UCLG Position Paper v_2 (eng)
22/12/09
18:13
Pรกgina 6
Foreword
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Particularly since the 1990s, local governments and their associations from Europe and North America have increased and enhanced their international development cooperation programming. The overarching objective has been to develop the capacity of local governments to facilitate local development processes, poverty reduction, and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
It is our great pleasure, as technical chair and vice-chair of the UCLG Capacity and Institution Building (CIB) Working Group, to present to you the UCLG Position Paper on Aid Effectiveness and Local Government. The position paper, adopted at the 2009 UCLG World Council in Guangzhou (China), is the result of a research led by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in partnership with the CIB Working Group and the UCLG World Secretariat, and seeks to give voice to the local government perspective on the emerging Aid Effectiveness agenda.
Even though to date the most important documents related to the effective delivery of aid, such as the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005), have been mainly donor-driven and excluded other development actors in their formulation, the donor community is slowly beginning to recognize the considerable contributions that local governments make to development assistance. Further, donors have acknowledged that, in order to make aid more effective, all stakeholders, including local governments, should be consulted and taken into account. As highlighted in the discussions around the 3rd High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra (September 2008), true ownership of national development strategies can only be effective if all stakeholders are being consulted on the needs and constraints; and in order to ensure this ownership, the capacity of all stakeholders has to be developed.
The document consists of three parts: the Position Paper with political recommendations, a Technical Background Paper providing arguments to support the recommendations and more in-depth views on the key issues. In addition, a number of illustrative case studies have been included to demonstrate the effectiveness of aid delivery in the local government sector. The paper, which through the various consultation rounds received contributions from UCLG members and partners, emphasizes the need for the full acknowledgement of local and regional governments as development partners occupying an equitable place in the international Aid Effectiveness debates. It highlights the limitations of the Paris Declaration aid effectiveness principles in addressing local level development and sets out recommendations for the international community, as well as national, regional and local governments.
The efforts pursued thus far have led to the recognition of UCLG as the voice of local and regional authorities in the OECD Working Party on Aid Effectiveness and as a member of the Advisory Board of the United Nations Development Cooperation Forum. Avoiding a top-down approach to the delivery of international aid and boosting aid directly channelled to local governments are both UCLG objectives. Within our World Organization, we will continue to advocate for the involvement of local governments and their associations in the discussions around the development and implementation of sector policies and poverty reduction strategies. At the same time, knowing that only a very small percentage of Official Development
Bringing together local government associations (LGAs) and individual local governments active in international development cooperation, the CIB Working Group was mandated by the UCLG Executive Bureau to build a common understanding and position among members and develop a formal policy position for international advocacy. 6