The first Global Forum on Local Development - held by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Uganda in Kampala in October 2010 - engaged a large and diverse range of stakeholders around the central question: Do local governments hold the key to faster MDG achievement?

Over 600 participants from 81 countries came to Kampala for three days of discussion and debate. The Forum took place at a critical crossroads: immediately after the September 2010 MDG Summit in New York, which focused on the need for acceleration strategies, and at the beginning of the final five year stretch to reach the Goals.