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Municipal Partnerships with Africa

First Conference

Two men are talking.
Oskar Sawadogo in conversation with a participant of the conference. Photo: Do​​minik Schmitz

Ludwigsburg, 18 to 20 November 2010. More than 130 delegates from municipalities, twinning associations, and governmental and non-governmental development organisations met in Ludwigsburg from 18 to 20 November 2010 to compare notes and share experiences at the first Germany-wide Conference on Municipal Partnerships with Africa. Participants included representatives of partnerships with municipalities in 17 African countries.

The guests from Africa, Oscar Sawadogo, chair of a non-governmental organisation form Burkina Faso, Chabi Nansounon, staff member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) in Benin, und Jameleddine Batti, mayor of a city in Tunisia, each explained how important the decentralisation process is for democracy in their countries They described the municipal partnerships and exchange with experts in Europe as outstanding contributions to successful development cooperation. Dr Christiane Bögemann-Hagedorn of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development underlined the importance of municipal engagement in international cooperation in its own right, alongside the activities of Germany's federal and state governments. She particularly emphasised the good practice example of the three-way municipal partnerships between Germany, France and Burkina Faso. Delegates from the German federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg identified various ways in which partnerships at the state level can be used as a framework for inter-municipal relationships.

The ambassador stands at the microphone.
Rwandan Ambassador Christine Nkulikiyinka acknowledges the partnership between Rwanda and Rheinland-Pfalz. Photo: Dominik Schmitz

The Ambassador of Rwanda, Christine Nkulikiyinka, expressed her appreciation of the excellent partnership between Rhineland-Palatinate and her country, which goes back decades. One key element of the conference was inter-municipal exchange. At seven themed tables, participants discussed issues including how municipalities in Africa might respond to the challenges of climate change, what options exist for specific climate partnerships, and how the African diaspora might be involved in the work of partnerships.

Five working groups were then formed. Their discussions revolved around issues such as the image of Africa presented by the media, the outdated and overstretched nature of engagement that is largely voluntarily, cooperation with the private sector, and the specific features of partnership work in German cities, and in small and medium-size municipalities. Quite some progress was made at this conference with regard to the establishment and consolidation of municipal partnerships with Africa.

And the process continues:

A large group stands on a staircase and smiles at the camera.
All participants of the conference on municipal partnerships with Africa. Photo: Dominik Schmitz

The report on the model project involving three-way municipal partnerships has been completed, and the municipal conference for Latin America in 2011 is now in the planning phase. The next conference on municipal partnerships with Africa will take place in 2013 – and will involve even more consolidated partnerships. This conference was organised by the Service Agency Communities in One World, in cooperation with the City of Ludwigsburg. It was financed with funds of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, by Germany's three municipal associations – the German Association of Cities, the German Association of Towns and Municipalities and the German Association of Landkreise, and by the Foundation for Development Cooperation of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

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