Type of publication: Learning Cases

Mobilising Assets to Improve Participatory Planning in Local Governance in South Africa

This learning case aims to guide the reader to:

Reflect on the rights, responsibilities, and relationships of local communities (citizens) and municipalities in a context governed by strong policies for public participation yet ineffective practices to engage communities in planning and service delivery;
Identify gaps and potential solutions to improve the quality of participation in public planning through the Integrated Development Planning process;
Consider the value of asset-based and community-driven development (ABCD) from the perspective of local governance and public participation; and,
Propose avenues for strengthening mutual accountability (and the social contract) between local municipalities and communities through the ABCD-informed Community Scorecard (CSC).

Publication Type

Learning Cases

Topic

Participatory democracy, citizen dialogues and budgeting

Tags

Community Scorecards, Learning case, South Africa,

Care Blocks Bogotà

This learning case sets out in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. Through the personal story of Graciela, the case examines unpaid care work from an intersectional perspective and reflects on how Bogotá’s Secretariat for Women’s Affairs implemented “Care blocks” to in 2020.

The material can be read on its own but is intended as basis for a facilitated discussion. By putting themselves in the shoes of the civil servants at the women’s office, participants will learn to:

Create a local government policy to reduce and redistribute unpaid care work that falls mainly on the
shoulders of women and consider how including men in this work might impact equity.
Identify how to put into practice an intersectionality approach in gender, class, race, disabilities, etc.
in the implementation of local policies related to care work.
Analyze the role of inter-institutional coordination and citizen participation in creating gender policies.

The material comprises the case in English and in Spanish, and a faciliator’s guide in English with suggested workshop structure. There is also a workshop presentation – a modifiable version of this can be shared upon request.

Publication Type

Learning Cases

Project Area

Social care and wellbeing

Sustainable Development Goals

5 - Gender equality

Topic

Gender Equality

Tags

Gender equality, Latin America, Unpaid work,

Drainage Politics: Flood Management in Surabaya, Indonesia

This learning case sets out in a city prone to natural disasters, and explores how policy and political commitments can reduce the consequences.

After the introduction, readers are invited to reflect on a dilemma of enforcing a mitigation plan that landed public support, but that compromises the political position from which the plan is enforceable. Would they proceed with a democratic reform or secure their position as mayor and accommodate powerful political stakeholders? The case then tells the story how the protagonist leverages public support through a specially developed digital app to enforce a Flooding Task Force with public funds. Compared to the previous regulations where market logic hindered adequate drainage systems, this significantly reduced impact of floods.

Learners are then asked to reflect on the effects of the local political landscape in relation to natural disaster management in a time when climate change magnifies the challenges.

Learning objectives

After the session, participants should understand:

how the risk of flooding is affected by polity and policies
that successful flood mitigation depends on the local political ecosystem.
how digital media can be leveraged to influence political commitment to flood mitigation

Publication Type

Learning Cases

Project Area

Environment/Climate changeInclusive leadership and governanceTechnical Services and Infrastructure

Sustainable Development Goals

11 - Sustainable cities and communities9 - Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Tags

Climate, Flooding, Natural Disaster management, Politics,

Equitable Health: a far-away dream for young girls and women in Uganda?

This case reveals the reproductive health challenges young people face in Uganda that predispose them to maternal mortality, and invites to discussion of the responsibilities and opportunities for local leaders. It references concerns of teenage pregnancy reported in Jinja District during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the 2020 District Health Office report, 17% of women who attended Antenatal care were teenage girls 10–19 years old (Office of the PM, 2021). The scenario further shows the difficulty many women experience in accessing reproductive health information and services.

Learning objectives:

By the end of this scenario participants/learners will be able to:

• Identify health inequities associated with maternal health,
• Appreciate the underlying social determinants of the inequities within their localities,
• Examine the system and leadership failure or weakness underlying the burden of maternal mortality to women within their localities,
• Articulate the most feasible strategies leaders and communities can do to address the maternal health inequities within their localities, and
• Take agency in implementing the identified strategies.

Publication Type

Learning Cases

Project Area

Health

Sustainable Development Goals

10 - Reduced inequalities3 - Good health and well-being

Tags

equitable health, reproductive health,

The right to health in Uganda – addressing the tension between duty bearers and rights holders to acheive equitable health

This scenario highlights the health inequities in Uganda’s healthcare system. It brings out the contention and tension between claim holders (claimants of rights) and duty bearers (guarantors of rights) in a resource-constrained reality.

It is intended to help learners appreciate how a potential tension may appear or be conceptualized by both sides. It is also intended to invite leaders to re-imagine how they might diffuse such human rights tensions while protecting the right to health for all.

