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Towards greater local
action for the accelerated achievement of MDGs in Southern
Africa
From 17-18 February 2010, the United Nations Millennium
Campaign, in collaboration with the United Cities and Local
Governments of Africa (UCLGA), held a regional consultative
workshop with selected national associations of local government
in Southern Africa.
Held at Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre in
Johannesburg, South Africa, the two-day event brought together
representatives of national associations of local government
from Southern Africa namely, the Malawi Local Government
Association (MALGA), the South African Local Government
Association (SALGA), the Local Government Association of Zambia
(LGAZ) and the Zimbabwe Local Government Association (ZILGA).
Representatives of civil society organizations operating in
Southern Africa namely, the Southern Africa Youth Movement
(SAYM) and South Africa’s National Welfare Social Service &
Development Forum, were also present.
Under the theme
“Enhancing the Role of
Local Authorities in deepening governance accountability for the
accelerated achievement of Millennium Development Goals”, the
objectives of the workshop were to:
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Raise awareness and
understanding on the role and contribution of local authorities
towards
deepening governance accountability for the accelerated
achievement of Millennium Development Goals.
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Share cross country
experiences on the work of local authorities in advocacy on the
MDGs.
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Identify opportunities to enhance the engagement of local authorities in
building a global movement for the
accelerated achievement of the MDGs in 2010 and beyond.
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Identify potential
activities that could be undertaken to strengthen awareness on
the local authorities work.
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Develop calendar of activities to be anchored by
local authorities.
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Dialogue with
local authorities on the global context and
strategy for UNMC from 2010-2015
The workshop featured, among other things, presentations on
‘’Local Government Authorities and the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs)’’ by the UCLGA and the ‘’Eight Ways to Change the
World’’ for Local Authorities by UNMC. Other features of the
workshop include country MDGs status updates by representatives
of national associations of local government and practical
experience sharing on local monitoring based recent surveys on
local service delivery conducted by the National Welfare Social
Service &
Development Forum of South Africa.
Key issues that arose as major obstacles to or prerequisites for
successful MDGs delivery at the local level include (1) lack of
political will from central and local government authorities;
(2) the operating environment of local governments, which is not
always conducive to successful MDGs delivery at the local level;
(3) Enhancement of MDGs ownership at the local level; (4)
working more closely with Members of Parliament and Councillors;
(5) Strengthening South-South partnerships among local
governments; (6) Civic education on the mandate of local
government and its role vis-à-vis MDGs and (7) stronger and
closer engagements between MDGs stakeholders at the local level.
At the end of the workshop, participants adopted a set of action
items to address the above issues and work towards robust local
action for the accelerated achievement of MDGs in Africa in
general and Southern Africa in particular. The UCLGA, in
collaboration with UNMC and other stakeholders, will lead regional
action while national associations of local government will play
the same role at country level.
For more information kindly contact:
Mr. Samuel Kaninda
Email: skaninda@uclgafrica.org
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