10 – Reduced inequalities

  • Human rights in Gaborone and Johannesburg: finding meaning in local context

    Cities are critical human rights actors. Human rights are interpreted through local culture, history, politics and context. Cities are increasingly at the heart of this process of interpreting and “localizing” (Camilo Sanchez 2020) for a growing share of the world’s population. How can we support the development of civic human rights initiatives in Southern Africa…

  • Localising the SDGs: a toolkit for local governments

    Localising the SDGs: a toolkit for local governments

    Local governments are essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to creating a more inclusive world. This policy brief summarises four tools for civil servants and politicians to include the SDGs in their daily work.

  • Improving local budget processes: from inclusion and transparency to equity and quality

    This policy brief analyses local budget processes and provides recommendations for their improvement. The analysis is based on the example of North Macedonia. We find evidence that: 1) greater transparency leads to greater citizen satisfaction with the quality of local services, especially for marginalised groups; 2) greater inclusion leads to greater citizen satisfaction with how…

  • Migrants in the Pandemic and the Challenge for Local Government

    This policy brief addresses a challenge for local government that has emerged with COVID-19,particularly in rural areas of developing countries. As the urban informal economy in India collapsed due to the pandemic, large numbers of people have been returning to their villages of origin in rural areas. However, some of their skills are not relevant…

  • Mainstreaming Migrant Rights for Gender Equality: Lessons from Lisbon and Barcelona

    Mainstreaming Migrant Rights for Gender Equality: Lessons from Lisbon and Barcelona

    Mainstreaming, a governance strategy based on coordination between government levels and the involvement of various policy sectors and actors (including institutional, private and civil society), is often adopted by local governments in different policy realms, including in managing migration and integration at the local level. Overall, mainstreaming migrant integration has the potential to enhance migrants´…

  • Kungsör and Rufunsa, Zambia

    Kungsör and Rufunsa, Zambia

    The partnership will address the issue of inequality in decision-making in public activities and more specifically at the municipal level. The UN Declaration of Human Rights emphasizes that all people should be given the opportunity to influence their country’s government. Our existing structures and systems for inviting engagement leads to older men still holding most…

  • Lund and Francistown, Botswana

    Lund and Francistown, Botswana

    The local government office has the assignment to investigate possibilities to start a municipal partnership to promote local democracy and international co-operation with focus on the Agenda 2030. During the time of finding a municipal partner, ICLD returned with an inquiry regarding Lund´s interest in participating in a new concept, a platform containing extended support…

  • Climate change is not the cause, migration is not the problem: Local representation and precarious young farmers leaving Senegal

    This project examines the role of local governments  in generating or reducing the current trend in which vulnerable people are migrating out of areas where climate variability is viewed as a driver of outmigration. The project seeks to identify means to make policy and practical responses to climate change supportive of local democracy – to…

  • Engagement of people with functional variation in the urban planning processes in Russia and Sweden

    The inclusion of all people in local political and urban planning decision-making is one of the foundations of local democracy. This briefing paper examines a simple transferable methodology for assessing the usability of our city spaces for persons with functional variation. The focus is on the everyday experiences as people use the city in their…

  • Borlänge and Lodwar, Kenya

    Borlänge and Lodwar, Kenya

    Project: Inclusive municipalities for refugees Borlänge and Lodwar municipalities have succefully implemented an inception phase project (dnr 2017-0049) that laid foundation for a long-term partnership between the two municipalities. The focus of the inception phase project was to create a municipal partnership that foster a democratic inclusion of refugees. The two municipalities met in Borlänge…