Explore 4 strategies for local governments to combat discriminatory policies and defend democracy! Discover how decentralization and strengthening local democracy can help resist autocratic tendencies in countries where democracy is retreating. Learn about tools and incentives that local governments can use to stand up against anti-rights policies and the role of morality in shaping their responses.

Co-organized by ICLD and DeLoG

This Local Democracy Talk was organised the 14 September

2 0

Example from the Swedish city Stockholm and Argentine city Buenos Aires
——
On this viritual seminar, you will get the opportunity to learn basic steps to start a VLR, how to include civil society in the VLR process, and how to learn from other local governments wih Glocal Partnerships ficanced by ICLD.

This seminar is jointly organised by UN Habitat, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) and Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD). Online streamed 28 March.

0 2

Paneldiscussion the 25th March 2021.
Local Democracy and Human Rights Cities: Challenges in South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Sweden
Panelists:
Morten Kjaerum, Raoul Wallenberg Institute, Sweden
Jaap de Vasser, Dullah Omar Institute, South Africa
O’Brien Kaaba, SAIPAR – University of Zambia
Shirley Monyatsi, University of Botswana
Dorothy Mpabanga, University of Botswana

Human rights cities are often designed as “City that upholds the principles of nondiscrimination, democracy, and participation regardless of race, sex, skin color, cultural backgrounds”. Given the scope of local governments responsibilities there are tremendous opportunities to advance human rights. Among other things, cities must deliver water, sewage treatment, trash removal, road maintenance, public transportation, public safety, and education to their residents.

1 1

Panel discussion on how local governments can use the voluntary local reviews for pathways towards the SDGs.

Panelists:
Monika Månsson, Project manager, Environment Department, City of Malmö, Sweden
Jurijs Grizāns, Senior Project Manager, Riga City Council, Latvia
Mariana Cammisa, SDG Officer, Buenos Aires City Government, Argentina
Anna Koledova, Analyst, UN-Habitat Russia Office
Natasha Primo, Cape Town, South Africa
Moderator: Åsa Jonsson, Chief of the Strategic Monitoring and Reporting Unit, UN-Habitat.

Background:
Local governments around the world have started to implement the so called “Voluntary Local Reviews -VLRs” to report on their advances and challenges to achieve the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This panel brings together local government officials from the cities of Malmö, Riga, Cape Town and Buenos Aires to share their experiences in the process of reporting progress on the SDGs. Panellists will discuss: How can we engage with local communities in the reporting process? What are the lessons learnt? And why are VLRs a key methodology to move from goals to action?
This panel is jointly organized by the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD), UN habitat and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

5 0

Educación, trabajo y empoderamiento económico

1 0

Strengthening Effective Participation and Equitable Representation of Women in Local Democracy

0 0

Politiker pratar om ungdomsinflytande och vikten av ungas röster – men lyssnar de verkligen? Och hur får unga verkligt inflytande?

I ett panelsamtal med tjänstepersoner, politiker och företrädare för Youth2030 diskuterar vi och lyfter fram exempel på hur ungdoms makt kan etableras på ”riktigt” samtidigt som vi har en global utblick och inspireras från ICLD:s internationella partnerskapsamarbeten.

Dag och tid: 24 juni 14.00-14.45
Plats: Cramérgatan 5, Almedalsbiblioteket

Medverkande:
John Störby vice ordf. Barn och utbildningsnämnden, Falkenbergs kommun; Vendela Carlfjord och Catalina Negrei, Youth 2030; Mattias Scandola Falun, kanslichef, Falu kommun

Mer info på icld.se/almedalen

0 0

This webinar seeks to share Ukraine’s experiences with an international audience of local government representatives, policymakers, and civil society actors. It aims to explore how local governments worldwide can preserve and build democratic values and community trust, while strengthening their crisis management strategies.

Welcome Remarks: Setting the stage for the discussion and outlining key themes
Keynote Presentation: Oleksandra Keudel, Associate Professor Kyiv Schools of Economic
Panel Discussion:
Mariya Tuzyk, International Cooperation Expert
Mayor Bogdan Kelichavyi, Mayor of Kopycyntsi Municipality
Mayor Iryna Pletnova, Mayor of Uman Municipality
Andreas Umland, Analyst at SCEEUS, Swedish Institute of International Affairs
Moderator: Clara Orstadius, ICLD

More info: https://icld.se/en/article/strengthening-local-resilience-through-democracy-lessons-from-ukrainian-municipalities/

3 0

Conversaciones sobre la democracia local: igualdad de género “¿Los líderes de género gobiernan

nuestras ciudades?”

29 0

This webinar explores how local inclusion in post-conflict societies can both strengthen democracy and reinforce divisions – and what to do about it.

It addresses challenges with community participation at the local by:
– A research presentation by authors Hanna Leonardsson and Jean-Bosco Habyarimana, on key findings and implications of the study.
– Insider perspectives from Machakos County government by Augustine Kyalo Mutiso, on Kenyan decentralization and community engagement.
– Discussion/Q&A focused on the role of civil society in alternative pathways for influence, and on challenges presented by varying decentralization structures.

