Make it Local, Make it Democratic: The Case for Local Democracy
21 October 2005
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| Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, Mayor Robert Montague, Vice-Chair, CLGF, and Carl Wright, Secretary-General, CLGF, at the launch of the booklet Make it local, make it democratic. |
Local democracy must be accountable, transparent and representative, said Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon. He was addressing the launch of the publication 'Make it local, make it democratic' on 21 October 2005 at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, UK.
The publication, the third in the series 'Taking Democracy Seriously', was prepared by two leading local government figures from the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) -- Mayor Smangaliso Mkhatshwa from South Africa and Councillor John Otekat from Uganda. The booklet sets out the case for local democracy, the advantages of a local system of democracy and what makes it democratic. It also considers the importance of decentralisation and local democracy in development, particularly in tackling poverty and other world issues.
Addressing the launch, the Secretary-General stated local democracy must be genuinely local and must be democratic. He explained that many countries have an efficient system of local administration, and while this is important, by itself it is insufficient in making local democracy work.
"I am confident that this booklet will be a most useful aid to the promotion of local democracy in Commonwealth countries. As Commonwealth Heads of Government have themselves stated, local democracy is an essential element in any modern democracy," Mr McKinnon said.
Speaking to the Commonwealth News and Information Service, Carl Wright, Secretary-General of the CLGF, noted that a series of publications on local democracy is documenting the trend that is occurring in the Commonwealth.
"The publications are portraying what is happening across the Commonwealth, where many governments are decentralising and setting up new local government structures and creating local democracy," he said.
Mr Wright pointed out that the efforts of CLGF are also linked to the United Nations campaign to localise the Millennium Development Goals: "People are now realising that the delivery of basic services such as water, sanitation, health care and dealing with emergencies has to be done by democratically elected local government.
"Most Commonwealth countries are taking the step of institutionalising local government. A conference in Aberdeen, Scotland, bringing together over 40 countries of the Commonwealth, agreed on the principles of the Aberdeen Agenda for local democracy and good governance. This shows the commitment of Commonwealth countries in fostering local government."
According to Mayor Robert Montague from Jamaica, the publication of the booklet is timely, as globally there is a growing recognition that local authorities are best placed to help improve living conditions, reduce poverty and promote participatory democracy.
"This was mentioned in the recent report of the Commission for Africa and has been recognised by the UN in developing the 'Localising the Millennium Development Goals' programme ... the significance of strong local democracies has never been more apparent than in some of the recent crises we have seen as a result of natural disasters. Strengthening our local democracy has helped us to develop more coherent planning to be prepared for such events in the future," he said.
Mayor Montague added that the CLGF provides a collective voice for local government in the Commonwealth and other international forums. He stated the CLGF continues to support democracy at local level through capacity-building programmes and projects, and developing networks of key people to share information and ideas, develop policy and exchange good practice.
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