Briefing about the LGD Unit activities in 2016

REPORT OF RESULTS AND ACTIVITIES 2016

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION UNIT

The LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND DECENTRALIZATION UNIT (LGDU) works closely with local governments across the world to support their essential role in achieving sustainable development. We work with local governments in identifying policy trends, create capacities at local level by sharing experiences and disseminating best practices and bring together the different levels of government providing opportunities for dialogue for local, national and territorial governments.

Focusing on local governments’ needs, the Unit addresses local management challenges through the development of tailored tools, instruments and methodologies to reinforce the capacities of local government. It also promotes city-to-city cooperation and advocates for the essential role of local governments on a global level. Consequently, LGDU works under three areas of work to achieve:

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well governed cities and towns

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institutionally and financially sustainable local governments

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transparent local governments enabling citizen voices.

The present report offers information on the results achieved by the Unit in close collaboration with partners and donors during year 2016. Strategic and advocacy work, technical support and knowledge management have been aligned with the important events taking place during that year. The Unit has strengthened the capacity of national, territorial and local governments to develop policies and strategies for inclusive and participatory urban governance.

STRENGTHENING DECENTRALIZED GOVERNANCE Governance is the enabling environment that requires adequate legal frameworks, efficient political, managerial and administrative processes, as well as mechanisms, guidelines and tools to enable local government responses to the needs of citizens.

#Listen2cities

To be able to “do their job”, local and regional governments (LRGs) need to be in constant dialogue and to coordinate action with all other stakeholders, vertically and horizontally.

LGDU advanced its strengthening of decentralized governance by establishing mechanisms of institutional dialogue to support the empowerment of local and regional governments through a fair distribution of responsibilities and resources while stressing the role of local government as a key development actor thanks to the construction of adapted and localized enabling environments.

Urban and decentralized governance mainstreamed in global processes LGDU increased its support to LRGs and their associations, gathered in the Global Taskforce of local and regional governments. It resulted in the promotion of local governments’ voice and perspectives in global agenda discussions and allowed for raising awareness on UN-Habitat’s mandate in urban governance and as a focal point for local governments within the United Nations system.

2016 has been an important time for local governments. One key event has been the Second World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments (WALRG II) back to back with Habitat III. LGDU actively supported the journey of the Global Taskforce, in the three (3) sessions of the WALRG II (New York Sept. 2015, Bogota and Quito October 2016), and during the Local Authorities Informal hearings for Habitat III (New York, May 2016) helping to formulate constructive proposals by the local government constituency.

The role that local governments and communities play in sustainable urban development and to implement development agenda has been recognized

by Rio +20, the 2030 Agenda and in the New Urban Agenda.

LGDU has worked in the preparation of key messages such as the need for multi stakeholders and multilevel coordination, and strong and capable local governments, by providing technical inputs to the Habitat III preparation on urban governance (Issue paper) and by co-organizing the Special session on urban governance in Quito.

“Beyond principles, urban governance is about having the right people at the table” (E. Saiz, UCLG. Urban Governance Special Session, Habitat III)

During 2016, LGDU took the responsibility to support technically the work of the United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities (UNACLA) the secretariat of which is co-hosted by UN-Habitat and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). A new mandate for UNACLA is opening as global agendas increasingly consider local implementation and the need for local governments to contribute to their achievement.

UNACLA consists of 20 members, representing the major local government networks of the world. Together, they represent more than 300,000 local, regional and territorial local governments in most of the countries of the world.

The partnership also developed a pioneering knowledge and information sharing space, the Localizing SDGs’ platform that facilitates local policy makers, development practitioners and other relevant actors learning, sharing and discussion, as well as the identification of tools to design development policies that contribute to the implementation of each of the 17 SDGs while better serving the needs of their citizens.

On the occasion of Habitat III, UNACLA issued its Quito Declaration gathering recommendations and the local government’s vision for sustainable cities and territories for all.

Ensuring the local dimension of development: the ‘Localizing the SDGs’ Platform 2016 was also year one of implementation for the Global Agenda 2030, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Climate Change Agreement. At a policy level, LGDU works for the inclusion of decentralized governance as necessary for the global agendas to be implemented at local level. In particular, most of the SDGs will only be achieved if action is taken in our cities and territories.

Together with UNDP and the Global Taskforce, we produced the Roadmap for localizing the SDGs, a guide for local and regional governments to understand the importance of the SDGs and how to start implementing and monitoring them at local level.

