Lake Victoria is the second largest freshwater lake in the world and the region has a population of almost 40 million people. The livelihood of the majority of the inhabitants depends directly or indirectly on Lake Victoria. The area has rich natural resources and is considered an economic growth zone in East Africa.  Economic development has been based mostly on agriculture, agriculture-based industries, fisheries and some mining operations. Tourism is another important source of income and it has considerable potential to generate economic growth. However, many economic activities have been based on over-exploitation of natural resources and consequently the region now faces several serious environmental and social problems.

One of the most alarming issues in the area is the degradation of the natural environment. Problems include for example nutrient enrichment of the lake, a drastic reduction in lake level, contamination, pollution, degradation of land and forest, loss of biodiversity as well as introduction of exotic species. These negative developments are now endangering the livelihood of inhabitants dependent on the lake. In addition to environmental issues the area suffers also from high demographic pressure and high prevalence of HIV. Poverty is also a widespread problem. All these problems are interconnected and together they form a vicious circle, due to which environmental issues aggravate social and economic conditions and vice versa.

Recognising these challenges the East African Community (EAC) - an intergovernmental organisation of the states of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda - has established a plan to promote sustainable development in the Lake Victoria Region. Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) has long traditions of development co-operation with these states and it has made a commitment to a long-term involvement in order to support development efforts in the Lake Victoria Region. A point of departure for Sweden’s initiative was the experience gained from successful co-operation in the Baltic Sea Region and the possibility to implement some of the knowledge in the context of the development co-operation in the Lake Victoria Region.

What is LVRLAC?

Lake Victoria Region Local Authorities Co-operation (LVRLAC) was established in 1997 on the initiative of the mayors of Entebbe (Uganda), Mwanza (Tanzania) and Kisumu (Kenya). The co-operation was motivated by similar challenges facing all the states of the Lake Victoria Region as well as local authorities around the lake. The number of members in LVRLAC has later increased to comprise 60 local authorities in the above mentioned states. Talks have also been conducted with Burundi and Rwanda for possible future membership so that the organisation would cover all states of the Lake Victoria Basin. 

The major objectives set by the organisation concentrate on six major strategic areas. The first strategic area has as its objective the improvement of the ecological conditions and environmental management. This objective is pursued through awareness raising campaigns, advocacy and networking. Similar methods are used to pursue the objectives of the second strategic area, i.e. health issues, in particular sanitary conditions and the alarmingly high prevalence of HIV in the region. Other strategic areas include promoting urban and rural planning that support sustainable development. Poverty reducing efforts concentrate on training and promotion of business initiatives and modern technology. A particular emphasis is put on tourism, which has a huge potential of income generation.

A precondition for any successful activities is a suitable administrative and political environment, both locally and nationally. Therefore LVRLAC recognises, that good governance practices, such as transparency, have to be promoted in the regional level. Since the Lake Victoria Region comprises of several states, a potential for conflicts is also present. It is the purpose of LVRLAC to decrease the likelihood of a conflict by providing a forum to discuss possible disputes on the local level.

What does UBC-LVRLAC –co-operation involve?

LVRLAC and UBC established a co-operation project in the year 2000. This co-operation project is part of the comprehensive initiative of EAC and SIDA and is also funded by SIDA. The purpose of the project is to transfer knowledge through co-operation between UBC and LVRLAC. In the long run the goal is to improve the administrative and institutional capacities of the local authorities in the Lake Victoria Region, in order to promote sustainable development and improve the standard of living of the inhabitants. In order to create a long-term effect, the project takes into close consideration local needs and conditions and applies a step-by-step approach.

For UBC this co-operation provides an opportunity to contribute to sustainable development on global level, which is one of the goals set in the UBC Agenda 21 Action programme 2004-2009. An additional benefit from the co-operation programme is the fact that it provides opportunities for experts and decision-makers of UBC member cities to contribute to the field of international development co-operation. The LVRLAC-UBC co-operation concentrates mostly on developing the organisation of LVRLAC and its activities. The main objective is to build up LVRLAC’s capacity to function as a network organisation for the benefit of its members.

