Integrating civil society and local authorities, a Global Gateway game-changer

The European Union’s Global Gateway strategy aims to strengthen the bloc’s global influence, providing a clear alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. European Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen believes integrating civil society and local authorities will be a game-changer.

It aims to achieve this by mobilising up to €300 billion for sustainable projects between 2021 and 2027. The initiative emphasises a territorial dimension and the impact on citizens’ lives of an increasing number of policies, as well as the deployment of a significant portion of public investment at the local level.

“Leaders of local and regional authorities are the main agents of change on the ground. They are the ones who can make a difference for citizens. With civil society and local authorities integrated into implementing Global Gateway, it will be a game changer,” European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen remarked at the most recent Cities and Regions for International Partnerships Forum.

As the strategy considers local governments as stakeholders in the international cooperation for development, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)/PLATFORMA is one of the local authorities associations that is part of the European Commission’s Civil Society and Local Authorities Dialogue Platform, launched at the margins of the Global Gateway Forum.

The platform will serve as a space for civil society and local authorities to provide feedback on the Global Gateway rollout, and to exchange with the Commission on opportunities to engage in country-level partnerships.

Localising Global Gateway

In line with the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), hundreds of Global Gateway initiatives are now underway in regions across the European Neighbourhood, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia and Pacific, and Africa.

Flagship projects include the Medusa Optical Fibre Cable, which aims to link 500 universities and research institutes in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt with those in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Cyprus via a 7,100-kilometre fibre-optic cable, or the BELLA II Initiative, aiming to expand the digital landscape of Latin America and the Caribbean, while promoting knowledge-sharing and cooperation in research, innovation and education with the EU.

Boosting African healthcare

Towards the end of last year, the EU increased support for vaccine production in Rwanda as the first mRNA facility was inaugurated in Kigali. The €40 million financial agreement aims to support local manufacturing in Rwanda, boosting African healthcare from within. It includes investments in nurturing local research and development and building up the surrounding talent pool.

Another notable project is that of a desalination plant in Jordan’s capital, Amman, which faces water shortages exacerbated by climate change. This project, expected to come to fruition by the end of 2028, will continuously supply water so that people will no longer have to ration it. The €3 billion project is also expected to create 4,000 jobs during its construction phase, boosting the local economy.

Almost €1.5 billion will be mobilised to support connectivity projects in Central Asia, facilitating transport in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. This investment is expected to improve people’s quality of life, strengthen growth and employment opportunities, bring people closer together and foster social and gender equality.

Empowering local governments to make a change

CEMR and PLATFORMA’s annual study on the localisation of the SDGs released in 2023, showed that 65% of the 169 targets underpinning the 17 SGDs cannot be achieved without the involvement of local and regional governments, calling for decentralised cooperation and partnerships.

“Local and regional governments need to be empowered to act and to be given a greater share of responsibilities. They must also be supported financially. It is only through these means that subnational governments will be able to design and implement strategies suitable to their local context and the needs of their citizens,” explains CEMR President Gunn Marit Helgesen. She warned authorities not to overlook the most vulnerable groups and young people. Without their involvement, she said, the implementation of SDGs will fail.

“Local and regional councillors, mayors and presidents of regions, and other representatives of local and regional communities engage directly with citizens in working towards the achievement of the SDGs. The citizens’ involvement is key to building more resilient governance systems,” Helgesen remarked.

In addition to the Civil Society and Local Authorities Dialogue Platform, Technical Assistance and Information Exchange (TAIEX) – the peer-to-peer exchange and cooperation tool of the European Commission has been presented to local authorities of partner countries.

[By Xhoi Zajmi I Edited by Brian Maguire | Euractiv’s Advocacy Lab ]

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