UNDP DAECT PARTNERSHIP 2013-2015 2013 REPORT
I. Introduction and context The ART Initiative Launched in 2005 and currently active in over 20 countries, the UNDP ART Global Initiative (Articulation of Territorial Networks for Sustainable Human Development) is an entry point for all decentralised cooperation actors interested in harmonising their respective actions in support of national and sub national policies for sustainable and local human development. Within an evolving development landscape ART capitalises on the complementarities of actors at the local level and puts in place multi-level governance systems for sustainable human development. It does so by promoting a programmatic, operational and administrative framework for coordination and institution building in its partner countries, i.e. ART Framework Programmes. ART’s objective is to enhance the capacities of national and local institutions and actors working in a complementary way at the local level, thereby achieving the Millennium Development Goals and attaining inclusive, resilient and sustainable development. The innovative modality promoted by UNDP ART is based on a multi-actor and multi sector approach, where the plurality of actors of a given territory – local authorities, CSOs, academia, the private sector, traditionally excluded groups - work jointly to define priorities, plan and implement sustainable human development strategies at local level. Taking the territory as the referential space for development efforts also allows greater coherence among those development actors operating in the same space, instead of each actor working in his sector. Development interventions are thus channelled in support of integrated territorial plans, reducing fragmentation and the overlap between programmes while increasing the impact and sustainability of efforts in support of sustainable human development.