UNITED NATIONS FORUM ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE OPENS IN SWEDEN
Press Release
DEV/2118
UNITED NATIONS FORUM ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE OPENS IN SWEDEN
19960923 Delegates from Many Countries to Review Management Innovations and Potential for Decentralization and ReformNEW YORK, 23 September 1996 (DDSMS) -- The United Nations Department of Development Support and Management Services (DDSMS) and the United Nations Development Programme, together with the Swedish Government and Swedish public sector organizations, have organized a Global Forum on local governance taking place this week in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The Forum began today and continues until Friday.
Among the more than 240 participants are senior administrators from central and local government from more than 50 countries. They will review organizational, managerial and financial issues, and increased participation of civil society, in order to advance social and development goals as well as democracy. The role of governance and issues of local management innovations and practices will be discussed in plenary sessions and working groups.
Among other bodies represented at the gathering are the United Nations Capital Development Fund, Habitat, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Bank, the United Nations University (UNU), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the European Union.
The Forum is one in a series of activities organized jointly by the United Nations and the Swedish Government together with Swedish International Services. A follow-up to the resolution adopted at the resumed fiftieth session of the General Assembly recognizing the importance of a transfer of power to local government and empowerment of civil society, the Forum is basically a response to requests from a large number of developing and transitional countries to meet and exchange experiences of decentralization and local governance issues.
It will reflect the ongoing broad-based general debate about whether decentralizing governance could be an effective means of achieving critical objectives of the sustainable human development vision -- improved access to
services and employment, increased "people participation" and enhanced government responsiveness. Many developing and transitional countries have embarked on some form of decentralization programmes. The trend is coupled with a growing interest in the role of the civil society and the private sector, as partners to governments in seeking new ways of service delivery.
The Forum was opened by Sweden's Minister of the Interior, Jörgen Andersson, and by Jin Yongjian, Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Development Support and Management Services. In his opening statement, Mr Jin Yongjian stressed the need for change and innovation in public administration, and the critical issue of empowerment of civil society to achieve good governance.
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