project with taking over the office expenses.

7. Local Leadership and Management Training Programme Contacts: Tomasz Sudra, Chief, Training and Capacity Building Branch, UN-HABITAT, P. O. Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya.

E-mail: Tomasz.sudra@unchs.org; Tel: (254-20) - 623034; Fax: (254-20) - 624175 Objectives: The strategic objective of the Local Leadership and Management Training Programme is the strengthening of national capabilities; of developing and transition country capacity-building institutions to respond to training and other capacity-building needs through integrated, demand-based capacity-building projects. These are formulated jointly with national partners and interested donors, and consist mainly of sub-regional activities with high multiplier effect, and followup support at national/local levels. The work concentrates on specific regions, maintaining continuous contact with partner/client institutions, organising and implementing activities.

Activities: The Local Leadership and Management Training Programme consists of three principal groups of activities. The goals of these activities are to improve urban governance – improving its effectiveness, efficiency, transparency, inclusiveness and participatory character and increasing its impact on poverty reduction and a better living environment. These goals are achieved through the specific activities of Local Leadership Training, training using the “Building Bridges” series of manuals, training using the local development NGOs/CBOs capacity building manuals, settlement management training and direct support of national and local training institutions. Scope of the programme: The programme functions in Africa, Arab States, Asia, Latin America and Central/Eastern Europe. The multiplier effect and scope of activities can be illustrated by the diversity of the translated languages of the local leadership manuals - one of the main tools - which include Amharick, Arabic, Czech, French, Hindu, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovak, Swahili, Spanish. Romanian and Russian.

Institutional set-up; The programme is anchored within the Training and Capacity Building Branch of UN-HABITAT. Generic tools/handbooks are developed at global level based on expressed needs of local authorities and partners. Once validated/field tested, these are used for ToTs

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

9. Mediterranean Action Plan Contacts: Mr. Ivica Trumbic, Director, Priority Actions Programme, Regional Activity Centre, Kraj Sv. Ivana 11 21000 Split, Croatia; E-mail: pap@gradst.hr; telephone: 385-21 - 34 34 99; fax: 385-21 - 36 16 77 Objectives: To propose recommendations on urban management and sustainable development to the Mediterranean countries, Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, and other regional actors in urban management and development (NGOs, municipalities, local and regional authorities, professional associations, private sector, international organisations).

Activities: 1) preparation of the initial paper on the issues; 2) questionnaire sent to more than 100 Mediterranean municipalities, and all the countries in the region, on urban issues; 3) 5 sub-regional reports for 21 countries of the Mediterranean region; 4) 6 in-depth case studies; 5) synthesis papers on major urban issues in the region: 6) regional workshop; 7) recommendations to MCSD; 8) recommendations to the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (adopted in November 2001); 9) implementation of the recommendations (2002-2005); 10) follow up. Scope of Activities: 1) all countries in the Mediterranean region; 2)100 cities were contacted for the questionnaire (40 responses); 3) 6 in-depth city case studies; 4) there are always 3 local authorities (rotating every 2 years) represented) in the MCSD Institutional set-up: The Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD) is tackling the priority issues and presenting the recommendations that Mediterranean countries and other actors are adopting the bi-annual meetings of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention. Urban Management and Sustainable Development is an issue managed by the PAP/RAC and Blue Plan cen-

tres of the Mediterranean Action Plan. The recommendations were adopted in November 2001 and implemented by the PAP/RAC. The programme started in 1999. The bulk of activities was carried out in 20002001. The recommendations were approved in November 2001. The implementation will be carried out in 2002-2005. Activities are funded through the budget of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP). It is allocated to the centres that are technically supporting the Working Group (PAP/RAC). For the period 2000-2001, the total amount of money spent on this Working Group was about US$ 150,000. Almost equal amount was spent “in kind” by the developed countries of the region (contribution to the workshop in Barcelona, travel costs for the meetings etc.). In addition, the European Commission has awarded some funds on a competitive basis.

8. Managing the Environment Locally in Sub-Saharan Africa (MELISSA) Contacts: Dr Ousseynou Diop, Regional Coordinator MELISSA, World Bank Office, P.O. Box 12629 Hatfield, 0028 Pretoria, South Africa; E-mail: odiop1@worldbank.org; telephone: 27-12 - 349.2994; fax: 27-12 - 349.2080 Objectives: Enhance decentralized environmental policies and strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa through capacity building, partnership development and knowledge sharing.

Activities: Training workshops on urban environment, Institutional support for Decentralized Environmental Action Plan Preparation, Net-working and Information Sharing (Forum, electronic newsletter, environmental resources and publications, web site,) Action research on “Eco-system Approach to Urban Development”; Scope of Activities: 1) Institutional support in 5 cities in Ghana, Antananarivo (Madagascar), Northern Province (South Africa); 2) Networking and Knowledge Sharing in Sub-Saharan Africa (45 cities involved); 3) Action research on “ecosystem approach to urban development” in 2 secondary towns (under preparation).

Institutional set-up: A co-ordination Unit located in Pretoria and a Program Management Team based in Washington DC at the World Bank Headquarters. Background: MELISSA was launched in late 1996 by the European Commission and the World Bank. The initiative derives from a dynamic and participatory consultation process involving distinguished African Governmental officials, Academics, Representatives of NGOs, CBOs, the private sector and External Support Agencies. This process is known as the Post-UNCED initiative launched by the World Bank in 1995.

