The United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable took place online from 7-16 July 2020, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council.
This year's theme was "Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development ". In light of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, all events were held virtually instead of in New York City, as planned. UCLG President Mohamed Boudra intervened at the formal opening of the HLPF on 7 July on behalf of the non-member states constituencies. The delegation of local and regional governments was composed by over 100 delegates from which 40 are political representatives. You may find the full live broadcast by following this link.
After the formal opening, the first session of the Local and regional Governments' delegation at the HLPF, the Voluntary Local Review Series Launch, took place on 8 July. This launch event session presented the first volume of Guidelines for VLRs jointly developed by UCLG and UN-Habitat, showcasing the importance that VLRs play not only in monitoring and evaluating progress towards the SDGs but also in contributing towards multilevel governance and the transformation necessary to achieve just, resilient, and sustainable cities, territories, and societies that guarantee protection to all citizens during and beyond times of crisis.
You may find more information on this publication by following this link. For a detailed coverage of this session, please visit this link.
The Local and Regional Governments Day was held on 10 July 2020. UCLG, on behalf of the Global Taskforce, convened a dedicated event of the organized constituency of local and regional governments at the HLPF. The objective of the LRG Day is to bring together the whole delegation of local and regional governments to discuss and agree on the constituency's Statement to the HLPF; reinforce linkages with partners from the UN, civil society, and other stakeholders; and define the priorities of the constituency for the decade of action.
Participants discussed the LRG constituency's Joint Statement to the 2020 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and defined priorities for the post-COVID-19 period. The event also marked the launch of a UCLG report, under the title Towards the Localization of the SDGs. UCLG Secretary General Emilia Saiz and UCLG co-president Jan Van Zanen participated in the session, together with many other local and international leaders. Find the full recording here.
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Organized by the Global Taskforce together with UN DESA, UN-Habitat, UNDP and the Executive Office of the UN Secretary General, the third edition of the Local and Regional Governments Forum took place on 13 July. It produced a debate and strong commitments from local and regional governments, national authorities and the international community to support a transformative bottom-up process grounded on multilevel governance based on the achievement of the SDGs in the aftermath of the COVID19 crisis, while contributing to the Decade of Action. Please find more detailed information about this session here. The full recording of the event is available on Youtube.
The last main event in which UCLG was involved was the Dialogue between UCLG and UHC2030. Co-organized with the WHO, the session envisioned the future of health services and the critical role that local governments can play to ensure that no-one is left behind in our communities, ensuring the link between science and policymaking in regards to healthcare, and protecting those that need it the most as well as the public servants that take care of us. The format allowed for an open dialogue between our constituency and experts and high-level health authorities. Please find more details about this session here.
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