Local government was firmly in the spotlight at the 6^th European Union – African Union summit last week. With a whole day dedicated to cities and regions on 14 February, local and regional leaders from Africa and Europe came together at this special forum to discuss the future of their continents.

The clear message emerging from the day was that the new AU-EU Partnership will only work if local governments are actively involved, because this is the level of governance that is closest to citizens. People-centred partnership with Africa cannot happen without local government.

Joint declaration

After a whole day of panel sessions and debates between African and European local and regional leaders, the five co-organising networks of the forum adopted a joint Declaration, which was handed over to Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen. The formal outcome of the very interesting discussions from key actors in local government across the two continents.

At the opening ceremony, Ms Urpilainen said it was the time for discussion and to define recommendations that she could take directly to leaders, promising to share the messages during the summit..

The special local government forum was the collaboration of CLGF, the European Commission, PLATFORMA, the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF) and United Cities and Local Governments Africa (UCLG-A), experienced partners in development cooperation.

People centred partnership

The Commissioner highlighted the common ambition of an equal and people-centred partnership: the two continents need each other to evolve and face present and future challenges. She told participants that local authorities and civil society organisations understand the realities on the ground and are crucial in informing the decision-makers and implementing the partnership.

CLGF Chairperson, Rev Mpho Moruakgomo said that, for many years local and regional government have been classified as civil society, but emphatically stressed that local government are state actors, at the global level.

East African model

He went on to cite the example of the East Africa region. Local government has come together, represented by the East Africa Local Government Association. However, in 2012, the East Africa Local Government Forum was created, to extend its representation to all local government stake holders – government ministries, academic and civil society organisations. Through this strengthening of the voice of the sector, they have been able to forge excellent links with the East Africa Community – EAC to give the region much more power in representing the needs of the region and achieving progress.    

By 2050, 50% of Africans will be living in urban cities. The Governor of Kisumu County, Kenya, Anyang’Nyong’o, stressed the critical role for cities in development and the need for a greater focus on sustainable urbanisation saying that: "in establishing and creating cities for the future, we will reinterrogate the role of ciites to create includsive livable cities."

Global problems, local solutions

Head of Unit for International Partnerships, Chiara Adamo pointed out that “problems are global, but solutions are local.” This was echoed by the Mayor of Valongo who called for citizens’ involvement, stating that without investing in civic participation, there is no chance of changing human behaviour, and therefore of fighting climate change efficiently: “Citizens are the best allies to the different level of governments”.

“We are all links in the same chain” said Annie Chrystelle Limburg, vice-mayor of Libreville (Gabon). She explained the importance of the city’s actions in the everyday life of its citizens on all topics such as: health, education, wellbeing. She also explained that it is only through a partnership that puts forward local authorities and that relies on decentralised cooperation, that the challenges we are all facing can be overcome.

Valérie Dumontet, vice-president of Aude (France) representing Cités Unies France: “Local governments are on the front line because that is where the people are and therefore where the solutions can be found”. The systems must be adapted to take into account the differences between territories. She asked the states to strengthen their support to decentralised cooperation. “Decentralised cooperation could be the pilar of a fair partnership between Africa and the EU”, reiterated Ronan Dantec, Senator of Loire-Atlantique, France saying that "decentralised cooperation is not a secondary issue."

UCLG Africa’s Secretary General, Jean-Pierre Elong Mbassi highlighted the key role of local and regional governments in all aspirations; reminded participants that to achieve a sustainable and inclusive planet, local government must be included in policy-making at all levels.

A fundamental point to all the discussions was made by Carola Gunnarsson, Mayor of Sala, who reminded participants that 65% of targets within the 17 goals of the 2030 agenda can only be fulfilled when there is action at the local level.

The main points of the discussions are presented in a formal way in the Declaration at the beginning of this article.