WALD-Istanbul

About WALD – World Academy for Local Government and Democracy

BACKGROUND AND ORGANIZATION

The idea of establishing an organization devoted to the development of local democracy flourished among a handful of people within the International Union of Local Authorities-Section for Eastern Mediterranean and Middle-East Region (IULA-EMME). A proposal to found WALD was debated at the IULA World Executive Committee Meeting held in Moscow on April 15th, 1992. The Academy was subsequently founded by IULA, IULA-EMME, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the Union of Municipalities of the Marmara Region, BELBİM Data Processing Company of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and numerous individuals.

The Academy was first introduced to the public at a meeting held in Istanbul on July 8th, 1992 attended by mayors and local government officials from all over the world. The founders and executive board members held their first meeting on May 10th, 1993.

WALD’s legal status was that of a “foundation” under the Turkish Law of Foundations until 1998. It gained the status of a “foundation operating for the public interest” on May 8th, 1998 and has been operating so since then.

WALD consists of an Executive Board and a Secretariat. The president of the Executive Board is elected on a rotating basis. The president and the vice-president serve for a six-month term, after which the vice-president assumes the office of president, and a new vice-president is elected.

MISSION STATEMENT

WALD was founded as an international think-tank dedicated to advancing the principles of human rights and democracy at the level of local government. Its major aims are to promote a greater understanding of and concern for democratization amongst local governments around the world and in Turkey, in particular, and to engage local governments in a search for alternative organizational and operational ways and means to further institutionalize democratic, participatory methods and procedures, and to emphasize human rights in their activities. WALD’s primary focus is on the complex interrelationship and interaction between local government and democracy.

WALD views democratic local government as a basic prerequisite for the viability of democracy and human rights, and argues that the ideas and principles fundamental to local government and democracy require constant debate and review. Central to its missions of establishment are: fostering an awareness on the interconnections between human rights, democracy and local government, and developing and institutionalizing ways of promoting human rights, local democracy and better governance.

WALD provides a forum where theory and practice can come together on common ground, where divergent views and experience can be exchanged, and the necessary conditions for sharing democratic ideals and creating more human and effective local government can be debated.

Since its foundation, WALD has become a meeting ground for municipal administrators, urban activists, and social scientists coming from all over the world interested in developing theoretical models and practical strategies for achieving responsive and accountable local governance. Through a variety of forums organized by WALD-—conferences, seminars, training programs, research projects, publication series—participants have debated and presented fresh perspectives on topics ranging from urban rights, the changing dynamics of citizenship, and the integration of gender perspectives into public policy, to children’s rights in municipalities, the role of civil disobedience in democratization, and the contribution of nongovernmental organizations to progressive policy making.

Detailed information on WALD may be obtained via its web site at the following address:  (http://www.wald.org.tr)

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