Reported end date passed· Governance

Fostering COVID-19 recovery and SDG implementation through local action in Asia-Pacific, Arab and African countries

The achievement of the SDGs and a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic largely depend on local action. This is reflected in the UN Secretary General’s report on Our Common Agenda and Decade of Action, which identifies local action as one of the critical levels of intervention to achieve the SDGs. At the same time, local and regional governments across Africa, Asia-Pacific, and the Arab States face challenges that are hampering their capacities to deliver on their development mandate – challenges exacerbated by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic: limited data availability and management capacities; insufficient resources; scarce technical expertise; lack of dialogue and coherence with national governments and development framework; detachment from regional and global agendas and debates. These challenges greatly affect local and regional governments’ abilities to plan for sustainable development and implement the SDGs. Through a territorial approach to sustainable development anchored on multilevel governance participation and inclusion, the project aims at reinforcing the capacities of local and regional governments and multilevel governance systems to advance the localization of the SDGs. Local and regional governments will be accompanied to adopt the global urban monitoring framework as the indicators’ framework of reference for the development of Voluntary Local Reviews, and further connected to the SDG Cities programme cycle to develop City Development Strategies and related transformative projects. With the involvement of key partners, the projects’ beneficiaries will also be lined with regional and global processes to discuss their experiences and learn from peers.

Source-reported status: active. Timeline labels use reported dates and do not verify current activity.