Localising Agenda 21 This site has been updated in February 2005 – New information has been added. The site will be regularly updated. For latest information go to News | Accéder à la version française du site | Acceder a la versión española del sitio Overview This capacity-building programme started in 1995 as a response to Chapter 28 of Agenda 21 whereby local authorities are called upon to undertake participatory processes to develop and implement "Local Agendas 21" for and with their communities. The LA21 Programme offers multi-year support to local authorities and their partners to undertake such Local Agenda 21 processes in order to locally contribute to the implementation of the Agenda 21 and the Habitat Agenda. Programme support is specifically targeting secondary cities which very often lack capacities and are usually forgotten by international support programmes. The programme aims to promote good urban governance by supporting the development and implementation of broad-based environmental action plans, focusing on context-specific aspects of municipal planning and management. The Programme also enhances the capability of local authorities to integrate these action plans into strategic urban development plans, stimulating inter-sectoral synergy. Through the implementation of the action plans tangible impact is achieved for low-income communities targeting especially the urban poor , leading to more sustainable urban development as a response to the challenge of the Millennium Development Goals. For each town the programme strategy emphasises the need for a shared vision for the future development of the city. In parallel, urgent problems are addressed through action planning and environmental conflict resolution. A continuous broad-based participatory process underpins this process. Capacity-building efforts focus on setting priorities for action, targeted human resources development, institutional strengthening, development and adaptation of tools and instruments, encouraging partnerships, mobilisation of resources, and promoting exchange between cities facing similar problems. The LA21 Programme contributes to the implementation of the UN-HABITAT Global Campaign on Urban Governance . Read an article on the relation between Local Agenda 21 – Urban Governance –Poverty Reduction Countries Supported The LA21 Programme is supporting close to 30 cities in the following countries: Africa: Kenya and Senegal Arab States: Morocco Asia: Vietnam Latin America and the Caribbean: Brazil, Cuba and Peru To read about cities activities go to the projects page Programme strategy The LA21 Programme strategy for 2003 – 2007 was developed within the framework of the Urban Environmental Section strategy. This five years strategy rationalises activities of UN-HABITAT urban environmental programmes namely the Sustainable Cities Programme and the Localising Agenda 21 Programme. The strategy aims at: Improving urban environmental planning and management processes through: (a) local city demonstration projects supporting the development of Local Agenda 21, (b) replicating demonstration projects in other cities of the country, (c) implementing national programmes and supporting national policies improvement especially through the creation of National Committees 21 and, (d) promoting decentralized cooperation and especially city-to-city cooperation ; Developing institutional framework for environmental planning and management support through: (a) networks of national and regional technical support institutions, (b) technical support through environmental planning and management anchoring institutions, (c) national adaptation of tools and, (d) regional and national training mechanisms; Institutionalising LA21 normative functions through: (a) tools developments and documentation of experience, (b) global web site and data base, (c) global meetings of partners, (d) documentation support, (e) integration of approach and experience in UNEP and UN-HABITAT urban environmental policies and, (f) promoting local-global linkages. Funding Partners Since 1995, the Belgian Development Cooperation supports the Programme. The Dutch Government provides additional funding covering a period from 2003 to 2005 to support the consolidation of programme activities. In 2003 a new funding phase for the next multi-years financial support of the Belgian Development Cooperation was approved covering a period from 2004 to 2007. Other Main Partners The programme established a partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for a joint Urban Environment Strategy in Latin America and the Caribbean . Programme activities are coordinated with UNEP through monthly meetings of the Joint Operation and Cooperation (JOC) group. The Programme cooperate with the Post Graduate Centre for Human Settlements of the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium which coordinates a consortium of Belgian universities, cities and NGOs supporting LA21 Programmes activities. This cooperation focus especially on promoting city-to-city cooperation and supporting strategic structure planning. InWent is a capacity building partner of the LA21 Programme. Currently, professionals involved in LA21 projects are being trained in Germany and through the InWent programme focusing on Maghreb, training for LA21 practitioners in Morocco is planned for 2005. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is cooperating with the Urban Environment Section of UN-HABITAT through its Programme “Better services – More jobs”. Joint operational activities with the LA21 Programme are under preparation. The UNDP Public Private Partnership for the Urban Environment (PPPUE) is cooperating with the UN-HABITAT Urban Environment Section. Joint operational activities with LA21 are under preparation.