Dialogue on "Localising the Post-2015 Development Agenda" calls for a stronger relationship between local development plans and future development objectives
The Committee of the Regions (CoR) hosted a Conference on 7 July on "Localising the Post-2015 Development Agenda". This conference was organised in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to discuss the involvement of regional and local authorities within this future international development framework. It insisted on the importance of cross-border partnerships at all levels of governance to define the future development goals.
In the framework of the European Year for Development (EYD) 2015, CoR members met EU officials dealing with development issues, practitioners, and representatives of regional and local authorities to discuss the Post-2015 Development Agenda. In the first session the panel tackled the challenges and opportunities for local and regional governments in the Post-2015 Development Agenda process and in the second, the implementation at local level of the Agenda and the consultation method.
Christophe Rouillon (FR/PES), CoR member and Mayor of Coulaines, outlined the vision of the CoR on this matter as former rapporteur on the 2009 opinion " Local authorities: actors for development". "The CoR has made development aid a key issue in its political priorities and wants to state once more that local and regional authorities have an important role to play in international relations, especially when it comes to co-operation". Mr Rouillon also called for the definition of "efficient and quality goals that apply globally" and stressed the importance of the "greater integration of local and regional authorities in order to make it probable for the goals to be achieved".
Jaime Miranda, Vice-Minister for Development Cooperation of El Salvador, brought a concrete input of developing countries by stressing the importance of not only defining the objectives and means to be implemented but also to ensure the involvement of civil society and local authorities in their implementation and follow up.
Hans Janssen (NL/EPP), CoR member and Mayor of Oisterwijk, advised the panel on ways to ensure the great involvement of the citizens in the Post-2015 Agenda. "It is essential to adopt a multi-level approach to be successful in development co-operation. It involves having an agenda with clearly defined goals which are understood and supported by all stakeholders and foster support at ground level to succeed".
The CoR will be hosting the Fourth European Assises of Decentralised Co-operation, in partnership with the European Commission, in June 2015. This major event brings every two years representatives of local and regional authorities from the EU and developing countries to promote a sustainable development policy having local authorities as its main drivers. This fourth edition of the Assises will take place at a challenging time for development policy as 2015 will coincide with the end of the cycle of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the definition of the Post-2015 Agenda and a new momentum brought by the European Year for Development.