ORU Fogar at the Summit of the Future

As every year, several ORU Fogar delegations have been in New York to attend the call of the United Nations to participate in the Hight Level Political Forum -in July- and, this year, in the Summit of the Future -in September-.

Four delegations attended the HLPF, which, as is known, every year evaluates compliance with the 2030 Agenda: the delegation of the Association of Regions of Mali (ARM), the delegation of the Department of Dagana, Senegal, the delegation of the National Assembly of Regional Governments of Peru and the Consortium of Provincial Governments of Ecuador. On behalf of the Malians, the president of the Kayes Region, Bandiougou Diawara, participated in a session entitled “Transformation from the grassroots, acting at the local level” organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). The president of Dagana Ababakar Khalifa Ndao, the governor of Moquegua, Peru, Gilia Ninfa Gutiérrez and the prefect of Manabí, Ecuador, Leopoldo Orlando, spoke at the Forum of Local and Regional Governments.

The governor of Moquegua, accompanied by the technical secretary of ANGR, Patrycia Donaire, also made a presentation at the Global Consultation on Localization of the International Conference on Population and Development at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). ORU Fogar organized for ANGR representatives from Peru, interviews with Linda Maguire, Director of UNDP Latin America; Luis Antonio Ramirez Garcia, representative of UN Habitat Latin America and the Caribbean and Patricia Cortes, Regional Specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean of UN Women.

This year, however, the event that had raised the highest expectations was the Summit of the Future. ORU Fogar had to take advantage of spaces such as the Forum of Local and Regional Governments on September 19 or the eventual participation in the Action Days on September 20 and 21. This was done.

What, in any case, was the nature of this Summit? Antonio Guterres was convening the international community to see how to address the “serious challenges facing humanity”. The UN Secretary General had explained that the purpose of the Summit was not to discuss 'what to do'. The 'what to do' was already set out in three very powerful documents: the 2030 Agenda, the New Urban Agenda and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The issue to be discussed, in view of the serious difficulties in moving forward, was 'how'. Regionalism went to New York with an answer, a clear proposal of 'how' to move forward: to advance the three agendas - it was said - countries must decentralize. Only through strict compliance with the principle of subsidiarity will the objectives be achieved.

It is worth mentioning that this Summit was the first time that some ORU Fogar members participated in a United Nations event, as is the case of the President of the Association of Regions of Mali, Abdoulaye Maiga. Another highlight is that the President of Dagana, Senegal, Ababacar Khalifa Ndao, was present at both the HLPF and the Summit of the Future, making a magnificent speech in defense of decentralization and the principle of subsidiarity at the Forum of Local and Regional Governments of the Summit of the Future.

All delegations had the opportunity to meet with Secretary General Antonio Guterres. At this meeting, Paola Pabón, Prefect of Pichincha and President of CONGOPE Ecuador, spoke on behalf of the regions and defended the need for local and regional governments to have a well-articulated instance of dialogue with the United Nations and, in particular, with its Secretary General.

Taking advantage of the Summit, ORU Fogar's Secretariat organized meetings for different delegations with UN agencies such as UN Habitat, UN Women and UNDP.