banks. Nigeria has proposed to refurbish the Conditional Grant Scheme established in 2007 to support the achievement of the MDGs, based on a mechanism of Debt Relief Gains, to incite state and local governments to mobilize resources and accelerate the implementation process.83 In its VNR, Sweden mentions an agreement between the national government and counties and municipalities to assist them in their tasks and commitments, developing specific actions for SDG implementation (promoting gender equality at the local and regional levels, in particular) with a dedicated fund of about SEK 300 million (about USD 35.2 million). In the case of Mexico, however, the information provided by the VNR is mixed. On the one hand, the VNR announces a regulation to make local finances more transparent and reduce municipal debt, which will likely strengthen the control that the national government exerts on local governments and their borrowing capacity. On the other hand, the Mexican government commits to boost local economic development in poorer and marginalized regions through the creation of Special Economic Zones.
Cattle among agaves in the state of Jalisco, Mexico (photo: Thomassin Mickaël/ Flickr.com)
This overview of published VNRs and Main Messages is not comprehensive but, as a rule of thumb, there are only rare references to comprehensive reforms intending to improve or strengthen the financial capabilities of sub-national governments. In order to achieve the SDGs, however, reforming sub-national financing systems and increasing the ability of local government to invest in the localization of the SDGs are urgent strategic priorities for the near future. National governments need to adopt intergovernmental frameworks that empower, fund, incentivize and support sub-national governments in their efforts to localize the goals. The map in Figure 3 shows how limited sub-national resources are around the world, and especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and in South and South-East Asia – the regions expected to host the most of the approximately 1.4 billion new urban dwellers that will settle in cities in the next few decades. In terms of figures that help grasp the divide across different regions of the world, the total revenue per capita in a mid-sized city in a developed country like Freiburg, in Germany, nears USD 3,600, compare to USD 0.31 in Kenema (Sierra Leone), USD 14 in Iwo (Nigeria), USD 101 in Pekalongan (Indonesia), and USD 644 in Montería (Colombia).84
83 The Debt Relief Gains mechanism implies that LRGs mobilize between 20% and 50% of co-financing from their own budget. The range of eligible areas for funding will be expanded (initially they included education, health, water and sanitation, and will now extend to encompass poverty reduction and social development). Nigeria’s VNR presents others examples of programmes that require co-management from national and sub-national governments, such as the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme for poor and vulnerable households, and the N-Power Programme, targeting the youth. 84 UCLG (2016) Co-creating the Urban Future. The Agenda of Metropolises, Cities and Territories – GOLD IV, page 147.
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