The United Nations University Office at the UN, New York in cooperation with the Government of Catalonia, is organizing a multi-part panel discussion as part of the UNU Midday Forums entitled "Decentralized Governments and the New Multilateralism". It will feature experts in decentralized cooperation, including representatives from the Government of Catalonia, the UNU Programme on Comparative Regional Integration Studies and the United Nations Development Programme. The panel discussion will provide insights on various approaches towards multilateral cooperation and on potential avenues for decentralized governments to establish relations with bodies such as the United Nations and the European Union. The panel will include a presentation and discussion of the Multilateral Development Cooperation Strategy prepared by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia. Among other objectives, the strategy aims to promote greater participation by autonomous governments, as well as non-state actors, in cooperation for development. The strategy was prepared by the Catalonian government in an effort to better align its cooperation policies with multilateral cooperation bodies, in addition to widening the policy space for and promoting the value of decentralized and non-government participation in cooperation for development.  The conference should be of great interest for scholars and practitioners in the fields of cooperation for development, multilevel governance and federalism.

With the UNU-UN Midday Forum, UNU, being a think-tank of and for the UN, aims to provide an intimate setting for the exchange of ideas and experiences, relating to topics currently researched within the UNU and the UN, thus giving academics and policy makers an opportunity to participate in the intellectual work of the organization in a constructive, informal setting. The physical setting will either be at the United Nations or, if appropriate, at academic or similar institutions in the New York area.

Date: Monday, October 19, 2009 

Venue: The Dag Hammarskjöld Library Penthouse, UN Headquarters, New York, New York

Time: 10:00 a.m. to 13:00 p.m EDT, GMT-5

Note: For those who require a visitors pass, please come to the UN Information Desk upon arrival after passing through the security tent at the UN Secretariat. 

Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the event begins.