Participatory Local Democracy

The Co-Chairs of the Open Working Group and Major Groups and other stakeholders had interactive dialogue on cross-cutting issues for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Process during the Intersessional Meeting in NY on the 22th November.

The one day session helped conceptualize:

• Practical approaches to rights-based SDGs that include the 3 dimensions of sustainable development
• SDGs designed to eliminate poverty, mitigate inequalities and lead to inclusiveness
• Making good governance and multi-stakeholder partnerships the building blocks of the SDGs
• Designing SDGs that foster human and economic development within planetary boundaries (including climate change and natural resources management)

The frank and open discussions helped understand around these complex issues and start developing concrete proposals to inform the drafting of the SDGs.

On behalf of the Local Authorities Major Group, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) delivered a statement on good governance and partnership. In the statement, UCLG mentioned that governance should be at the heart of the Post-2015 agenda because building governance from the bottom up and participatory, transparent and accountable governance are at the core for ensuring universal service provision and protection of citizens’ rights.

“There is strong evidence from many nations that competent, accountable subnational and local governments have had central roles in reducing inequalities, raising the voice of the poor and most vulnerable…The post 2015 agenda needs to promote stronger support to effective decentralization. It would need to resource citizens and subnational and local authorities to interact and strengthen city-region management.”

UCLG called the Open Working Group to ensure the role of subnational and local governments’ inclusion in the sustainable development agenda and goals.

To see the statement, click here
To learn more, check UCLG News and Agenda of the Intersessional Meeting