Supported by the European Commission, Norway, Sweden and the World Bank for the first phase 1997 – 2000. Supported by Norway and the World Bank for the second phase 2001-2003.

10. Public Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment (PPPUE) Contacts: Mr Peter Grohmann, Global Task Manager, P.O. Box 6541, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa. Email: pppue@undp.org, Telephone and fax are to change shortly and the new numbers are not yet known please check website: www.undp.org/pppue for latest contact information.

Objectives: The core goal of UNDP’s PPPUE facility Public-Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment Facility is to increase the access of the urban poor to basic urban services by promoting collaboration 47

ANNEX 3

and capacity building of national training and capacity building institutions, under direct control and with assistance of the global programme.

National institutions with other partners take the lead in implementing training activities and adaptation of manuals to local and national conditions. In the early 1990s UN-HABITAT with funding support of the Netherlands Government initiated a project in response to the request of the Commission on Human Settlements and within the on-going efforts of UN-HABITAT. The aim of the project, known as DSO Project 1, later complemented with DSO 2, was to address the needs of training, institution-building and human resource development. It was also developed to support the implementation of the Habitat Agenda as formulated by Asian and African countries in their Habitat II National Plans of Action.

The conceptual framework of the project was derived from the UN-HABITAT Training and Capacity Building Strategy. The objective of the DSO1 Project was the development and strengthening of training activities for municipal staff, elected officials and NGO activists in settlements management and local leadership. DSO 1 focused on the development of generic manuals/handbooks and on Training of Trainers but did not include provision for support to institutions other than the development of materials and the “learning by doing” capacity-building. DSO2 on the other hand was designed to specifically complement the individual capacity-building activities of the on-going DSO1 Project by providing direct support to Trainers and their institutions to implement new and improved training activities in their respective countries. Core staff resources come from the regular budget and are mainly used to design, implement, monitor and evaluate capacity building and training activities. Project proposals are submitted for funding to interested donors, who are, as a result, financing a great majority of programme activities.

Some high priority activities are being financed directly out of UN-HABITAT extra-budgetary resources.

ANNEX 3

between the private and public sectors. Through these innovative partnerships, PPPUE helps to address some of the most urgent urban environmental needs and to create healthy living conditions for all citizens in cities of the developing world.

Activities: PPPUE has two components to support developing countries in developing pro poor tripartite partnerships. Innovative Partnership Grants (IPG) reward innovative projects in support of PPPs at the local level. Project proposals are selected through competition on the basis of defined criteria. There are currently 15 IPG projects under development globally. The Global Learning Network (GLN) provides a forum for those involved in pro-poor PPP. It utilises powerful networking capacities to facilitate experience and resource exchange and the development of professional capacity for PPP. GLN activities include Collaborative Learning, an electronic newsletter and development of training tools for municipalities, all available at www.undp.org/pppue. Scope of Activities: PPPUE focuses on small and medium sized cities in all UNDP Programme Countries in each of the five regions. Currently 15 countries are implementing IPG projects which will support pro-poor PPP and basic service delivery in more than 20 cities. The GLN has global coverage and links those involved in IPGs, our partner programmes and others engaged in pro-poor PPP. Activities are coordinated via regional nodes in Peru, Ukraine, Ghana, China, India, Philippines and USA. Institutional set-up: The Consultative Group provides strategic leadership for the facility deciding overall policies, endorsing the work programme, and reviewing performance. The Technical Advisory Committee selects IPG project proposals and provides technical guidance to the CG and the Management Unit. The small Management Unit is responsible for programme management, providing advice to and coordinating with programme partners and UNDP Country Offices, coordination of the Innovative Partnership Grants and Global Learning Network and resource mobilisation. UNDP launched the PPPUE facility in 1994 following the recommendations of the Rio Earth Summit on public-private collaboration. After successful pilot and scaling-up phases PPPUE launched a new platform in 2000 to support local governments and private actors in building their own capacities for innovative and sustainable partnerships. PPPUE maintains a flexible financial structure that allows donors to contribute to the PPPUE Trust Fund in general or for specific activities. Funds are administered in accordance with UNDP Financial Rules and Regulations and are subject to normal internal and external auditing procedures. IPG proposals are strongly encouraged to supplement the grant with substantial co financing either as cash contribution or in kind. Some resources in support of the project must be provided by project partners.

11. Strengthening Local Governance - Municipal Twinning Contacts: Mr. Gerd Juntermanns, Division 42, State and Economic Reform, Civil Society - GTZ, Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1-5 P.O. Box 5180; 65726 Eschborn, Germany. E-mail: Gerd.Juntermanns@gtz.de; Phone: 49-6196-79-1660; Fax: 49-6196-79-6105 Objectives: The project objectives are to promote municipality twinning and partnership arrangements in order to strengthen the learning dialogue between local authorities in industrialised, transition and developing countries. This form of co-operation permits the transfer of local authority know-how; practitioners can learn from each other.

Municipality twinning arrangements support long-term governmental and administrative reform.

Activities: 1) Inventory on scope and potential of German municipality twinning. 2) Workshop with German cities aiming at discussing success 48

factors of municipality twinning. 3) Pilot activity in Indonesia: Support of a city network Germany-Indonesia with the main emphasis on local economic development. 4) Pilot activity in Vietnam: Support of Local Agenda 21 processes. Pilot activity in Croatia: Support of regional economic development. Scope of Activities: Within the first year of the project we support pilot activities in Indonesia, Vietnam and Croatia in the field of C2C Cooperation. The pilot regions for years 2 and 3 have not as yet been assigned.

