<

Note on Campaign Launches  Background The goal of the Global Campaign on Urban Governance is to contribute to the eradication of poverty through improved urban governance. It aims to increase the capacity of local governments and other stakeholders to practice good urban governance and to raise awareness of and advocate for good urban governance around the world. The campaign promotes the involvement of women in decision-making at all levels, recognizing that women are one of the biggest levers for positive change in society. The campaign will make a significant contribution to implementing the Habitat Agenda goal of sustainable urban development and to the United Nations’ action strategy for halving extreme poverty. The campaign theme – "inclusiveness" – reflects both the campaign’s vision and strategy. The vision is to realize the "Inclusive City," a place where everyone, regardless of wealth, gender, age, race or religion, is enabled to participate productively and positively in the opportunities cities have to offer. Inclusive decision-making processes are an essential means to achieve this and are the cornerstone of the campaign. The campaign’s "flagship products" include a declaration on the norms of good urban governance, the Inclusive Cities Initiative, an index of good urban governance, toolkits to support good urban governance, a policy paper series and revised national legislation. The purpose of this note is to help clarify what is meant by a campaign launch, including its objectives, activities and some key considerations for deciding where to launch. It builds on the experience of UN-HABITAT Secure Tenure Campaign Launches and the ideas contained in the terms of reference for possible Governance Campaign launches in Nigeria, India and The Philippines. This note is designed to initiate and guide discussion among campaign partners; it will evolve based on practical experience organising launches.   What is a Campaign Launch? A campaign launch is a public event to secure the commitments of all national partners - national governments, local governments, other stakeholder groups - to good urban governance. In so doing it can recognize past achievements in good urban governance and signal the beginning of a new series of activities to further improve the quality of life in cities. Such activities will be advocacy-oriented or designed to further build capacity to practice good urban governance. Launches may take place at the local, national or regional level, but in all cases should be driven by local priorities. All campaign launches will be preceded by planning and "consciousness-raising" events of a Campaign Steering Group and/or a group of influential actors who will ensure that there is a suitable platform and local buy-in for the campaign launch. A campaign launch will probably comprise at least two of the following three inter-related and mutually reinforcing elements. First, a media event to raise awareness of past achievements and future plans in the area of good urban governance. Second, a substantive event such as a policy review, a capacity-building workshop or a learning event such as an exchange of best practices. Third, a meeting of stakeholders to develop an action-plan for improving urban governance. As these elements are developed, the campaign should increasingly focus its activities on one norm, or a combination of inter-related norms, of good urban governance (sustainability, subsidiarity, equity, efficiency, transparency and accountability, civic engagement and security) and concrete means for making improvements in this area. A launch should have a clear message to rally around. The message should be based on one of the principles of good urban governance (or a combination of inter-related principles) but the principle(s) will have to be simplified and linked to concrete improvements desired by the citizens.   Objectives of a Campaign Launch: 1.  Raise public awareness of the local campaign through a media strategy that highlights: Regional, national or local achievements in the area of good urban governance; The key principle of good urban governance that the local campaign will promote; Linkages between good urban governance and urban poverty reduction/inclusiveness. 2.  Secure the commitment of key stakeholders to improving the quality of urban governance through the public signature of a memorandum of understanding; and 3.  Develop or initiate the implementation of the campaign action plan. Campaign Launch Considerations The list below is a preliminary attempt to identify the key ingredients for a successful campaign launch. It is unlikely that any proposed launch will fully satisfy all of the elements, but it is nevertheless important to identify a launch’s potential strengths and weaknesses. With this in mind, the considerations are divided into core criteria and desired elements. A campaign launch should meet all of the core criteria and at least some of the desired elements. Above all, the campaign should avoid raising expectations that cannot be met. (i) Core Criteria Interest and Commitment to Improving Urban Governance With limited resources, the campaign should launch in those countries and cities that express their interest and commitment to further improving the quality of urban governance, with a particular focus on reducing urban poverty and/or improving the inclusiveness of cities. Evidence of such interest should include letters from key stakeholders leading to their signature of a Memorandum of Understanding at the launch ceremony. Commitment of significant in- kind and in-cash resources is also important.   Potential for Scaling-up Impact There should be a strong potential to scale-up existing initiatives, city-wide or nation-wide. This implies that UN-HABITAT or a campaign partner has a strong presence in the country or city based on previous successful initiatives. Alternatively, the degree of commitment to implement urban governance initiatives can be so high as to create tremendous potential for positive impact. Evidence of such commitment would include the adoption of new policies, legislation or strategies, or new commitment of multi-laterals and bi-laterals to improved collaboration in support of an urban governance action plan.   Clear Focus and Objectives The campaign should have a clear substantive focus on one or several interrelated principles of good urban governance: sustainability, subsidiarity, equity, efficiency, transparency and accountability, civic engagement or security. Measurable objectives should be developed through a participatory process leading to the approval of a campaign action plan.   