Amina Mohammed inaugurates the Secretariat of the Local2030 Coalition platform in the Spanish city of Bilbao

The Deputy Secretary General of the UN has inaugurated in the Spanish city of Bilbao the Secretariat of the platform Local2030 Coalitionwhose goal is to localize the Sustainable Development Goals contained in the 2030 Agenda, approved in 2015 by world leaders and which serves as a roadmap to achieve a less unequal and more sustainable world.

“The Local2030 Coalition will bring together the combined resources of the United Nations family to enable the energy, digital, green and blue transitions necessary to achieve sustainable development“, assured Amina Mohammed, who during her stay in Spain has met with the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez.

Location must be a central element

For his part, the executive director of UN-Habitat and permanent co-chair of the Local2030 Coalition, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, explained that “the drive towards localization began with Agenda 21, evolved with the Millennium Development Goals and has become a true driving force to achieve the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. We hope that in the Post-2030 Agenda, localization will be a central element and not a mere instrument of implementation, a true manifestation of the principle of inclusive multilateralism.”

The Local2030 Coalition it is a shared space to mobilize, engage and empower all local actors in helping to strengthen the localization of the Development Goals.

In total, 14 UN agencies, funds, programs and offices are part of the Local2030 Coalition, acting as an advisory body to its Steering Committee. Together with its partners, the Coalition will generate innovative solutions for local action and impact, actively contribute to the acceleration of the 2030 Agenda and report on progress at the Sustainable Development Goals Summit in September 2023.

Also present at the inauguration were the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares; the Secretary of State for the 2030 Agenda, of the Ministry of Social Rights and the 2030 Agenda of Spain, Lilith Verstrynge; the president of the regional government of the Basque Country, Iñigo Urkullu; the mayor of Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburto, and the president of the BBK Foundation, Xabier Sagredo.

World Cities Day

The inauguration of the Local2030 Coalition Secretariat was held coinciding with the commemoration of World Cities Day to recognize the contribution of cities and local actors to address the world’s urban challenges and engage the international community in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, the roadmap for sustainable urbanization adopted at the Habitat III Conference in Removed in 2016.

The theme of this year’s World Cities Day, Act local to go global, focused on accelerating the implementation of the Development Goals in cities, towns and local communities.