The International Forum to present the results of the ART¹ Initiative will take place in Seville, Spain, between 25 and 27 November, 2009.

The main objectives of the ART Initiative are:

• To promote the role of local authorities in supporting national development strategies and policies (Paris Declaration, Accra Agenda for Action, MDGs).
• To facilitate the harmonization between diverse partners and programmes at country level interested in improving aid complementarities and effectiveness in support of national and local development processes undertaken by the countries.
• To exchange best practices and innovations (South-South and North-South Cooperation) to contribute to the achievement of the MDGs and the implementation of the Paris Declaration.

After four years of implementation of the ART Initiative in several countries, this Forum aims to present the results achieved, as well as the planning, administrative, managerial and organizational instruments which have enabled to reach significant advancements in the following areas:

1. Strengthening local and national capacities for the elaboration of integrated territorial diagnoses so that international cooperation actors can meet the demands of the territories; coordinated actions, instead of the traditional fragmented approach to cooperation.
2. Fostering the complementarities between different cooperation partners and programmes, to support the national development strategies and the MDGs platform.
3. Supporting institutional responsibility and civil society’s capacity to propose and innovate.
4. Promoting dialogue through an operational framework which contributes to the implementation of MDGs at the local, national and international levels, as a “common interest” of the different countries and development actors from the south and the north.
5. Facilitating the active participation of the decentralized cooperation networks to the main development processes prioritized by the countries (governance, climate change, local economic development, gender mainstreaming).
6. Fostering decentralized cooperation as a tool to promote the role of local authorities in the strategy of decentralization and de-concentration.
7. Facilitating national ownership of those tools considered effective and efficient.
8. Promoting the exchange of best practices, innovations and South-South cooperation experiences.
9. Contribution to national policies.
10. An evaluation tool capable to address the added value of coordinated actions among different partners, instead of only assessing each partner’s project.

During the Forum, the presentation of specific case-studies will allow to illustrate how different countries from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe have reached solutions based on their needs and priorities. The presentations will focus on the results and lessons learnt and not on the specificities and particularities of each country programme.

Although the results presented by the different countries are preliminary, taking into account the complexity of the challenges that lie ahead, they represent concrete progresses and references that this Forum will present to local and national governments – from the South and North -, civil society networks, decentralized cooperation partners, universities, the European Union and the United Nations system, which collectively share the responsibility of further developing those tools that will contribute to improve the impact of international cooperation.

ART methodology will be introduced during the Forum, through the presentation of several case studies that will allow participants to have a more comprehensive knowledge of the tools and the solutions implemented in the different countries, such as the North/South dialogue modalities linked to the practices at the country level.

The conclusions of this Forum will be transmitted to the Spanish Presidency of the European Union and to UNDP Civil Society Platform HD 2010, with the purpose of presenting practices at country level that have demonstrated their ability to contribute positive results towards the new multilateralism.

Moreover, during the Forum the International Steering Committee of the ART Initiative will be officially launched, with the participation of representatives of more than 25 governments, international networks of decentralized cooperation and United Nations Agencies.

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¹ ART stands for “Articulation of Territorial and Thematic Networks of Cooperation for Human Development”. It was established in August 2005, as part of the Hub for Innovative partnerships, UNDP Office in Geneva.