Spanish municipalities will share their experience in local public policies through international cooperation

To build alliances of our municipalities and provinces, mobilising their professionals to modernise and strengthen the institutional capacities of local public administration in third countries and to develop local public policies and standards related to challenges such as depopulation, environmental protection, mobility, citizen participation or interculturality. This is the vision of the collaboration agreement signed today between the FEMP and the FIIAPP to facilitate the participation of our local administrations in cooperation projects and, more broadly, in Spanish external action.

“In its 40 years of existence, the FEMP has been able to contribute to the promotion of local autonomy of our Latin American counterparts. Now, with the signing of the agreement, the sum of our experiences in the field of public policy management will allow us to address this challenge more effectively in less decentralised countries, especially after these post-pandemic years in which local power has been shown to be essential,” explains Carlos Daniel Casares Díaz, Secretary General of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces.

For the director of the FIIAPP, Anna Terrón, “Spain has a great deal of knowledge and experience to share with the world in terms of local policy. We have great expectations about the exchange that we are going to trigger through the FEMP and about the positive return that this joint work between Spanish municipalities and municipalities from other countries will have for our own local administration. Confronting other ways of tackling similar challenges is always very enriching”.

This collaboration, initially planned for four years, will also promote the use of new technologies in local administration and raise awareness of the importance of local government. The promotion of the localisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda is another pillar of this partnership.

First experience of working together in Angola

The FIIAPP and the FEMP are already partners in the PASCAL project to support civil society and local administration, a European project that for four years will seek to contribute to the economic growth and social development of the country through the inclusive, heterogeneous and effective participation of civil society in the process of local governance. Funded by the European Union and implemented in 25 municipalities in the provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Huíla, Luanda and Malanje, the action is part of EU policies on strengthening civil society and decentralisation and local development processes, and complements other EU-funded initiatives aimed at increasing the participation of Angolan citizens.

The two entities are finalising details for the participation of staff from municipalities and provinces in projects related to the local promotion of employment in Latin America, the fight against discrimination against migrants in Morocco or local initiatives to prevent drug demand in Central Asia.