On June 13-15, 2011 the UCLG Committee in Strategic Urban Planning and the Municipality of Durban organise a ‘Strategic Planning Learning Exchange fostering learning of the global south’ meeting in Durban. The aim of the conference is to share information and experiences on the relation of governance and urban development and promote the knowledge and capacity of cities in South. The specific objectives are:
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To promote relevant experiences from Latin American cities, in particular success stories whose lessons can be applied to others cities specially in Africa
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To take forward a deeper comparison of contexts and local strategies
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To establish new partners for city-to-city cooperation through the UCLG Mentoring programme
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To design possible agenda for UCLG and MILE (Municipal Institute of Learning of the Municipality of Durban) on possible modes of learning and enhancing management.
Members of the planning committee and their partners, cities, UCLGA, Metropolis, SALGA and KS Norwegian Local Government Association will participate in the meeting. CIB members are invited to participate as well. Please contact the secretariat of the Urban Strategic Planning Committee for more information on this event: s.hoeflich@cities-localgovernments.org.
More information on the UCLG city mentoring programme: the case of Lilongwe
UCLG has started a city mentoring programme in 2008 to help raise team performance and the self-esteem of civil servants. The programme began when the Lilongwe City Assembly approached Johannesburg for assistance in developing its City Development Strategy (CDS). Thanks to this programme and partnership, the working conditions of civil servants in Lilongwe have improved. They have new offices, access to a newer and safer vehicle fleet, and efforts have been made to combat corruption. These successes coincide with the implementation of improvements for Lilongwe’s residents at large with better street lighting, repaired traffic signals, and the removal of corrupt practices in the daily markets. The City Development Strategy was formally launched in 2010 and so far Lilongwe is on the way to achieving five of the key targets from the development strategy. These include performance management, by-law reviews, a debt-recovery strategy and initiating a long-term capital investment programme. UCLG is the only organization to offer a multilevel partnership without mayors having to first go to a city to shake hands to say that they are twinning. In addition, whilst other city partner programmes are more on a north-north or north-south level, the UCLG programme is focused on south-south partnership. Please use the following link to read the article: UCLG magazine (pag.44-45).