The UN Global Forum took place in Kampala from 4-6 October 2010. It brought together more than 600 delegates, including heads of state, government ministers, representatives of local governments and their associations, development partners, international organisations, academia, civil society and the private sector.

The Global Forum was a unique event, focusing on local democratic local government’s role in local development and achieving the MDGs, and exploring what it takes for local governments to deliver local development outcomes by responding in a dynamic and sustainable way to the evolving demands of their constituents.

Local government’s role in accelerating progress towards the MDGs was highlighted and the Kampala Call to Action called on:

“National Governments and their Development Partners, Private Sector and Civil Society organizations and Local Governments and their Associations to accelerate the achievement of the MDGs by supporting, as appropriate to country contexts, "Local development through local government" (LDLG) approach, which relies on the design and management by local governments, of local development strategies to achieve sustainable development.”

The recommendations emerging from the Global Forum reflect the policy messages of CLGF and its members. Indeed CLGF’s programme in the Pacific focuses on strengthening the capacity of local government to play a full role in development across the region. Through its work on training in leadership, financial management and strategic planning, together with institutional strengthening, particularly of the relationship between local and central government, and exchange of good practice and models in the region, CLGF and its partners are seeking to ensure that local governments are in a position to improve the quality of life on the ground for people in the Pacific who use the services, and are involved in the decision-making that local governments provide.

The programme is about to move into a second phase and the call from global leaders for emphasis to be placed at the local level to accelerate the achievement of the MDGs provides further momentum to CLGF’s work in the Pacific and in other regions of the Commonwealth.

Kampala Call to Action

At the first Global Forum on Local Development, convened by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and hosted by the Government of Uganda, over 600 delegates, including Heads came together in Kampala on October 4-6th, 2010.

In the view of the conveners, Participants in the first Global Forum on Local Development:

REAFFIRMED their commitment to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by the year 2015;

RECOGNIZED that in many countries progress towards the achievement of the MDG has been limited and/or is threatened by the effects of the global economic crisis and the challenges of climate change, with the least developed and fragile states facing particular vulnerabilities;

NOTED that a strong is emerging in the international community on the critical role that governments could play in accelerating progress toward the MDGs;

RECOGNIZEDthe potential comparative advantages of local governments in delivering basic social services, such as health, education, water and sanitation, promoting local economic development, responding to climate change and managing natural resources, ensuring gender equity, and contributing to state-building in post-crisis situations, and the direct and strong impact that local governments action in these areas could have on the achievement of the MDGs;

ACKNOWLEDGEDlocal governments are not the only actors in the local space, and that partnerships must be established with all other MDG stakeholders including, central and state / provincial-level government agencies, development partners, civil society and the private sector;

NOTED that local governments can play a strong orientation and coordination role vis a vis the multiple actors operating in the local space and that they are ideally placed to facilitate the establishment of strategic partnerships for local development;

ACKNOWLEDGED the ability of local governments to foster local development and contribute to the achievement of the MDGs may be seriously constrained by limited decentralization, inadequate central support and inappropriate oversight, lack of financial and other incentives, and related low levels of local capacity;

RECOGNIZED the critical importance of meaningful levels of local autonomy in policy-making and implementation, to enable local governments to develop innovative responses to the challenge of achieving the MDG, fighting poverty through locality-specific programs and projects to mobilize local community and private sector resources, and complement and leverage national and global resources and efforts.

Forum participants:

AGREED that Local Governments have a major role in the design and management of local development strategies that contribute to the achievement of the MDGs.

AGREED that localizing the MDG will require:

1.       Continuing to implement the 2008 Accra Agenda for Action, and involving local governments in preparing, implementing and monitoring the national development policies to achieve the MDGs, and;

2.       Further developing the legal and institutional framework, the local capacity, and the financial incentives for local governments to both efficiently implement national policies in the localities and develop their own local policies to achieve the MDGs, foster civic engagement and mobilize additional local resources; and

3.       Giving meaningful effect, at national, state and local level, to agreed international principles and standards on local democracy, good governance and decentralization, and monitoring their practical implementation.

Forum participants:

CALLED on National Governments and their Development Partners, Private Sector and Civil Society organizations and Local Governments and their Associations to accelerate the achievement of the MDGs by supporting, as appropriate to country contexts, "Local Development through Local Government" (LDLG) approach, which relies on the design and management by Local Governments, of local development strategies to achieve sustainable development.

CALLED on National Political Leaders and National Governments to

1.       Recognize the need for National level local development Policies to drive the decentralization reforms process, to make sure that the reforms are not limited to the establishment of sub-national political and administrative structures, but actually enable development-minded, democratic local government institutions.

2.       Provide local governments with meaningful levels of autonomy, including, as appropriate, constitutional and legal recognition, to enable them to exercise leadership, innovate in addressing a wide range of local development challenges, mobilize additional local resources, stimulate the emergence of active citizenship and ultimately become better partners of the State in the fight against poverty.

3.       Exercise the leadership required for a consistent implementation of decentralization reforms by all agencies of the central administration, overcoming bureaucratic resistances to the transfer of functions and resources and developing the central State capacity to support and supervise autonomous local governments and enhance their accountability to both their constituencies and the State.

