Local democracy as a key component of development with the broader aim of eliminating extreme poverty, reducing inequalities and injustices, and solving the climate crisis. ICLD recognizes UCLG as a key partner to develop and spread innovative results and practises from local governments around the world. ICLD is engaged in the UCLG congress to promote important results from research and municipal partnerships to strengthen local democracy.
Local governments are the tier of government closest to people and therefore play a key role in answering to local needs and aspirations. However, local governments are often underfunded leaving them inadequately or un-responsive to many. Accountability and communication pathways are also often poorly known by communities. Thus, is isimportant that in the upcoming years UCLG together continues to work in building back trust to politics bringing people and local governmens together.
Success stories and learning from projects implemented in the field can inspire others facing similar challenges and problems. To improve performance related to service delivery, addressing activities towards the sustainable development goals is often via innovative and new tools development by the different local governments. To work with increased participation, equity, transparency and accountability, all that constitutes a strong local democracy, are often the foundation to make a sustainable impact that goes beyond the local to the global. ICLD believes that the collaboration with UCLG creates a great opportunity to share and spread good results to others that improves living conditions for citizens and ultimately creates a better world for everyone.
While the SDGs are global, their achievement will depend on our ability to make them a reality in our cities and regions. All of the SDGs have targets directly related to the responsibilities of local and regional governments, particularly to their role in delivering basic services. That’s why local and regional governments must be at the heart of the 2030 Agenda. To be engaged in the UCLG congress will give ICLD the opportunity to share important experiences and research for the benefit of the large number of representatives of local governments, associations of local governments as well as national policy makers that have the ability to impose laws and regulations, to make a real difference towards making for the SDG:s
