137 new Country Profiles on SDG localization are out now!

These country-by-country analyses of national and local strategies towards the 2030 Agenda were launched at the 2022 edition of the HLPF, together with the GTF’s annual report on LRGs’ actions for transformative recovery processes and sustainable local development.

The Country Profiles on SDG localization highlight the involvement and, in many cases, the leading role of local and regional governments towards the localization of the SDGs, after a brief presentation of each country’s national strategies, coordination mechanisms and reporting processes related to the 2030 Agenda. These profiles seek to encourage action at the local, national and international levels by indicating both areas of progress and remaining gaps in the recognition of LRGs’ role, based on the principles of subsidiarity and autonomy, and in their integration into decision-making and the implementation of the SDGs. 

These Country Profiles are an important complement to the report that the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments presents yearly to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum: Towards the Localization of the SDGs. This year, it focuses on the 44 countries that prepared a Voluntary National Review (VNR) in 2022, and presents first-hand information on the experiences shared by LRGs and their associations to localize the SDGs in the context of the COVID-19 recovery. The profiles complete the analysis for 137 countries that have produced VNRs during the 2016-2021 period. Contrasting information from both national and local levels, they are precisely based on information extracted from VNRs, and include insights from LRGs’ and their associations’ responses to the GTF/UCLG survey on their role in SDG localization. 

The profiles are available in two formats: altogether in one report, or by country, presented by region. With the purpose of being a hands-on and practical tool, they are structured around three main topics: (1) the countries’ national strategies for SDG implementation, (2) LRGs’ involvement in SDG localization, and (3) further relevant information, including on women’s participation in local governments. This is a key element for measuring progress towards SDG 5, as further analyzed in this report that was also launched during the HLPF: From Making Commitments to Realizing Change: Local and Regional Governments’ Progress on Gender Equality.

Find your country among the profiles available and learn more about the progress in neighbouring countries or from the other side of the world! You may find ideas to strengthen LRGs’ role and actions to achieve the 2030 Agenda from a local and inclusive perspective.