The Basque Government takes over the representation of ORU Fogar in the Partnership of Cooperation Effectiveness

The Basque Government, through their Basque Agency of Cooperation for Development- eLankidetza, has assumed the representation of ORU Fogar at the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC). The representation will be held by Javier Cortés, director of the Basque agency, who takes on the role from the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Regional Government), and particularly, from Javier Sánchez, who had been perfoming this role for several years.

The nomination was approved by the Executive Bureau of ORU Fogar. This change comes after the professional transition of Javier Sánchez, whose contribution has been widely valued at ORU Fogar for his technical and political commitment towards decentralised and effective cooperation. 

The Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC) is a multi-stakeholder platform, supported by the UNDP and the OECD, created in 2012 after de Busan High Level Forum (2011), whose objective is to maximize the effectiveness of all forms of cooperation for development. The partnership is structured around four fundamental principles: appropriation by partner countries, focus on results, inclusive associations, and transparency with mutual accountability. These principles were previously included in the Paris Declaration of 2055 and the Accra Action Agenda of 2008.

ORU Fogar has been part of the Directive Committe since 2014, representing the regional governments. This representation gives visibility to the role of decentralized cooperation in the international development system, and has allowed regional governments to position themselves as key actors in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals from the territories.

The Basque Government’s designation comes at a moment when its commitment to international cooperation is specially noticeable.  Not only has it one of the highest development budgets among the European Regions, but it has also generated key reflections and reports about decentralized cooperation. Some of these studies were quoted at the last GPEDC Forum held in Busan (2023).

With this new representation, ORU Fogar reaffirms its willingness to keep participating actively in GPEDC, promoting more inclusive, effective and transparent policies, with decentralized cooperation capable of responding to global challenges from the territory.