Resilience in Local Governance project
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Resilience in Local Governance project - RESLOG

In the Resilience in Local Governance project  (Reslog), SALAR International supported local governments in Lebanon and Türkiye to become resilient in the reception of refugees from Syria. The project aimed to strengthen local governance resilience in contexts heavily affected by protracted displacement, and also by political instability, economic crises, natural disasters, and social tensions linked to large refugee populations.

Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the project emphasized participatory planning at neighbourhood and community levels. By combining local governance capacity development with sustainable urban development principles, it contributed to more integrated, inclusive, and long-term solutions for both host communities and refugees, aligning with key aspects of the Symbio City approach.

Time period: 2018-2025

Key Achievements
  • Improved data systems and strengthened ability to collect, analyse, and use gender-disaggregated socio-economic data for evidence-based planning, service delivery, and decision-making in municipalities.
  • Developed Resilience Assessment and Migration Master Planning tools to strengthen municipal resilience in the face of multi-layered risks
  • Developed a Post-Earthquake Recovery; Urban Functionality Assessment and Investment Priorities approach to support recovery in Türkiye.
  • Transformed municipal community centres into inclusive spaces for interaction, service provision, and peaceful cohabitation for refugees.
  • Strengthened active citizenship structures, including Citizen Assemblies, neighborhood councils, volunteer networks, and crisis management units.
  • Increased access to income-generating opportunities for refugee and host community members, with a strong focus on women’s economic participation.
  • Strengthened role for municipalities in Türkiye as drivers of inclusive and greener local economic development
  • Improved horizontal and vertical dialogue between municipalities, municipal unions, and national institutions in Türkiye.
Lebanon

In Lebanon, the capacity of local governments was strengthened by increasing resilience in accordance with the principles of peacefulness, co-habitation and inclusiveness. The project collaborated with Unions of Municipalities (UoMs) and municipalities in Akkar governorate. Three overall pillars were focused on:

  1. Empowering local authorities to provide services reflecting local needs
  2. Fostering positive interaction between refugee and host community through Active Citizenship
  3. Expanding livelihood opportunities for refugee and host communities through a Local Economic Development approach centered on green growth and circular economy, with a special focus on women.

The project contributed to the digitalization of the municipal systems and GIS-tools for socio-economic data collection, which improved local authorities capability to assess community needs, strengthened trust and engagement with local citizens. Furthermore, Reslog has promoted social cohesion and inclusion by challenging gender norms, empowering young women, and strengthening Syrian refugees’ participation in community life

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Türkiye

In Türkiye, Reslog worked with municipality associations and municipalities to make Syrian refugee and local communities more resilient through more effective local governance, peaceful co-habitation, equal access to inclusive services and improvement of livelihood opportunities. The project worked in partnership with the  Union of Municipalities of Türkiye, Marmara Municipalities Union and Çukurova Municipalities Union, and more than 30 municipalities across Türkiye. Three levels of impact was worked on:

  1. Supporting national migration policies to better reflect local realities and needs, through establishing a Mayors Migration Platform
  2. Enhancing regional capacity, cooperation and coordination on migration issues
  3. Improving municipality planning and service delivery through inclusive local actions to enhance community resilience and active citizenship.

The project advanced municipal and community resilience by fostering structured collaboration, knowledge and strategy development among municipalities, civil society, and communities through networking, participatory processes, and joint initiatives that strengthened participation in local decision-making, supported cohabitation, improved inclusive service delivery and livelihoods, particularly for women. To institutionalize these efforts, it developed practical tools such as Migration Master Plans and resilience assessments, and advanced migration governance through policy outputs, including a Migration Policy Paper

Drawing on the SymbioCity approach, the project promoted integrated and participatory neighbourhood development through two pilot initiatives. Focusing on dialogue, cohabitation, and co-creation, the initiative supported Syrian and local communities in jointly identifying neighbourhood challenges and developing inclusive local solutions.

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Documentation

Reslog Legacy Book – Governing through crisis.

Governing through crisis – A model for resilience and adaptive local governance in Lebanon

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Success stories from Reslog in Lebanon

Reslog Stories – Voices from Akkar

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