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Sixth Global Summit: National–Local Cooperation in Crisis Response

Publication Date:

22/01/2026

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National Coordination FrameworksNational-Local CooperationSixth Global SummitToronto

— 8 minutes reading time

This report provides a summary of discussions during this session and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Strong Cities Network Management Unit, Strong Cities members, event sponsors or participants.

Introduction

On 9 – 11 December 2025, the Strong Cities Network held its Sixth Global Summit in Toronto (Canada), bringing together more than 300 representatives of local governments, national governments, civil society organisations, academia, the private sector and international organisations. This included nearly 60 mayors and governors, as well as 110 other local government officials from 100 cities and 42 countries. Under the theme Stronger Together: Forging Safer, Connected, Thriving Cities in a Changing World, the Summit provided a platform for city leaders to share practical and innovative solutions to prevent and respond to hate, extremism and polarisation, and build safer, more resilient and more inclusive communities.

The Summit agenda included a plenary session on National-Local Cooperation in Crisis Response, which featured case studies on how national and local authorities have collaborated, including with community-based partners, in response to hate-motivated or violent extremist attacks, as well as during public protests and mega-sporting events.

This session examined national-local cooperation strategies in crisis management, with a focus on improving coordination, governance and operational effectiveness across levels of government. It brought together perspectives from national authorities and local officials to assess existing cooperation models, identify structural challenges and extract lessons from recent crisis responses.

Scene Setters

• Zouhair Racheha, Head, MENA Regional Hub, Strong Cities Network – Moderator
• Lejdi Dervishi, Executive Director, National Coordination Center for Countering Violent Extremism, Albania
• Mahat Shalle, Secretary, Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, State Department for Devolution, Office of the Deputy President, Kenya 
• Mohamed El Edrissi, Deputy Mayor, City of Marrakech (Morocco)
• Younes El Khouildi, Governor, City of Rabat (Morocco)

Key Takeaways

1. Crisis management sits at the intersection of national leadership and local execution, and thus both national and local governments need to be involved in the development and implementation of crisis response plans. National governments are responsible for strategy, policy and resource mobilisation, while local authorities are often first responders and primary implementers. Where this division of labour is not clearly articulated or operationalised, responses become fragmented, delayed or politicised. Therefore, effective crisis response requires formalised cooperation frameworks that clarify mandates, decision-making authority and escalation pathways between levels of government.
2. Clear coordination and communication mechanisms are the backbones of an effective response. Successful responses rely on pre-existing channels and having standard operating procedures and trusted relationships in place, rather than ad hoc arrangements during emergencies.
3. National strategies must be translated into preparedness and operational plans. National action plans and policies, while necessary, are insufficient if they do not meaningfully translate to the local level. This can be done, for example, by embedding national strategies within municipal institutions, including social services, probation and community policing structures, and/or by requiring municipalities, through national crisis frameworks, to develop aligned local preparedness plan, supported by expertise, capacity building and financial resources. Crisis legislation or policies should be comprehensive, covering all types of crises with clear triggers for national support and local action.
4. While major disasters or terrorist attacks may trigger national and local action, smaller or recurrent crises, in particular climate-related ones (such as droughts, floods, etc.) often fall through policy and legislative gaps. This creates reactive, under-resourced response systems and places undue burden on local governments. Sustainable crisis management depends on predictable resources and long-term capacity building. Rather than short-term project-based funding and one-off trainings, there is a need for dedicated budgets, institutionalised training and continuity beyond political or funding cycles. Sustainability should be designed into crisis systems through multi-year funding, institutionalised capacity building and clear exit or transition strategies.

Key Themes 

1. Shared Responsibilities Across Government Levels

The discussion was framed against the backdrop of increasingly complex and overlapping crises, including natural disasters, climate-related shocks, violent extremism and large-scale emergencies, and explored how governance and institutional arrangements across different levels of government shape crisis response effectiveness.
 
A central theme was the recognition that crisis management is a shared function between national and local authorities. National governments play a strategic role in setting policy frameworks, mobilising resources and ensuring coordination, while local authorities are often responsible for preparedness, first response and community engagement. Participants highlighted that unclear mandates or weak consultation mechanisms undermine coherence and delay response efforts.

The discussion stressed the need for clearly defined roles, escalation procedures and coordination channels to ensure that responsibilities across government levels are complementary rather than duplicative or fragmented.

2. National Coordination Frameworks

Lejdi Dervishi, Executive Director, National Coordination Center for Countering Violent Extremism (Albania), illustrated how national coordination structures, including a designated National Coordinator and a National Coordination Centre to Counter Violent Extremism, can support local implementation through strategic guidance, inter-agency coordination and capacity development. Emphasis was placed on the integration of social services, community policing, probation offices and local governance institutions within national crisis strategies.

While national action plans and strategies were viewed as essential, participants noted persistent challenges related to horizontal and vertical coordination, as well as over-reliance on international partners for technical and financial support, raising concerns about sustainability and dependence. Political will, at national and/or local levels, emerged as a critical enabling factor in translating national strategies into sustained local practice.

