The Local Public Sector Alliance (LPSA) is a global professional network of advocates for inclusive and efficient decentralization and localization. The Alliance seeks to promote inclusive, equitable societies and sustainable global development by enhancing the understanding of public sector decentralization and localization as complex, cross-cutting and multi-stakeholder reforms.
We do so by elevating the global debate on public sector decentralization and localization, by (1) advancing the state of knowledge on decentralization and localization; (2) ensuring a more informed, interconnected global Community of Practice, where knowledge sharing takes place across countries, disciplines, institutions and sectors; and (3) engaging in convening, outreach and field building to achieve a larger, more empowered global Community of Practice, with country-level champions well-positioned to champion decentralization and localization reforms.
Our third annual report summarizes the activities of the Local Public Sector Alliance for 2024. In 2024, LPSA’s global membership continued to grow rapidly, reaching close to 2,100 members from 139 countries and territories.
The activities of the Alliance are largely shaped by the commitment and contributions of its members, who volunteer to share their knowledge and enthusiasm about different aspects of decentralization, local governance, and localized development with others in the global Community of Practice. We are grateful for the contributions and support received from our members, advisory board members, working group co-chairs, and partner organizations.
As a result of the volunteer contributions of many, LPSA provides considerable value-for-money to its partners and supporters as a global knowledge sharing platform. The average cost per member for the core knowledge development, knowledge sharing, and outreach activities of the Alliance amounts to less than 30 US dollars per member.
Rather than charging our members—predominantly based in the Global South—a membership fee, the Alliance has been able to make its contents and activities publicly available free of charge as a result of the operating support received from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. This has allowed the Alliance to continue on its trajectory of rapid growth in service to its global Community of Practice, and has allowed the Alliance not only to “elevate the debate” on decentralization and localization, but to leverage its expertise by catalyzing action in localizing women’s economic empowerment and childcare in Africa.
Given the rapidly changing environment in the global context for official development assistance—particularly in the area of inclusive governance—it is likely that 2025 will prove to be an inflection point for LPSA. The need for a global network like ours is increasingly obvious in a funding environment that is sharply contracting. As was noted by one of our members: “At a time when democratic spaces are shrinking the world over, the Local Public Sector Alliance is convening experts and an ecosystem of actors to share insights on how to strengthen local democracies through inclusive governance.”
Click here to read the full report: Local Public Sector Alliance. Annual Report 2024.
