PROGRAMME COORDINATION
REPORT NOVEMBER 2009
At various meetings of the CIB Working Group, members such as FCM, VVSG, CUF, VNG International and others, expressed their willingness to coordinate efforts in the fields of Association Capacity Building (ACB) and Municipal International Cooperation (MIC). As this is very much in line with the overall objectives of the CIB Working Group, the decision was taken in 2007 at the CIB Conference in Brussels, to opt for three countries where several CIB members implement ACB and/or MIC activities (Ghana, Mali, Nicaragua). At the CIB meeting in Helsinki, in July 2008, a fourth country was added to this list (Burkina Faso). The fifth country was added in June 2008, at the CIB meeting in London (Zimbabwe). CIB Working Group members have submitted and shared coordination updates which highlight the main coordination activities, possibilities for coordination and the needs for exchange of information in these countries Apart from the 5 pilot countries, also other coordination efforts have been included. On the following pages, an overview can be found on the joint initiatives identified by CIB Working Group members in 2009 in the following regions: • Africa • Latin America • Asia Coordination in Africa (as reported by UVCW, VNG International CUF, LGA, and FCM) Coordination in Africa is in its early stages in Africa. Per coordination countries, the following joint activities have been reported: A) REGIONAL LEVEL • In the framework of the 5th Africities summit in Marrakech (16‐20 December 2009), Cités Unies France is organizing a session on decentralized cooperation with the City of Lyon and VNG International. FCM might be able to participate in this session as well. B) BURKINA FASO i) Coordination Focal Point Union of Cities and Municipalities of Wallonia (UVCW) ii) CIB Partners CUF (France), FCM (Canada), VNG International (Netherlands) iii) Activities • The UVCW (Belgium), taking up the lead of the coordination in Burkina Faso, has identified the first steps to enhance the coordination; • Communication between VNG International, SNV, AFD and UVCW to coordinate ACB activities in Mali and Burkina Faso; • UVCW led a roundtable that took place in August 2009 in Burkina Faso. C) GHANA i) Coordination Focal Point VNG International (The Netherlands) VNG International has both an ACB and MIC programme.
• The focus in the ACB programme in Ghana is on capacity building of the association NALAG, its technical staff and political layer, by various technical assistance modalities among them expertise input, workshops and trainings. • The MIC programme in Ghana focuses on fee‐based service provision for Local Government bodies in Ghana. The two main objectives of the programme are: (1) improving coordination and cooperation among district level bodies, sub‐district level bodies and tax payers in Ghana in the four participating Districts and promoting the dissemination of experiences through NALAG; (2) strengthening the human resource and financial capacity of local government bodies, providing fee‐ based services particularly in the field of solid waste and promoting the dissemination of experiences to other districts through NALAG. ii) CIB Partners AFLRA (Finland), FCM (Canada), LGA (England and Wales), VVSG (Belgium) iii) Coordination • Currently, VNG International is working on the new annual plans with the national association NALAG. VNG International tries to coordinate its agenda with the FCM; FCM and VNG programme staff met in March 2009 to share information about their programmes in Ghana and to identify opportunities for collaboration. • Also, contacts have been established with municipalities from the UK involved in international cooperation projects. iv) Perspective • VNG International will organize a meeting for all partner municipalities in Ghana, on 12 to 13 November in Accra with all partner municipalities from both the Netherlands and Ghana: other LGA partners are invited to join this initiative. D) MALI i) Coordination Focal Point Cités Unies France (CUF) CUF has about 150 partnerships listed in Mali in 2008. Main intervention themes are local governance and territorial economic development. French LGs are strongly committed to exchanging views and find synergies with those working in the same region. Although the information has been actively exchanged, no common actions have been developed yet. ii) CIB partners FCM (Canada), VNG International (The Netherlands) iii) Activities • Exchange of information on programmes in Mali. • Communication between VNG, SNV, AFD and VVSG to coordinate ACB activities in Mali and Burkina Faso. • Follow‐up of the contacts on the future network of Women mayors (together with FCM and VNG) after having met with VNG in Dec. 2008 (Florence) and FCM in Bamako (Dec. 2008) • VNG International organized a conference in Mali on LED in which other CIB members were invited to participate. iv) Perspective • Organizing small side events between CIB members during international workshops and summits E) ZIMBABWE
i) Coordination Focal Point Through our membership of the CIB Working Group the LGA, in partnership with the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) is the lead association on coordinating the international local government response to supporting Zimbabwe.
ii) CIB partners FCM (Canada), SKL International (Sweden), VNG International (the Netherlands), CLGF (London) iii) Recent coordination
Following discussions in London with the Secretary‐General of the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ), Francis Duri in September, and based on needs assessments carried out over recent months, five core areas for short‐to‐medium term support have been identified below. The LGA is in contact with other associations within the CIB network to ensure efforts are coordinated as effectively as possible. While activity on Zimbabwe is still limited in most donor countries, the visit to London by UCAZ included the participation of the SKL Director, Hakan Gustafson and a conference call with VNG and FCM. Following on from needs assessments carried out by the CLGF and SKL it was agreed that future activities will be as coordinated as possible. This includes collaboration on training for newly elected Councillors and ongoing technical exchanges. The VNG has also offered to provide additional financial and technical support to a joint LGA/CLGF bid to the EU Commission NSA fund for a bilateral capacity building programme with UCAZ.
