Partnership for Municipal Innovation – Women in Local Leadership (PMI-WILL)

Project overview

The Partnerships for Municipal Innovation – Women in Local Leadership (PMI-WILL) project is implemented by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) in partnership with local government associations in five countries: Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Sri Lanka, and Zambia. With funding support from Global Affairs Canada, and in-kind contributions of Canadian municipalities.

The PMI-WILL project will work toward two main objectives:

1. Increase women’s capacity to lead in local governance
2. Increase local government’s capacity to deliver inclusive, gender-responsive services

These objectives will contribute to the project’s ultimate outcome: improved quality of life for women and girls, in particular those from marginalized groups in Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Sri Lanka, and Zambia. Marginalized groups or communities will be defined differently in each country, and may include factors such as ethnicity, religion, disability, and sexual orientation.

Who is implementing the program?

FCM  will  implement  the  program  in  partnership  with  the  following  national  Local

Government Associations (LGAs):

National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG)

Local Government Association of Zambia (LGAZ)

Association Nationale des Communes du Bénin (ANCB)

National League of Councils of the Kingdom of Cambodia (NLC)

Federation of Sri Lankan Local Government Authorities (FSLGA)

Other key project partners will include selected local governments in each of the five countries, Canadian Municipal Stakeholders, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs), Networks of Women Leaders, Political Parties, National Authorities, and Global Municipal Actors.

How will the project bring about change?

PMI-WILL will  support  capacity  development,  outreach,  awareness-raising,  and engagement activities in all five countries, as well as at regional and global levels. Project activities will focus on:

• Training to local government officials on gender-inclusive governance and gender- responsive service delivery
• Development of action plans to promote women’s participation in local government and implementation of priority activities such as training and mentoring for potential candidates, public awareness-raising on women’s participation in local governance, etc.
• Strengthening the organizational capacity of networks or caucuses of elected female officials to promote inter-party solidarity, influence policy, and engage with regional and international networks addressing women in municipal governance
• Technical assistance to local governments to plan gender-responsive municipal services, and support to implement pilot initiatives
• Strengthening consultation processes and/or advisory groups that engage women in the community to be involved in local governance and hold local governments to account
• Strengthening LGAs to conduct advocacy campaigns and capacity development programs to promote gender equality and greater female representation among their member municipalities
• Building mutually  beneficial  linkages  between  Canadian  and  partner  LGAs  and  their members
• Creating a knowledge hub to support sharing and replication of project best practices

Who will the project reach?

Activities will support thousands of women to stand for and serve in local government and assist selected local governments in each country to deliver inclusive, gender responsive services.  Partner  LGAs  and  other  project  intermediaries  will  be  strengthened  in  the process. In the long-term, this project should benefit tens of thousands of citizens, including marginalized groups who will be engaged as leaders and beneficiaries of local government services.

NB: THE PROJECT IS CURRENTLY IN IT’S INCEPTION PHASE.