The European Union is investing €50 million in five framework partnership agreements that were signed on Monday 12 September in Brussels by the European Commission and associations of European and African local authorities to support the implementation of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
These five renewed partnership agreements were signed by the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF), the Commonwealth Local Governments Forum (CLGF), Platforma/Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA).
They recognise the contribution of local and regional authorities to the design and implementation of policies needed to achieve the SDGs, in particular to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
The first such framework agreements date back to 2014. The aim is to strengthen them by adapting them to “the challenges of eroding democracy, the threat of climate change, inequality, soaring energy and food prices”, finding “future-proof solutions implemented on the ground by local authorities”, which are “one of the EU’s key contributors to our external action”, stressed Ms Urpilainen at the signing.
She noted that associations of local authorities “will have a key role to play in the EU/African Union strategic partnership” renewed last February.
More specifically, these partnerships will pursue the following objectives:
- to strengthen the voice of EU local and regional authorities in EU development policy and global agendas;
- to strengthen the engagement of EU local and regional authorities in decentralised cooperation, focusing on EU priorities and the SDGs, in partnership with peers in partner countries;
- to improve decentralised cooperation practices through innovation;
- to raise awareness and build capacity of local and regional governments as actors in governance and development policy;
- to strengthen the capacity of local government associations to coordinate the voices of all partners, create synergies and add value as a network, ensuring good governance and partnerships.
These agreements financed by the EU’s external budget (‘NDICI-global Europe’) will apply until 31 April 2026.
From 2027 onwards, the EU will support the work of local authorities in pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals and tackling inequalities with at least €500 million, in addition to the €50 million that supports their associations under these five agreements.
The signing ceremony was attended by: Anne Hidalgo, President of the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF), Innocent Uwimana, President of the Association of Local Authorities of Rwanda and President of the Association of Local Authorities of East Africa, Stefano Bonaccini, President of Platforma/Council of European Municipalities and Regions and President of the Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy), Jan Van Zanen, president of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and mayor of The Hague (Netherlands), and Fatimetou Abdel Malick, president of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)