Localizing Global Agendas in Multilevel Governance Systems
Abstract
Description
Clear roles and responsibilities between levels of government based on functional assignment can contribute significantly to the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the public sector.
In October 2016, the Habitat III Conference endorsed a “New Urban Agenda” emphasizing the challenges of urbanization, local governance, and urban planning in a sustainable and development-oriented way. These three global agendas are interlinked and interrelated. National governments, subnational governments and their associations, civil society stakeholders, and development partners have engaged in a discourse about “localizing global agendas,” i.e., about strategies and processes designed to translate these global commitments into national and subnational strategies and action plans.
The challenge of achieving policy coordination in multilevel and multisector settings is not a new one. This Governance Brief argues that achieving the objectives of the global agendas requires informed decisions and deliberate choices to design decentralized governance systems.