Faiszer to promote women-led local government projects

• Says female participation increases efficiency and reduces corruption 
• SL to host Commonwealth Local Government Forum next year

 Provincial Council, Local Government and Sports Minister Faiszer Musthapha is set to present a Cabinet proposal for a number of local government development projects to be awarded to organisationsrunby women. 

The Minister said that he would be proposing the measure as researchhad revealed that female participation at the local government level had increased efficiency and reduced corruption. 

“We are following global trends. When an organisation is completely run by women it gives them an opportunity to contribute tothe economy. Local governments are the government organisationsclosest to the people. From birth to death you need local government organisations more than any other government organisation,” he said yesterday at a press conference held at the ministry to launch the official logo and theme of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) which is to be held in 2019.

CLGF will be held between 11 and 14 June 2019 under the theme of ‘Citizen centred Local Government: driving inclusive social change’. Sri Lanka will host the Annual General Meeting and the International Conference of the CLGF with the participation of more than 600 attendees at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).

He emphasised the need for stronger public engagement at the local government level in order for there to be proactiveeconomic development. “In most local governments,the public’s participation is restricted to only voting at elections. Local government bodies need to be self-dependent. Today most local government bodies in Sri Lanka are dependent on the funds of the central government. If people participation increased there would be greater accountability, and accountability has been a key issue at local government bodies. Therefore, I expect that through public engagement we can eradicate corruption which is a problem within most local government bodies,” he added.

British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka James Dauris, speaking at the event, said that getting local government rights was getting government rights in democracies. The High Commissioner also stated that the Commonwealth was an organisation whose members had billions of citizen and a great majority of these citizenswere young, with 40% of the total population under the age of 30.

CLGFSecretary-General Dr. Greg Munro said that CLGF supportedlocal governmentdemocracy and economic development. 

“We have a strong relationship with Sri Lanka and we have been assisting the ministry. Our conference, which is held every two years, is hosted by a member country. This the biggest pre-Commonwealth heads of government meeting. It is a tourism boost for the host county,” he asserted.