Regions & Countries Archives – Decentralization Net

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[ May 20, 2026 ] Local Governance for Children: Beyond Administrative Reform Europe & Central Asia
[ May 15, 2026 ] Local governments, local taxes, and incentivizing economic growth Cities and urban development
[ May 15, 2026 ] Rethinking the future of decentralization and multilevel governance Community
[ May 7, 2026 ] The real financing issue in ECD and childcare isn’t finance Africa
[ May 6, 2026 ] Call for Papers: Financing Sustainable Cities Community

Local Governance for Children: Beyond Administrative Reform

May 20, 2026 Marina Jandrevska

Discussions about decentralization and local governance often focus on institutional architecture: which level of government is responsible for which function, how intergovernmental transfers are designed, or whether local governments possess sufficient administrative autonomy. Yet, from […]

Local governments, local taxes, and incentivizing economic growth

May 15, 2026 LPS Alliance

For decades, debates on economic growth have largely focused on national policies: monetary policy, trade policy, industrial policy, labor markets, or macroeconomic stability. Yet, economic activity does not occur in an institutional vacuum: businesses operate […]

The real financing issue in ECD and childcare isn’t finance

May 7, 2026 Jacqueline Muthura

From May 5-8, 2026, early childhood champions from around the world met in Kigali for Investing in the Early Years: A Global Technical Financing Forum, convened by ECDAN with AFECN, UNESCO, UNICEF and WHO. The Local […]

India’s fiscal equalization system: balancing equity and efficiency

April 24, 2026 LPS Alliance

Few countries embody the promise—and complexity—of multilevel governance as vividly as India. With a federal structure spanning more than 1.5 billion people, India’s intergovernmental fiscal system sits at the heart of its development trajectory. A […]

Decentralized responsibilities without decentralized resources?

April 10, 2026 Marina Jandrevska

The role of local governments in European public service delivery has expanded significantly over the past two decades. Across the European Union, municipalities have become central actors in the provision of education, healthcare, social protection, […]

Expanding property taxation in customary areas in Africa

April 10, 2026 Marina Jandrevska

Property taxation is widely recognized as a cornerstone of subnational finance and a key enabler of effective decentralization worldwide. It has recently gained increased attention across African countries. Yet, it remains one of the most […]

Decentralization under pressure: lessons from Germany’s long-term support in Africa

April 7, 2026 LPS Alliance

Decentralization has been a central pillar of governance reform across Africa for more than three decades. It has been pursued as a means to improve service delivery, to strengthen accountability, and to bring government closer […]

An inflection point in South Africa’s local government reform?

March 3, 2026 LPS Alliance

South Africa’s system of local government is at a critical juncture. Nearly three decades after the advent of democratic local governance, the country has built a comprehensive municipal system and expanded access to basic services. […]

How India’s Sixteenth Finance Commission chose stability over disruption

February 8, 2026 LPS Alliance

The Finance Commission of India (FC) is one of India’s most credible institutions. It is a constitutional body whose function is to make recommendations to the Government of India on how to divide tax revenues […]

Devolved health services in Kenya: Access, efficiency, and the unfinished business of devolution

January 31, 2026 LPS Alliance

Over the past decade, Kenya’s devolution reform has fundamentally reshaped the country’s public sector by transferring responsibility for a wide range of public sector functions—including primary health services—to 47 county governments. The intent of this […]