Observatorio de Cooperación Descentralizada | Unión Europea | America Latina

Decentralised Cooperation aims at outcomes that boost development both in the South and in the North.

The central core of decentralised cooperation initiatives consists of the management of basic public services intended for the population, the construction and maintenance of urban infrastructure and mechanisms for establishing citizens' consensus and participation, issues that all fall within the remit of local authorities and which are, in most places, on the municipal agenda.

All the issues mentioned above highlight the prior need to consolidate and build local and regional authorities capacity for strategic planning, programming and implementing initiatives. There is increasing awareness of the fact that strengthening institutions, the sharing of experiences and knowledge on local management issues and increasing the skills of local staff and elected representatives are the best means for local authorities to be able to satisfy their residents' demands and to meet the social and economic challenges they face.

Improving local conditions

Cooperation between sub-state bodies has a direct impact on the ability to define, agree and implement local public policies and tends, as a result of these policies, to improve conditions in the local sphere in relation, for example, to social cohesion and the fight against poverty, local development and economic growth, local governance, etc.

Influence on national and regional agendas

Decentralised cooperation can also have an impact beyond the local level and city-to-city relations by touching on broader issues that have thus far been the sole remit of central governments. When Decentralised Cooperation gives rise to concerted action between local authorities and the forging of alliances, it can influence certain aspects of national and regional agendas, such as the processes of state decentralisation and mechanisms for regional integration.

Incorporating cross-cutting issues

It is also important to mention that Decentralised Cooperation has in some instances been a vector for introducing and popularising new issues and practices, such as the gender approach applied in the municipal or regional sphere, and experiences in citizens' participation in certain Latin American cities and regions subsequently adapted to suit circumstances in Europe.