Newsletter – n°34 – June 2015

Headlines

During the 4^th Assises of Decentralised Cooperation in Brussels (Belgium), over 500 participants shared knowledge and best practises in the field of decentralised cooperation.

In a crucial year for the future of sustainable development, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) hosted the 4^th Assises of Decentralised Cooperation on the 1^st and 2^nd of June 2015. The event, co-organised with European Commission, brought together local and regional representatives from the EU and partner countries, as well as officials of EU institutions, to exchange their views and hold a political dialogue with the European institutions on development cooperation.

The ultimate aim of the event was to reinforce development effectiveness towards the full integration of local and regional authorities into the development cooperation policies and to build a genuine EU partnership between the local and regional authorities active in the field of development.

STRONGER LOCAL OWNERSHIP NEEDED FOR THE POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Although there has been a significant increase over the past decade in acknowledging local and regional governments as major actors in development cooperation, efforts still need to be pursued to achieve a full recognition. Indeed, PLATFORMA spokesperson Hans Janssen, who is also the rapporteur for the Committee of the Regions on the post-2015 agenda, affirmed that "One important aspect of this is that local and regional authorities be acknowledged as differing radically from civil society organisations, media and industry".

Janssen also recalled that "there are also countries where local and regional authorities are still weak. Capacity building will be necessary in order to enable them to fulfil their roles. Local and regional authorities in Europe often have a wealth of relevant knowledge and experience and are more than willing to share it with their less-experienced counterparts".

SEMINAR DIALOGUE AND CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR DEVELOPMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE

Indeed capacity-building is one of the main challenges faced by local and regional governments (LRGs) in partner countries. In order to promote decentralised cooperation between LRGs in the EU and partner countries in the fields of capacity-building, development and local governance, PLATFORMA organised a series of regional seminars in six world regions held in 2013–2015. The associated seminar Dialogue and capacity-building for development and local governance held during the Assiseswas the conclusion of this project.

During the seminar, participants from Botswana (Africa), Mauritania (Maghreb), Moldova (Eurasia), Paraguay (Latin America), Sri Lanka (Asia-Pacific), representatives of the European Commission (DG DEVCO) and the Committee of the Regions shared their views on how the programs and instruments of development cooperation in the EU facilitate decentralised cooperation with partner countries. The discussions also offered precious examples of best practices. Among the contributions of the participants, the focus was made on the ways to achieve good local governance and on the inclusion of women in development cooperation programs.

Even though the participants were from very different countries, they all acknowledged that development is local above all. LRGs are the closest level to the citizens, and thus have better access to information on citizens’ needs, and can have a real leverage role in improving life conditions and in implementing development programmes with a holistic approach. Moreover, participants agreed that even if the added value of LRGs and their associations is increasingly recognized in multilateral intergovernmental processes, their participation remains uneven in the design and implementation of development cooperation activities in partner countries.

Watch a summary of the Associated Seminars