SALGA annual report 2016/17 SALGA ANNUAL REPORT 201617 PRINTED FINAL | Page 19

Executive summary Progress made by SALGA and local government in South Africa has led to the SALGA president being elected as president of the United Cities and Local Government Association (UCLGA) partnership programmes in 2016/17. Partnership agreements were signed with the European Union worth R7 875 000 as well as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities worth R58 750 500. The three-year “Strengthening governance and capacity in local government” programme funded by the European Union to strengthen SALGA’s capacity to support member municipalities and improve local government’s performance in the area of service delivery and good governance through technology and innovation and other tools. SALGA has established partnerships to facilitate service delivery in municipalities and ensure there is a range of support in the implementation of SALGA’s programmes. Some of the partnerships concluded in this financial year are listed below: SALGA signed an MoU with the Dutch Embassy to enhance SALGA’s water and sanitation technology and innovation in municipalities. The partnership will facilitate knowledge and peer sharing of technologies and innovations, through the establishment of technology and innovation platforms. In May 2016, SALGA, through the local government climate change champions committee, entered into a partnership agreement with the R20 Regions for Climate Action. Through the R20/SALGA collaboration, 34 municipal climate change response projects were identified in 16 municipalities. The objective of R20 is to identify climate response projects at city 19 level, provide finance for feasibility studies and implementation support, and link cities to other finance opportunities. Partnership to facilitate access to climate finance with R20 Regions for Climate Action - signing ceremony Support was secured from the Japan International Cooperation Agency in collaboration with the Department of Water and Sanitation to build a non-revenue training yard, training of trainers and the exchange of knowledge and best practices between Japanese and South African municipalities. This will enhance municipalities’ knowledge and understanding of how to reduce the incidence of non-revenue water, since Japan is regarded as a global leader in tackling the issue. An MoU was signed between SALGA and the UN Women in 2016. Its purpose is to provide a framework of cooperation and facilitate collaboration between SALGA and the UN Women in areas of common interest, with particular focus on gender equality and the empowerment of women in local government. SALGA ANNUAL REPORT 2016/17