Details

On 21 March 2013, the constituting meeting of the DELGOSEA Standing Committee for Democratic Local Governance (DLG) took place in Manila with representatives from four of the five countries who are currently members of the Committee.

This first get-together gave the participants a chance to discuss the precise form and set-up of the Standing Committee (SC) and to brainstorm on the priorities for action in the coming months. One of the main aims of the SC will be to be formally accredited to ASEAN and in that way have some influence on decision-making processes that affect local governance in ASEAN. To be able to complete the accreditation process, the SC might need to have involvement from all ASEAN countries – approaching local government associations (LGAs), civil society organizations and academic institutions related to local governance from the remaining five countries (Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Myanmar and Laos) will be an important first step to reach that goal.

Having agreed on the way forward, the participants continued to explore the question of what the SC actually wants to achieve as a dialogue partner of ASEAN in the field of sustaining democratic local governance as well as institutional governance. It was suggested to research through the new established secretariat of the Standing Committee in Jakarta which of the upcoming issues within ASEAN would be of particular importance to local governments so that any advocacy work can be targeted precisely. Another priority will be to develop a questionnaire to be distributed amongst the LGA members of ASEAN countries with the aim of identifying what local authorities expect from ASEAN.

However, the establishment of internal operating structures is as relevant as the planning of activities towards ASEAN. The SC made a big step forward by proposing the procedures for the Standing Committee; any amendments on these procedures shall be discussed at the next meeting in June in Jakarta.

For more information on DELGOSEA II on www.delgosea.eu