Institutional set-up: The supra-regional project is running for three years. It started in October 2001. The project is being implemented of the GTZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The core team is one project manager and two project officers. The project started in October 2001.

The background is the following: (1) Cities in Germany are interested in professionalising their partnerships.(2) Cities in partner countries of German development cooperation are looking for support from cities in Germany. (3) The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation (BMZ) puts one main emphasis on local development co-operation.

The activities are financed by the project budget. The project budget is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ).

12. Support to Solidarity Among Cities Contacts: Edmundo Werna, Research and Development Unit, UNV; Martin Luther King Str. 8, Postfach 260111; D-53153 Bonn, Germany; E-mail: edmundo.werna@unvolunteers.org; Phone: + 49 228 815 2123. Fax:+ 49 228 815 2001. Eric Sarvan, IULA - FLACMA, Agustín Guerrero 219 y José Ayora; P.O. Box 17-01-1109, Quito, Ecuador; E-mail: sarvan_eric@yahoo.com; Tel.: + (593 2) 2 469 366; Fax: + (593 2) 2 435 205.

Objectives: To further solidarity between cities, thereby advancing the development of their human resources, the institutional capacities of their municipalities and the quality and coverage of their urban services.

Activities: UNV has the capacity to send human resources from one country to another (and within countries) to work in development projects and to give them logistical support UNV is offering this attribute to cities which want to send their experts to other cities in C2C initiatives. UNV is therefore developing partnerships with local authorities as developing a database to match supply and demand for C2C. The UNVIULA project has since April 2001 focused on studying the existing products and services being offered to facilitate C2C, identifying tools that should be offered by an Internet site for C2C, and developing the Internet Platform PIMEX. A prototype of the Platform was launched in March 2002 in Latin America. Since November 2001, a second project component is concentrating on the identification of municipalities suitable for the assignment of Volunteers to support C2C activities. The first three of eight cities have been identified and cooperation agreements are currently being signed. Scope of Activities: Though in its initial phase the project focuses on cooperation with and within Latin America and Africa, a future expansion to other regions is planned.

Institutional set-up: The Support to Solidarity Among Cities programme is being executed in cooperation with the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA). Teams of UN Volunteers – Specialists in Urban Development and Information Technology – are based in IULA’s regional office in Quito, Ecuador (IULA-FLACMA) and in IULA’s regional office in Harare, Zimbabwe (IULA-AULA). The team in Quito is in charge of the construction of the Internet Site PIMEX – Platform for International Municipal Exchange. The programme overall is supervised by UNV head-

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

quarters in Germany. The main objective of the initiative is to enhance solidarity among local authorities. C2C is an integral part of UNV’s urban agenda, designed in 1998, and the initiative is UNV’s major undertaking in the field. The project was launched in April 2001 with the assignment of the first Urban Development Specialist to Quito. Human and financial resources are provided by the United Nations Volunteers Programme through a special fund for experimental projects (within the UNV budget). UNV also provides in-kind contributions.

international airfare, while host or beneficiary cities shares the local expenses and other project costs incurred.

14. Urban Environment Forum (UEF) Contacts: Mr Ole Lyse, Ag Coordinator, Urban Environment Section / SCP; UN-HABITAT, P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya; Email: ole.lyse@unhabitat.org; Tel: 254-20-623.565; Fax: 254-20-623.715 or 624.264; Website: http://www.unchs.org/uef

Objectives: TCDC Transfer Process of Best Practices is an urban governance modality that promotes effectiveness and efficiency. By supporting the direct technical exchange and transfer of expertise between cities, the TCDC transfer programmes have proven to be politically more acceptable, institutionally more viable and economically more efficient. The objectives are: 1) To enhance cooperation among cities in developing countries. 2) To provide opportunities for cities/organisations to see, directly learn from and get them inspired by good/best practices. 3) To adapt or replicate those successful practices locally, transfers can be fostered given the fact that they are geographically, social and culturally similar.

Activities: The UEF has sponsored a series of global, regional and thematic meetings and workshops designed both for systematic exchange of knowledge and experience and for raising awareness and understanding of common tasks and hence the potential for C2C cooperation.

Experiences have been synthesised and together with case studies published in the widely-circulated EPM Source Book (3 volumes). A website has also been established, to facilitate continuing exchange and communication. The UEF has organised and sponsored global and regional meetings regularly from 1996 to 2000, including in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. It has produced reports and documents on a wide range of topics.

Activities: As the programme places mutual interests of cooperating cities first, main activities proposed are the issues urgently face by participating cities. Over the past 3 years, the following areas have been covered: (1) Urban environment – solid waste management; (2) Urban poverty, (3) Municipal finance and administration – resource mobilisation, (ie. Municipal bond, tax collection system, etc); (4) Management of Infrastructure and Services – urban transport. Scope of Activities: Participation includes more than 50 cities in Asia-Pacific region, from 18 countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, P.NG, P.R. China, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam.

