Officieel bezoek van een congresdelegatie van de Raad van Europa aan de Verenigde Naties (en(

Met dank overgenomen van Raad van Europa (RvE) i, gepubliceerd op donderdag 20 juli 2006.

Strasbourg, 20.07.2006 - A delegation from the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities will make an official visit to the United Nations in New York from 24 to 26 July 2006. Giovanni di Stasi, Past-President of the Congress, Herwig van Staa, Vice-President of the Congress, Ian Micallef, President of the Chamber of Local Authorities, and Ulrich Bohner, Chief Executive of the Congress, will have meetings with the UN Deputy Secretary-General and the Under-Secretary-Generals for development and economic affairs.

Their discussions will focus in particular on the draft "Guidelines on decentralization and the strengthening of local authorities" developed under the UN-Habitat programme, and inspired in part by the Council of Europe's European Charter of Local Self-Government.

The adoption of these guidelines – which were prepared in partnership with governments, international institutions and non-governmental organisations – constitutes an important step towards the strengthening of local authorities. The Congress has been supporting and encouraging the international community's efforts to establish an international framework for local democracy ever since the first UN summit (the Habitat II conference) held in Istanbul in 1996.

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