iv) The political climate
While political tensions still remain at the national level in Zimbabwe, the efforts of donors and international civil society in supporting Zimbabwe through this difficult time of transition continue. More recently, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office has agreed to formally support the efforts of the UK local government sector in lending a hand to Zimbabwean counterparts. This is lending a hand to other associations in encouraging their respective foreign ministries to support the local government sector more proactively. The position of the UK Government is as follows;
“The FCO welcomes the efforts of the Local Government Association and local councils across the UK to reengage with their counterpart organisations in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is currently working its way through a difficult period as it seeks to secure political, economic and social reform. The assistance in strengthening local government capacity to deliver better quality and more accountable services that partner organisations might be in a position to provide during this phase offers the potential of improving the lives of communities that have remained unsupported for too long” John Dennis, Head of Zimbabwe Unit, UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office v) Core areas of support proposed • Local government input into the constitutional review process Providing advice and assistance to ensure that local government’s interest are incorporated in the current constitutional review process, drawing on relevant African and other international experience.
• Councillor and staff training
CLGF/LGA are providing materials/expertise for in‐country councillor training scheduled November 2009 using EU/other funds for a training programme for newly elected Mayors and recently appointed Chief Executives. The outcomes of this visit will be communicated to other CIB partners. • Capacity‐building for UCAZ
UCAZ, as well as the newly created umbrella body, the Zimbabwean Local Government Association (ZILGA) has a key role in acting on behalf of local government in Zimbabwe. Capacity‐building for
UCAZ, aimed at strengthening its role as the national association of local government and providing advice on managing the merger leading to ZILGA is therefore a high priority. A three year funding proposal has been submitted to the EU by the LGA and CLGF. Some limited co‐funding available from the VNG and other co‐funding is being sought (as mentioned above).
• Council‐to‐council partnerships targeted at meeting skills shortages and improving infrastructure
and essential local services
All of the needs assessments recently carried out for the sector have shown critical shortages of council staff at all levels which is impacting on the ability of councils to deliver effective services and restore infrastructure. The call upon CIB members to encourage Councils to reactivate and/or engage with Zimbabwean local Councils is therefore strong.
• Community‐based reconciliation
A key way to encourage political healing is for local councils to encourage community‐based initiatives aimed at promoting reconciliation and community justice. In the short term there is funding to draw on relevant experiences from other Commonwealth countries (eg Northern Ireland, Uganda, Sierra Leone, South Africa) and the LGA/CLGF are in discussions about this. Coordination in Latin America (as reported by FCM) NICARAGUA i) CIB Partners CUF (France), VNG International (Netherlands), VVSG (Belgium), FCM International (Canada) ii) Activities
• FCM and VNG International are communicating more regularly since meeting at FLACMA’s 4th conference in Mexico City, August 2008
• In March 2009, FCM and two of its partners (FCM Bolivia and COMURES) participated in the VNG International ACB workshop in Colombia, under the auspices of the Federation of Colombian Municipalities. FCM delivered a presentation on our association’s governance structure and approach to financial sustainability.
• While in Colombia a planning meeting was held between FCM and VNG International regarding common partner (AMUNIC) and plans for the following year
• Joint mission planned between VNG and FCM with AMUNIC however in the end, all partners could not commit to the proposed dates.
• FCM sent out the CIB coordination sheet template to CIB partners working in Nicaragua in April 2009: CUF (France), VNG International (Netherlands), VVSG (Belgians), and FCM International (Canada). To date – only 1 response received from VNG International’s ACB Manager. • While in Nicaragua in June FCM presented to AMUNIC their presentation that was prepared for the VNG ACB workshop on governance structure and financial sustainability (because AMUNIC was not able to attend the Colombia April ACB workshop) Activities between June and November 2009 • FCM and VNG International program staff have been sharing emails, dates for monitoring missions (for El Salvador as well as Nicaragua) and ideas for planning of activities, to try to coordinate some ACB activities in the next six months. • FCM and VVSG have communicated back and forth via email (following London’s June CIB meeting) to share descriptions of types of work in Nicaragua and plans for the coming months. Mission dates were discussed and FCM offered to introduce VVSG to the National Association of Municipalities in Nicaragua (AMUNIC), when they are next there in December. Interestingly VVSG has several municipal projects focussed around waste (as does FCM). FCM thinks that AMUNIC’s environmental
sustainability office and their “La Basura es un Tesoro” project would be great resources for VVSG (and suggested this to them). FCM expressed interest to learn more about what VVSG is working on in the areas of LED and youth in Nicaragua. • FCM has shared VNG’s ACB knowledge products/publications with FCM partners in non‐VNG ACB countries (for example: Bolivia) and with Latin American Regional Association of Municipalities. • FCM has shared new publications (International and GMF) with CIB partners as well as the link to
the launch of the registration for the FCM Sustainable Communities Conference in Ottawa ‐ February 10 – 12, 2010.
iii) Results
• Increased communication and sharing between FCM International and VNG International has facilitated discussions on common programming countries, partners, and tools.
