UCLG and UCLG ASPAC are actively supporting the cities and local governments to support the 2030 Global Agenda by the United Nations (UN), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There is only 9 year left to achieve the SGDs. Therefore, there is a need to increase the pace with concrete action in Asia and the Pacific in which local government is a key role in the acceleration.
In the Asia Pacific region, Local and regional governments (LRGs) have played a central role in the achievement of the SDGs as well as have encouraged the strategic regional partnership that could significantly help achieve the SDGs at local level. The growing numbers of local governments who have established city-to-city cooperation sets the foundation for the needs to establish mutual partnership between local entities. It is one of the main ways for LRGs taking part of the search for good practices of partnership to address their domestic challenges. Decentralised cooperation forms an essential part of SDGs localisation process. It opens up a new field and new opportunities in the international action of the LRGs.
UCLG had discovered that there was a need for narratives on decentralized cooperation and the SDGs. The need to improve more awareness on capacity building happened to be substantial since there had been a growing interest in capacity building surrounding decentralized cooperation. In addition to that, the need to communicate and engage the citizens was viewed as compulsory.
In response to the findings, UCLG has launched a learning Module 4: Localizing the SDGs through Decentralized Collaboration which contains a tool for an integrated approach for the localization of the agenda. The aim of this module is to reduce the knowledge gap, engage to develop output to improve practice, enhance existing cooperative engagements, and have transformative decentralized cooperation aligned with and operationalizing the SDGs.
The modules consist of six chapters with basic questions as the titles which make them practical to use. It was designed by practitioners with the focus on the know-how tips and study case.
In continuing to promote and support the cooperation among LRGs, UCLG ASPAC and UCLG-Learning in collaborating with the Platform, UN Habitat and UN ESCAP have agreed to organise and facilitate a roll out of the Module 4 on Decentralised Cooperation and SDGs localisation servicing as a three-day Training of Trainers (ToT) sessions targeting UCLG ASPAC members in Asia Pacific. The main objective of this first Training of Trainers is to empower and build the capacity of dedicated LRGs staff in charge of Decentralized cooperation who will serve as focal points to promote and anchor Decentralized Cooperation and SDGs Localisation.
The first Training of Trainers will be held on 8, 25, and 26 November 2021. It will be conducted and organised remotely via Zoom Platform. This 3 days’ ToT workshop will cover all of the material contained in Module 4. The first day will be held on November 8th and will be an introductory session setting the scene and covering chapters 1 and 2 of the module. All attendees will then be given three weeks to study the material for the remaining content which will run on November 25th where chapters 3 and 4 will be covered and will conclude on November 26th with chapters 5 and 6.
During the training there will be group discussions, group exercises and participants shared experiences. And there will be case studies selected from the ASPAC region which will be shared in this training of trainers.
BY KM TEAM
