Voluntary Local Reviews of SDGs Can Help Communities Embed Inclusiveness In Their COVID19 Recovery

Actions carried out at the local level in Africa are at the heart of the continent’s efforts to “move forward better” from the pandemic. This recognition has led African member states to adopt this approach.

This was a key element of a side event on Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs), organized by ECA on the sidelines of the 2021 High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in New York City.

The side event featured a presentation and discussion of the upcoming Africa Regional Voluntary Local Review (VLR) guidelines, produced jointly by ECA, UN-Habitat and UCLG-A. Introducing the directive, Jean-Paul Adam, director of the Division of Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Management at ECA, revealed that it was developed in response to a mandate from member states during the the 6^e African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development in 2020, and that it will help countries follow both the SDGs and Africa’s Agenda 2063.

Oumar Sylla, Regional Director for Africa at UN-Habitat, noted that more than 60 percent of SDG targets relate directly to local regional governments, and that Africa continues to urbanize – with more than half of the population that will live in cities within 15 years – making the localization of sustainable development even more vital.

This was echoed by Jean-Pierre Mbassi, Secretary General of UCLG-A, who added that COVID-19 has presented challenges to local governments, especially when it comes to their budgets and that VLR is a holistic approach in which all actors are partners and can contribute – a process that will benefit localities’ COVID-19 response plans.

In response to the regional guidelines, high-level representatives from Hodh Chargui, Cape Town, Accra, Victoria Falls and the Uganda National SDG Secretariat noted that such a guide is essential to build on the specific experiences of African cities, districts and governorates. These locations are at different stages of completion of the VLR, and their experiences have both been directly incorporated into the guidelines, and will be further supported by the publication of the guidelines.

The event, which was organized by ECA, UN-Habitat, UCLG-A, DESA and OSAA, is part of a series of consultation and dissemination events organized around the VLR process in Africa.