Institutional set-up: The UEF developed from the interests of the original participating partners. It has no organisational “ownership”. As a user network, the UEF funds its activities on an ad hoc basis drawing support for particular activities from a variety of bilateral and multilateral aid agencies as well as from the cities themselves. UN-HABITAT has so far provided secretariat services, but there is no permanent organisation. The UEF grew out of a development initiative (the EPM Guidebook project 1995-1996); the networking and information-sharing activities which evolved through that work were formalised into the UEF in a parallel meeting at Habitat II in Istanbul in 1996. Subsequently, global and regional meetings and other activities have occurred on a regular (but not fixed) basis, often in association with other events.

Occasional inputs of staff time for organisational purposes have been provided by UN-HABITAT. Funding for activities is ad hoc and is raised from a variety of sources, on a one-off basis.

Institutional set-up: The beneficiary cities submit requests to CITYNET; the CITYNET Secretariat review the proposal, search for best partners, and explore possibility for such exchanges and practices’ replication. The Practical Guidelines on South-South Cooperation has made the participating cities (beneficiary and lead cities) understand their roles and help them in the optimisation of such exchanges. The concept of TCDC was initially introduced by UNESCAP and UNDP when CITYNET was established in 1987. The objective was to enhance cooperation among developing countries through study visits or advisory services. However, CITYNET - TCDC has become a unique in implementation because: 1) It is done at the city level without any intervention/involvement from national governments. 2) It applies cost-sharing concepts in which all participating cities have to share the costs, while membership fees and or project development funds channelled through CITYNET are spent for the travels. 3) The cooperation is expanded from one-to-one to one-to-group or group-to-group cooperation. Participation of various stakeholders in the exchanges has fostered the replication of good/best practices. TCDC Best Practices Transfer applied cost-sharing concept in which CITYNET pays for the

15. Urban Quality (UQ) Programme Civil Society and Inter-Municipal Co-operation for Better Urban Services Contacts: Gerd Sippel, Head, Urban Programme, Urban & Municipal Development Division, GTZ - Urban & Municipal Development, Deutsche Bank Building, 17th Floor, Jl. Imam Bonjol No. 80, Jakarta 10310 – Indonesia; E-mail. Sippel.gtz-indonesien@id.gtz.de; Tel. 62–21–398 31590; Fax. 62–21–398 31591; Website: www.urbanquality.org Objectives: UQ is a German-Indonesian development initiative programme, financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic

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Contacts: Ms. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, Programme Manager, Programme Unit, CityNet, 5F, International Organizations Center, Pacifico-Yokohama, 1-1-1 Minato Mirai, Nishiku, Yokohama 220-0012, JAPAN; E-mail: info@citynet-ap.org; bernadia@citynet-ap.org; Telephone:(81-45) - 223-2161; Fax: (81-45)-223-2162; Website: http://www.citynet-ap.org/

Objectives: The UEF is a loose global network of cities and urban development practitioners, defined by its members’ shared concerns for urban environmental management. The UEF is a true “network”, existing only to facilitate the ability of its members, individually and collectively, to address those concerns. The emphasis of the UEF is therefore on exchange of experience, pooling of knowledge, and sharing of insights about how best to apply different approaches in different urban contexts. It also focuses on effectively bringing the cities who are dealing with urban environmental problems together with and the international programmes which aim to support them.

13. TCDC Transfer Process of Good/Best Practices - Promoting South-South Co-operation

ANNEX 3

Cooperation and Development (BMZ), to strengthen local decision making for sustainable development in urban areas in Indonesia.

Activities: In 2001 UQ concluded Task Description Agreements with 20 towns & cities describing the first phase of intensive cooperation with each of these towns & cities to lead to a useful result in a very short time irrespective of subsequent cooperation with GTZ. The purpose of this first phase is two-fold: (1) Achieve a useful result for the future development of the town or city; (2) Give the town or city and Urban Quality an opportunity to get to know each other. With this information, it will be possible to find a basis for reducing the number of towns with which UQ will cooperate during the subsequent phase of 6 to 8 months, which may consists of the detailed planning for the results achieved in the preceding phase. Thereafter, it is envisaged to further reduce the number of participating cities for extensive implementation support. During these latter phases more resources will be directed at the strengthening of multiplier institutions. Throughout the implementation of UQ it is necessary to document and disseminate proceedings in easily understood language, to engage local stakeholders in discussion, to stimulate local dialogue and exchange and to engage with local and regional media. As a result of the aforementioned task description, UQ is currently undertaking field visits to its towns & cities to inform, to teach and to show how individual demonstration measures are used as entry points for a comprehensive urban development programme, and in order to start UQ’s first phase of intensive cooperation with towns & cities. The selection of cities began in April 2001. In view of the regional priorities for Indonesian-German development cooperation agreed to by the two Governments, the regional focus of the programme during the initial phases is set on the provinces Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB), Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), Central Java and Yogyakarta.

Institutional set-up: GTZ has grouped a number of Indonesian-German technical cooperation projects into a joint management structure under the broad heading of ‘Urban and Municipal Develop-ment’. The projects aim to build capacity, empower decision makers, strengthen institutions, and to enrich the policy formulation process through a linkage with local government at town and city level. Complementary to the project group ’Decentralization and Local Governance Capacity Building’, activities of the Urban and Municipal Development Project Group provide technical assistance to towns and cities, for the benefit of their sustained development, with special emphasis on the need to improve the quality of life of the urban poor. In 1998 GTZ reviewed its ongoing projects in the urban sector and came to the conclusion that an integration of the urban projects would broaden the impact of individual projects and enhance sustainability. In 1998 both governments agreed to achieve this integration through the UQ initiative. In 2000, GTZ was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to implement the German contribution to UQ. Financial Base: Current Phase: approximately USD 4.000.000,- (German contribution). approximately USD 1.500.000,- (Counterpart contribution).

