Commonwealth Local Government leaders promote democracy and good governance
Meeting in Brisbane earlier this month, Local Government elected members and Local Government ministers from Africa, Asia, Canada, the Caribbean, the Pacific and UK called on the Commonwealth to set up a fund to safeguard, promote and support democracy and good governance.
Organised by the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF), the Conference ‘Commonwealth Partnerships in the 21st Century’ finalised Local Government’s input to the High Level Review of the Commonwealth. This Review was to report at this month’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). This Meeting has now been postponed to March 2002.
“We are meeting in difficult times with the cancellation of CHOGM,” said CLGF Chair, Len Duvall. “However, we believed it was important to proceed with this Conference as it is vital for Local Government to continue to meet and share ideas.”
He said that Local Government leaders want the Commonwealth to play a stronger role in helping countries restore and develop democratic government at all levels. This has now become imperative given the current international situation.
“The Commonwealth’s shared aims and ideals can help bring about better international understanding and cooperation,” Len Duvall said. “Democracy and good governance are a key part of the Commonwealth’s shared values, and Local Government is at the heart of democracy and good governance.
“A good example of this is how CLGF worked recently with the Commonwealth Secretariat in monitoring Local Government elections in Pakistan and other places. Often these democratic reforms at the local level are a significant step towards more wide ranging reforms.”
He added, now that CHOGM has been postponed, this gives CLGF extra time to get this message across to the High Level Review group.
The CLGF has the following key functions.
- Providing advocacy and lobbying to gain greater recognition of Local Government within each nation
- Sharing ideas and experiences
- Running capacity building programs, such as the Commonwealth Good Practice Scheme.
The CLGF Board, comprising Local Government Councillors and Ministers responsible for Local Government, issued a statement prior to the Conference condemning the terrorist attacks on 11 September.
“The CLGF, through its work with Local Government will do its best to pool information and share good practice in disaster prevention and management,” Len Duvall said.
He said Local Government throughout the Commonwealth applauds the valiant action of the Mayors of New York and Washington DC, and in particular New York’s fire and police services, which lost so many of their workers in rescue attempts.
With Commonwealth nations being home to some 1.7 billion people or 30% of the world’s population, the opportunity for people to people links, through Local Government, will lead to stronger connections between developed and developing nations.
