• The Government of Catalonia takes part in the 3rd World Forum of Local Economic Development held in Torino
  • Manuel Manonelles, the Generalitat’s Director General for Multilateral and European Affairs, joins UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on stage of the LED World Forum to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the post-2015 development agenda
3rd World Forum on LED
Ban Ki-Moon and Manuel Manonelles during the World Forum of Local Economic Development in Torino
This morning the Director General for Multilateral and European Affairs, Manuel Manonelles, took part in the 3rd World Forum of Local Economic Development in Torino (Italy). The event, chaired by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, was attended by Italy’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, the President of the Senate of Italy, Pietro Grasso, Mayor of Torino and President of the Association of Italian Local Authorities Piero Fassino, and several representatives from the European Union, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
 
During his speech, Director General Manonelles underlined Catalonia’s commitment to the values of the United Nations and especially to those of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, the head of the Multilateral & European Affairs Directorate-General stressed that while “there has been an increased recognition of the role of regional and local governments have at international level, some countries are living processes of recentralization, which many times are veiled under the excuse of administrative or financial efficiency measures”, to which he warned of the “political consequences” that these may cause.
 
On his behalf, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, highlighted that the new 2030 Agenda is a “visionary and ambitious” document that at the same time “must be easily implemented”. In this regard “the role of regions and local authorities is key to turn the Objectives of Sustainable Development into reality”, affirmed the UN Secretary-General.
 
General Director Manonelles was accompanied by the delegate of the Catalan Government to Italy, Luca Bellizzi. Additionally, a copy of the Catalan version of the Sustainable Development Goals was given to the UN Secretary-General cabinet in the spirit of multilateral cooperation and as a sign of Catalonia’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda.
 
The Forum was co-organized by two entities based in Barcelona, the United Cities and Local Governments Organization (CGLU) and the Organization of United Regions (ORU-Fogar)