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ANNEX 4

Sustainable Urbanisation Achieving Agenda 21

August 2002

Foreword

For development to be sustainable, the implications of our rapidly growing urban areas – where increasing numbers of residents are living in poverty – need to be clearly addressed. Target 11 of the Millennium Development Goals focuses on the need to achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020. UN-HABITAT, the United Nations Agency for human settlements has, together with all Habitat Agenda Partners (national governments, local authorities, civil society, international organisations and urban practitioners), adopted the concept of ‘sustainable urbanisation’ as a common framework for jointly addressing these issues. The UK Government Department for International Development has joined with UN-HABITAT to promote this concept at Johannesburg and beyond.

This publication is addressed to stakeholders at all levels, setting out specific promises and challenges of achieving sustainable urbanisation. It elaborates on many of the issues raised at the first World Urban Forum that was held at UN-HABITAT’s headquarters in Nairobi in April-May 2002. At that forum, the full range of Habitat Agenda Partners came together to develop the concept of ‘sustainable urbanisation’ and discuss its implementation, as a joint message for the World Summit for Sustainable Development.

Sustainable urbanisation requires... that local authorities and their partners have the capacity to deal with the complex challenge of managing growing cities and towns.

Sustainable urbanisation requires lasting economic growth, resulting in reduced poverty and greater social inclusion, and taking account of the relationships between rural and urban areas. It means providing the land and infrastructure necessary to keep pace with city growth and providing the poor with access to livelihoods and essential services while, at the same time improving life in rural and smaller urban settlements. It also means ensuring that local authorities and their partners have the capacity to deal with the complex challenge of managing growing cities and towns. To achieve sustainable urbanisation and realise the potential benefits of the interdependence of rural and urban areas, it is imperative to address the potential conflicts between rapid urban growth and environmental sustainability.

It is vital that all organisations involved in international development co-operation act together to address the challenges of sustainable urbanisation, in support of national governments, local governments and their partners. This document is an important contribution to further developing the framework agreed at the World Urban Forum and providing a solid basis for coordinated action.

Clare Short Secretary of State for International Development United Kingdom

Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka Executive Director UN-HABITAT 51

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The Millennium Development Goals and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg provide an opportunity for the international community to focus more sharply on what we must do to achieve sustainable development. The fact that half the people of the world now live in towns and cities, and that this proportion will rise to two-thirds by the middle of this century is a major challenge.

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Coalition for Sustainable Urbanisation Partnership Commitments for Implementing Agenda 21

ANNEX 5

August 2002

Introduction In the week from 29 April to 3 May 2002, in the context of the first Session of the World Urban Forum, some 400 Habitat Agenda partners from national governments, inter-governmental organisations, local authorities and their associations, nongovernmental organisations, community based organisations, slum dwellers, and experts came together in Nairobi for a series of half-day dialogues on “sustainable urbanisation”. The dialogues were designed to prepare for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and had three objectives: A first objective was to ensure that participants are fully aware of the agreed focus of UN-HABITAT in relation to the WSSD, and also to develop a clearer understanding of what is meant by “sustainable urbanisation” in this context, so that the efforts of diverse partners will be more coherent, consistent, and mutually reinforcing. A second was to strengthen collective understanding of the key challenges of sustainable urbanisation, using the thematic dialogues to further develop and synthesise different perspectives and ideas, thus leading to concrete conclusions for the WSSD preparatory process. A third objective was to jointly review and further develop Partnership Implementation Commitments, organised as type-2 outcomes of WSSD which can be fed directly into the preparatory process during PrepCom4 in Bali.

In order to achieve these objectives the dialogue series was initiated with an Introductory Session, to create a common base of understanding and to commit participants to the approach, after which there were six Thematic Dialogues, to explore the core ideas of sustainable urbanisation from different perspectives; finally, there was a Closing Session, to bring together and review the ideas and results from the earlier dialogues, and re-confirm shared understandings and common commitments, in a report to be presented to the over-all WUF final plenary. The six themes addressed in the individual dialogues were: (a) sustainability of cities; (b) the role of cities in sustainable development; (c) the rural dimension of sustainable urbanisation; (d) the management of HIV/AIDS pandemic at the local level; (e) water, sanitation and hygiene, and (f) city-to-city co-operation. For each of these thematic dialogues a background paper had been prepared by the secretariat, and contributions from carefully selected panelists initiated a lively debate, which led to the following principal conclusions.

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Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

What is Sustainable Urbanisation?

“Sustainable Urbanisation”, as discussed and elaborated during the dialogue series, has a number of special characteristics. It is, of course, a process – and a very dynamic one. Most important, it is multi-dimensional – it includes not only environmental but also social, economic, and political-institutional sustainability – and it brings together urban and rural, encompassing the full range of human settlements from village to town to city to metropolis. In this way, sustainable urbanisation brings under one heading the crucial linkages between cities and their environment, at local, metropolitan, regional, national and global levels.

