Decentralization and local development in Sub-Saharan Africa

June 2, 2021 LPS Initiative Africa, Community, Events, Local Public Sector Alliance, Webinars

Effective decentralization and localization forms an important precondition for resilient, inclusive, sustainable, equitable and efficient development around the world.

The Local Public Sector Alliance is an alliance of advocates for more inclusive and effective decentralization and local development. One of the Alliance’s objectives is to bring together the global Community of Practice around Decentralization and Local Development in order to share knowledge and ideas in an evolving global context.

As part of its global webinar series on Decentralization and Local Development around the World, the Local Public Sector Alliance—in collaboration with the World Bank Subnational Governance and Decentralization Global Solutions Group, UNDP, UNCDF, and a number of other global partners—convened a series of knowledge sharing events on Decentralization and Local Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, from December 6-16, 2021.

While countries tend towards greater decentralization and localization in the long run, the pendulum does not always swing in the same direction. What has been going on in terms of decentralization and localization in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa? No comparative assessment of decentralization in Africa has taken place since the early 2000s. Has progress been made towards more inclusive and effective decentralization or localization in different countries; has the degree of decentralization been stagnant; or are countries backsliding? What political economy forces have been shaping the progress on decentralization and localization (or the lack thereof) in the region? And what can development practitioners, scholars and civil society organizations do to encourage evidence-based decentralization and localization reforms that promote more inclusive, effective and sustainable development in Africa?

Program sessions:

Follow the links for session details for each individual webinar session. Links to videos of each webinar are available on these pages.

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