LEAD for SDGs: Ranking SDGs in Pilot Districts, Consultations for Action Research, Participation in the 10th APFSD

April 11, 2023 | Quetta – UCLG ASPAC LEAD for SDGs arranged Multi-Stakeholders’ Workshop for the provincial and two districts (Quetta and Kech) SDGs alliances to discuss the baseline study, SDGs ranking, prioritisation results, and finalising the themes relevant for action research to improve planning and development at all levels. The active local governments of pilot districts (Kech and Quetta) will align upcoming Local Development Planning with prioritised SDG Targets. Members of Local Council Associations (LCAs), SDGs Alliances, and Local Governments participated in the discussion and helped to formulate research areas as per high-scored SDG targets, Indicators, and underlying causes relevant to pilot districts and neighboring districts.

April 13 – 14, 2023 | Karachi – Local Councils Association Sindh organised a Multi-Stakeholders’ Workshop with the financial support of the European Union and the UCLG ASPAC under the LEAD for SDGs Programme. It was held to prioritise SDGs and policy briefs in Sindh with the consultation of the Sindh, Nausharo Feroze, and Larkana SDGs Alliances. The facilitators oriented the participants about SDGs, and the Localisation of SDGs and conducted group work to rank SDGs for the Districts of Larkana and Naushahro Feroze to develop effective Local Development Planning.

The workshop resulted in a collection of data on SDGs ranking and prioritisation results and finalise the themes relevant for action research to improve planning and development at all levels. The participants highlighted the areas of health, education, and the WASH sector as the most considerate in targeted districts under SDGs 3, 4, and 6 for conducting action research. 

29th March 2023 (Bangkok) Mr. Mian Rajan Sultan Pirzada, President, Association for Development of Local Governance along with representatives of Local Governments from Balochistan and Sindh participated in the 10th APFSD. As a panelist in the UCLG ASPAC Discussion on SDGs Localisation at Urban Space Engagement, he shared the LEAD for SDGs programme implemented in Pakistan and funded by the EU. In his presentation, he said that making people aware of their problems and becoming part of the solutions are the ways forward.  If we want to make changes, we need to strengthen our institutions. He upholds the discussion and supported the agenda of implementation of SDGs at the local level by introducing effective decentralisation with vertical and horizontal integration across all levels of government and active collection and reporting of authentic data from local government representatives for the Voluntary Local Review (VLR) to include in Voluntary Subnational Review (VSR) and then in Voluntary National Review (VNR) as bottom-up approaches.