Research Reports
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…
Organising grassroots initiatives for a more inclusive governance: constructing the city from below
With ever increasing numbers of people moving to urban areas, the world is facing increasing pressure on both ecological and human environments. Most of this growth is occurring in unplanned and underserved settlements in low- and middle-income countries. As the authors say, the resources and approaches needed to incorporate people and citizen-led initiatives into a…
Recentralisation? Interrogating the state of local democracy, good governance and development in Tanzania
This report investigates the extent to which Tanzanian Local Government Reform Programme has brought about more democratic decision-making processes. The main findings point to several positive changes. Good governance reforms, aiming to restructure central and local governments, have been undertaken and implemented. Parliament and the councils have been strengthened, as well as civil society organisations…
Global talk – Local walk, SDG#5 on Gender Equality
The aim of this study is to understand the processes of implementing Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality into policies and practices at the municipal level in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH). Our research answers the following research questions: 1) What supportive policy frameworks exist at the federal, entity, canton and municipal level in BiH to support…
Co-production of Services in Informal Settlements
In many informal settlements, a large number of informal sector waste pickers collect and separate household waste, providing an important service. However, waste pickers represent one of the most excluded, impoverished and disempowered segments of society. This study explores the challenges and potential solutions for the co-production of participatory waste management services in informal settlements,…
Financing Small and Medium Towns
This research project studied the emerging challenges of small and medium towns in India to improve their finances and provide good services to their inhabitants. The study assesses the ability of various local actors, institutions and processes for decentralised planning and governance. Moreover, the researchers used action research to build the capacities of these local…
Impacting Local Democracy: Capacity Building of Local Governments in Zimbabwe
Local governments are key democratic institutions. In Zimbabwe, they have received considerable capacity development since independence through programmes using different approaches. One of the actors providing capacity building for local governments in Zimbabwe is Sweden, through the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD). Since the turn of the century, capacity building for local governments has proceeded within a context of: Having…
The 2016 local government elections: The point where South Africa changed course?
In August 2016, local government elections were held in South Africa, something that is of direct relevance to many of ICLD’s partners. Dr Andrew Siddle has analyzed the elections on behalf of the ICLD. The elections have been described as “the point at which South Africa changed course,” but it remains to be seen just…
Local government in South Africa: Can the objectives of the developmental state be achieved through the current model of decentralized governance?
Under the new constitutional dispensation, South African Local government was given a critical developmental role to play in rebuilding local communities and environments, as the basis for a democratic, integrated, prosperous and non-racial society. This study examines the notions of decentralization and developmentalism, and shows how they have become two of the most significant defining…
The Politics of Pseudoactions – Local Governance and Gender Policy Implementation in the Western Balkans
Successful implementation is often pointed out as a missing prerequisite in the attainment of gender equality goals. Only rarely, however, are gender policy implementation processes subjected to systematic study. This paper analyses the local-level implementation of national gender equality policies in three countries of the Western Balkans region (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia), examining the…