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Fourth Assises of Decentralised Cooperation for development
European Committee of the Regions - Brussels, 1–2 June 2015
Round Table 1
Post-2015: Universality and the territorial Approach to Development
Context
2015 is a key year for development. Firstly, it is the end date of the Millennium Goals for
Development, the eight international development goals established by United Nations member states
following the United Nations Millennium Declaration. Secondly and maybe more importantly it offers
an exceptional opportunity for the international community to agree on the eradication of poverty and
to tackle inequalities while protecting the environment, ensuring peace, realising human rights and to
put in place a new development approach.
Decisive ongoing global processes in the year ahead include (i) the third UN Conference on Financing
for Development in Addis Ababa in July; (ii) the Special Summit on Sustainable Development at the
UN in September, where the UN General Assembly is expected to agree on the Post-2015 agenda and
propose the sustainable and universal development goals and (iii) the 21st Conference of the Parties
(COP21) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in December.
Along the same lines, the designation by the EU of 2015 as "European Year for Development",
meaning a year dedicated to raising awareness, promoting engagement in the EU’s development
cooperation and inspiring debate around the motto "Our world, our dignity, our future", is also a
crucial sign of EU commitments and complementarities between the EU and global development
processes.
Across all of the preparation processes for these major conferences, a common understanding has
emerged on the future Post 2015 Agenda. As reflected in the synthesis report of the Secretary-General
of the UN on the Post-2015 Agenda ("The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming
All Lives and Protecting the Planet"), the coming international agenda needs to be universally
applicable to and valid for all countries and adaptable to the national, regional and local realities.
The post-2015 agenda intends to be a universal project. On the one hand, it includes issues that are of
common concern to all and pose challenges at the national, regional and local levels. On the other
hand, it defines objectives to be achieved at the global level. Universality cannot be separated from
the contrasting principle of differentiation, as responsibilities and accountability will have to differ
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depending on the circumstances of each territorial partner, their respective development statuses and
the means available to them.
Localising with local and regional authorities
In order to embrace local and regional realities, and the need for local adaptation and to consider
conditions and means of implementation of the future Development Agenda at sub-national level, as
well as the consequences, various discussions and consultations, referred to as Dialogues on the
Localization of the Post 2015 Agenda1, took place during 2014. The UN Development Group's final
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report on the Dialogues , recognised the key role of regional and local authorities in promoting mutual
accountability and transparency at regional and local level, thereby increase the ownership of the new
agenda. The Chair of the UN Development Group underlines that "irrespective of income status or
region, the implementation of the new agenda will depend on actions taken at national and local
levels. It is there that attention will need to be focused and investments made, if we are to make the
transformative shifts which advancing human and sustainable development requires."
Over the last decade, the development agenda and actors has been considerably broadened with
notably the emergence and/or greater role of local and regional authorities is one of the most
considerable changes within the development agenda over the last decades. The greater consideration
for local and regional issues is for instance reflected within one of the proposed Post 2015 objectives
and aims at making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. It is also
illustrated within the recent EU programming framework.
Subnational governments are increasingly intertwined with global and national actors and as a result,
cooperation among local and regional authorities, i.e. decentralised cooperation is gaining greater
importance.
Topics for debate:
In order to obtain answers and propose concrete initiatives for strengthening decentralised cooperation
as a modality to implement the post 2015 agenda at the local level the seminar will consider the
essential results of the Dialogues on the Localization of the Post 2015 Agenda and pay special
attention to the following points:
1.
2.
3.
1
2
What are the building blocks of participatory, transformative and efficient (multi-level)
governance systems including the territorial dimension?
How to promote effective and human resources equipped networked institutional frameworks
capable of formulating holistic, multi-sectorial solutions?
How can the territorial approach and decentralised cooperation support the implementation of
the Post 2015 agenda?
Consultation process carried out in 2014 and co-lead by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Human
Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat), on behalf of the (UNDG), and the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments for
the Post 2015 agenda towards Habitat III.
United Nations Development Group, (2014), Delivering the Post 2015 Development Agenda: Opportunities at the National and
Local Levels
4.
5.
How to put in place rigorous and participatory review and monitoring frameworks, using as far
as possible locally adopted and comparable indicators?
What is the specific role of decentralised cooperation in promoting the agenda post 2015? What
changes would the new agenda introduce in term of cooperation between subnational
governments?