Local and Regional Governments organizations met in Istanbul on 19-20 March 2013 in The Marmara Hotel for the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments for Post 2015 and Habitat III.

Local and Regional Governments organizations have created the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments for Post-2015 Development Agenda towards Habitat III to build a cooperative strategy to contribute to the international debate regarding the Post 2015 framework.

The Taskforce is committed to ending extreme poverty in all its forms, in the context of sustainable development, and to contribute to creating the building blocks of sustained prosperity for all. It aims to provide input to the post-2015 development planning discussions and the articulation of a set of goals for sustainable development.

The group is also tasked with helping to prepare for the Third UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), in 2016. The Taskforce held its second meeting in March in Istanbul and adopted a communiqué which stressed that the new development agenda must be people-centered and acknowledged local and regional governments as key actors in the sustainable development process.

Most recently, the Taskforce met at the UN headquarters this month with UN Agencies, development partners, and civil society organizations. It confirmed its willingness to contribute to the definition and implementation and monitoring of the global agenda at the local level and called on their partners to support the sub-national institutions needed to develop the kind of governance and capacity necessary to face the increasing challenges of sustainable development and to better respond to community needs.

The Taskforce’s Local and Regional Government members include:

• United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
• International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF)
• Arab Towns Organization (ATO)
• Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF)
• World Organization of Regions (FOGAR)
• Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI)
• Network of Regional Governments for Sustainability (Nrg4SD)

Additionally, the partners of Local and Regional Governments include:

UN-Habitat, UNDP, Cities Alliances, ILO, European Commission, Millennium Campaign, One UN Secretariat, HLP Post 2015, DeLog, SUEZ, UNCDF, Habitat for Humanity, Slum Dwellers International

You can get more information on Global Taskforce website.