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TOWARDS THE LOCALIZATION OF THE SDGs
4.5
“Peace and partnerships” pillar
The impact of COVID-19 on SDGs 16 and 17 The COVID-19 pandemic has hit at a time when the relationship between governments and their citizens was already under pressure. The social and economic effects of the decade of austerity that followed the 2008 economic and financial crisis has had a major impact on democratic institutions and the political system. However, without trusted and effective governance institutions, the “peaceful, just and inclusive” societies advocated by SDG 16 and the constellation of alliances and partnerships needed to strengthen the means of implementation (SDG 17) and achieve the SDGs will be even more elusive. From the global to the local level, these institutions are of pivotal importance for tackling poverty, reducing inequality and providing the effective and inclusive public services demanded by citizens, and even more so in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has forced governments to adopt a number of drastic temporary measures; the most notable of these have been the national states of emergency declared in many countries. 242 For citizens, the rights that have been most curtailed have been freedom of expression, personal integrity and security,
and freedom of movement and assembly. 243 National governments have transitioned back and forth from recentralization to entrusting local authorities with new responsibilities. 244 While the recentralization of powers has often been justified as a way of avoiding the fragmentation of political action and of reducing potential inequalities in the provision of resources, the differentiated impact of the pandemic on different territories has tended to favour the transferring of certain powers and responsibilities to the local level. 245 Taking a more general perspective, the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergency responses to it have raised the question of which coordination mechanisms need to be prepared for possible future crises. It is also important to decide which actors should be involved, their modes and territorial scales of intervention, and their relations and interdependencies with other actors and territories. In the months and years to come, the future of local and regional governance will be marked by the extent to which recovery packages are able to take into account the crucial role that local governments can play as frontline responders to up-coming crises. It is crucial to learn important lessons from
