The first Global Forum on Local Development, convened by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), brought together over 600 delegates, including Heads of State, Government ministers, representatives of Local Governments and their associations, development partners, international organizations, academia, civil society and the private sector in Kampala, Uganda on October 4-6th, 2010.

Taking place shortly after the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in New York in September, the Global Forum on Local Development highlighted the potential for local governments to accelerate progress toward the MDGs, and the concrete steps necessary to do this in the Kampala Call to Action.

It was agreed that local governments have a major role in designing and managing local development strategies; localising the MDGs requires local capacity and the right institutional and legal framework and financial incentives and requires international principles and standards on local democracy, good governance and decentralisation to be implemented and monitored.

It calls on national governments, development partners and other stakeholders to recognise the need for national strategies to enable democratic local government and promote decentralisation reforms.  It also calls on local government associations to advocate the developmental role of local governments and decentralisation reforms and work at regional and international level to disseminate and encourage good practice in local government.

The full text of the Kampala call to Action is available at: http://www.uncdf.org/gfld/en/index.php?page=declaration