It thus provides, for example, a framework for dealing with the environmental impact of cities on their hinterlands, or with the economic relationships and ecological linkages between town and countryside. By taking this wider view, sustainable urbanisation moves beyond sterile arguments about urban versus rural, accepts the reality of urban growth and migration among human settlements, and concentrates on effective management of the process.

Poverty, gender inequality, and deprivation are central challenges to sustainable urbanisation – no process of urbanisation or development will be sustainable unless it successfully addresses these issues. This means that economic and social dimensions are crucial for sustainable urbanisation, in human settlements of all sizes. It also means that the scourge of HIV/AIDS, which so powerfully impacts on cities and poverty, is a vital concerns to be integrated into sustainable urbanisation.

Good governance (embracing local authorities, other spheres of government, and civil society) is another core concern, being an essential mechanism of the urbanisation process.

Local authorities endowed with adequate powers, resources, and operational capacity, combined with empowered and capable communities and other local partners, are at the heart of sustainable urbanisation. Water and sanitation in human settlements, for instance, are vital for health and for economic prosperity – especially for the poor - and for sustainability; but if the current inadequate provisions are to be corrected, communities and civil society and local government will have to work together.

Sustainable urbanisation has both a short-term and a long-term perspective: it is concerned not only with current problems, it also looks ahead, to deal with future issues and situations, not only in relation to the environment but also in combating poverty and social exclusion.

It is accepted that the principal barriers to sustainable urbanisation lie in the general lack of planning, implementation, and management capacities on the part of local governments and their local partners. Overcoming these barriers, which have many dimensions, is a fundamental challenge of sustainable urbanisation. This challenge, and appropriate responses, can usefully be considered under the heading of Good Governance, which includes: (a) democratisation of decision-making and enabling meaningful participation of all local stakeholders including women and the urban poor; (b) municipal autonomy and empowerment, including an appropriate legal, regulatory and financial framework for local government; (c) public sector reform, especially in changing from a supply-led to a demand-driven approach to public services; (d) effective decentralisation of authority and resources, both from national and regional government to local government, and within local government to sub-units and communities, and (e) vital role of local authorities and their local partners in making sustainable urbanisation a reality.

These challenges call for a variety of responses, but particularly capacitydevelopment initiatives – of many different kinds – directed at the full range of local actors: local authorities, NGOs, communities, private sector, etc. More diverse and active forms of experience sharing, information exchange, and mutual learning are called for, including city-to-city and community-to-community co-operation in its many forms, as well as more effective access to and use of Best Practices information. Making cities aware of - and responsive to - their wider environmental impacts, especially potentially adverse impacts on surrounding rural regions, is another vital awareness-raising and capacity-building task. Equally important is the development of institutions, procedures and capabilities for communities (especially the poor) to become significant and active partners in local urbanisation.

A key challenge is to incorporate gender concerns and responsiveness into operational procedures and actions at the local level. Women have played the leading role in many of the most successful community-level initiatives, especially in poor areas, and are in any case best placed to articulate their own needs and priorities.

Mobilisation of local resources - whether municipal, community and household, private sector, or other - was emphasised as a key challenge throughout the Dialogue. For instance, the ability of poor communities to generate sufficient own-resources to build and maintain local water and sewerage facilities has been well demonstrated in several innovative programmes, and the potential of the private sector for managerial, financial and other resources is very much under-utilised. Adapting and up-scaling this community/private/own-resources approach provides an important basis for making progress toward the goal of providing urban residents with adequate water and sanitation. Initiatives such as community contracting have also proved effective for mobilising local resources, building local skills and capacities, empowering local communities, and generating local jobs and income.

The challenge of integrating urban and rural, and of integrating physical-spatial, economic, social and environmental aspects, calls for a pro-active approach to planning and managing sustainable urbanisation. Strategic planning mechanisms and skills need to be developed to meet this challenge, and to provide a participatory and integrated foundation for urban and regional management. Strategic planning at the regional (sub-national) scale is a valuable tool for helping to ensure a balance in urban and rural development and 53

ANNEX 5

The challenges of sustainable urbanisation call for a variety of responses but particularly capacity development initiatives - of many different kinds - directed at the full range of local actors.

Challenges and Responses

coping with the absorption of rural-urban migration while maintaining a good quality of life in both urban and rural areas.

Local responses to the challenges of sustainable urbanisation are also hampered by the lack of coherence and mutual support among many international support programmes who have an important role to play.

In this respect policy-makers should accept that urbanisation is inevitable – and generally beneficial – and focus on properly managing the process rather than attempting (unsuccessfully) to fight it.

ANNEX 5

Local responses to the challenges of sustainable urbanisation are also hampered by the lack of coherence and mutual support among the many international support programmes who have an important role to play. A more demand-led approach is called for, with the external agents working on a long-term basis with local authorities and their partners in a more integrated manner.

Partnership Implementation Commitments

4. Model City-to-City Co-operation Partnership: A partnership of associations of local authorities, selected municipalities and key NGOs, illustrating the range of possible forms of decentralised co-operation for the systematic transfer of knowledge, expertise and technology on a North-South and South-South basis.

5. Demonstrating Local Environmental Planning and Management (EPM): A partnership for strengthening the capacities of local authorities and their public, private and community partners for socially, economically and environmentally more sustainable urban development, in collaboration with UN-HABITAT, UNEP, ILO, UNDP and other international programme and support partners.

