Abstract
The Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) was established in 1994, coinciding with rapid moves towards decentralisation at that time, especially in Commonwealth Africa. It uniquely brings together national associations of local government and individual councils, ministries responsible for local government, and training and research institutes with an interest in local government, on a common platform. This reflects an understanding that local government needs effective central government and vice versa if decentralisation is to be truly successful, and that research, training and practice need to be brought together in a constructive and creative way.CLGF’s developmental work can be divided into three main categories:Promotion and advocacy of local democracy and good governanceExchange of experienceCapacity building This article provides a brief overview of the activities and projects which CLGF has underway in respect of these objectives. It will be complemented by more detailed papers on specific programmes and projects in this and future issues of the Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance.
Highlights
The Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) was established in 1994, coinciding with rapid moves towards decentralisation at that time, especially in Commonwealth Africa
This article provides a brief overview of the activities and projects which CLGF has underway in respect of these objectives
The organisation’s commitment to democratic values is set out in the Aberdeen Agenda: Commonwealth principles on good practice for local democracy and good governance, which was developed and adopted at its 2005 Conference in Aberdeen, and SLACK: The Commonwealth Local Government Forum subsequently endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Government in the same year
Summary
The Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) was established in 1994, coinciding with rapid moves towards decentralisation at that time, especially in Commonwealth Africa. Developed together with its partners in Uganda (Ministry of Local Government, Uganda Local Governments Association, Ugandan Management Institute and Makerere University), the approach involves a research study into each of the principles undertaken by a local research organisation/university, followed by a national verification workshop bringing together all of the key stakeholders – councillors, local government officials, ministry representatives, MPs, NGOs, community leaders etc to discuss the report and to make recommendations for strengthening local democratic processes. Detailed discussions focused around the local accountability of centrally appointed district administrators and the reduction in locally raised revenue Another key element of the review was to identify good practices through specific case studies. The final report reflecting workshop discussions and containing a series of recommendations for change and development was presented to President Museveni and widely published This approach has been endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Government and further studies are planned
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