With a clear focus on Addressing inequalities: building a world which leaves no one behind, delegates from around the world gathered in Brussels this week for the 13th European Development Days (EDD) event. 

As well as being Europe’s leading forum on international development cooperation, the EDD is one of the largest global forums for development partners. Taking place in Brussels on 18 and 19 June, the 2019 EDD looked at current successes and failures in addressing inequalities in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Global Development Agendas.

Zambia LGA President talks decentralisation

CLGF member, Christopher Kang'ombe, Mayor of Kitwe, Zambia and President of LCAZ, the Local Government Association of Zambia, took part in two debate sessions. The first, organised by Cities Alliance, was entitled Towards more equitable city economies; and the second was a Platforma event: Addressing inequalities through territorial inclusive governance. Mayor Kang'ombe joined colleagues to present the innovative strategies in play to tackle territorial challenges; assessing the state of decentralisation in their respective countries and the challenges and opportunities that local and regional governments are facing to achieve the SDGs. He described the recent EU and DFID funded, CLGF project on Local Economic Development. Outcomes from this pilot have informed the national guidelines on integrated development planning. Further funding has been secured to roll the initiative out to ten further councils.

For the third year in a row, CLGF came together with partners from the Global Taskforce to present a strong local government presence at the Global Village City Hall stand. As well as explaining the role of local government in sustainable development to the many visitors to the stand, through a series of debates and presentations like the one above, representatives from local and regional governments showcased how local and regional governments were already working to reduce inequalities through decentralised cooperation, climate action, and by improving access to basic services and goods. There was a strong emphasis on the importance of achieving the SDGs by a bottom-up approach, with local government playing a strong role in planning and decision making. 

Global City Town Hall: working to reduce inequalities from the bottom-up

CLGF, together with its partners - Platforma, AIMF and UCLG - demonstrated once again that The Global City Town Hall was a vibrant space to develop joint work among partner organisations. Work meetings and exchanges and the visitors of the stand have allowed the co-creation of ideas and provided opportunities to further the notion of the localisation of the SDGs and the role that local and regional governments can play in achieving the global development agendas.

Thank you to UCLG for their montage of images from the event. More information about the European Development Days can be found at the EDD site.