Learning objectives:

By the end of this scenario participants/learners will be able to:

• Appreciate the disparities in the enjoyment of the Right to Health between the different sections of the population in their jurisdiction.
• Articulate practical ways how they would work to guarantee the right to health for everyone especially the most disadvantaged in their communities.
• Examine the opportunities within the country’s legal framework to guarantee the right to health.
• Identify appropriate actions to reclaim the right to health for all persons regardless of their social economic status

Publication Type

Learning Cases

Project Area

Health

Sustainable Development Goals

10 - Reduced inequalities3 - Good health and well-being

Tags

equitable health,

Child Participation in the City of Vienna

With the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as starting point, discussants are invited to use Vienna’s commitment to implement a child and youth strategy to reflect on how to build such a strategy that achieves meaningful child and youth participation.

The Facilitator Guide introduces helpful concepts and tools: Lundy’s Model of Participation and the 9 basic Requirements for Meaningful and Ethical Child Participation.

Learning objectives

At the end of the training session, the participants will:

understand that child rights are human rights and how a rights-based approach differs from other approaches;
relate the realisation of child rights to the actions and decisions of local decision-makers;
identify common barriers and enablers, specifically surrounding practical and ethical issues, when a local government creates the spaces and processes for children to exercise their right to have their opinions listened to and taken into account;
be equipped with some tools to support the realisation of children’s rights in their local authority, and more specifically, their right to express their opinions and have those opinions listened to and taken into account; and,
start thinking about ways to apply the learnings of this case study to their local authorities.

Publication Type

Learning Cases

Project Area

Inclusive leadership and governance

Sustainable Development Goals

10 - Reduced inequalities16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions17 - Partnerships for the goals

Topic

Child rights and youth participationHuman Rights

Tags

youth inclusion,

Cape Town’s Quest for Accessible Transportation

Key concepts: Spatial Inequality, Social Inclusion, Disability Rights

As in many countries in the world, people with disabilities in South Africa face a number of social, attitudinal, structural and infrastructure barriers that inhibit their full participation in society. Accessible transportation can be one way to overcome some of these barriers and allow for access to education, employment, services, and social opportunities, particularly in sprawling and spatially segregated cities like Cape Town. Cape Town City Council developed a bus rapid transit system called MyCiTi and a Universal Access Policy (UAP) putting forth ambitious goals for accessibility, but transportation accessibility did not extend meaningfully beyond the new bus system and there continued to be gaps between policy and practice.

The case is one where a municipal government sought to take action and leadership on a human rights issue and chose to ‘aim high’ with an ambitious policy to meet international and domestic human rights commitments and redress inequality. It also, however, highlights potential gaps between these commitments and the resources available to municipalities. Is it appropriate to set goals that seem unreachable, or should policy objectives in this area be aspirational?

Learning objectives:

Examine city councils’ role in disability-related issues including access to transportation and public spaces
Consider the experiences of people with different types of disabilities who navigate transportation in urban settings
Understand South Africa’s obligations towards people with disabilities
Consider how cities like Cape Town might meet obligations that require significant resources
Consider what forms of consultation and monitoring are necessary for an effective, accessible transportation system

Publication Type

Learning Cases

Project Area

Inclusive leadership and governance

Sustainable Development Goals

10 - Reduced inequalities11 - Sustainable cities and communities

Topic

Human Rights

Securing the Right to Housing and Services in eThekwini’s Informal Settlements

Key Concepts: Spatial Inequality, Right to Housing

Like other major cities in South Africa, Durban’s eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality faces a growing population fuelled by migration from both rural areas and neighbouring countries. Many new residents find shelter in informal settlements which are, although real communities, often overcrowded and unsafe, lacking critical infrastructure. The municipality’s Human Settlements Unit endeavoured to create a “quality living environment” by new costructions, but after a while changed their strategy to implement an “incremental informal settlements upgrading” program.

The case is one of a municipality responsible for addressing an ongoing and growing problem that is beyond their financial and infrastructure capacity. It encourages discussions based on the concepts of spatial inequality (particularly apartheid’s legacy), and the legal codification of the right to housing. Combined, these present a conundrum: there is a legal duty to provide housing and services, this duty is tied to a history of inequality, and this duty falls primarily on municipalities, including municipalities like eThekwini who struggle to locate the resources to meet these duties.

