Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Local Government

The COVID-19 crisis is having a deep effect on local governance around the world. The outbreak has a profound effect on local public health, an unprecedented impact on local economies around the world and it magnifies existing social issues, including inequality. In some contexts, the crisis undermines local public order, where specifically developing and fragile countries may see the crisis disrupt local democratic processes. Further, in the face of these external circumstances, local governments’ financial and human resources are stretched to their limits and the lack of institutionalised crisis management practice takes its toll. In the countries where VNG International works, we see many examples where the quality of governance may undermine communities’ resilience and stability, but also how local governments and their associations respond to the crisis. Therefore we recommend that local governments strengthen their ability to respond to, learn from and mitigate the impact of crises, that external actors continue to support sustainable inclusive governance to strengthen the resilience of communities and that the international community sustains its support to international solidarity and local cooperation.