Partnership with GIZ
In 2017 UCAZ and the Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) signed a Memorandum of Understanding which aimed to build the capacity of UCAZ under the Organisational Development (OD) initiative through GIZ’s Water and Sanitation Supply III programme.
Connective Cities Dialogue Event – 20 – 22 August 2019, Harare
Through this project, UCAZ and the international cities platform, Connective Cities from Germany and GIZ, jointly held a Connective Cities Dialogues event in August 2019 in Harare which was attended by national local government associations and individual local authorities from Germany, Zambia, Kenya, South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. The theme of the dialogue event was “Improving public service delivery at local level solutions for participatory and accountable management”. Participants shared best practices on service delivery. The dialogue event was organised in cooperation with the GIZ project in Zimbabwe, entitled “Strengthening the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ) to promote intercommunal knowledge transfer and capacity development”.
The dialogue event assisted UCAZ to share with its counterparts its organisational development plan initiative which it had embarked on in June 2018 with support from GIZ.
Local Government Associations Consultative meeting – November 2019
The dialogue event in Harare was followed in November 2019 by an Associations Consultative meeting Durban, South Africa which was attended by representatives from the local government associations from Zambia, Germany and Kenya and GIZ under UCAZ’s Organisational Development programme.
Capacity building of UCAZ secretariat
In November 2019 the UCAZ secretariat received 10 laptops, a server, software and technical support from GIZ. UCAZ staff were also trained in the basic use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
Leadership training for local authorities’ leaders – December 2019
With support from GIZ, UCAZ developed material for leadership training for mayors, chairpersons of councils and councillors. In December 2019 councillors the Mayors and Chairpersons of councils from all the 32 urban local authorities underwent training aimed at building their leadership capacity.
Tour of Germany – December 2019
In December 2019 UCAZ and the Local Government Association of Zambia and UCAZ participated in a tour of Germany with support from GIZ. The tour was part of UCAZ’s Organisational Development initiative where the Association had an opportunity to study the Germany local government system as well the operations of the Association of Germany Cities. Recommendations from the study tour are being implemented. UCAZ has since amended its constitution in line with the best practices learned from Zambian and Germany systems. The secretariat organogram has been reviewed in line with the new thrust.
Online Training Course on Water Transport and Distribution – September 2020 to January 2021
UCAZ member were able to send one participant each from their Engineering Services Department for an 18-week technical online training course called “Water Transport and Distribution” as outlined in this email and subsequent attachment. The online course ran from 14 September 2020 to 15 January 2021 and the GIZ SSD Project met the cost of training to the tune of EUR1,035 per person.
The course was aimed at the Engineers/ Technical staff directly responsible for Water Supply/ Distribution in the Local Authority. The course is expected to contribute towards improving the operational capacity of the Engineering Department in two main areas: water demand planning and water loss management and control. These skills will assist in the planning, implementation and assessment of the proposed annual water audits by MLGPW across the local authorities and prioritisation of associated water infrastructure proposals.
Working group on the amendment of the UCAZ Constitution
One of the recommendations on the organisational development was the amendment of the UCAZ constitution. A Working Group on the Amendment of the UCAZ Constitution was established. The working group, chaired by the Mayor of Bulawayo, His Worship Clr Solomon Mguni completed its mandate on as part on 8 December 2019 before presenting its proposals to the 79th Annual General Meeting held on 13 December in Victoria Falls. The process was supported by GIZ as part of the Organisational Development initiative.
Covid-19-support
During the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe, UCAZ and GIZ supported all Urban Local Authorities with communication materials in print and digital to address their citizens with Covid-19 specific and general WASH topics.
Water Audit in urban local authorities
GIZ will support the implementation of a water audit in urban local authorities aimed at appreciating how urban local authorities are managing water supply, the gaps and possible solutions. This is expected to improve water supply management by local authorities through relevant interventions.