FCM

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has launched the Run, Win Lead: Toward Parity in Municipal Politics Framework. 

Despite constituting more than 50% of the population, women still account for less than 30% of elected positions in local government across Canada. Social, structural, and economic factors can all hinder a woman’s ability to run for politics office and to thrive while serving. Women of intersectional identities will often face compounding effects of these impacts.

A new generation of women leaders is emerging in Tunisia. Following the adoption in 2016 of an amendment to the Tunisian electoral law that included a provision supporting gender parity among municipal councils, 47% of representatives elected in the 2018 local elections were women. However, discrimination against women is ongoing and often undermines their involvement in local politics.

Beginning in 2014, CISAL worked closely with 17 municipalities in Colombia and Peru to adopt strategies that strengthen governance, promote local economic development (LED) and increase gender equity. Over the course of five years, participating municipal staff and elected officials built relationships with their Canadian counterparts, through technical assistance, knowledge exchange, and fieldwork. These relationships resulted in more efficient, transparent, inclusive and sustainable local governance.

The municipality of Red Lake, Ontario, was one of many Canadian municipalities that participated in the CISAL program, working with four local governments in Antioquia, Colombia. One of their most significant contributions involved sharing best practices on long-term local economic development (LED) planning and community engagement.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Green Muncipal Fund is undertaking some research in the area of innovative climate financing models to inform the new phase of its work. Elena Pierce, Governance, Policy and Networks Officer at FCM, has offered to help the consultants to identify best practices from partner countries and local governments in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

One of the main challenges for local governments in Latin America is solid waste management. FCM’s Sustainable and Inclusive Communities in Latin America (CISAL) program is helping partner municipalities in Ancash, Peru  address the challenge of their municipal landfills quickly reaching capacity. In 2017, a delegation of representatives from the four Peruvian partner local governments traveled to Capital Regional District (CRD), British Columbia, to learn about the District’s internationally recognized solid waste management system.

As the Haiti-Canada Municipal Cooperation Program (MCP) nears its end, project partners are reflecting together on the results and lessons learned from its implementation. One of the important components of the program was municipal tax mobilization.

The MCP is working with the City of Port-au-Prince and the municipalities of Les Palmes region (communes of Léogane, Petit-Goâve, Grand-Goâve and Gressier) to help them generate property taxes. These interventions are part of a comprehensive support framework for each municipality.

Helping to build a network of more than 50 LED practitioners in Colombia, and counting…

Through its online platform, the Federation of Colombian Municipalities (Fedemunicipios) is offering training on local economic development (LED) and is helping to build a network of LED practitioners throughout the country. 

Do you have an interesting story from one of your projects in the field of Local Economic Development (LED)? Make sure to share it with the CIB network during the dedicated webinar on the 4th of December between 15:00 and 16:30 CET.