Welcome to the United Nations
Transformation from the ground up: Acting at local level
With at least 65 percent of SDG targets linked to the work and mandates of local and regional governments, local action is essential for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Local governments are at the forefront of addressing the unique challenges and opportunities within their communities, making them pivotal in implementing and monitoring progress towards the SDGs. Their proximity to citizens allows for more tailored and responsive governance, which is crucial for addressing issues such as poverty, inequality, and environmental sustainability at the grassroots level. The recognition of the crucial role of local governments and actors continues to grow. This is evident in the successive political declarations of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF,[1]), where Member States have repeatedly emphasized the importance of localizing the SDGs, as well as in the Political Declaration of the 2023 SDG Summit and the 2024 Pact for the Future.
In recent years, local and regional governments have increasingly embraced Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) to assess and report on their progress towards the SDGs. The global VLR movement has provided an unprecedented push towards localization yielding significant benefits in areas such as sustainable development planning, inclusive and participatory governance, data innovation, and multilevel governance.
This session will showcase successful local and regional approaches to accelerating sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the SDGs. It will discuss the enablers of these successes and consider how local action can be expanded in all regions to accelerate progress towards all 17 goals.
Proposed guiding questions:
- How have SDG localization efforts, including the preparation of VLRs and Voluntary Subnational Reviews (VSRs), led to advances in the implementation of sustainable development? Please share concrete examples from your local, regional or national context in relation to a) increasing stakeholder engagement in local SDG implementation; b) improving and local data systems that contribute to evidence-based action; and c) integrating SDGs into local and national planning.
- How can national and subnational authorities better access and leverage financing, including by diversifying income and finance resources, to scale local efforts and accelerate progress towards the SDGs? What positive concrete examples can be shared?
Chair:
- H.E. Maritza Chan, Vice-President of ECOSOC
Moderator:
- Ms. Emilia Saiz, Secretary-General, United Cities and Local Governments
Panellists:
- Ms. Carmen Paz, Mayor, San Nicolás, Honduras
- Mr. Tebogo Matlou, Project Manager International Programmes and Partnerships at South Africa Local Government Association (SALGA)
Lead discussants:
- Ms. Nazia Rehman, Wigan Council, UK and Chair, Committee on Social Inclusion and Human Dignity, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Council of Europe
- Mr. Rudolf Heinrich Bühler, Bäuerliche Erzeugergemeinschaft Schwäbisch Hall
Interactive discussion:
Due to limited time and to maximise participation, interventions in interactive discussions should be limited to two to three minutes. The time limit will be strictly implemented, using a timing device and/or microphone cutoff as necessary. Depending on the number of requests for the floor in a given discussion, the time limit may be adjusted downward, as necessary. Participants are discouraged from reading prepared statements; instead, they are encouraged to make informal remarks and engage in an interactive discussion. Priority will be given to ministerial-level interventions.
