Alongside the example of China (see above), in Asia local governments are being mobilized in particular in Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Republic of Korea. Overall, for the Asian continent, the information made available by states and associations is still very limited. LRGs in the Republic of Korea – for example, Seoul, Gwangju, Jeonju, Cheongju, Suwon, and the Bupyeong District (Incheon) – have established voluntary implementation strategies at the local level (see Box 5).35 In Indonesia, several districts and municipalities have already shown their commitment to the implementation of the SDGs36 – the Pangkep District, for instance, which is designing an SDGs Regional Action Plan focused on poverty, education, health, and the conservation of marine ecosystems. The city of Jakarta is preparing a roadmap for the localization of the SDGs, whose indicators will be included in the city’s Medium-Term Development Plan 2018-2023. The Province of Riau has initiated a pilot project (see Box 5) on the localization of the Goals. In the Philippines, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and its regional offices have committed to empower local governments – through capacitating, the provision of dedicated resources, and the establishment of effective institutions – to incorporate the SDGs in local plans and policies. There are more valuable examples coming from countries in this region. In Bangladesh, for instance, most efforts are still concentrated on awareness-raising initiatives.37 In India, several states have initiated a process of alignment with the SDGs and begun developing roadmaps for the implementation.38 The State of Assam has been the first federated unit to produce a roadmap and begin experimenting with pilot projects in several villages. In Nepal, local elections have taken place in May and June 2017. These dynamics, combined with an overall weakness of sub-national governments, have delayed and hindered any plans on SDG localization. Budget allocations to local governments, however, do take the SDGs into consideration, with 65% of the resources being destined to the achievement of Goals 7, 9 and 11.
Market scene in Seoul (photo: Marcelo Druck/ Flickr.com)
35 See for reference: Government of the Republic of Korea, Year One of Implementing the SDGs in the Republic of Korea: From a Model of Development Success to a Vision for Sustainable Development, page 7. About 100 local governments (out of 243) have established Local Councils for Sustainable Development (LCSD) and could play a major role in the implementation the SDGs. The LCSD were created as follow-up of the Earth Summit over the last 20 years. They are based on a public sector-civil society institutional partnership. 36 The Pangkep District in the South Sulawesi Province, the Bojonegoro District in East Java, the Kubu Raya District in West Kalimantan, the Gunung Kidul District in Yogyakarta, and the East Lampung District in Lampung. 37 The Upazila Governance Project (UZGP) and Union Parishad Governance Project (UPGP), within the Local Government Division (LGD), have organized awareness-raising workshops on SDG localization in seven districts, about 130 more have already been planned.
36
38 The VNR of India mentions progress in developing strategies, plans, roadmaps, and indicators, as well as in the identification of projects compatible with SDG implementation, in the following states: Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh.