Boex, Jamie (2010) Localizing the MDGs: Unlocking the potential of the local public sector to engage in development and poverty reduction. IDG Working Paper No. 2010-04.

Given the vast scale of the global development challenge, it is increasingly clear that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are pursued in a manner that is excessively top-down in nature and that the distance between central government authorities and their citizens is too large for central authorities to effectively empower the people over the public sector.

This paper explores to what extent local public entities—whether in the form of elected local governments or through deconcentrated local departments of the national government—can contribute to achieving poverty reduction and development outcomes, as in most countries they are responsible for the bulk of pro-poor public services (such as primary education, basic health services, agricultural extension). It presents the technical, political and institutional obstacles that need to be overcome in order to unlock the potential of local governments to contribute to the acceleration of the MDGs and what the international development community can do to facilitate this process.