Within UBC the Commission on Environment Secretariat has had the overall management responsibility over LVRLAC co-operation since 2004. On LVRLAC’s side the highest decision-making body is the Annual General Assembly comprising of representatives from all member councils. A project steering group comprising of members from both networks takes care of joint decision-making of the co-operation project.

What has been achieved?

In practice the co-operation project functions in three phases, of which the two first ones have already been accomplished during the years 2000-2004 and the third phase will follow. During the first project phase preparatory work for later activities was undertaken and during the second phase the implementation was started.

During phases 1 and 2 the project has concentrated mainly on three different fields of activity. The first of them includes developing the administrative capacities of LVRLAC secretariat and its internal communications. The second major field of activity is LVRLAC’s Women’s Network and the third involves other concrete projects such as the Environmental Pedagogic Centres (EPC).

Considerable results have already been achieved in these fields, even though a lot still remains to be done. LVRLAC secretariat has been established and procuring and installing computers at some of the member authorities have improved ICT facilities of the member authorities. A LVRLAC homepage (www.lvrlac.net) with information about LVRLAC’s organisation has also been launched. Study visits of both LVRLAC and UBC delegations have taken place. 

The Women’s Network of LVRLAC has been established and it has started to function actively. The gender issue is recognised to be of a high importance for sustainable development in developing countries, also in the Lake Victoria Region. Many problems such as poverty and HIV affect women and children disproportionately due to cultural factors and traditional gender roles and hinder sustainable development. Therefore particular activities are undertaken regarding gender mainstreaming and the purpose is to increase the proportion of women in the decision-making processes on the local level. 

Other achievements include the opening of the first Environmental Pedagogic Centre in Kisumu, Kenya. EPCs have served as a pilot project in concrete project activities in the Lake Victoria Region. The purpose of the EPCs is to promote improvements for the environment in a very concrete level. In practice the EPCs are educational centres concentrating on environmental issues. The activities will involve displays, publishing and disseminating information material and developing a comprehensive programme for the involvement of schools in the activities of EPCs. Additional EPCs will be built in other locations.

On a more general level the UBC-LVRLAC –project has contributed to the fact that LVRLAC has become well known in the Lake Victoria Region and has nowadays a high number of member authorities. The organisation has been able to promote local authorities as key players in the region and has provided its members with opportunities for exchange of experience and knowledge both in South-South and North-South framework. The organisation has also achieved an observer status in the East African Community.

How will the project continue?

For the year 2005 the main goal is to strengthen the capacities of LVRLAC so that it is able to start to function independently as a network organisation. In practice this means that LVRLACs administrative structures should be further improved, it should be able to collect membership fees effectively and be able to work directly with different international funding agencies and partners.

Another future challenge is further improving the communications between the organisation and its members, strategy and action planning and ability to response to the need and expectation of members to implement concrete projects.

Project activities for the year 2005 (inception phase) are organised into five work packages. These include 1) project management and monitoring 2) strengthening the organisation and its communication capacities 3) LVRLAC’s strategy, action plan and implementation 4) pilot projects such as EPCs 5) strengthening of LVRLAC Standing Committees, gender mainstreaming and youth and children issues.

During the inception phase the main practical goal is the creation of a strategy and an action plan for LVRLAC. The purpose of these is to build LVRLAC’s capacity to begin working independently. Regarding the communications of the organisation a regular newsletter will be developed and dissemination channels within the organisation and towards partners will be improved. Concrete projects, such as EPCs, will be continued and further developed, especially since member councils have expressed their willingness for concrete development projects that produce tangible results.

Finally, the standing committees of LVRLAC should be activated. The organisation has five thematic standing committees, of which only Women’s Network has been active so far.

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