The platform was active in several key international events such as the High Level Panel Forum (New York), the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders (Bogota), the Habitat III Conference (Quito) and the Second High Level Meeting of the Global Partnership on Effective Development Cooperation (Nairobi). Additional advocacy actions aimed to motivate cooperation and learning with existing networks and to get information about local experiences were conducted during the Council of European Municipalities and Regions Congress (Cyprus), the 6th UCLG ASPAC Congress (Korea) and the Third Preparatory Committee of Habitat III (Indonesia) among others.

Supporting the action of local governments associations LGDU has strong alliances with Local Governments Associations and City Networks. The development of joint activities has multiplied the support to public administrations of all sizes, creating synergies and being able to reach small and medium municipalities that are normally off the beaten track.

LGDU worked closely with United Cities and Local Governments the major local government association. We contributed to the IV GOLD report and to its 5th World Congress (Bogota, October 2016) with several thematic trails including urban governance, transparency and innovation in municipal management. The long-standing collaboration was consolidated through the signature of a renewed Memorandum of Understanding with focus on local democracy and sustainable urban development.

adaptation of the International Guidelines on Decentralization and Access to Basic Services They are key actors in reaching a common country level road map for regulatory reforms on decentralization.

‘Unpacking Metropolitan governance’ In partnership with the GIZ and FMDV (Global fund for the development of cities), LGDU addressed the need for coordination and cooperation between levels of governments as one of the key issues for metropolitan provision of services.

Following the findings of the discussion paper Unpacking Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Development the partnership further analyzed the different forms of metropolitan governance through three (3) in-depth case studies, Metropolitan Bandung (Indonesia), Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (Mexico) and e-Thekwini (Durban, South Africa), and a comparative analysis exemplifying the implementation of some of the core concepts of metropolitan governance.

LGDU strengthened its links with UCLG’s Commissions and Regional sections through capacity building sessions, workshops and city-to-city exchanges to enhance local governments’ management capacities. We contributed to the work of the UCLG Committee of Digital and Knowledge-based Cities on innovation and municipal management; with the UCLG Committee on Decentralization and local self-government on urban governance.

At regional level, we have established working links with the Middle East and West Asia Section to promote increased transparency and accountability in the management of cities; with the European Section in the use of SMART technologies to increase municipal revenue and to improve finances through more efficient expenditures. Finally, a needs assessment is being developed with the Asia Pacific Section in the field of the enabling environment for sustainable development.

National local government associations of Jamaica, Cape Verde and Uganda have also been closely engaged in the process of dialogue for the

Further, LGDU coordinated with the GIZ the Metropolitan Capacity Assessment Methodology (MetroCAM), a modular toolbox for urban stakeholders to assess existing capacities in metropolitan settings, future needs and potential trigger points for change.

The MetroCAM provides “hands-on” approaches and instruments for municipalities to cooperate beyond their administrative boundaries, addressing the challenges of decentralized and multi-level governance for the metropolitan context.

STRENGTHENING INCLUSIVE URBAN MANAGEMENT The new complexities that cities face require a constant and fluid dialogue between institutions, on one side, and between people and their institutions, on the other. Governing cities without the citizen is virtually impossible; at the same time the citizen demands increasing accountability and transparency to hold institutions accountable for the more efficient use of resources and for better public services for all.

The Unit worked to strengthen the capacity of national, territorial and local governments to develop policies and strategies for inclusive and participatory urban governance, fostering transparent local governments that enable the citizens’ voice and supporting their institutional and financial sustainability, especially thanks to the use of SMART technologies.

The Unit has been developed new areas of work related to the following areas:

Governing with the citizen LGDU organized and facilitated in 2016 several needs assessments and advocacy sessions on this new line of work which promotes inclusive city management through transparency and open government. Events took place at the Congress of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (Nicosia, Cyprus), the 5th UCLG Congress (Bogota, Colombia), during the 17th International Anti-Corruption Conference (Panama) and the Open Government Partnership Summit (Paris, France).

As a product of this work, the Unit has developed a new initiative called Urban-GLASS (Global-Local Accountability Support System) who seeks to support local governments in being more transparent, opened and accountable. The project has built a strong partnership and will be officially launched in Madrid during February 2017.

In the occasion of the United Nations Anti-corruption Day on December 9th, LGDU prepared the Paris Statement endorsed by cities and local government networks across the world. For the first time, the local government constituency held a celebration of the UN Anti-corruption day.

The event took place at the Paris City Council, the Statement firmly rejects all forms of corruption and calls for LRGs all over the world to renew their belief in the principles of transparency, accountability and good governance.

