Launch of the 5th GOLD report: “The Localization of the Global Agendas”

On November 14, the official launch of the 5th Global Report on Decentralization and Local Democracy GOLD of the global organization UCLG (United Cities and Local Governments) took place in Durban, South Africa, in the framework of the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders. 

Under the title “The Localization of the Global Agendas”, the 5th GOLD Report examines the contribution of Local and Regional Governments to the implementation of Global Agendas through their localization and how each country's level of decentralization can contribute to it. In addition, the document includes a multitude of efforts being carried out by Local and Regional Governments to respond to the challenges set by these Agendas, highlighting the role of LRGs as an indisputable engine in the implementation of the Global Agendas.

This three-year publication is an UCLG initiative in collaboration with the Barcelona Provincial council, and it analyzes and compares the situation of local governments around the world in regards to the development of their public policies. The first GOLD Report was published in 2007 and has since been consolidated as a source of information and reference on the evolution and status of Local and Regional Governments, local democracy and decentralization at a global level.

So far four reports have been published: GOLD I (2007) on the state of local democratization and governance; GOLD II (2010) on local finance worldwide; GOLD III (2013) on the access to basic local services and the global urbanization process; and GOLD IV (2016), which supports the development of the New Urban Agenda, resulting from the Habitat III Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development of the United Nations.