Presentation
Presentation
One year after the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations still many local and regional governments (LRGs) are not sufficiently familiarized with this universal and integrated set of Goals. Following the valuable lessons learned from the conclusion of the MDG era, UCLG, UNDP and UN-Habitat have made a great effort to reach LRGs and foster their engagement in the achievement of the SDGs. In this process, the Roadmap for Localizing the SDGs, drawn up by the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, UNDP and UN-Habitat, offers LRGs a set of strategies that will enable them to take part in this process. As mentioned in the Roadmap, “all of the SDGs have targets directly related to the responsibilities of local and regional governments”. For this reason, it is LRG elected and appointed officials’ duty to be ready to participate in the localization of the SDGs. In order to achieve this, it is crucial to offer them the necessary tools and knowledge so that they can contribute to this process in their territories and, what is more, articulate other stakeholders’ and the citizenship’s involvement. The Roadmap is structured in four parts and a conclusion. Each of the four parts offers a different approach to the localization of the SDGs. While they all overlap with each other in time and the results of taking one of the approaches are boosted when working simultaneously on the other approaches, the Roadmap presents the four parts as four separate steps. In the first place, it is crucial to raise awareness amongst the population (including the citizenship but also CSOs, the academia, the private sector and other stakeholders). But first and foremost, awareness has to be raised amongst those local and regional governments who will subsequently have to take the SDGs into account in their daily work and, in turn, raise awareness amongst the population. In this task, the role of LRG associations is very important. LRGs also have to play a major role in the adoption of the national plans for the implementation of the SDGs. Principally during the planning stage, but also in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages of the plans, LRGs have to advocate for the inclusion of the interests and needs of their territories. LRG elected and appointed officials will also have to be prepared to develop their own policies, plans, programs and projects aligned with the SDGs. This involves a great deal of different actions, as listed in the Roadmap: conducting a needs assessment, working hand in hand with other actors of the territory or actors with similar needs and perspectives, aligning existing plans 5
