History of Cities in the Region

The UBC is supporting and cooperating with the Lake Victoria Region Local Authorities Cooperation (LVRLAC), a sister organisation in East Africa. Is UBC far out of area? Maybe not, as there are many experiences to give and to gain.

UBC has had a close cooperation project with LVRLAC since 2000. In October 2002, the project entered a new phase involving a number of activities, which will initially run for a year. The reason is to build the capacity of LVRLAC as a network organisation of local authorities around Lake Victoria.

Development in Africa
LVRLAC comprises of approximately 50 member authorities of the three Lake Victoria littoral states, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Its aims are very close to those of UBC, with main focus on poverty alleviation, improvement of the environment and development of the lake region.

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida has decided to finance the cooperation project and involve UBC in African development to utilise the experiences of a well functioning network organisation of local authorities, which may boost development to the benefit of the citizens on the ground.

LVRLAC-UBC Cooperation Project
The cooperation project between the two organisations is organised in different activities. The most direct evidence is the stationing of a UBC Technical Support Officer (TSO) at the LVRLAC Secretariat, to strengthen the administrative capacity of LVRLAC.

A number of sub-projects are running during this phase of the cooperation project. These include the creation of a communications network between the LVRLAC members, the creation of and strengthening of a LVRLAC Women's Network and the construction of Environmental Pedagogic Centres in the Lake Victoria Region. A City Council Exchange Programme will organise mutual visits between city councillors of Lake Victoria Region and Baltic Sea Region cities. Read more about the activities on the UBC homepage.

Benefits for all
So why is UBC operating so far from the Baltic Sea Region? Basically, by handing experiences to others, the UBC will learn a lot itself. Being in a different environment, where problems are dealt with differently, will give many experiences. All in all, UBC is getting a lot of good will from this cooperation project. And that may also be to the benefit of UBC members. In the next years to come more activities are expected to take place, including twinning between LVRLAC and UBC members. Already now, several twinnings exist or are in the making. Among those are the cooperation between Kalmar and Entebbe in Uganda, and between Tampere and Mwanza in Tanzania. We hope to develop many more within the next few years.