The 2023 UCLG Retreat occurred just a few days after the devastating earthquake in Türkiye and Syria. Significant human loss and damage to infrastructure and cultural heritage continue to have repercussions in the countries. UCLG President and Mayor of Konya, Uğur İbrahim Altay, pointed out: “Do not forget that cities have centuries of history, but many of them have been damaged in recent years due to disasters. Ensuring the resilience of cities is critical to minimise the impact of disasters and ensure that our cities are places where people shelter, work and live.”
The time is ticking to meet the SDGs, which means creating more resilience and inclusive, sustainable development in cities. After the SDG Summit in September 2023, the United Nations set up an SDG Rescue Plan, which relies on multi-stakeholder localisation commitments and high-impact coalitions. These will bring significant benefits to cities and help minimise the impact of disasters, from earthquakes to the effects of climate change.
As the largest global organisation representing local and regional governments and the worldwide population, UCLG is well-placed to raise awareness and mobilise the international community. Pablo Fernández Marmissolle-Daguerre, Assistant Secretary-General for Partnerships at UCLG, shared perspectives on accelerating SDG localisation to put them back on track. “The way forward is not in doing things alone and in silos, but instead, we should focus on high-impact coalitions. UCLG represents more than half of the world’s population.” Later this year, many SDGs will be reviewed at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), with a high-impact leadership commitment for the goals in review being critical to organise efforts around localisation.
In the session, local and regional leaders issued the calls from the local and regional government constituency to achieve goals 1, 2, 13, 16, and 17, as they are the ones that will be reviewed later in the year during the HLPF:
CALLS TO ACTION
UCLG Commitment: Uğur İbrahim Altay, UCLG President.
“As the largest network of local and regional governments, UCLG wishes to reinstate our commitment to continue strengthening the Global Taskforce, to ensure that our efforts to bolster the role of local and regional governments in global tables are fruitful.”
SDG 1 (No Poverty):
Philippe Rio, Mayor of Grigny, called for specific and pragmatic initiatives led by local communities that tackle poverty and guarantee everyone’s right to the city.
SDG 2 (No Hunger):
Mohamed Sefiani, Mayor of Chefchaouen, drew attention to the recently increased food safety and hunger worldwide and called for the localisation of this SDG.
SDG 13 (Climate Action):
Sharon Dijksma, Mayor of Utrecht, drew attention to CHAMP, the coalition for high-ambition multilevel partnerships to help the government design new and ambitious climate action.
SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions):
Jan Van Zanen, Mayor of The Hague, addresed the rise in deadly victims and violent confrontations in 2023, emphasizing the importance of identifying and solving the root causes of conflicts. To this end, municipalities foster community cohesion and peaceful coexistence.
SDG 17 (Partnerships for the goals):
Paola Pabón, Mayor of Pichincha, underlined the importance of solidarity for sustainable development, boosting all the voices and finding authentic, efficient ways of collaborating.
This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of UCLG and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.