Articulating Basque actors in a multilateral framework 

This collaboration also promotes horizontal partnerships that can quickly mobilize the social and economic actors of the territory. Exchanges of know-how, as well as technological innovations, heritage management, water management, and local economic development experiences have also taken place, promoting integral development processes towards SHD.

The geographical and thematic articulation of the Basque local actors and their alignment to local priorities within a common programming and operational framework has contributed to increasing the impact, at the country level, of Basque DC interventions, thereby improving development effectiveness. Likewise, this coordination has facilitated articulation with other international cooperation actors in various countries.

During 2013, URA supported water governance in El Salvador. The “Improving water management in the Torola River Basin Initiative” seeks to improve the integral management of water provision in the area and implement a conservation strategy for hydrological resources. Owing to the project’s achievements, the Government has acknowledged it as a model for improving water management in the country. This initiative has also become a platform where various international partners (such as the French cooperation, UNDP’s Global Water Solidarity (GWS), The Stockholm International Water Institute and the OPEC Fund for International Development are integrating and strengthening the territorial system for water management. 

At the global level, various Basque actors (from the public and private sectors) have actively contributed to positioning the role of local actors in the design and implementation of the global agenda for development. Currently, the Basque Government and the AVCD are contributing to the global debate on development in the framework of the new post-2015 development agenda, and Basque actors are playing a key role in positioning LED as a strategic tool to promote human development from the local level.

UNDP is actively committed to reinforcing these innovative partnerships, as a potential that needs to be further harnessed to implement the new agenda and to achieve results at the local level. It is certain that IPs can contribute to addressing the bottlenecks of local development and to investing in targeted solutions that take into account the experiences and visions expressed at the local level.