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High Level Panel report calls for “a fundamental shift—to recognise peace and good governance as core elements of well-being, not an optional extra.” The UN Regional Commission report recognizes too that democratic, accountable governance at all levels is critical to sustainable development. Residents should be able to hold service providers to account, and civil society organizations are often the most effective means to increase the influence of the marginalized and to improve access to basic services. Even more positively, the concept of good governance is finally coming to include local governance, including more integrated territories and enhanced partnerships. The UN Solutions for Sustainable Development Network report recognizes that local government is an integral partner and stakeholder in good global governance, 110 and emphasizes the ‘enormous’ challenge of urban governance. The UN Task Team report recognizes that the “tailoring of development targets to national and local circumstances is most effectively and legitimately done through participatory processes.” As GOLD III demonstrates, local governments are often at the forefront of collaborating with other levels of government, civil society, and the pri-
vate sector to provide innovative solutions to pressing citizen needs. Inequalities and basic services Although the High Level Panel report did not recommend goals relating to inequalities, this issue is seen as critical by many stakeholders. Many of the most dramatic inequalities are related to housing, living conditions and access to basic services, which have knock-on effect on other inequalities, particularly gender inequalities. This connection led the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments for Post-2015111 to include basic services as one of the main elements of its agenda. The GOLD III Report has drawn attention to the basic services that are critical to both the achievement of MDGs and the Post2015 Agenda. Without drinkable water, sanitation and waste management and a healthy environment, there will be no future. Without the basic infrastructure that is the foundation of prosperity, there will be no development. Putting people first means making basic services a priority, and local governments are key partners in facing this global challenge. This firm belief and commitment forms the basis of the recommendations that follow.
United Nations Solutions for Sustainable Development Network (2013) p. 3. 110
Local and regional government organizations launched the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments at the UCLG World Council in Dakar in December 2012. It aims to build a joint strategy to contribute the perspective, knowledge, and interests of local and regional governments to international policy-making debates within the framework of Rio+20, the Post2015 Agenda, and towards Habitat III. 111