• Opportunities for coordinated program planning and implementation:
o With limited information we have started to identify areas of possible overlap or collaboration (at the moment no obvious overlap with VNG and several areas for collaboration and/or sharing of information).
o Discussions RE: future collaboration and practical times for meetings (FLACMA conference in Argentina in Sept. 2009, COMURES conference in November 2009, FCM International’s Regional Partners’ Meeting (RGP) – date to be determined, etc. )
Results achieved between June and November 2009
• Increased communication and sharing between FCM International, VNG International and VVSG has allowed: information to be shared, thoughts of common programming activities to surface and increased distribution of ACB tools and knowledge products. • Opportunities for coordinated program planning and implementation have increased as we are all more aware what others are doing. Due to this, duplication can be better avoided and all are more likely to think of sharing. iv) Additional Coordination in LAC • Cuba o FCM is collaborating with UNDP through their Local Human Development (PDHL)/ART Program to support a pilot municipal partnership project. . The Program is an international co‐operation initiative that brings together the programmes of several United Nations Agencies to help regional and local authorities in the South and the North to set up alliances and partnerships in support of local development and governance processes. More than 300 decentralized cooperation partnerships operate in different countries and, in the North, include regional and local governments of Belgium, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
• FLACMA (Regional)
o FCM continues to collaborate with a number of partners on the Observatorio Project being implemented with FLACMA. The Observatorio Latinoamericano de la Descentralización aims to create a virtual platform where good practices and the advance of decentralization in countries Latin America and the Caribbean can be shared while also providing support to local government associations to elaborate proposals for decentralization policies and dialogue with their national governments. FCM is coordinating with the Diputacion de Barcelona who holds the Chair of the UCLG Committee for Decentralization. FCM is also in discussions with the Organization of American States (Section on Decentralization, Department for State Modernization and Good Governance) regarding their support/our collaboration with them on this project.
i) CIB Partners VNG International (Netherlands), FCM International (Canada) ii) Activities REGIONAL LEVEL • Regional partners’ workshops on advocacy and financial sustainability were held in Asia (Manila in May 2008 and Hanoi in February 2009). o FCM and VNG provided very practical training and partners were able to share their experience in policy/advocacy and financial sustainability and develop their work plans on how to go forward and move their own agendas.
o Both workshops’ capacity building activities were organized jointly between FCM and VNG International with the support of the regional local government association, UCLG ASPAC.
o The Hanoi workshop, hosted by the Association of Cities of Vietnam, succeeded in engaging 13 LGAs in the region in capacity building activities (participants included UCLG ASPAC, FCM’s MPP 4 partner LGAs, VNG Internationals’ 3 partner LGAs, and 6 LGAs from FCM supported bilateral projects in the region) Activities between June and November 2009 • FCM and VNG are jointly monitoring how the 13 LGAs are able to finalize and implement the work plans they develop during the Hanoi workshop • FCM, VNG and UCLG ASPAC have started the planning of the next regional workshop, which will take place in Jakarta in March 2010 • FCM and VNG are jointly developing a publication on ACB practices in Asia, using the experience of their respective partners. This publication will be launched at the Jakarta workshop. CAMBODIA • ACB work in Cambodia is also being coordinated between FCM and VNG International. o Agreement was reached between the NLC/S, VNG and FCM that the MPP would focus on building the NLC/S’ capacity in the area of communications – one of 7 key capacity building areas identified in the organisation’s draft strategic plan. The strategic plan of the National League of Communes and Sangkats (NLC/S) was taken as the point of reference for design, with each organization providing technical assistance in areas of comparative expertise. This has resulted in better coordinated, more efficient interventions by the two northern partners and greater ownership of the initiatives on the part of NLC/S.
Activities between June and November 2009
• FCM's support is helping NLC/S develop the systems, guidelines and tools to perform more effective communication and advocacy on behalf of their members. This also includes supporting an active role of NLC/S members in supporting those functions. VNG's support to NLC/S is helping the LGA develop a financial sustainability plan, in particular to identify and raise new sources of revenues for the LGA. iii) Results Regional Level: FCM and VNG’s LGA partners in Asia have: • A better understanding of how to organize and run an advocacy campaign to effect policy changes at the central government level.
• Practical knowledge on how to prioritize and research strategic policy issues, set clear objectives, develop their story line, identify key audiences and take action on any particular issue.
• Knowledge on how to budget and monitor spending more effectively and how they can generate revenues to sustain their organization.
• Concrete action plans: one for their advocacy campaigns and the other to map out how to reach financial sustainability.
Results between June and November 2009
• Some LGA partners have started articulating their own ACB experience as a contribution to the joint publication on ACB practices and experiences in Asia.
