FAMSI | State Meeting of Local Governments and International Development Cooperation in Córdoba (Spain)
The ‘State Meeting of Local Governments and International Development Cooperation’ is organised by the Andalusian Municipalities Fund for International Solidarity (FAMSI), the Confederation of Cooperation and Solidarity Funds (CONFOCOS) and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), with the collaboration of the Directorate General for Sustainable Development Policies (DGPOLDES) of the State Secretariat for International Cooperation (SECI), of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID), PLATFORMA, the City Council of Cordoba and the Provincial Council of Córdoba.
The meeting will be held again on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the creation of FAMSI in 2020, and the 25th anniversary of the Confederation of Cooperation and Solidarity Funds, CONFOCOS, with more than 1,300 local governments active in international cooperation throughout the country. Following the resumption of face-to-face activity, the event is expected to bring together political and institutional decision-makers from all over the country to open a dialogue on municipal public policy on international cooperation, 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 current challenges.
Migration, development education, citizen participation, triangular cooperation, localisation of the 2030 Agenda and technical or delegated cooperation, among others, will be issues to be discussed together with the role of local governments in the reform of Spanish cooperation.
With more than 40 years of experience, local government development cooperation has grown in parallel to the process of consolidation of democratic city councils; the first budgetary commitments, the alliance with citizens in the demand for a minimum allocation for solidarity action, the consolidation of public policies and the differential contribution of decentralised 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. Furthermore, the mainstreaming of solidarity policies, multilateral alliances and the relevant role of public companies in development actions have brought coherence and transparency to the international cooperation of local governments. Currently, the 2030 Agenda is playing its role as an accelerator for the implementation of the SDGs in the territories.
In the meantime, successive crises and legislative insecurity have caused insecurity and setbacks in cooperation in some local contexts, up to the current moment, in the midst of the reform process of the Spanish cooperation system. This event is about remembering and projecting the development cooperation public policies carried out by local governments and other local authorities, such as county councils and associations of municipalities, in order to project a model of relations and work among equals that builds solid alliances and also promotes vehicles of progress for key territories, such as south-south, south-north and triangular cooperation.
This event will be held in the city of Cordoba from 10 to 12 November 2021.