The event is organized by the FAMSI, the Confederation of Cooperation Funds, CONFOCOS, and the FEMP, with the collaboration of the DGPOLDES, AECID, AACID, Platforma, the City council of Córdoba and the Diputación de Córdoba.
The meeting recovers the call already planned in 2020 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the creation of the FAMSI, and the 25th anniversary of the Confederation of Cooperation and Solidarity Funds, CONFOCOS, with more than 1300 local governments active in international cooperation throughout the country; after the resumption of face-to-face activity, it is expected that the event will bring together political and institutional leaders from all over the country to open the dialogue around the municipal public policy of cooperation and international action, the role of local governments and their networks within the framework of the European Union, as well as the issues addressed by cooperation in response to the present challenges.
Migration, development education, citizen participation, triangular cooperation, localization of the 2030 Agenda and technical or delegated cooperation, among others, will be the topics of a call that will also speak about the role of local governments in the reform of Spanish cooperation.
With more than 40 years of experience, the development cooperation of local governments has grown in parallel with the process of consolidation of democratic municipalities; the first budgetary commitments, the alliance with the citizens in the demand for a minimum allocation for solidarity action, the consolidation of public policies and the differential contribution of decentralized municipal cooperation abroad have strengthened its role on the international stage, as an agent of proximity and valid interlocutors for the activation of development processes based on technical exchanges and good practices. In addition, the mainstreaming of solidarity policies, multilateral alliances and the important role of public enterprises in action for development have brought coherence and transparency to the international cooperation of local governments. Currently, the 2030 Agenda measures its role as an accelerator for the implementation of the SDGs in the territories.
Faced with this, successive crises and legislative insecurity have caused insecurity and regression of cooperation in some local contexts, until reaching the present moment, in the midst of the process of reforming the Spanish cooperation system. This event involves remembering and projecting the public policies of development cooperation carried out by local governments and other instances of proximity, such as the councils and associations of municipalities, to project a model of relations and work between equals that builds solid alliances and promotes, in addition, vehicles of progress for the determining territories, such as South-South, South-North and triangular cooperation. An interactive platform will be the information and preparation node of the event, which will be held in the city of Córdoba, from 10 to 12 November 2021.
The 'State Meeting of Local Governments and International Development Cooperation' is organized by the Andalusian Fund of Municipalities for International Solidarity (FAMSI), the Confederation of Cooperation and Solidarity Funds (CONFOCOS) and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), and has the collaboration of the General Directorate of Sustainable Development Policies (DGPOLDES) of the Secretary of State for International Cooperation (SECI), of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID), the Andalusian Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AACID, Platforma, pan-European coalition of cities and regions, and its regional, European and global associations, the City Council of Córdoba and the Diputación de Córdoba.