Supporting Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development

Over the last decade, a shift in the understanding of decentralisation has occurred. There is a clear move beyond the rather narrow concern of reforming the state to ensure efficient resource allocation. The focus now is more on the actual political drivers of decentralisation reforms and their ability to help unleash the potential of territories in order to effectively fight inequality, create wealth and jobs, and tackle other pressing development challenges. This shift has, in turn, led to a greater acknowledgement of the proactive development role that local authorities (LAs) could play if empowered to act as political entities on behalf of their constituencies.

This new perspective has major consequences for external assistance. It invites donor agencies to (i) support decentralisation as a means of promoting territorial approaches to local development through autonomous and accountable LAs, and (ii) acknowledge that the capacity of LAs to play a development role depends on the existence of an effective system of relations with other levels of governance. External support could foster development-friendly decentralisation reforms which empower LAs, as well as other enabling national policies and institutional changes which create conditions for local/territorial development.

In 2013, the European Commission issued a communication, ‘‘Empowering local authorities in partner countries for enhanced governance and more effective development outcomes’ (EC, 2013). In this landmark document, the European Union (EU) embraces a larger view of the role of LAs — as key representatives of local polities in a given territory, not just managerial agents of the state — and of the instrumental value of decentralisation as a vehicle to create space for developmental LAs. The communication also commits the EU to promoting territorial development. This ambition was reflected in the next programming cycle of both the thematic and geographic budget lines of EU development cooperation.

These policy developments in the EU mirror what can be observed at the international level. Through their associations, LAs have become recognised actors in dialogue processes at the global, continental and regional levels. They are also expected to play a catalytic role in promoting territorial approaches to local development at the national level.

The Busan Outcome Document (Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, 2011) high- lights the multi-actor dimension of development processes and the distinct roles to be played by LAs. In September 2015, the international community adopted the universal 2030 Agenda (UN, 2015b) which defines 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); they include many targets which are closely related to the daily mandate of LAs. Their achievement will largely depend on credible national policies and the strengthening of developmental LAs — i.e. autonomous and accountable LAs with democratic legitimacy. This was also explicitly acknowledged in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (UN, 2015a). The agenda stresses the need to address the lack of financial means, as well as the capacity shortages, at the sub-national level; to scale up international cooperation for that purpose; and to support LAs in their efforts to mobilise resources.

These various initiatives are fuelling interest in the role and contribution of LAs in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. They also explain why the idea of localising the SDGs is gain- ing momentum. However, past efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) show that merely translating such an agenda into national development policies will not suffice. The actual impact of such policies relies on the quality of the institutions through which they are designed and delivered. Greater attention therefore needs to be given to improving delivery systems which typically entail multiple levels and actors and — after decades of worldwide decentralisation reforms — should include LAs acting as front-line delivery agents.

Hence, the role of LAs in achieving the SDGs will ultimately depend on the extent to which national authorities enable and incentivise the LAs to own the goals by prioritising them in their local planning systems and by monitoring progress through relevant indicators from a local perspective.

Localising the SDGs by focusing on territories and empowering LAs to deliver them may be one of the most effective ways to improve the national system to deliver SDG-based policies. Autonomous and accountable LAs may (i) directly improve the overall efficiency of national SDG-based programmes by matching resources to local demands and increasing the value for money in their use, as well as (ii) both directly and indirectly promote the SDGs by mobilising a wide range of local resources (first and foremost local social capital) to supplement and complement national efforts and deliver genuine development of the territory.