‘India has made commendable efforts towards SDG adoption, localization and achievement’ | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Bhopal has become the first city in India to join the growing global movement on the localization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) After the release of its Voluntary Local Review (VLR). In 2015, 193 member-states of the United Nations adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable DevelopmentWhich includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 goals as an action plan for ‘people’, ‘planet’ and ‘prosperity’.
The resolution specifies mechanisms for monitoring, reviewing and reporting progress as a measure of accountability to the people. To this end, member-states submit a Voluntary National Review (VNR) to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), and more recently, sub-national and city means to drive and report on local implementation of the SDGs As VLRs level.
progress of india
India has made commendable efforts towards SDG adoption, localization and achievement. NITI Aayog presented India’s second VNR at the HLPF convened in 2020. India’s Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) has published a National Indicator Framework (NIF) for review and monitoring of SDGs., which references the United Nations’ Global Indicators Framework to represent India’s unique development journey. As noted in the NITI Aayog report, at least 23 states and union territories have prepared a vision document based on the SDGs. Almost all of them have taken steps to localize the SDGs. However, it has been a while since efforts to localize the SDGs began to reach India’s first voluntary local review at the city level.
Cities are the most important stakeholders in Agenda 2030 as at least 65% of the 169 targets cannot possibly be achieved without the involvement of local urban stakeholders. VLR is a tool to demonstrate how local actions are driving equitable and sustainable change for people and building a coalition of partners for this effort.
While it is desirable to align the city’s VLR with the state-level action plan (where available) and the country’s VNR, the process allows cities a great deal of flexibility to tell their story within the framework of their choice. Cities can choose their priority for the VLR process, expressing it in terms of a quantitative assessment using various city-level indicators relevant to the SDG goals, or using a narrative that describes the city’s efforts and vision. It may seem like a daunting task for Indian cities, especially non-metro urban local bodies, who have limited capacity, resources and disparate data, to undertake a comprehensive VLR covering all SDGs. Therefore, the VLR is not required to quantify each of the 286 indicators under India’s NIF, which translates global targets under the 17 SDGs into local indicators at the national level. Cities may choose specific SDGs for detailed review as per their priority and logistical convenience. While doing so, they can adapt and advance national indicators under the relevant SDGs to reflect city-level realities. Globally, many cities choose to align their reviews with the SDGs which are taken up for detailed review by the HLPF in its ongoing cycle.
Bhopal Scheme
VLR of Bhopal It is the result of collective collaboration of Bhopal Municipal Corporation, UN-Habitat and over 23 local stakeholders. It has identified 56 development goals for the SDGs in the three pillars of ‘People’ (SDG 1,3,4,5), ‘Planet’ (SDG 6,13,15) and ‘Prosperity’ (SDG 7,8,SDG 7,8). mapping of projects. 11). The objectives of building infrastructure and resilience stand out as a priority for the city from the number of projects mapped to the SDGs.
An in-depth quantitative assessment of city-level indicators under SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) records Bhopal’s stellar performance in solid waste management practices, public transport and per capita open spaces. However, the analysis also points to areas where the city needs to do much more work in the coming years to close the gap on the targets: provision of adequate shelter, high levels of air pollution, city planning efficiency, and even the distribution and access of open spaces.
The mayor, Malti Rai, recognized the importance of the VLR to the city and led efforts to involve the people as part of the process.
other examples
Should VLR necessarily be the prerogative of the local government? not enough. It represents a people process, and any city-level stakeholder can initiate initiatives as long as VLR is carried out within the broad framework of Agenda 2030. An example of this is the city of Canterbury in the United Kingdom where some residents and local groups came from. together to form a “seamless alliance” that VLR did. This coalition petitioned local governments to work with city-level groups to advance the SDGs, and the latter only act as an interlocutor in the VLR process. Closer home, in the Global South, we have examples of local governments in Dhulikhel (Nepal), Singra (Bangladesh), and Amman (Jordan) working in the same context as Indian cities to publish their VLRs in 2022.
This is a remarkable opportunity for Indian cities to tell their stories in their own words, using a framework of their choice to advance their work on a global platform. We hope more Indian cities will follow Bhopal’s lead in showcasing urban innovations and collaborations emerging from India on the global map.
KVS Chowdhary is the Municipal Commissioner, Bhopal Municipal Corporation. Parul Agarwal is the Country Program Manager of UN-Habitat India. Pushkal Shivam is Urban Planner, UN-Habitat India