Fighting poverty with democracy
We are convinced that the battle to eliminate poverty worldwide starts here at home – in our village, our town, or our municipality. Which is why, here at ICLD, we work with people who are changing the world by building local democracy.
Women’s Political Leadership programme
If you are a local political leader in any of the OECD-DAC listed ODA-countries, a woman and most importantly, an agent of change – this programme is for you. The next call for applications for Cohort 12 will open in early May 2025!
News
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Child Rights Ambassadors -
Participants in the mayors panel, from the left: Andrii Naida, Kalush, Janet Ågren, Umeå, Vitalii Bielobrov, Cherson, Erik Ciardi, Kalmar, Volodymyr Shmatko, Chortkiv. Moderator: Mariya Tuzyk, ICLD mentor -
Zbigniew Głąb from University of Łódź leading an Accessibility Walk during the first BUILDSUP conference on 8-9 nov 2025. Photo: ICLD
Calendar
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4 December 2025 , 14:00–15:30Alumni Talk: Democratizing Waste Governance & the Just Transition
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10 December 2025
Human Rights Day
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20 December 2025
International Human Solidarity Day
What we do
Municipal Partnership Programme
ICLD promotes the exchange of knowledge and experiences between local authorities in Sweden and in partner countries.
Networks
Our networks are a form of cooperation where selected local governments receive increased support from ICLD to conduct their international projects.
ITP
Our training programmes are tailor-made for the partnerships in our networks. We also have a stand alone programme that is aimed at women political leaders from around the world
Research
ICLD documents, analyses and disseminates knowledge in the fields of local democracy development and decentralisation.
ICLD in Numbers
In 2024, 136 municipalities/regions were active in ICLD’s programme operations worldwide.
111 projects in 22 countries across 4 continents were ongoing in 2024.
Democratic Resilience
ICLD has a network gathering municipal partnerships from Sweden and Ukraine:
Champions of local democracy
Become inspired by these champions.
ICLD education material
Explore ICLD’s learning tools such as videos, cases, toolboxes and handbooks.
Local Democracy Talks
Inspired by the Swedish foreign policy initiative, “Drive for Democracy”, ICLD organises live streamed high-level political panels called “Local Democracy Talks”.
ICLD Alumni Talks
The main objective of the ICLD Alumni Talks is to facilitate continuous structured learning, knowledge-sharing and exchange of practical experience among teams and individuals in ICLD’s programmes across the world.