Global Taskforce: “Post-2015 Agenda will fail without local governments”
Local and regional governments of the world seized the occasion to be present in New York, at the UN Headquarters, during the UN Summit for the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development held on 25 – 27 September 2015. The stakes are high since the old Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are going to be replaced by 17 new ones called the Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs).
The Global Taskforce facilitated by UCLG, organized a number of events to celebrate the occasion and to assess the role of cities and local leaders in the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development going forward. The Global Taskforce of local and regional governments was created in 2012 in order to bring together the main international networks of local and regional governments who are working jointly ever since to represent their members during the Post-2015 and Habitat III process.
The mayors who formed the UCLG delegation to the summit had the opportunity to take part in several events such as the event on “Cities Driving Sustainable Development: Endorsing the SDGs and Committing to Their Implementation”, where the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, praised the work of the Global Taskforce over the last three years. Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN Habitat, delivered the statement.
The President of UCLG Africa and Mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Ababacar Sall participated to the summit and underlined that the SDGs are “a true revolution” because they are global and have been developed through wide consultation. He also stated that “until now global goals were defined without local governments, but the Post-2015 process has shown that we are able and ready to make this change”.
At the end of the UN summit, the Global Taskforce has presented a joint declaration to mark this important event on the adoption of Agenda Post-2015, titled “All SDGs are Local: Towards an Action Agenda in Habitat III”.
To watch the streaming of the conference “Cities Driving Sustainable Development: Endorsing the SDGs and Committing to Their Implementation”, click here.
The list of the 17 SDG proposed is available here.
