“Improving public service delivery at local level”
The international cities platform, Connective Cities and its initiators, the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the German Association of Cities (DST) and Engagement Global GmbH / Service Agency Communities in One World (SKEW), invite urban practitioners from Sub-Sahara Africa and Germany to take part in the Connective Cities dialogue event “Improving public service delivery at local level – solutions for participatory and accountable management” in Harare, Zimbabwe. The event is scheduled to take place from 20 to 22 August 2019.
The accelerating urbanisation in Sub-Sahara Africa tends to increase the demand for public services in cities. This has a number of adverse impacts on sectors such as water, sanitation, waste management and transport, which in turn pose serious repercussions on the living conditions of the urban population. Municipalities are thus required to adapt public service delivery strategies. The workshop aims to promote the exchange on innovative approaches of public service delivery optimizing urban services by means of public participation to achieve greater social accountability. Aspects from Sub-Sahara African and German cities such as public service management and delivery in municipalities and local utilities, improved governance for accountability and greater transparency, enhanced participation as well as climate resilient public services will be included.
Based on the exchange of existing good practices, ideas for urban projects will be developed in a systematic manner. During the workshop, peer-to-peer advisory sessions will help to unblock challenges and to jointly create new knowledge. Participants from Sub-Sahara Africa will also be supported in developing their local action plans for the improvement of public service delivery. This event will bring together practitioners from a variety of African municipalities as well as municipal experts from Germany, who will contribute their expertise and good practices to identify the underlying challenges in the urban and regional public service context and develop innovative project ideas together. Connective Cities organizes this dialogue event in cooperation with the GIZ project in Zimbabwe, “Strengthening the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ) to promote intercommunal knowledge transfer and capacity development”. From Zimbabwe the following local authorities have been selected to participate: Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, Masvingo, Kwekwe, Beitbridge, Victoria Falls, Bindura, Chinhoyi and Gweru. The local authorities will each have two representatives. (Article has been adapted from the Connective Cities 26th Newsletter Edition published in May 2019).