Primary learning objectives:

• Examine municipalities’ role in providing housing
• Identify the human rights that are connected to housing
• Consider the needs and experiences of people living in informal settlements
• Consider what consultation is necessary to develop an effective housing plan

Publication Type

Learning Cases

Project Area

Inclusive leadership and governanceSocial care and wellbeing

Sustainable Development Goals

10 - Reduced inequalities11 - Sustainable cities and communities

Topic

Human Rights

Sexual Orientation and Human Rights in Botswana – The City of Gaborone’s role

Botswana stands out in the African context for its unique approach to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) issues. In addition to societal stigma, their sexual behaviour was criminalized by the penal code. Gaborone City Council did not have jurisdiction over the legalization of same-sex sexual activity or identity, but it did have an important voice that could be influential.

In the midst of cautious social change, the city council of Gaborone, the country’s capital and largest city, came out with an unexpected motion “Request[ing] the government to consider decriminalisation of same-sex sexual activities to support HIV/AIDS Programmes and Policies” before the Gaborone City Council. Three years later, subtle change gave way to radical transformation, and Botswana’s High Court declared sections of the penal code criminalising same-sex sexual activity to be in contravention of sections 3 (rights to liberty, privacy, dignity), 9 (right to privacy) and 15 (right to non-discrimination) of the Constitution and struck them down (Motshidiemang 2019).

The case of Gaborone can be introduced as one where a municipal government took action to speak openly and clearly about the human rights of a marginalized group, even though this was not in their area of jurisdiction. This action speaks to the role that municipal governments can take with respect to speaking on human rights issues, and raises questions about the role of democratically elected officials vis-à-vis minority rights, the relationship between federal and municipal governments, and the impact andappropriateness of making statements in areas beyond one’s jurisdiction.

Learning objectives

• Examine the role of city councils on social and human rights issues
• Understand the different actors and factors that led to legal and social changes to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights in Botswana
• Understand the experiences of LGBT people, men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with women (WSW) in Botswana
• Consider when and whether city councils should make statements or take action beyond their formal jurisdiction
• Consider the inputs and impact of incremental versus one-step plans
• Reflect on the impact of ‘rhetorical’ actions (i.e., statements with no direct legal impact)
• Reflect on how majority-based governance systems should address human rights issues of minority populations

Publication Type

Learning Cases

Project Area

Inclusive leadership and governance

Sustainable Development Goals

10 - Reduced inequalities3 - Good health and well-being5 - Gender equality

Topic

Human Rights

Barcelona against the state: Defending the rights of people to seek refuge

Case description

In 2015, Europe confronted a major immigration-related crisis. War in Syria and political and economic instability in the vicinity of the European Union (EU) prompted the arrival of the highest number of immigrants and refugees since the Second World War (Trauner, 2016). EU member states discussed what should be done. In the end, the EU took a security-based approach that reinforced border control, opened refugee camps (i.e., on the Greek islands), and externalised border control operations to Turkey. This was combined with an EU relocation system where asylum-seekers and refugees would be distributed across member states according to national quotas. Many European cities took a strong stance and criticised such approaches, as they went against international humanitarian law. These cities asked for a model that respected human rights. Barcelona, one of the most active cities for this cause, joined forces with Athens, Milan and Zurich, among others, to denounce these EU actions. Despite not initially being a primary refugee-reception location, the City Council became deeply involved in defending those fleeing conflict. In September 2015, Barcelona’s mayor Ada Colau drafted a letter with mayors from other major cities entitled ‘We, the cities of Europe’. It asked for a more humane European response to people fleeing war-torn territories and economic deprivation. The letter also declared the will of cities to become places of refuge while urging a coordinated response where they were included. The City Council’s position produced important political and administrative tensions with the Spanish central government. The latter defended its restrictive approach to welcoming refugees in the context of a rigid and centralised asylum system that, on the one hand, prevented asylum-seekers from obtaining the refugee status and on the other, prevented cities from having any administrative role in reception.

Through this case, we shall look into how Barcelona City Council overcame opposition to its call for a multi-level approach to refugee reception while successfully leading international voices in defence of migrants’ and refugees’ human rights. In this context, we shall discuss how cities can lead change amid political-administrative conflicts with other levels of government in response to glocal challenges.

Learning objectives

Through this case, participants will learn about the following:

How cities’ entrepreneurship in solving glocal problems (i.e., the interconnectedness of global problems that affect cities) emerges when conflicting and competing framings exist with other administrative levels.
How cities can build a narrative to present themselves as human rights defenders vis-à-vis restrictive and security-based migration framings. How political and social local leaders are key actors in the process of offering solutions to glocal problems.
How building human rights capacities over time can create resilient cities whose administrations can rapidly respond to emerging challenges.

Publication Type

Learning Cases

Project Area

Inclusive leadership and governance

Sustainable Development Goals

10 - Reduced inequalities

Topic

Human Rights