Enhancing Local Development : Stakeholders Chart Resilience Strategies

Decentralised authorities of member States of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) for West and Central Africa are meeting in a regional conference in Yaounde to exchange ideas and best practices on building resilience strategies faced with multiple challenges that hamper development. The two-day meeting holding at the Mont Febe Hotel is under the theme “Building Back Better: Examining Social and Economic Strategies to Strengthen Resilience in West and Central Africa,” with the technical and financial support of the European Union. The opening ceremony was presided at by the Minister of Decentralisation and Local Development and Vice Chairperson of CLGF, Georges Elanga Obam on July 25, 2023. Gabon and Togo are participating in the conference for the first time following their admission into the Commonwealth. 
In his opening address, Minister Georges Elanga Obam said the gathering comes over a year after a local economic symposium was organised in Cameroon with the objective of accelerating the provision of basic social amenities to the grassroots. While noting that the recommendations are being implemented in different Councils and awaiting the second phase of the initiative, the regional conference will also examine challenges and set pathways to overcome such obstacles. “Decentralisation widens the scope of powers transferred to local authorities, allocates more financial resources, enshrines citizen participation in the development process and gives autonomy to regional institutions,” the Minister stated, adding that the measures are intended to strength the bottom-top approach of governance. The theme of the regional meeting, Minister Elanga Obam said, provides a platform for local stakeholders to discuss on issues that are related to development. “We must be able to improve the reconstruction of our communities and resilience to shocks. We must learn from the past, share experien...