6. National Capacities for Up-scaling Local Agenda 21 Demonstrations: A partnership for building nationally the capacities of local and central governments, associations of local authorities, and training institutions to routinely integrate the lessons of experience from local demonstrations into national sustainable urbanisation and poverty alleviation policies, up-scaling strategies, and associated legal frameworks.

7. Local Capacity-Building and Training for Sustainable Urbanisation: A public – private partnership for training and capacity-building in the field of sustainable development establishing a link between the global and local spheres for and with local authorities.

A key message throughout the entire dialogue series was partnership – the realisation that to successfully plan, implement and manage the measures needed to achieve sustainable urbanisation, the concerted efforts of a wide range of partners are needed, whether for economic development and poverty reduction, or for coping with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, or for better dealing with the city’s environmental impacts, or for providing public services. The various dialogue sessions also focused on identifying and developing “partnership implementation commitments”, as concrete illustrations of how cities and their partners can forge ahead.

The following proposals, currently under preparation as part of a “Coalition for Sustainable Urbanisation”, were reviewed and endorsed for further development in the WSSD preparatory process.* 1. Millennium Cities Partnership: A partnership of local governments and their global, regional and national associations and the United Nations to mobilise and assist local governments in planning and implementing local actions for the realisation of the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals.

2. Local Capacities for Global Agendas: A partnership for developing local capacities and routine mechanisms for adapting and implementing global principles and norms of sustainable urbanisation (including related multilateral environment agreements- MEAs); together with strengthening the capacities of local actors for contributing local experiences and know-how to the formulation of global principles and norms - in collaboration with international support programmes and the UNEP-GEF. 3. Partnership for Local Capacity Development (PLCD): A partnership to promote cohesion and collective efficiency in the international support available to the development of local capacities for sustainable urbanisation. This will be accomplished by facilitating joint policy formation between leading international associations of local authorities, international support programmes and funding agencies, and the further development of a systematic information service.

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8. Learning from Best Practices and Policies in support of Sustainable Urbanisation: A partnership for learning from Best Practices, good policies and enabling legislation: aimed at feeding the lessons from best practices into the capacity development of local authorities, supported by UNHABITAT, research & training institutions, professional and city associations and individual cities.

9. Water for Asian Cities A public-private-NGO partnership programme for providing access to water and sanitation for the urban poor in Asian cities, in collaboration with UNEP, the Asian Development Bank, funding agencies and national governments.

10. Partnership for Sustainable African Cities A partnership of African Cities and their respective government ministries to promote sharing of experience and know-how for broad based, participatory planning and management of African Cities. The African city plays a key role in sustainable urbanization. A network for sharing information and experience will enable cities and their partners to learn from each other in order to avoid pitfalls and to adopt best practices.

11. Partnership for Managing HIV / AIDS at the Local Level A partnership for strengthening the capacity of communities and their local authorities to develop and implement strategies for addressing HIV/AIDS at the local level, in the context of human settlements and shelter and with a focus on the most vulnerable, especially children in distress. *The original list of partnership implementation commitments has been updated to reflect ongoing development of the initiatives since the World Urban Forum. The list has also been re-arranged to more readily correspond to the agenda items of the WSSD parallel event of UN-HABITAT and its partners on the “Coalition for Sustainable Urbanisation” (Johannesburg, Crowne Plaza, 27 August 2002).

Partnerships for Local Capacity Development

Partnership for Local Capacity Development (PLCD)

To promote cohesion and collective efficiency in the international support available to the development of local capacities for sustainable urbanisation. This will be accomplished by facilitating joint policy formation between leading international associations of local authorities, international support programmes and funding agencies, and the further development of a systematic information service.

Key Objectives 1.

To improve international support to local authorities and their partners in the area of local capacity development for sustainable urbanisation

2.

To further develop effective frameworks for exchanging ideas, practices and dialogue among the key partner sectors (local government associations, support programmes, donors) in the field of local government capacity development To provide an information service on city-to-city cooperation and other local government programmes and practice so as to promote a better match between capacity development demand and supply as well as permitting the analysis of trends and policy issues, with ready access by practitioners to all relevant information

4.

To reduce duplication, fill gaps and exploit synergies in the provision of support to local government capacity development by the international community

5.

To facilitate a formal dialogue on policy and coordination in the field of local government capacity development

One or two key national governments and/or multilateral organisations, representing donors The information service and the policy dialogues would be opened to all organisations involved in operating or supporting city-to-city cooperation and other local government capacity building initiatives (current partners in the initial information base developed by UNHABITAT and WACLAC include UN-HABITAT, UNEP, UNITAR, UNV, ICLEI, GTZ, ICMA, IULA, UTO, CityNet, SisterCities International, Commonwealth Local Government Forum, Melissa, Mediterranean Action Plan, etc.)

Funding One-off setting up costs for the information service - $100,000 Annual secretariat costs for maintaining the information service, preparing the periodic reports and organising the policy dialogues $300,000 pa

Outputs/Deliverables

Monitoring Arrangements and indicators

An increasingly comprehensive and systematic analysis of city-tocity cooperation and other local government capacity building policies and practice based upon all available information including existing interactive databases developed by the international local government networks.

The quality, usefulness and added value of the Partnership would be monitored on a continuing basis by its member organisations assessing the degree to which PLCD meets the objectives and needs of the three partner sectors local authorities, international support programmes, and donors.