Transparent and Accountable Institutional Framework There should be a local/national/regional steering group including representatives of all key stakeholders, including all levels of government, civil society (including organisations representing the urban poor, women and other frequently marginalised groups), the private sector, multi-lateral and bi-lateral organisations, academia, the media and on-going urban governance initiatives. The roles and responsibilities of each actor should be clearly defined within this framework. One institution, however, must take the lead responsibility in managing the events leading to the launch as well as the discussions on the action plan.   Linkages to Regional Campaign Strategies and Partner Activities Wherever possible, launches should be part of the overall regional campaign strategy and should involve UN-HABITAT programmes and campaign partners in the design and implementation. In the first years, these linkages may not be as strong as would be desired, but over time it is expected that consistency and synergies will improve. Activities in the action plan should be linked to the production of key flagship products such as the State of the World’s Cities Report or, for example, to the identification of Inclusive Cities. Within UN-HABITAT, key linkages include those to the Secure Tenure Campaign, the Cities Alliance, regional offices activities and global programme activities.   Secured Funding The campaign should not raise expectations it cannot fulfill. Secured funding for at least Phase I activities of the campaign action plan is essential, with strong possibilities for future funding probable. (ii) Desired Elements Experience with Participatory Processes: There should be a solid foundation of participatory development planning, implementation and evaluation involving government, civil society and the private sector. Examples of such processes include environmental planning and management, Local Agenda 21, participatory budgeting, etc.   Incubator Component The launch should involve representatives from other countries or cities where a campaign launch will take place in the future. Launches should also include provision for an evaluation of the launch events and the follow-up action plan, the results of which should be broadly disseminated locally and to all campaign partners.   Monitoring Progress through Urban Observatories National and city-level activities should include the establishment of national/local urban observatories for assessing the current state of the city, monitoring and evaluating urban trends and condition and the implementation of the campaign action plan. Outputs Required Prior to a Campaign Launch Based on the above considerations, several key outputs should be produced, at least in draft form, prior to the launch. Campaign Launch Proposal This should be prepared in consultation with key local stakeholders, campaign partners, regional steering groups and Habitat and should include the following information: Context, including a justification for launching the campaign in the country/city based on the above criteria. Special consideration should be given to describing the current state of urban governance in the region/country/city, including the legal and policy context and the nature and scale of urban poverty and social exclusion; Launch Objectives, based on the campaign launch objectives described in this note; Outputs and Activities related to the launch objectives. For each objective there should be some specific outputs and activities that can be evaluated; Institutional Arrangements, including the identification of a lead institution and clarification of the roles and responsibilities of local and international partners for organising the launch; Timeline, including key benchmarks; Budget, including in-kind and in-cash requirements, the sources and indicating which have been secured and which are pipeline; Supporting Documentation, including letters of support from key stakeholders from government, civil society, the private sector, multi-lateral and bi-lateral organisations, academia, the media and on-going urban governance initiatives. Campaign Action Plan This should include a clear focus on one or several interrelated principles of good urban governance, well-defined objectives, outputs and activities, institutional arrangements, a communication strategy, a time-line and a budget (see [1] above). The level or scale of the campaign will affect the specific structure of the action plan. It is essential that the action-plan be prepared through a transparent and participatory process to ensure the commitment of all stakeholders to its implementation. The action-plan should not be seen as the final blueprint for implementing the campaign after the launch, but rather as a work-in-progress that will evolve over time.   Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) The MoU is to be signed by key stakeholders involved in the implementation of the campaign action plan. It should include a general statement in support of the principles of good urban governance, the identification of their priority principle(s) and establish specific mechanisms to improve collaboration.   Campaign Steering Group The Steering Group should include representatives of key stakeholders including all levels of government, civil society organisations (particularly organisations representing the urban poor, women’s groups and other marginalised groups), the private sector, multi-lateral and bi-lateral organisations, academia, the media and on-going urban governance initiatives.   Media Strategy A strategy to achieve the awareness raising and communication objectives of the campaign launch that is linked to the regional campaign strategies and to UN-HABITAT and partners media strategies. Launch Proposal Process Campaign launch proposals may be submitted by any interested national government, local authority or their associations or civil society organisations. Early drafts of launch proposals should be submitted to both the global Campaign Steering Group and to Regional Campaign Steering Committees to help identify opportunities for synergies. It is expected that the regional steering groups will have more direct input in the coordination and implementation of campaign launches within their region.   For more information, please contact: Global Campaign on Urban Governance UN-HABITAT P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: (254-2) 623216, Fax: (254-2) 624264 E-mail: governance@unhabitat.org Website: http://www.unhabitat.org/governance