This report was launched during the Sixth OECD Roundtable of Mayors and Ministers. The review finds that while Mexico has taken important steps in addressing the urban challenges in the Valle de México, Mexico’s largest metropolitan area, there is a need for major metropolitan governance reform. The main message of the review is that serious urban governance failings are inhibiting adequate responses to critical urban development priorities – urban regeneration, access to adequate housing, reliable and safe public transport and environmental protection. 

This 5th OECD World Forum addressed the question of how to best put into practice new well-being measures to improve public policies and people’s lives, by showcasing real-world examples of action and implementation. A roundtable on well-being at the local and regional level discussed policies that take regional differences into account and their impact on national well-being performance. The forum was held in Guadalajara, Mexico on 13-15 October 2015.

This report was launched at the 5th OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policy. The report provides a comprehensive picture on the territorial differences in many well-being dimensions across the 31 Mexican states and the Federal District. It represents a sound base for state and local policy makers, political leaders and citizens to better understand people’s living conditions, gauge progress in various aspects of economy and society and use these indicators to improve the design and implementation of policies. It is a part of the How’s Life in Your Region? More about the report...

The OECD Principles on Water Governance were backed by Ministers at the 2015 MCM on 3-4 June and endorsed by 65 major stakeholders through the Daegu Declaration when it was handed to the OECD Secretary General at the 7^th World Water Forum. The Principles are already being used in several countries and by stakeholders as standards for good water governance. Thanks to the contribution of key members of the Water Governance Initiative and permanent delegations at OECD, the Principles are now available in 15 languages. The translations are expected to widen global dissemination by making the Principles accessible to different communities and by bringing new stakeholders on board.

The OECD report Water Resources Governance in Brazil was launched on 2 September in a high-level multi-stakeholder event in Brasilia. It is the result of an 18 month-policy dialogue between the OECD and the Brazilian National Water Agency (ANA). On 3 November, the OECD Secretary-General signed a new agreement with the President of the National Water Agency to carry out a follow-up policy dialogue to support the implementation of OECD recommendations, in particular on setting and governing economic instruments for water resources management in Brazil. The resulting report will be a major input to the 8th World Water Forum to be held in Brasilia in March 2018.

The web Toolkit gathers the resources to guide implementation of the OECD Principles on Effective Public Investment Across Levels of Government. It includes country profiles, good practices and indicators of implementation.

What is new?

• The OECD and the EU Committee of the Regions (CoR) conducted a survey with sub-national governments in the EU to assess the challenges linked to the implementation of the OECD principles at the sub-national level. The results (from the 295 respondents) will be presented in a lunchtime briefing and debate: Infrastructure planning and investments across levels of government with the CoR in Brussels on 10 November 2015, and will be discussed in a high-level meeting with the CoR by by OECD Deputy Secretary-General, Mari Kiviniemi, on 11 December. 
• The case study of implementation of the principles in Eastern Slovakia Making the Most of Public Investment in Eastern Slovakia will available shortly.

The OECD participated in five side-events organised in the framework of UN 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development held on 13-16 July 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. High-level policy makers across the globe gathered to agree on a new framework to finance the ambitious post-2015 development agenda, in particular to set Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Addis declaration recognises the territorial dimension and the role of sub-national governments in inclusive and sustainable economic and social development (article 34), which is a major achievement since Monterrey.