Last year was a busy and interesting year for us. From strengthening the capacities of municipal and regional officials in Uzbekistan, Mongolia and Oman, to training local authorities and organisation of persons with disabilities in Burundi, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda. We were happy to receive in total 340 participants in our open subscription and Shiraka courses in The Hague. Watch our story of 2022, told by photographs capturing the day-to-day life of The Hague Academy for Local Governance
Participating in International Events
In 2022, we joined a number of international events around local governance. In May, we participated in the Africities Summit, in Kisumu, Kenya, where together with Oxfam Novib, we hosted a session on ‘Local governments and impact-driven enterprises: Allies for a human economy’. In July, we joined the World Urban Forum in Katowice, Poland, where, within the framework of the We Are Able! programme, we hosted an interactive session on ‘Disability Inclusion in Future Cities and Communities’. In September, we joined the Dutch Water Mission to Mexico, where we exchanged knowledge and experiences with Mexican counterparts to better understand the governance needs of local and national authorities, and water service providers in the country. In October, we joined the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) World Congress in Daejeon, South Korea, where we participated in various sessions. At the UCLG Learning Forum, we delivered a keynote speech on how games can be used as an effective tool for adult learning. As part of the We Are Able! programme, we also shared practices about the inclusion of persons with disabilities and the role local authorities can play in promoting disability inclusion worldwide. We were also pleased to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Local Government Academy (ALGA), which aims at strengthening the capacities of local governments across the African continent.
Strengthening the Capacity of Local and Regional Governments Worldwide
In 2022, we developed various customised training programmes for different local and regional authorities around the world. The topics of these programmes ranged from citizen participation, local economic development, smart cities, local finance and pro-poor local development.
Ongoing Multi-Year Capacity Strengthening Programmes
Last year, we continued with the activities of various multi-year training programmes. Within the Shiraka programme, focused on supporting societal development in the MENA region, we developed training activities on the topics of Local Governance, Social Affairs & Employment, Water Management, E-Government and Ecosystems for Entrepreneurs. Within the MATRA programme, we carried out training on Leadership and Citizen Participation. Moreover, 2022 was the second year of the We are Able! Programme. In 2022, we trained and coached local trainers on disability-inclusive local governance in six African countries. As a result, dozens of local trainers have facilitated training on inclusive governance for local public authorities, civil society organisations and organisations for persons with disabilities. These organisations subsequently developed action plans to address barriers to the inclusion of persons with disabilities. In most countries, we already prepared and supported local trainers to monitor the progress of these action plans.
Knowledge Exchange in The Hague
In 2022, local practitioners from all over the world gathered in The Hague for twelve practice-oriented open subscription courses. Together with our trainers and international experts, they shared experiences on different topics around local governance, discussed international case studies and tools, and visited examples from the Netherlands.