SMART city solutions for an active citizenship The Uraía Platform facilitates the transfer of knowledge and expertise regarding the application of SMART technologies to municipal management.

By the end of 2016, more than a 100 partners and cities were members of Uraía.

The annual “Citizenship Series” took place in Nicosia, Cyprus, in April, focusing on the impact of SMART technologies in the municipal budget: how to increase revenue and to reduce expenses for better services.

The workshop resulted in the elaboration of the “Nicosia Guidelines” including experiences such the use of Data analytics to fight fraud and tax evasion, SMART payment methods, SMART water management, energy management of municipal buildings, transparency tools on how money is collected, managed and spent, SMART energy grids, amongst others.

Mapping urban governance LGDU pursued its close collaboration with the London School of Economics (LSE) Cities Programme and with the UCLG Committee on Decentralization and Local Governance. The main result of this collaboration has been the creation of a global database on current models of urban governance for public dissemination, comparative policy research and analysis. The online platform How cities are governed explores new and innovative ways of communicating and mapping urban management and it contains data about 127 cities from nearly a third of world’s countries in all continents.

Decentralized governance and inclusive management are illustrated thanks to a user-friendly website highlighting the challenges of local governments in terms of government structure, financial resources, decision-making processes, strategic planning instruments and transport.

The web explores the different facets of urban management, giving a vision of the complexity of the topics and providing new data to foster dialogue and exchanges of good practices between cities.

The Urban Governance Platform was presented to world local leaders in Bogota, during an interactive session where 4 mayors completed the “Puzzle of Urban Governance” by responding to a series of questions based on the six main areas of the survey and exchanging their local perspective about the challenge of bringing all of them together.

MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS During 2016, LGDU consolidated several of its projects, reinforced its partnerships and supported municipalities, cities and central governments to strengthen local institutions and to promote urban governance and inclusive urban management. In this effort, LGDU has achieved important advances during this period:  Increased recognition and global awareness on the role of local and regional governments as key development actors to implement the 2030 Global Development Agenda and towards a more holistic approach to sustainable urban development;  Structured, constructive and organized mobilization of the local and regional governments in global processes, including through UNACLA, with reinforced capacity to express politically and technically their voice and perspective;  Positioning of UN-Habitat as key actor of the localization of global agendas, reaffirming its mandate on local governments and decentralized and inclusive governance.  Reinforcing the importance of urban governance as a mean of implementation of the New Urban Agenda, following the mobilization of local, national and international partners to amplify the advocacy efforts of UN-Habitat to promote policies, strategies and programs related to urban governance, transparency and institutionally and financially sustainable local governments.  Enriching of UN-habitat’s database of best practices, lessons learnt, case studies, research reports on thematic, regional and local urban issues related to urban and metropolitan governance, transparency and innovative local management.

KEY PARTNERS During 2016, LGDU strengthened direct cooperation with strategic partners in terms of advocating, fostering and supporting UN-Habitat's urban governance approach and initiatives. A special attention is given to UCLG, its committees, regional sections and metropolitan section. Its coordinating role of the Global Taskforce of local and regional governments has been even more crucial for the reactivation of UNACLA, and the trust and common interest have been instrumental in bringing the voice of local governments in the New Urban Agenda and the SDGs implementation discussions.

Other important partners of the Unit are the FMDV and the FEMP who have joined forces to carry out activities in line with the Unit´s work program. GIZ, Transparency International and LSE-Cities have played a role in the technical development of products. LGDU pursued its partnership with the ART Program of UNDP, specifically with regarding the process of Localization of the SDGs. MAIN CHALLENGES 2016 has been very dense on the global scene and it has been challenging to ensure continuous follow-up to both technical projects and capacity building activities and to be present at the same time on the global events preparatory processes.

LGDU has been able to respond to the challenges by establishing strategic partnerships with key actors and using the important preparatory events to foster exchanges, networking opportunity between cities, and integrating as such technical and global advocacy work.

LESSONS LEARNT The intense advocacy work realized in 2016 preparing for the New Urban Agenda and the II World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments has confirmed the relevance of effective decentralization and democratic practices in decision-making processes for Global Agenda implementation. It constituted an opportunity for UN-Habitat to deliver on its mandate and programme, being the focal point in the UN-system for local governments. The localization of the SDGs is also understood as the opportunity to bridge the NUA and the SDGs, under the leadership of local and regional governments for their local implementation.

The strategy of constantly partnering with local governments associations has proven to be able to create synergies in the joint implementation of activities while strengthening the technical capacities of associations to serve their members, though creating a multiplier effect and increasing the reach out of our actions.