3. Local Perspective and Operational Realities

Discussions underscored how a local government’s ability to contribute meaningfully to a crisis response depends heavily on timely information sharing and operational coordination between national and local governments. Mohamed El Edrissi, Deputy Mayor, City of Marrakech (Morocco), reflected on the response to the Marrakech earthquake and highlighted the importance of pre-existing coordination frameworks and trusted relationships between national and local actors.

Local authorities were identified as essential actors in ensuring that national policies are operationalised on the ground, particularly in managing response frameworks, engaging communities and adapting interventions to local contexts.

4. Sustainability and Institutional Resilience

The case of Kenya highlighted structural challenges related to addressing relevant policy and legislative gaps. Mahat Shalle, Secretary, Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, State Department for Devolution, Office of the Deputy President (Kenya), underscored challenges, starting with the absence of policy or legislation that comprehensively covers crisis response, in addition to tools or practices related to smaller-scale or recurrent crises, in particular, climate-related ones such as droughts, floods and locust infestations. Moreover, allocated resources are inadequate for the nature of the evolving threat of crises, which weakens contingency and mitigation responses. While country-wide mechanisms exist for major disasters and security incidents, participants noted the absence of comprehensive frameworks addressing slow-onset or low-visibility crises.

The role of specialised bodies, such as the National Drought Management Authority, in the case of Kenya was acknowledged, alongside the need for predictable funding streams and improved resource allocation to enable timely and sustained responses. Resource constraints were a recurring concern.

Speakers stressed that crisis management systems should move beyond short-term, project-based interventions and focus on institutional resilience, continuous training and long-term capacity development. In addition, discussions highlighted the logistical and other challenges involved when a national government seeks to coordinate responses across different impacted municipalities. This demonstrates the importance of investing in robust national coordination platforms and municipal capacities to participate in them.

Younes El Khouildi, Governor, City of Rabat (Morocco), concluded that effective crisis management rests on institutionalised cooperation between national and local authorities, rather than ad hoc or improvised arrangements. National strategies only translate into impact, he said, when matched by local preparedness and the capacity to implement them on the ground, supported by legal and policy frameworks that adopt an all-hazards approach addressing both acute shocks and slow-onset crises.

Speakers also shared that sustainable response systems further depend on dedicated resources, clear professional standards and sustained investment in long-term capacity building. At the same time, community-based approaches and strong local ownership were identified as critical to enhancing legitimacy, trust and overall effectiveness. In this context, speakers agreed that international partners add the greatest value when they reinforce and strengthen existing national and local systems, rather than substituting for them. 

Next Steps

Strong Cities Network has invested in developing guidance for city-led crisis preparedness and response. This includes the National-Local Cooperation toolkit, the City Led Response Guide and tailored guidance developed with the city of Amman on Crisis Management and Response. Building on these resources and the discussions, Strong Cities will focus on:

• Supporting cities in strengthening national–local coordination and communication mechanisms through peer exchange, facilitation and good practice sharing;
• Providing technical expertise and advisory support to assist cities in developing clear, comprehensive policies and action plans for a range of crisis scenarios;
• Advocating for sustainable and predictable resourcing for local disaster and crisis management within national/local frameworks while helping cities articulate evidence-based investment needs;
• Enhancing training and capacity building opportunities for local governments and relevant actors, drawing on global city experience and practitioner networks; and
• Supporting the establishment or reinforcement of referral coordination mechanisms that promote coherent response, recovery and reintegration, in line with existing national policies and legal frameworks.

The session reaffirmed that national–local cooperation is a cornerstone of effective crisis management. Political leadership, institutional clarity and sustained investment were identified as decisive factors in building resilient crisis response systems capable of addressing both current and future challenges.

Additional Resources

Recent Strong Cities policy briefs and resources:

• City Leadership in Partnering with Local Communities for Social Cohesion: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Local Governments, Strong Cities Network, 2025
• National-Local Cooperation: Opportunities and Lessons Learned for Secondary and Tertiary Prevention, Strong Cities Network, 2025
• City Leadership in the Face of Rising Incivility and Polarisation: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Local Governments, Strong Cities Network, 2025
• Innovations in Prevention: Piloting Multi-Actor Frameworks in Small and Mid-Sized Cities in the United States, Strong Cities Network, 2025
• A Toolkit for Cities: Building a Multi-Actor Local Prevention Framework, Strong Cities Network, 2025
• A Toolkit for Manitoba Municipalities: Addressing Anti-Government Hate and Harassment, Strong Cities Network, 2025
• A Guide for Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, updated 2025
• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, updated 2025
• A Guide for City-Led Response, Strong Cities Network, May 2024
• City Spotlights Library, Strong Cities Network

Donors & Partners

The Sixth Global Summit was co-hosted with the City of Toronto and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, and delivered with generous support from the Government of Canada, The Fourth Freedom Forum, The Toronto Foundation and Charities Aid Foundation.

Contact Information 

For more information about the Sixth Global Summit or the Strong Cities Network, please contact [email protected].

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