African Food Security Urban Network (AFSUN) and MDPESA cooperate

Africa Local Government Action Forum (ALGAF)
The Municipal Development Partnership for Eastern and Southern Africa (MDP-ESA) is happy to announce and welcome old and new members to the ninth edition of ALGAF which runs from February to November 2009. This edition is divided into four modules on: (a) Corruption; (b) Crime Violence and Security; (c) Climate Change and Food Security; and (d) Local Economic Development and the MDGs. The overall objective of ALGAF is to provide a platform for structured dialogue on key issues and challenges influencing Decentralization and Local Governance in Africa.

What is ALGAF | ALGAF IX Schedule Feb. to Nov. 2009 | ALGAF Presentations | Download Promotional Flyer | A Report of ALGAF IX Session I held on the 6th Of February 2009

ALGAF is managed by MDP-ESA in collaboration with National Associations of Local Government and Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) Distance Learning Centres in: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. This forum is made possible with financial support from the World Bank Group and the Human Sciences Research Council. Sessions are delivered through videoconference every first Friday of each month. Sessions run for 3 hours from 10.00 - 13.00 hours Southern Africa Time, 11.00 - 14.00 hours East Africa Time and 08.00 - 11.00 hours West Africa Time. Target audience include Mayors, Councillors, Technocrats, Municipal Managers, Trainers and Researchers, Civic Activists, Private Entrepreneurs, Journalists, Environmentalists, Gender and Development Experts etc....

For more information please get in touch with your country coordinators . All previous ALGAF presentations can be downloaded from this Website. You can also download the programme for the whole year. We welcome all old and new participants to our ALGAF sessions. Please feel free to invite your colleagues to this unique forum of sharing experiences on various issues affecting local governments in Africa. >>More

Reports

1. A Report of ALGAF IX Session I held on the 6th Of February 200
   
2. Minutes of the Videoconference Session for the Africa Local Government Action Forum (ALGAF) Evaluation and Planning Session held on 7 November 2008
   
3. ALGAF VIII End of Year Report

Participatory Budgeting Facility for Africa
The World Bank's Social Development Department (SDV), in collaboration with the World Bank Institute (WBI), has provided funding to MDP-ESA through the Norwegian and Finish Trust Fund (TFESSD) to establish a Participatory Budgeting Knowledge and Action Support Facility for Africa.
The Facility will establish links and serve as a focal point to channel demands from various institutions and individuals, such as policy experts, program managers and legislative drafters seeking expertise and advice in the area of participatory budgeting and other related fields. MDP-ESA will rely on acknowledged experts in the Africa region and beyond in responding to this demand. A similar Facility has also been established for the Latin America and Caribbean Region at the International Centre for Urban Management (CIGU) in Ecuador. MDP-ESA and CIGU will collaborate closely to promote cross-regional knowledge sharing, where possible drawing from, and involving other regional networks. More >>>

The Africa-Latin America Mutual  Action Learning Initiative On Participatory Budgeting

The Africa-Latin America Mutual Learning Initiative on Participatory Budgeting aims to strengthen direct exchange and cooperation between Latin America and the African Continent practitioners on the subject of Participatory Budgeting. This initiative expect to establish an effective South-South platform for development cooperation in the field of participatory budgeting, to enable participating institutions to share their innovations and lessons, as well as learn from the experience of other peer organizations; and, to enhance capacity in Latin America and the African Continent on the field of participatory budgeting. Read More >>

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS

A journal promoting the interchange of ideas among practitioners, academics and researchers in Africa promoting participatory governance and social accountability. Produced bi-annually ISSN: 1995-4719 Access the Journal     A book rich in international experiences, practices and policy aspects of Participatory Budgeting. This book is very useful in the area of capacity building towards planning and expenditure budgeting. Read more >>

Urban Agriculture at MDP-ESA

The Urban Agriculture Programme (UAP) at the MDPESA seeks to enable deeper understanding of urban agriculture (UA) and provide mechanisms to enhance its benefits and at the same time provide tools with which to combat its negative impacts. The UA programme at MDP started in 2000 with the thrust of raising the level of awareness on urban agriculture amongst local government practioners and policy markers as it adopted the theme of integrating UA into urban planning and development. The programme has managed to accomplish a number of achievements which include studies in the region on the status of UA, land tenure planning and regularization, access to land for UA for the urban resource poor; information communication needs assessments; Anglophone Africa regional training on UA; creating and maintaining databases on UA; legislative and policy analysis; declaration by mayors on UA and Ministers conference on UA. >>More

Cities Farming for the Future (CFF)

The Cities Farming for the Future (CFF) is a global programme that seeks to integrate agriculture into urban development. The Programme is coordinated globally by the Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF) and funded by Directorate-General for International Cooperation, Netherlands (DGIS) and the International Development Research Center, Canada (IDRC). The Municipal Development Partnership for Eastern and Southern Africa (MDPESA) is responsible for managing the programme in the region. The main objective of this programme is to contribute to urban poverty reduction, urban food security, improved urban environmental management, empowerment of urban farmers and participatory city governance by capacity development of local stakeholders in urban agriculture and facilitating participatory and multi-stakeholder policy formulation and action planning on urban agriculture, including safe reuse of urban organic wastes and wastewater.>> More

MDP-ESA Becomes the 8th African Member of the United Nations Public Finance and Administration
MDP-ESA has become the 8th African organisation to be admitted to the prestigious United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN). MDP-ESA was admitted on the strength of her contribution to the promotion of participatory budgeting and governance in general at sub-national level in Africa. The mission of UNPAN is to promote the sharing of knowledge, experiences and best practices throughout the world in sound public policies, effective public administration and efficient civil services, through capacity-building and cooperation among the United Nations Member States, with emphasis on south-south cooperation. >> More