UNITED CITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS OF AFRICA (UCLGA)

Advocacy and Lobbying (AL) for Local Government

Purpose and Description

African local government is at various levels of development in different countries. In order to realize its Vision “Building African Unity from, and Driving African Development through the Grassroots", the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA) recognises the need to harmonise policies, laws and processes relating to local government and governance throughout Africa.  The UCLGA overall strategic intent is ‘The establishment, consolidation and sustenance of decentralized local government as a distinct sphere of government and the development of the UCLGA network, and to provide for the inclusion of the concerns of communities in the development and cooperation agenda of Africa, in order to improve their livelihoods.’ The realisation of this goal will require protracted engagement in a process of influencing governmental policy development; influencing development aid funders; the enactment of appropriate laws; the adoption of good local governance practices for and by communities; and harnessing of the necessary resources.

The UCLGA’s Advocacy and Lobbying aims to achieve the following:  

1. To identify weaknesses and challenges in the institutional status and operational framework of local government in Africa;
2. To identify solutions and develop models of good practice in local governance;
3. To organise systematic and focused actions to engage appropriate stakeholders in a process to influence policy; to transform perceptions and to adopt planned change.
4. To promote democracy through improving policies, changing attitudes and social and power relationships in local governance