On 28th March 2012 ALDA launched the WTD Alliance through the International Conference Local authorities and civil society: a partnership for development.
ALDA, together with the 21 partners and associates of WTD (Working Together for Development), commits to share at the European and National levels the best practices of cooperation between LAs and CSOs in development cooperation.
The President of the Committee of the Regions, Ms Mercedes Bresso, who opened the Conference, highlighted the strong efforts of the Committee in this direction and the strong support to ALDA in its work.
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“The WTD Alliance would have two main objectives: implementing actions at the local level involving LAs and CSOs and bringing to policy makers those best development cooperation practices. As for the first objective, WTD has a strong local dimension by re-granting part of the resources of the project to small initiatives carried out by local authorities, of municipalities with up to 30,000 inhabitants, and local NGOs. As for the second point, we have appreciated the progress of the Structured Dialogue on Development through our membership in the CONCORD platform and we welcome the idea of the European Commission of setting up a Policy Forum on Development” stated Mr. Per Vinther, ALDA President in his intervention.
The representatives of the main European and International institutions, European Commission, Council of Europe and UNDP, shared the concerns of ALDA and of the WTD Alliance members as for the promotion of a peer and fruitful cooperation among CSOs and LAs in development.
The Conference had also the contribution of practitioners, both representatives of LAs and CSOs, involved in development cooperation processes, which highlighted the importance of cooperating at the local level when implementing and planning development actions.
Ms Antonella Valmorbida, Director of ALDA, presented the main features of actions of the WTD Alliance included in the position paper on WTD Political Dimension subscribed by its members.
The WTD Alliance aims at fostering the joint role of LAs and CSOs as promoters of democracy, social justice and human rights, promoting and favouring cooperation among all types of LAs and CSOs in order to bring their best practices of cooperation to European, national and regional institutions, trying to influence their development policies consequently.
The Alliance aims at playing a relevant political role at the EU level, as well as at the national and regional level when it comes to the promotion of good cooperation between LAs and CSOs in development cooperation. As such the WTD Alliance aims at integrating its voice and sharing its experience in the proposed Policy Forum on Development.
For more information please contact Mr Alfonso Aliberti, Project Manager of ALDA, at alfonso.aliberti@aldaintranet.org