Achieving SDG 2 is also linked with improved water management (SDG 6), well-planned sustainable infrastructure and innovations (SDG 9), securing access for all to land and basic services (SDG 1.4.) sustainable consumption (SDG 12), and many other areas in which LRGs have direct competences and responsibilities. Finally, since October 2015, 130 cities have signed the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact.74 The pact recommends an enabling framework of sustainable food policies and encourages participant cities to exchange good practices and build a common framework of action. Cities such as Rosario in Argentina have engaged in peer-to-peer exchanges and produce several welldocumented reports on urban farming as an effective tool to localize this key global goal.
5.4.3 Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls UCLG estimates that around 20% of councilors and just 5% of mayors globally are women. However, the lack of a reliable indicator on women’s representation in local government makes it very difficult to track progress on SDG indicator 5.5.1 on the representation of women in local government. For this reason, in the Framework of the 61st session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Mayor of Paris and UCLG Co-President, Anne Hidalgo launched the ‘Be Counted’ campaign calling for the development of better and more reliable data to assess indicator 5.5.1. Local and regional governments (LRGs) have an established track record of working for gender equality, with a particular focus on increasing the representation of local elected women and promoting the participation of all women in local decision-making. In 2013, the Global Conference of Local Elected Women adopted the Paris Local and Regional Government Global Agenda for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life. The Agenda is inspired by the Worldwide Declaration on Women in Local Government and the values and principles contained in the European Charter on Equality of Women and Men in Local Life. The Charter was adopted in 2006 by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) as a clear commitment to equality and the implementation of concrete actions for the promotion of gender equality in political participation, employment, access to public services, and urban planning. To date, more than 1,400 LRGs in 29 different countries have signed the Charter. Another precedent was set by the Worldwide Declaration on Women in Local Government, adopted in 1998 by the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA). The Worldwide Declaration is a foundational document for those international principles and commitments guiding the action of LRGs in the field of women’s rights. The global networks of local and regional governments have developed specific initiatives to strengthen women’s participation. UCLG has created a Standing Committee on Gender Equality that monitors and promotes the participation of women at local level across the world. The Metropolis Women Network, set up in 2005, promotes cooperation and the exchange of experiences between women working as managers, public policy leaders, businesswomen, professionals, civil society leaders and academics in metropolitan areas. Women in Cities International (WICI), founded in 2002, focuses on gender equality and the participation of women in urban development and organizes periodically an International Conference for Women’s Safety.
74 The text of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, signed in October 2015, is available online and can be accessed at this address: http://www. milanurbanfoodpolicypact.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Milan-Urban-Food-Policy-Pact-EN.pdf.
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