July 26, 2012     cib    


In the fall of 2010 VNG International and its implementing partners officially launched the ARIAL programme "Supporting and strengthening Local Authority Associations at ACP national and regional levels" in Brussels. The specific objective of the project is to enable Local Government Associations (LGAs) to take part in the creation and implementation of development policies, in particular with the EU (as provided for by the Cotonou Agreement). In the upcoming three years the ARIAL programme will organize a wide range of supporting activities to reach this objective. LGAs in the ACP region will be invited to participate in, among others, the following main activities:

  • Capacity building activities for LGAs and RLGAs in the field of communication, lobby and policy development
  • Support to the establishment of Emerging Local Government Associations and Regional Local Government Associations
  • Capacity building of (sub-)continental Local Government Associations
  • Support in the creation and management of an information network and establishment of linkages between actors at ACP (sub-)continental level
  • Increased capacity in the field of advocacy vis-à-vis national institutions and development partners (esp. the EU)

The programme is currently implementing an extensive assessment of all in the programme identified LGAs. The assessments will result in an elaborate ‘state of the art’ of local government representation in the ACP region and provide valuable input for the further development of ARIAL support activities that will start in the spring of 2011. The project has a duration of three years and will be completed in the summer of 2013. Partners within the project are the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF), the Municipal Development Partnership for Eastern and Southern Africa (MDP-ESA), le Partenariat pour le Développement Municipal (PDM), the Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI) and the University of the West Indies (UWI). More information on the programme, our activities and the implementing partners can be found on the ARIAL website: www.arial-programme.eu