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Local government is key in development says Samantha Page, formerly with the UK Local Government Alliance for International Development.

Local government is key in development

Those involved in international development - national governments, development agencies, funders, UN agencies, community organisations, the private sector and others - are beginning to recognise what those of us working in local government have known for some time: we cannot eradicate poverty, achieve sustainable development or the Millennium Development Goals without the active involvement of local government.

Both in the developed and developing countries, local government is often maligned with headlines and attention only when things go wrong - child abuse, fraud or poor service delivery. What is often ignored is that the job of local councils is to focus on the needs of their communities and deliver basic services that can make a huge amount of difference to people's quality of life - water, housing, primary education, health care, refuse collection and disposal and other environmental services.

Good local government is therefore, key to sustainable communities, to tackling poverty and delivering the MDGs. It is the form of government closest to the people, able to consult people directly and assess people's needs and provide practical solutions to meet local circumstances. This was highlighted recently in the report of the Commission for Africa which recommended that there should be more institution and human capacity building at local level in the developing countries of Africa. The UN has also seen the need to get local government involved and set up the Millennium Commission to look at local delivery of the MDGs rather than just seeing them as national targets.

That is why we believe that local government must be included in development strategies and a proportion of development funding should be channelled through local councils.

I visited Uganda recently and saw for myself the City Community Challenges (C3) project developed by Ugandan local authorities in partnership with local communities. C3 is tackling urban poverty by helping districts to build capacity and make best use of local resources, nurturing local businesses and supporting social services. But to address different needs in different areas, each project is unique to its district. In Jinja, the poorest people and the most disadvantaged had received training and skills in small business management, environmental practices, primary health care and construction, with small loan funds for micro-enterprises and new homes being built. I was impressed by how this has really improved people's opportunities and brought a much greater feeling of community cohesion.

Through its UK partners and members, the UK Local Government Alliance for International Development is helping to boost local government in developing countries by encouraging UK local authorities to themselves get involved in international development. They have a great deal to offer in terms of skills, knowledge and practices so that newer local governments with less experience do not have to reinvent the wheel.

UK councils have much expertise in areas such as service provision - including essential environmental services, education and social care - contract management, financial management, staff and councillors development, local government structures, accountability, consultation and preventing corruption and fraud. Some have already formed partnerships with councils where they have traditional links or strong links through the communities they serve. Research by the UK Local Government Alliance has found that where strong partnerships have been created it benefits everyone - the governments and the people in the developing countries, the staff and councillors of the UK authority involved for whom it provides additional skills and personal development, and the local communities in the UK who benefit socially and economically.

At our recent national conference there was a huge enthusiasm amongst UK local authorities to be involved in international development. Yet many find the financing of such projects, including the resources to release the necessary experts from their day-to-day work are too much of a barrier. The continuing squeeze on their resources and the pressure to provide services for their own communities and to achieve their own targets in the areas prescribed by the government mean that international development activities are often the ones that drop off the list at crucial budget-making times.

We are looking at ways in which this can be addressed and hope to bring together the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which oversees local government, and the Department of International Development to discuss with them some of our ideas on how UK local authorities can bring international development in their mainstream activities.

In the meantime, I would urge all of you involved in policymaking, financial planning or research on development issues - please remember that local government is a key player.

Contributor
Samantha Page

Further information
Joyce Lee
Coordinator
UK Local Government Alliance for International Development
Local Government House
Smith Square
London SW1F 3HZ
UK
Tel +44 020 7664 3102
Email info@lg-alliance.org
UK Local Government Alliance for International Development

April 2006

Other links
Why should UK local authorities work overseas? (pdf), 2005

International development awareness survey(pdf) - A survey of UK local authorities to examine their involvement in international development activities, 2004.

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