Periodic analytical reports on issues arising in local government capacity development, strategic bottlenecks etc, for consideration by the relevant policy bodies Periodic policy dialogues between representatives from key relevant international local government associations, support programmes and donors

The partnership would also seek to develop methodology for monitoring the effectiveness of model city-to-city cooperation Initiatives (see partnership 4 of the Coalition for Sustainable Urbanisation) and other selected local government capacity building initiatives with the aim of better understanding an appropriate match between types of capacity development needs and various support modalities. Issues and lessons learnt would be addressed in the periodic reports.

Timeframe for Deliverables The timeframe for the partnership is 2002 onwards. It Is envisaged that the partnership will be an ongoing initiative with an initial implementation phase from 2002-2005

Partners involved WACLAC, represented by one or more designated member associations, representing local authorities

Contact: Mr. Jochen Eigen, Ag. Chief, Technical Advisory Branch UN-HABITAT, P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: (254-20) 623226 E-mail: jochen.eigen@unhabitat.org

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3.

UN-HABITAT and other UN Agencies involved in local government capacity building initiatives (UNEP, UNDP, UNV), representing the support programmes

ANNEX 6

ANNEX 6

Contributors The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) promotes socially, economically and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all. UN-HABITAT is the lead agency within the United Nations system for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda – the global plan of action adopted by the international community at the Habitat II Conference in Istanbul, Turkey in June 1996. Its activities represent the Programme’s targeted contribution to the overall objective of the United Nations system to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development within the context and the challenges of a rapidly urbanising world. As the secretariat to the Habitat II Conference, UNHABITAT broke new ground by enabling local authorities, the private sector and representatives of civil society to play an active role in the Conference and in the formulation of the Habitat Agenda. As a result, partnerships and participation constitute two important strategic objectives of the Habitat Agenda. UN-HABITAT’s focus on partners is twofold. It advocates partnerships and broad-based multi-stakeholder participation as effective means of governance and of improving living conditions for all. It also involves partners in the design and implementation of its work programme. Its partnership with local authorities is supported by the United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities (UNACLA), whose formation by the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT in 2000 was called for by the UN Commission on Human Settlements. Contact: Jochen Eigen, Chief, Technical Advisory Branch, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT), PO Box 30030, NAIROBI, Kenya Tel: +254 20 623226, Fax: +254 20 623080, E-mail: jochen.eigen@unhabitat.org

The World Associations of Cities and Local Authorities Coordination (WACLAC) was formed by the major international local government associations in 1996 to provide a focus for developing their collective collaboration with the United Nations. The associations (the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA), the World Federation of United Cities (UTO), METROPOLIS – World Association of Major Metropolises, and the Summit Conference of the World’s Major Cities), together with six regional associations and networks, convened the World Assembly of Cities and Local Authorities in Istanbul in 1996 on the

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eve of Habitat II, the Second UN Conference on Human Settlements.

This World Assembly called for further development of the partnership with the UN through the formation of an ongoing coordination of all interested associations. WACLAC and its member associations have since pursued joint work with UN-HABITAT on many aspects of local government capacity-building and implementation of the Habitat Agenda. On 6 May 2001 WACLAC convened a second World Assembly of Cities and Local Authorities in Rio de Janeiro to formulate local government’s collective input to the UN General Assembly Special Session Istanbul +5 (New York, June 2001). Since 2001, when the work on the material presented in this publication was initiated, the WACLAC secretariat has rotated from METROPOLIS (Mayor Joan Clos, president; Margareta Obiols, Secretary General WACLAC) to IULA (Cllr Alan Lloyd, president; Ms Sarah O’Brien, Secretary General WACLAC) and UTO (Hon. Mercedes Bresso, president; Mohamed Boussraoui, Secretary General WACLAC). Contact: Mohamed Boussraoui, Secretary General WACLAC, World Federation of United Cities (UTO), 41, rue de la République, 93200 Saint-Denis, Tel.: 33 (1) 55 84 23 50 (direct 57), Fax: 33 (1) 55 84 23 51, e-mail: mohamed.boussraoui@fmcu-uto.org, Web: www.fmcu-uto.org

This report has been prepared by UN-HABITAT in close collaboration with WACLAC and with the guidance of UNACLA. Under the overall coordination of Jochen Eigen, Chief, Technical Advisory Branch of UNHABITAT, the report was written by Paul N. Bongers, consultant and former Director of the Local Government International Bureau (UK), and Douglas McCallum, consultant to UN-HABITAT’s Sustainable Cities Programme. It is built on the contributions to the data base provided by the many participating organisations listed in Annexes 2 and 3. The work was carried out in collaboration with Michel Bescond, Marcelo Nowersztern and David Bouanchaud of UTO, and with important inputs from Jeremy Smith and Sarah O’Brien of IULA, Jean-Pierre Elong Mbassi of the Municipal Development Programme for Western and Central Africa, as well as from Nicholas You, Roman Rollnick, Amrik Kalsi, Wandia Seaforth, Ole Lyse, Jean-Christophe Adrian, Mary Oyiolo and many other staff of UN-HABITAT. The publication was designed and laid out by Michael Jones Software, Nairobi; mjs@triad.co.ke

Background Documentation for the Dialogue on the “Strengthening of Local Authorities”, 19th Session of the UN-HABITAT Governing Council Nairobi, May 2003