Background:

The JPLG is a comprehensive approach to rendering local governments credible and professional service providers, increasing public investment in basic services, and strengthening civic awareness and participation in local decision making and development. Throughout the programme, strong emphasis is placed on gender and women in local government, human rights and local governance, and the good governance principles of transparency, accountability, and participation.

The strategy pursued comprises of the following:

• Policy and legal frameworks for decentralization, local government, service provision, and land
• Institutionalizing local government systems, vertical and horizontal inter-governmental linkages, and civic education initiatives
• Investment in public services and goods through testing the Local Development Fund model, direct service provision, and promotion of public-private partnerships
• Processes and systems for housing, land, and property disputes and resolution

UN-HABITAT’s involvement in the JPLG in Somaliland and Puntland is in the following sectors:

• Land policy and land law
• Ministerial and municipal office rehabilitation
• Governance capacity building
• Urban planning and municipal finance
• Municipal Geographic Information Systems
• Solid waste management

The agency’s involvement in the JPLG in south central Somalia is in the following sectors:

• District administration office rehabilitation
• Governance capacity building
• Public infrastructure mapping and rehabilitation