Support for the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF)

This request for methodological support from the AIMF came after the Gates Foundation asked for an emergency relief component to be added to a pre-existing project, which aimed to help mayors in terms of crisis preparedness. Urban actors, such as the AIMF network, need to revise their cooperation strategy in relation to crises (political, climatic etc.) in which municipal authorities have significant responsibilities and skills alongside those of government bodies.

This project underlined the need to place dialogue at the centre of urban development. And yet, major urban operations, such as Ouagadougou 2000, are sometimes carried out without consultation. They are like foreign bodies to local cultures, and ownership of them is particularly difficult. These new neighbourhoods, which are like cities within cities, are created by governments with few resources and therefore are unable to develop societal projects.