ASEAN Symposium

Local Governments and their Role in Localising SDGs at the ASEAN Symposium

Panelists of ASEAN – China – UNDP Symposium on Localising the SDGs and Realising Poverty Eradication, 20-21 August 2018 (Siem Reap) including Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC.

ASEAN, in coordination with UNDP and China, held a Symposium on Localising the SDGs and Realising Poverty Eradication in Cambodia last August 20-21, 2018.

The symposium brought together senior government officials, civil society organizations, and private sector representatives from ASEAN Member States and reinvigorated the efforts taken by governments in Southeast Asia in localising the global agenda. It also explored ways of optimising ASEAN Vision 2025 in the implementation of SDGs. One of the agenda of the symposium is “Under the Sun, Under the Tree” that allowed local communities to engage with symposium participants.

Discussions also revolved on other topics such as gender mainstreaming,

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disaster risk reduction, sustainable livelihood for farmers and entrepreneurs, and capacity building for workforce and local officials.

During the sharing of best practices on localising SDGs, UCLG ASPAC, through the Secretary General, highlighted the crucial role of local governments and local government associations in localising SDGs. She also mentioned that some countries in ASEAN have not had local governments associations that provide platform for local governments to interact. UCLG ASPAC also presented the result of its assessment towards city enabling environment from countries in Asia and the Pacific. She used the opportunity to thank ASEAN for providing the accreditation to ASEAN Mayors Forum as the first network of local governments that received such accreditation. She hoped that ASEAN will further engage local governments in the SDGs Localisation.