East & Southern Africa Regional Hub

East & Southern Africa

The ESA Regional Hub is working with local governments to identify their relevant needs and priorities, and provide them with the support, resources and access needed to become leaders in prevention, ensuring their perspectives inform relevant national, regional and global policy and programme conversations.

Mapping City Needs

In 2022, Strong Cities led an European Union-funded project mapping the prevention needs and priorities of cities across Africa, a project which engaged more than 800 government and non-governmental national and local stakeholders across the continent. The project produced a mapping report with recommendations for greater local government involvement in preventing and countering violent extremism in Africa, and has guided the ESA Regional Hub’s engagement across the region.

Read the Report

Delivering Impact in East & Southern Africa

The ESA Regional Hub is delivering considerable impact in the region, including inter alia:

In Entebbe (Uganda), the Hub convened the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other national government representatives, as well as mayors and city officials, to address gaps in prevention-related National-Local Cooperation (NLC). As a result, national officials committed to ensuring that local governments are actively involved in implementing the national P/CVE strategy.
In Bujumbura (Burundi), as part of ongoing outreach to local governments and other key stakeholders, the Regional Hub held a roundtable on the role of cities in Burundi in prevention, bringing together more than 20 mayors and city representatives in a first-of-its kind convening.
In Cape Town (South Africa), in May 2023, the Hub convened more than 50 representatives from South African cities to enhance peer learning on the role cities can play in prevention as part of wider city-led efforts to promote public safety, build resilience and enhance social cohesion.
In Johannesburg (South Africa), the Hub convened more than 65 mayors and other city officials from across the region to share experiences in addressing hate, extremism and polarisation. Following the workshop, border cities, including Busia, Koboko, Trans Nzoia and others, formed a ‘Border Cities Network’ to support cross-city learning and sharing of best practices. After learning about Cape Town’s newly established prevention framework, Busia city representatives visited Cape Town to learn more about their approach and have since drafted by-laws and a draft prevention framework.

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Impact

Hear from Cities in East & Southern Africa

Strong Cities has truly empowered me. The knowledge I’ve gained, the networks I have built … I can now confidently sit at any table and be a strong voice for my community’s well-being.

Joseph Ssemugera Bitokote, Councillor, Kyengera Town (Uganda)

We asked for cities from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Malawi to be included in theWorking Group. We see them here now: we gave the Regional Hub our needs and they fulfilled it.

Michael Mbano, Mayor, Songea Municipality (Tanzania)

Since Strong Cities’ intervention [in April 2024], we have established forums, climate changeprogrammes with young people … If the youth see themselves closer to the city’s programmeand agenda, we prevent youth who once felt disempowered from becoming adults who are disempowered.

Florence Namayanja, Mayor, Masaka City (Uganda)

The value of SALGA, as a local government association, in engaging with Strong Cities both within ESA and at Global Summits has been significant. With a core mandate to support municipalities, these engagements have provided valuable opportunities to establish partnerships with municipalities both within the region and globally, strengthening our ability to provide relevant and appropriate support toSouth African municipalities.

Nondumiso Twalo, Senior Manager, Community Development and Social Cohesion, SALGA

Through the learning opportunities provided by Strong Cities, I have gained valuable insights tocontribute to making our cities strong in Malawi: cities that are able to combat extremism and promoteunity. We are now devising strategies and initiatives to work with our cities to fight hatred, polarisationand extremism.

Joseph Dzuwa, Chief Peacebuilding and Conflict Management Officer, Ministry of Local Government,
Unity and Culture, Malawi

About the ESA Regional Hub

Strong Cities launched the ESA Regional Hub in October 2022 at an event in Nairobi that brought together local, national, civil society and multilateral stakeholders to identify priorities across the Hub’s five pillars. The team is now driving forward an ambitious work plan, informed by the priority themes identified by cities across the region, with a particular focus on leveraging existing city-level frameworks, resources and structures.

The ESA Regional Hub provides cities and local authorities with context-driven, evidence-based, city-level extremism prevention policies, programmes and technical assistance within a human rights framework. The ESA Regional Hub is catalysing the Strong Cities’ GLOBAL mission with LOCAL impact.

ESA REgional Hub

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Lara Petricevic

Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa

Biography

Charlotte Moeyens

Chief of Staff

Biography

DISCOVER THE NETWORK

Strong Cities in ESA

A global network of cities in different national and local contexts ensures that wherever a city is located, there will be other cities facing similar challenges and with similar capacities and needs

East & Southern Africa

Mapping City Needs

Delivering Impact in East & Southern Africa

Hear from Cities in East & Southern Africa

About the ESA Regional Hub

Connect

Lara Petricevic

Lara Petricevic

Charlotte Moeyens

Charlotte Moeyens

Strong Cities in ESA

Mogadishu

Busia

Cape Town

Djibouti City

Isiolo County

Kakamega

Kwale County

Lamu County

Mandera County

Nakuru County

Nansana Division

Nansana Municipality

Nebbi

Obock

Zanzibar

Gaborone

Kampala

Jowhar

Kismayo

Stellenbosch

Arusha

Elgeyo Marakwet

Homa Bay

Koboko Municipal Council

Trans Nzoia County

Luwero Town Council

ESA Regional Hub in Action

Latest Article

ESA Regional Hub: Regional Roundtable on Showcasing and Sustaining City Led Action to Prevent Hate, Extremism and Polarisation

Top posts

ESA Regional Hub: Regional Workshop on the Role of Border Municipalities in Addressing Hate, Extremism, Trafficking and Other Threats to Safety and Security

ESA Regional Hub: Strengthening City-Led Prevention of Hate, Extremism and Polarisation in Malawi

ESA Regional Hub: Strengthening Youth – Local Government Engagement and Cross-Border City-City Collaboration to Prevent Hate, Extremism and Polarisation in Zanzibar