The debates on new local financing systems at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa-Ethiopia (13-16 July 2015) will be critical to the quest for sustainable urban development. They will also have a major impact on upcoming international negotiations on climate change, the Post-2015 Agenda and Habitat III, in which the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments is participating.
The GTF hosted a Special-Event on local governments on April 10th at the UN Headquarters, in the framework of the preparatory process for the financing for development conference. This event, organized with the support of the UCLG Committee on Local Finance, was addressed by one of the Co-Facilitator of the Conference, as well as representatives of many UN Agencies, local elected officials and representatives from Rabat-Morocco, Dakar-Senegal, Suresnes-France, and Addis Ababa-Ethiopia. It raised awareness of around fifteen Member States in the audience of the importance of local financing.
The revised draft of the Addis Ababa Outcome Document gives a greater role to local and regional financing (paragraph 31). However, further advocacy is required to communicate the necessity of diversifying and developing local government financing instruments in the context of changing state-city relations in the context of rapid urbanization. If the discussions are to lead to concrete policies and achievable recommendations, it is crucial to take into account the perspectives of local and regional governments, as well as those of Member States, members of the civil society and the private sector.
The Global Taskforce is continuing in its advocacy for the acknowledgment of the role of local and regional governments to reach the SDGs.
- Several side-events will be organized with the support of the governments of France, Morocco and Germany, as well as many UN agencies (UN-Habitat, UNCDF, and UNISDR). These events will focus on localizing financing for development and the Post-2015 Agenda more generally, as well as on the financing of urbanization and sustainable development.
- At the same time, the Global Taskforce is partnering with UN-Habitat, UNCDF, the African Union and the FMDV for the organization of a two-day event dedicated to capacity-building and technical assistance at the local level. These days will focus on themes such as pool-financing, innovative financing mechanisms at local level and transparency, through the project of a global observatory of local finances (developed by the UCLG Committee on Local Finance and the OECD).
- In addition, negotiations are underway to have local authorities represented in the official roundtables of the conference.
Source: The Global Taskforce