GOLD Report I - UCLG

301of Africa, a Pan-African local governmentorganization, arose from three local governmentorganizations previously dividedalong linguistic lines. The founding congressin 2005 marked a starting point for aunified African municipal movement.National associations have had mixedsuccess in mobilizing political movementto solve the many problems faced by localgovernment. A combination of approacheshas been tried and needs deepening;they include focused educational activities onselected topics for local and national governmentsto assist national associationsto do their job, documentation of goodpractice approaches and techniques, and asystem of learning and information exchangebetween and among local governmentsacross nations and regions.V. Global ChallengesNew evidence is coming to light about theimpact of decentralization on the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) andrelated issues. Besides poverty, gender,health, technology and culture, the MDGshave brought out the importance of environmentallysustainable development. Butclimate change, particularly the productionof greenhouse gasses, moves this issue toa much higher and more urgent plane.Similarly, some infectious and communicablediseases threaten to become globalproblems.Local governments have a front line positionin the battle against poverty,through social inclusion, access to basicservices, and participation. But environmentalissues are increasingly at the topof the agenda: fighting greenhouse gasses,for instance, land use and transportation,building standards, densitycontrols, solid waste recycling, and manyother aspects of urban growth that frequentlyfall under local government jurisdiction.Hundreds of cities have takenaction to improve environmental sustainabilityof urban growth following LocalAgenda 21 and the Aalborg Charter of1994, that addresses climate changeagendas and action plans. Scores of Europeancities have developed detailed plansto achieve a smaller “carbon footprint,”that is, more sustainable settlements. Inthe US, mayors are joining a coalition toachieve or surpass Kyoto protocol targets.More than 500 US mayors have signed aclimate protection agreement.Recent evidence reported by Angel et al(2005) shows a trend towards decreaseddensity in cities, signalling an alarmingmove in a direction away from sustainableurban living. Brazil and China have begunto focus on urban remedies to the problemsof rapid conversion of land into theurban fabric. Brazil has recently enactedlegislation requiring local governments tomeet a higher standard in land-use planningand has created land-swapping toolsto do so.As for the MDGs, local governments havean important role to play in managinggrowth for health and safety. Effectiveaction in these spheres would strengthenthe rationale for governments to mobilizelower tiers to address these issues. WHOhas recently signaled the importance ofthe social determinants of health, pointingparticularly to issues of safety, violence,and prevention of at risk buildings in urbansettings. WHO’s contribution adds to thealready large body of work on local levelaction to address communicable diseaseslike HIV/AIDs, malaria and tuberculosis(Kjellstrom, et al 2007). In health and climatechange, local governments have acritical role to play.On other MDG issues, gender, culture, andtechnology, local governments are againon the front line. More than a few countries– Africa, Middle East, Asia-Pacific arenotable examples among many – speakof quotas to involve woman in localgovernment. Special status is accorded towomen in Africa; 30 to 40 % of council seats