local governments

Local democracy and international solidarity are under stress. Local governments play a crucial role in international relations and programmes – how can we, as CIB Working Group, continue to raise awareness for the role and responsibilities of local governments in development cooperation, aid effectiveness and democracy? And how can we assure sufficient means for local governments, both for domestic challenges, as for international work?

In 2017, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conducted a series of video interviews with Canadian and international partners to discuss local change initiatives they have implemented in their community.

At the end of this month, Nairobi will host the Second High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC).

The UCLG City of Bogotá Peace Prize is a prize for local governments that have implemented initiatives in conflict prevention, conflict resolution or peace building, that are proven to have had a significant impact. Applications are open and now is the time to reach out to your network to reach as many potential applicants as possible!

About the Peace Prize

Over 60% of Norwegian local governments actively take part in international programmes. The main reason for the high international interest is access to new knowledge and competences as vehicles for achieving strategic goals, according to a recent study undertaken by the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR). The study also shows that local governments’ participation in international networks contributes to regional development, as well as to remaining a learning organization.

To ensure that cities and local governments will play a critical role in the upcoming climate negotiations, a Climate Summit for Local Leaders is organised parallel to the 21^st United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) which is taking place from 30 November to 11 December 2015.  

World Cities Day, which takes place on 31 October, aims to attract the international community's attention to urbanization as a central issue for development and to encourage cooperation among countries and cities in meeting opportunities and addressing urban challenges towards sustainable development through inclusive and participative initiatives for all citizens;

The Habitat III agenda is very important for mayors and public managers. However, the language of Habitat III can be rather technical. To make sure that these groups better understand the importance of the process, the Brazilian National Front of Mayors (Frente Nacional de Prefeitos – FNP) and the Applied Economic Research Institute (Instituto de Pesquisa Economica Aplicada – IPEA) produced a video animation on Habitat III without technical language.

It can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFcywasNX1k