UCLG’s contribution to the Global Partnership on Effective Development Cooperation
Following the participation of Mayor Berry Vrbanovic at the 9th Steering Committee meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) in Malawi, UCLG and the CIB Working Group are currently preparing to host GPEDC’s next “Global Partnership Initiatives acceleration workshop” at the UCLG headquarters in Barcelona, on 21-22 June.
Accelerating existing initiatives
The acceleration workshop aims to advance existing “Global Partnership Initiatives” (GPI): voluntary initiatives of various kinds of stakeholders (national governments, civil society organizations, trade unions, parliamentarians, local and regional governments, foundations, the private sector etc), that are committed to achieving effective development cooperation and to advance specific commitments of the GPEDC . Exchange between these initiatives does not take place on a regular basis. Since local governments operate at the core of any development action and therefore have a great interest in increased effectiveness of development, UCLG has offered to facilitate a meeting directly aimed at exchange of knowledge and search for synergies between the various initiatives.
UCLG’s preparation for the workshop: a survey for LGAs
UCLG’s own GPI was launched in 2014 and concretized last December, when the CIB Working Group reached out to Local Government Associations (LGAs) around the world with a survey. Through the questionnaire LGAs were asked about the way in which they are being involved in the definition, implementation, and monitoring of national development strategies. The outcomes of the online survey are currently being gathered. Based on these, the CIB Working Group will formulate guidelines for successful dialogue at the national level. First results and guidelines will be shared at the GPI acceleration workshop. The final product will feed into the second High-Level Meeting of the GPEDC in Kenya in November.