Local Accountability and Representation: A discussion with the Local Government Association

On 23 October 2017 in Bishkek the meeting was hold within the frame of Kyrgyzstan local accountability programme. The meeting was arranged by the SALSGIR, Westminster Foundation for Democracy and Voice and Accountability Project financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and implemented by DPI.

The meeting was opened with welcome remarks of SALSGIR Director, Westminster Foundation for Democracy and Union on Local Self-Government of Kyrgyz Republic representatives.

“The local self-government is the basis of our country. And we are grateful to our partners in the person of local and international donor organizations, which contribute a great assistance and support in the development of the LSG system of Kyrgyzstan. And today we have gathered here to meet new potential partners from far-away Britain, who also express an interest in cooperation in the field of local self-government. Our countries are parliamentary. And in this regard, we have great hopes for the exchange of experience and mutually beneficial cooperation in the development of local self-government in our country. I hope that today we will learn a lot of new information about the LSG system in Britain from our colleagues. In addition, I believe, that in cooperation we will be able to improve the plan to develop and strengthen capacity of the Union of LSG of Kyrgyzstan, which was developed with the assistance of the DPI, our Agency and the Union itself” – said Saliev B.U., a Director of SALSGIR.

Vitaly Voytenko & Judith Hurcombe, LGA representatives, shared information on the local government in the United Kingdom and the Local Government Association (LGA), membership and funding: resourcing an association of local self-government structures.

“We realize that we should work hard for the sake of our members. And we are not a legislative body, so we should clearly understand our mission and stand for the interests of self governments in Britain. They trust us and we are always open for the dialogue because we see that our members want to stay with us. Therefore we pay good attention to strengthening the relationships with councils. We are not waiting when they will come to us” – said Judith Hurcombe. 

Chris Levick, the representative of Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) also actively participated in the process of question-answer through sharing advices iun this filed.

After the presentations, the participants asked their questions about the difference between local keneshes and local governments in the UK. Judith Hurcombe answered their questions with the help of a diagram, which she drew immediately for clarity.