Examples of Association Building

ICMA has helped build and strengthen local government associations worldwide.

Here are some examples of association building facilitated by ICMA.

Association Capacity Building in the Philippines
Under the International Union of Local Authorities’ Association Capacity Building Programme, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, ICMA provided technical expertise and grant funds to the League of Cities and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines. For the pilot project, ICMA coordinated a multinational pool of experts, managed the budget allocation, and monitored the project’s development. ICMA organized the delivery of training and technical assistance around six major issues: (1) institutional strengthening; (2) improvement of communications infrastructure and systems; (3) opportunities for information exchange; (4) entrepreneurship and income generation; (5) training, education, and research; and (6) improved gender representation in local government.

City Managers’ Associations in India
ICMA provided expert technical assistance that contributed to the creation of the USAID-funded City Managers’ Association of Gujarat (CMAG) in India, described in the case study The Role of Associations in Strengthening Local Government: A Look at CMAG.  Subsequently, USAID contracted with ICMA to further assist in strengthening CMAG as part of a four-phase partnership:

  • Developing a best practices program for CMAG
  • Carrying out an assessment of potential partner states for replicating the experience elsewhere in India
  • Providing support for the newly formed city managers’ associations in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra, and support to form four additional associations in the states of Orissa, Uttarachal, Rajasthan, and Madya Pradesh
  • Providing support for follow-on activities in the new participant states that resulted in the launching of four new associations and the creation of a local coordinating body.

Local Government Support and Partnership Program (LGSPP) in Indonesia
Under LGSPP, ICMA developed the capacity of decentralized and participatory local governments and the organizations that support them. ICMA provided support to strengthen organizations that represent local governments at the city, county, and provincial level. By strengthening organizations that advocate at the national level on their behalf, LGSPP provided a voice to Indonesian local governments. The project also provided training and technical assistance for local staff who worked for the Indonesian local government associations: the Indonesian Association of Cities (APEKSI), Association of Counties (APKASI), and Association of Provinces (APPSI).

U.S.–Mexico Partnership for Municipal Development
ICMA, through its affiliations with U.S. state associations, has engaged Mexican municipal associations in various capacity-building activities. These activities include the development of strategic plans, organization of annual conferences, and improved member services. In 1999 ICMA and the Association of Mexican Municipalities (AMMAC) signed a formal affiliation agreement, committing to share information and work together on programs that are mutually beneficial, to support the mission of each organization, and to encourage exchanges among local governments in the United States and Mexico. In collaboration with AMMAC, the U.S.–Mexico Partnership also initiated work on a Mexican Performance Measurement Consortium, patterned after the ICMA performance measurement program, which allows municipalities to compare their performance on key indicators. The partnership is described in the case study The Role of Associations in Strengthening Local Government: A Look at AMMAC.

U.S.–Montenegrin Partnership for Municipal Development
ICMA, in collaboration with USAID, worked with the government of Montenegro to draft key legislation designed to establish a new legal framework for fiscal and democratic decentralization and devolution of authority and resources. ICMA’s activities included a partnership between the Union of Municipalities (UoM) in Montenegro and the Massachusetts Municipal Association that strengthened the capacity of UoM to serve as an advocate within the political system for increased local autonomy, promote professionalism in local government, and nurture the municipal management capacity required by a democratic system.

As a result of the partnership efforts, a majority of municipalities reached consensus to lobby for direct election of mayors and to eliminate the influence of political parties in local governance. The Ministry of Finance requested regular ongoing roundtable discussions and workshops between the ministry and all municipal finance directors with the aim of achieving improved budgeting practices and necessary reform legislation, and the Ministry of Justice invited UoM to appoint members to review and recommend policy changes in 16 key areas of local governance.

Information and Communication Technology Applications
ICMA has set up an Electronic Services Platform (ESP), launched in August 2001, under its USAID/Bolivia-funded project, Using Information and Communications Technology Applications in Support of Municipal and Local Development. The ESP, Enlared Municipal, disseminates information resources and tools that promote more transparent and effective local governments in Bolivia. The ESP was developed under the institutional umbrella of the FAM (National Federation of Municipal Associations) and in collaboration with departmental municipal associations and ACOBOL (Association of Councilwomen). Services offered by Enlared include:

  • A virtual information agency with correspondents in each department providing news articles on issues related to municipal governance
  • A municipal database of information on local governments, their budgets, annual operating plans and resources
  • Training of trainers to increase the pool of local government actors who can use and benefit from Enlared services and technology in general
  • A virtual reference service (in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme) for legal, financial, and other questions.

A successful tool for networking and information sharing, Enlared has also proven to be a vehicle for promoting cutting-edge initiatives such as E-procurement and online permitting, which demonstrate to local as well as national government entities, business leaders, and cooperation agencies the ESP’s benefits in terms of local economic development and transparency.

Training in Municipal Management and Governance in the Slovak Republic
ICMA provided technical assistance to ZMOS, the largest association of municipalities in Slovakia, to strengthen and increase the effectiveness of local government professionals and municipal associations. ZMOS became a leading partner of the national government in strengthening local government structures and reforming public administration policy. ICMA assisted ZMOS and its local partners in establishing a sustainable information database on local government issues by developing three important research and advocacy tools and a variety of training manuals focused on municipal finance and budgeting.

Public Administration Program in Hungary
In Hungary, ICMA provided assistance to local government associations and local governments. The technical assistance increased local government associations’ capacity to function effectively while providing better service to their members and increasing their lobbying capacity. ICMA also provided advocacy training to the Council of Municipal Associations, an umbrella organization for the seven main municipal associations in Hungary, which helped the Council successfully lobby the central government to involve local governments in the European Union accession process.

Creation of a Professional Finance Officers’ Association in Bosnia
To institutionalize the finance reforms achieved under USAID’s Financial Management Capacity Building program, ICMA helped create a professional finance officers’ association in Bosnia and Herzegovina, among the stakeholders in the program. ICMA helped arrange two initial organizational meetings at which a Decree and Statute of Association was adopted, and an interim Management Committee of 13 members from all ten cantons and a president of the association were elected. The primary formal objective of the association, known as UG JAFIS, is “to strengthen democracy and improve professionalism in public expenditure management at all levels where public expenditures and taxes emerge.” As part of the association development work, ICMA assisted UG JAFIS to establish an electronic e-mail network for its membership. This network is used to communicate financial data to ascending levels of government and also serves as a forum to discuss upcoming legislation and finance reforms.

Association Development in Armenia
ICMA helped establish the Association of Mayors and Community Chiefs (AMCC) and the Association of Finance Officers (AFO) in Armenia. ICMA assisted the AMCC in drafting its bylaws and a code of ethics for its members and helped organize its first national conference, which was attended by 38 of Armenia’s 48 mayors and a similar number of community chiefs. Until the close of its program, ICMA provided continuing support to the AMCC with communications and staffing meetings. AMCC has been active in lobbying the National Assembly on the need for reforms to the 1996 Law on Local Self-Government.