Newsletter – n°13 – July 2012

News from partners

From the exchanges that took place in the framework of the Capacity and Institution Building (CIB) Working Group meeting, last month in Bergen, it is obvious that members experience difficulties in securing funds for the continuation of their cooperation efforts. This stems from the economic crisis but also from lukewarm evaluations of programmes and political tensions regarding the role of local governments in development cooperation.

Besides the evaluations of Municipal International Cooperation in Flanders and in Norway and the mid-term evaluation of the ARIAL programmes, the Working Group also discussed UCLG’s new strategic agenda on cooperation and how to invest in the relations with the OECD and the UN regarding the debate on development effectiveness and the post 2015 development goals. The finalisation of the UCLG Policy Paper on Development Cooperation and Local Government, which is due to be published in January 2013, means an important step in this regard.

Finally, PLATFORMA presented the main conclusions of the evaluation of the EC support to decentralisation processes.

All conclusions of the CIB meeting can be found in the report available on the CIB website.

The CIB Working Group is one of the Working Groups of United Cities and Local Governments; its main objectives are to exchange experiences, and share know how on developments in local government development programmes. This meeting took place in Norway, on the invitation of KS Norway and the city of Bergen on 11 and 12 June.