4.       Establish the necessary structures for effective intergovernmental relations between central, state and local government, designed to ensure close cooperation and consensus on localizing the MDGs.

CALLED on Development Partners to

1.       Ensure that external country assistance strategies and programs are cognizant and supportive of national efforts to promote local development and implement decentralization reforms, including by involving local governments in the design and implementation of the strategies.

2.       Ensure that aid modalities originally meant to align and harmonize external assistance with national sector policies do not reinforce centralizing tendencies and do not compromise the ability of local governments to participate actively and to bring their comparative advantages to bear on the design and implementation of such policies.

3.       Provide, wherever possible and appropriate, coordinated assistance to the development of national decentralization strategies and related implementation programs.

4.       Support the building of local governments capacity to develop and implement local development strategies that contribute to the achievement of the MDGs, increasingly through direct partnerships with local governments and their national, regional and global associations

CALLED on Private Sector and Civil Society Organization to:

1.       Work with both National and local governments to identify and make the most of unexploited potential and resources available locally, including human, financial and natural resources.

2.       Maintain an open and constructive dialogue with national and local government towards the establishment of a business-enabling local environment.

3.       Engage with local governments in the design of local development strategies and the definition of a common agenda, bringing their financial resources and human capacities to bear on the implementation of it.

4.       Promote partnership and develop community-based and private sector solutions for delivery of basic services impacting the achievement of the MDG, building partnerships with local governments for their effective implementation.

5.       Advocate for the empowerment of Local Governments and keep them to account, developing appropriate institutions for social auditing of local governments performance and encouraging transparency and inclusiveness.

CALLED on Local Government Associations to:

1.       Embrace and advocate the developmental role of Local Governments, focusing on what needs to be done to promote genuine, pro-poor local development, beyond the establishment of sub-national structures and systems.

2.       Advocate decentralization reforms that are driven by a national strategic commitment to local development, and provide the degree of local autonomy, which is critical for confident local governments to contribute to the achievement of the MDGs.

3.       Raise the awareness and develop the capacities of Local Governments to realize their potential for local development and achieving the MDGs, focusing on local leadership and the adoption of strategic management practices.

4.       Expand and deepen their interaction with development aid partners by systematically voicing Local Government's concerns and requirements, in national-level aid programs formulation and negotiation processes and offering new and complementary channels for external aid to build Local Governments capacity for local policy-making and development administration.

5.       Work at the regional and international levels to disseminate and encourage good practices in local government and facilitate international local government partnerships and city - to - city links.

FINALLY

The Conveners of the Global Forum and Forum participants AGREED that a 'local approach' may not be the solution to economic, social and environmental challenges but can certainly be part of the solution. Forum participants agreed that a future is possible where rural areas will thrive, cities act as hubs for development and the benefits of growth are shared across and within countries.

The Conveners of the Global Forum, UNCDF and UNDP, will pursue the actions called for above through supporting the efforts of National Governments, Development Partners, the Private Sector, Civil Society organizations and Local Governments and their Associations, to further empower local governments and make sure they can fully realize their potential as key agents of change and development.

About the Forum

Experience shows that traditional sectoral, centralized approaches have often failed to address the specific problems of different areas. A new approach to policy making and governance requires a better use of local knowledge to tailor public investments, to improve service delivery and 'localize' the MDGs and to mobilize private capital. This implies a new role for both central and sub-national governments as well as a new focus on governance, meaning a fruitful interaction of public and private actors, financial institutions and civil society at large.

The goal of the Global Forum on Local Development: Pursuing the MDGs through Local Government is to broaden and deepen the paradigm of local development through democratic local governments to achieve the MDGs, and to unpack what it takes for local governments to deliver local development outcomes by responding in a dynamic and sustainable way to the evolving demands of their constituents.

The Global Forum is a high-level event by invitation only. To inquire about participation please write to forum@uncdf.org.

Some of the key issues that will be addressed at the Global Forum on Local Development:

       Do local governments have a comparative advantage in contributing to local development and the achievement of the MDGs? If so, why has their role been limited in most countries to date? How can their role be stepped up?

       On which particular MDGs could local governments have the most impact? How?

       What political and institutional dynamics influence the implementation of decentralization reforms? What is the impact on effectiveness of local government?

       What are the keys to empowering local governments to promote broad-based, integrated and sustainable economic development? What can be learned from countries like India, Brazil and Indonesia?

       What should donors do to provide coherent and harmonized support? What can local governments do to meet the expectations of donors and potential investors?

       What role can local governments play in ensuring the effective management of natural resources? In responding and adapting to climate change?

This three-day Forum will draw on the rich experience of the least developed countries and middle income countries to highlight promising practices, and present challenges and opportunities for optimizing the local government system to deliver local development outcomes.

The Forum's participants include Heads of state and government, Ministers of local development, senior representatives of local governments, international organizations, key donor partners, civil society leaders, academics and media representatives and private sector leaders. Read more about the Participants

For more general information about the MDGs, please also look athttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/