Read more about the project “Whose voice matters for what?”
Research report: https://icld.se/en/publications/whose-voice-matters-inclusion-in-local-decision-making-in-kenya-and-lebanon-2/
Policy brief: https://icld.se/en/publications/whose-voice-matters-inclusion-in-local-decision-making-in-kenya-and-lebanon/

ICLD Local Democracy Talks are live streamed high-level panels for constructive dialogue and exchange of experiences among leading local politicians and experts to strengthen democratic governance. See our other talks here: https://icld.se/en/events/local-democracy-talks/

1 0

This panel brings together world-known mayors that have used a feminist lens to address complex problems their cities faced: climate change, health inequity, poverty, increasing violence, unequal access to care, among others. These mayors have transformed their cities and challenged the status quo using a feminist approach. So, what is a feminist city? What impact do feminist policies have? How are they to everyone’s benefit? What can we learn from their experiences?

The online event was hekd on Women's Day 8 March 2023

3 0

Local democracy Talks

Conventional security discourses did not predict the magnitude and endurance of resistance efforts in Ukraine, considering the asymmetry between Russia and Ukraine in terms of military capacity. Based on our own research on local democracy in Ukraine, we propose that sweeping decentralization reforms combined with widespread multipronged democratic innovations, including a digital transformation of the state, in recent years has significantly contributed to Ukraine’s resilience. The purpose of the event is to revisit the state of Ukrainian local democracy before the war and discuss how this has contributed to the resilience and problem-solving capacity that we see today.

 In this event, we aim to identify major underlying factors that account for the support for and engagement with the state, civil society, and business in Ukraine, with a specific eye to previous achievements and practices on the local level of governance, much of which has continued to function even through the war.

2 1

The Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD) supports local democracy in Ukraine through municipal partnerships, training and research. In this talk we will have a conversation among scholars and local government officials in Ukraine to provide insights on:

How are local governments affected by the current situation?
How are local governments adapting to meet the needs of their citizens?
What are the barriers and opportunities that they experience for peacebuilding from below?
This seminar is jointly organised by the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD), the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), and Malmö Association of Foreign Affairs.

Panelists:

Valentina Poltavets, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Association of Amalgamated Territorial Communities

Ulyana Pak, elected city councillor in Lviv

Kristina Levyska, Deputy Director of Department of Humanitarian Policy, city of Kamjanets-Podilskyj

Mariia Tyshchenko, PhD, Associate professor Kyiv National Economic University, director of the NGO “PORUCH” and mentor of ICLD training programme.

Tomila Lankina, London School of Economics

Yana Brovdiy, Officer, Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)

Final remarks: Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, Local Government Information Unit (LGIU)

Moderator: Tymofii Brik, PhD, assistant professor at Kyiv School of Economics and director of the Center for Sociological Research – Decentralization and Local development studies

5 0

Why is the women’s formal participation and leadership so low in Tanzania?

Welcome to a Local Democracy Talks in Tanzania – a live streamed discussion with panelists representing local governments, faith-based institutions, civil society, UN Women and the Government of Tanzania. The discussion will be moderated by Aidan Eyakuze, Executive Director Twaweza.

Date and time:
21 October 09.00-10.15 CET, 10.00-11.15 EAT

Questions to be raised:
Women’s formal participation and leadership at the local level in Tanzania is low- why is it so? And what strategies are there to address the concerns?

How can we increase women’s local participation and leadership in the economic, political and religious domains?

How can culture and religion contribute to increased formal participation and leadership by women? Are there any good examples and best practices?

Organizers: ICLD together with Swedish Embassy in Tanzania and Act Church of Sweden

17 0

23 1

14 0

9 1

This high-level panel brings together a group of leading politicians from Sweden, Spain, and Ukraine to share their personal stories on the value of letting people decide over the municipal budget. What are their motivations? Why do they believe in participatory budget? What are the limitations and what can be achieved?

Panelists:
Marc Serra, Secretary General of the IOPD and Councilor Barcelona, Spain.
Anna-Carin Magnusson, Mayor city of Nässjö, Sweden
Peter Jansson, President city council of Åre, Sweden
Oleksandr Syenkevych, Mayor of Mykolaiv, Ukraine

Iryna Skaliy, National Programme Officer, Ukraine
Moderator: Ana-Maria Vargas, ICLD


This paneldiscussion is part of ICLD series Local Democracy Talks: icld.se/localdemocracytalks

11 0

Inspired by the Swedish foreign policy initiative, Drive for Democracy, ICLD organises high-level political panels called “Local Democracy Talks”. The aim of the talks is to create a constructive dialogue and exchange of experiences among leading local politicians to strengthen democratic governance.

First out is #LocalDemocracyTalks in Kenya the 2nd March with the theme: "If gender champions rule our cities: Key policies to create a more equal world from below".

Date and time: 2nd March at 12:00-13:00 (Swedish Time) 14:00 – 15:00 (Kenyan Time)

The talk is organised in cooperation with the Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi and UCLG Africa.

Welcome by Caroline Vicini, Swedish Ambassador in Kenya, Head of Mission Permanent Representative to UNEP and UN-HABITAT

Panelists:
Adelina Mwau Ndeto, Deputy Governor, Makueni County, Kenya
Amelie Tarschys Ingre, Councilor and Chair of the Education Committee in Lidingö – Sweden
Jimmy Jansson, Mayor of the city of Eskilstuna, Sweden
Nereah Amondi Oketch, Member of County Assembly in Homa Bay County, Kenya
Jacqueline Moustache Belle, Director of the Gender and Youth Department (REFELA) of UCLG Africa
Moderator: Johan Lilja, Secretary General ICLD

More info about Local Democracy Talks: icld.se/localdemocracytalks.

11 1