Kazi Amdadul Hoque, Director-Strategic Planning and Head of Climate Action at the NGO Friendship discussed how local government can make a difference in ensuring the overall well-being of the community.

Some key points from his presentation:

• Local government service is inherently linked to improving and building communities.
• Climate change issues cannot be separated from community development and wellbeing initiatives.
• Local government possesses updated and appropriate knowledge of the local environment and population.
• Local government can help ensure effective mobilisation and participation of the community.
• Demands from the community for social, environmental, and political can be articulated at the highest level.

Annette McGill

This rich and lively session explored how to take investment and support for LLA – and really scale it up.

Discussions focussed on the role of partnerships: 

• How can different actors "from grassroots organisations to public funders“ work together to deliver LLA at scale? 
• What are examples of good partnerships? 
• Why do these partnerships work, and what elements of these partnerships can others take forward to scale up LLA?

 
Key principles: what makes a good partnership?
Participants shared what they see as principles of partnerships that could help promote and scale up LLA. Responses included:

EQUITY, TRUST, SHARED RISK, MUTUAL RESPECT, MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY, INCLUSIVE DECISION MAKING, COLLABORATIVE ACTION, COLLABORATIVE INVESTMENT, LOCAL OWNERSHIP, SUPPORT TO LOCAL CSOs, MOVING FROM FEAR TO FEARLESS...

With these principles as the foundations for strong partnerships, participants then reflected on the immediate future: what action is needed over the next 12 months to practically apply LLA? And who needs to do what? Who plays what role in building the partnerships to push LLA forward?

Practical ways forward for applying LLA

• Co-creating financing solutions. Donors and grassroots organisations need to develop financing processes in collaboration – that means sitting down together to unpack what local funding mechanisms need to look like and developing these together.
  
  
• Flexible finance mechanisms. For grassroots organisations, access to financing is clearly important but stringent measures of reporting and accounting restrict progress. Donors need to take a closer look at how they can relax their requirements in light of the needs of grassroots organisations. Donors also need to be prepared to reflect more holistically on processes - on what's working and what's not – and be ready to adjust. There's often too rigid a focus on financial reporting and accounting.
  
  
• Cut the jargon! When talking about issues and processes for implementing LLA, technical terms are expressed in complex ways. This is a huge barrier for grassroots organisations seeking to engage with LLA. We need to demystify concepts and break down the language for a much more inclusive process.
  
  
• No one size fits all. Solutions to the complexities of adapting and building resilience will never be homogenous; donors need to stop offering the same solutions to what are very different problems. Every situation needs to be approached differently, and in each case, we need to listen carefully to communities.
  
  
• Respect local processes: they work. Local knowledge, local expertise and local ways of acting need much greater recognition, respect and support from donors.
  
  
• Put your trust in young people. Young people need more opportunities to network and reach out directly to donors. And trust needs to be reciprocated; donors need to be willing to trust in young people to deliver.
  
  
• Improve transparency. Communities, donors and finance providers must work together to improve transparency so communities can see where the finance is coming from and going to. 

 

Annette McGill