In advance of the UCLG World Congress, Mr. David Jackson, Director of Local Transformative Finance Practice of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), talked about UNCDF’s longstanding partnership with UCLG and the importance of advocating for the Malaga Coalition policy agenda at the upcoming UCLG 7th World Congress and Summit of Local and Regional Leaders.
Why is UNCDF engaged in the UCLG 7th World Congress?
David Jackson: UNCDF and UCLG have a longstanding partnership on local government finance. It is natural for UNCDF as the UN Hub for Subnational Finance and UCLG as the world’s largest network of cities and local governments to come together. Both our organizations believe that a global financial ecosystem that works for cities and local governments is fundamental to delivering on the global agendas. Yet the current financial architecture is not equipped to provide adequate access to finance for cities. Therefore, in 2018, UNCDF and UCLG, in collaboration with FMDV, established the Malaga Global Coalition for Municipal Finance as a unique alliance to enable subnational governments to access financing. Since then, our organizations have been working towards the ambition of the Malaga Coalition. The UCLG World Congress is a unique platform for advocating for the Malaga agenda. Atn the last UCLG Congress in Durban, the International Municipal Investment Fund (IMIF) was launched as an instrument of the Malaga Coalition. Now, three years later, it is time again to take stock of progress and present how far we have come.
What messages does UNCDF want to convey at the UCLG Congress?
David Jackson: We believe that local government finance is development finance and it is a foundational driver for a green, productive urban future that serves people, protects the planet and empowers communities. This is illustrated in our flagship publication “Local Government Finance is Development Finance”, which will be launched at the UCLG Congress. Three years on from the last UCLG congress, there has been progress in all 5 elements of the Malaga reform agenda, which we want to celebrate. On 1) increased intergovernmental fiscal transfers, we see the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) becoming a 30-country global vehicle for local climate adaptation. In addition, the World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment (SNG-WOFI) jointly developed by OECD, UCLG, with the support of UNCDF, is becoming a global reference point for subnational finance and will be highlighted in a session “Bridging the Information Gap on Subnational Government Finance” on 14 October. On 2) enhanced own source revenue mobilization, one of the world’s largest local government capacity building programmes has been developed. On 3) expanded domestic capital markets for long-term debt financing, some governments are now leading the way in subnational bonds. On 4) city-friendly guarantees, at least one sovereign government and the European Commission are moving ahead; and on 5) city-friendly investment funds, we will celebrate the UNCDF local government lending initiative itself, along with the above-mentioned International Municipal Investment Fund.
None of these successes were in place at the inception of the Malaga Coalition. Please join our session “Local Government Finance is Development Finance: Connecting People, Planet and Government” on 12 October to find out more about these exciting developments and visit our booth at the Urban Exhibition. Limited copies of our flagship publication in 8 languages will be available as prizes during our session. We look forward to continuing to advance the municipal finance agenda with UCLG and other stakeholders.
