Programme objectives

The main objective of this advanced International Training Programme (ITP) is to contribute to equipping Municipal officials with skills in Financial Management and Local Economic Development.

The programme has a strong focus on Municipal financial management and local economic development.

The programme is a joint venture between the ICLD and the UN Capital Development Fund’s Global programmes. It will draw on the experiences from Sweden and from Swedish municipalities as well as experiences and expertise from the participating countries. The hybrid ICLD-UNCDF ITP methodology is designed to facilitate capacity development for senior level managers as change agents that drive institutional and policy reform processes designed to bring significant change in the local government sector.

The main focus will be Municipal Asset management, Digitalization of Municipal systems and business processes, Localization of the SDG’s, Public Procurement and Financial management, Credit Worthiness for Municipalities, Innovation in Local Governance, PPP (Private-Public-Partnerships), Attracting and supporting SMME’s, Exploring Alternative ways of financing local authorities, Local revenue enhancement, Gender Responsive Participatory budgeting, and Climate Smart Investments. The programme will also foster individual learning in several areas relevant to Financial Management and Local Economic Development.

The following topics will be addressed:

Tools in financial management
Local revenue management and Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting
Tools for promotion of Local Economic Development
Tools to profile and implement Municipal Asset Management plans
Areas for digitalization in Municipal systems and processes
Alternative ways of financing Municipal programmes
Alternative ways of financing Municipal Development
Public Private partnerships for local development
Support of SMMEs and Partnerships with the Private Sector
Gender enabling approaches to local development, municipal financing and decentralized governance
Climate Smart Investments
Credit worthiness for Municipalities

Expected outcomes include:

Knowledge of methods to identify vulnerable sectors in the society and develop action plans
Awareness about transparency, accountability, inclusion and equity and knowledge about methodologies to facilitate the integration of these four areas into policy and decision making
Improved skills as a “change agent” in initiating and implementing organisational change
Improved skills as process/project manager
The Change Project has supported a process of capacity development and organisational change
Expanded professional network

UN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND

This ITP is implemented by ICLD in partnership with UN Capital Development Fund, UNCDF.

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s 48 least developed countries (LDCs). With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. This last mile is where available resources for development are scarcest; where market failures are most pronounced; and where benefits from national growth tend to leave people excluded.

By strengthening how finance works for poor people at the household, small enterprise, and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes to SDG 1 on eradicating poverty with a focus on reaching the last mile and addressing exclusion and inequalities of access. At the same time, UNCDF deploys its capital finance mandate in line with SDG 17 on the means of implementation, to unlock public and private finance for the poor at the local level. By identifying those market segments where innovative financing models can have transformational impact in helping to reach the last mile, UNCDF contributes to a number of different SDGs and currently to 28 of 169 targets.