TABLE OF CONTENTS
5 Foreword 6 Connecting 8 Territories 10 Development 12 Effectiveness 14
Highlights at the international level
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Map of Art Framework Programmes
Art Programmes 18 Albania 19 Bolivia 20 Central America 21 Colombia 22 Cuba 23 Dominican Republic 24 Ecuador 25 El Salvador 26 Kosovo 27 Gabon 28 Indonesia 29 Mauritania 30 Morocco 31 Mozambique 32 Senegal 33 Sri Lanka 34 Syria 35 Uruguay 36 Lebanon
FOREWORD
The ART Global Initiative has demonstrated that involving regional and local authorities in efforts to achieve sustainable human development is essential. It is at the subnational levels where many of the most important development results are being achieved through the concerted actions and commitment of local institutions and stakeholders, and with the support of – and in coordination with – national governments and international development partners, including decentralized cooperation actors. However, much too often, important results in one area go unnoticed and there are missed opportunities for development actors at the sub-national level to learn from each other and to feed their experiences into the global development debate. This is where the ART Global Initiative plays a unique role as a connector between stakeholders at all levels. The results achieved in 2012, as presented in the following pages, validate the initiative’s main assumption that “greater synergies and coordination between the different development actors and the different levels of governance accelerate the achievement of sustainable development objectives”. The report illustrates the results achieved through ART’s four-pronged strategy: 1) Connecting 2) Territories for 3) Development 4) Effectiveness. One example is the decision by the Colombian Government to implement the ART framework nationwide, initially rolled out in the department of Nariño. At the global level, ART is working to ensure that the recommendation from the Busan High Level Forum to implement aid effectiveness at the sub-national level is realized. For example, in Morocco, Local Strategic Guidelines were adopted to align development partners with locally owned strategies, and in Ecuador ART frameworks increased ownership and coordination at the local level. ART has documented best practices and concrete examples of the decisive contributions sub-national stakeholders are making, which were shared at the biennial high-level UN Development Cooperation Forum (DCF). Lessons learned through the initiative and best practices from 19 countries have also contributed significantly to UNDP’s new Local Governance and Local Development strategy, which emphasizes the importance of a multi-level, multi-sector and decentralized cooperation approach. Throughout 2012 ART continued to increase its support base: 36 partners joined the Initiative, including Local Governments from Turkey and Brazil, the city of Stuttgart in Germany, the region of North Denmark, the European network Arco Latino and ALDA (Association of Local Democracy Agencies). This is noteworthy in the current climate of fiscal austerity and highlights the initiative’s continued relevance. We look forward to continuing to expand this partnership in the years to come.
37 Acronyms 38 Acknowledgements 40
Budget and financial analysis
42 Links
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ANNUAL REPORT 2012
Sigrid A. Kaag UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy – UNDP Olav Kjørven UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director Bureau for Development Policy – UNDP
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
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