Understanding and Supporting the Role of Local Organisations in Sustainable Development

Abstract

"All poverty reduction is 'local' in that it has to improve conditions on the ground for those living in a particular locality — for instance providing or improving schools, health care, water and sanitation, support for livelihoods or safety nets. Almost all aspects of good environmental management depend on local knowledge and local action. Thus, both poverty reduction and good environmental management depend on local organisations — for what they do on the ground, for the resources they mobilise, for the knowledge they bring, for the accountability they should provide to low-income groups. Indeed, the achievement of almost all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and their associated targets depends on more effective, pro-poor local organisations."