The full strategy will be available to download here soon!

I am happy to announce that the board of SALAR International has approved our Global Strategy for 2024 to 2027. The strategy is the result of a co-creation process by all our international teams, including the Reslog Türkiye experts and representatives of Local Government Associations in Türkiye, and build on SALAR and SALAR International’s experience working to strengthen local democracy across the world. It also takes into account current global challenges and trends that we will seek to address together with our local partners.

Subsequently the strategy addresses what has traditionally been the main focus of SALAR International; to support democracy and accountability in multi-level governance systems  and promoting rights, participation and inclusivity in peaceful cities . The upcoming strategy also embraces the ability to be adaptive and alert to emerging crisis and underline local governments’ potential and role in the humanitarian, development and peace nexus (HDPN).To build sustainable, inclusive and more resilient cities and communities  require agile and rapid responsiveness in areas such as climate change, population growth, poverty and food crisis, migration and unprecedented urbanization to mention a few. Supporting local governments in crisis prevention, response and recovery is a growing area in which SALAR International has been supporting local governments to sustain and recover in the war on Ukraine and notably in Türkiye and Lebanon where the Reslog project has found successful models to support its partners in the Syrian migration crisis. The models have been successfully adapted as useful resources for municipalities to cope also during COVID and most recently in the recovery from the Kahramanmaraş earthquake in February. Within crisis management and recovery work, Local Economic Development plays an integral and crucial part and here too, the Reslog Türkiye is supporting its partner municipalities to create sustainable livelihoods through a systematic and researched process.

Also highlighted in the strategy is the key role of Local Governments Associations in development. They can help bring local needs to the national agenda, coordinate efficient service delivery and crisis and recovery response among responsible actors, lead service innovations etc. They can play a catalytical role in knowledge generation by helping municipalities learn from each other to develop and become pilots for others to follow, in Türkiye and on the international arena.

I am confident that this strategy will become very helpful in further developing SALAR Internationals’ work in Türkiye together with our partners as it equally builds on successful experiences with our partners and provide new guidance to take on challenges ahead.