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About the Project
This project supports subnational and local governments in six African countries—Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Zambia—to accelerate inclusive SDG implementation. The focus is on strengthening capacities for SDG localization, enhancing governance, and promoting multilevel collaboration.
Building on the Italian-funded initiative Improved Local and National Government Capacities for Localizing SDG Progress through Voluntary Local Reviews (2022–2024), the project also helps address financing and implementation challenges for local SDG delivery and strengthens integrated planning, guided by the Principles of Effective Governance for Sustainable Development endorsed by ECOSOC in 2018.
Objective:
To strengthen capacities for SDG localization in Africa at all levels of government.
Beneficiaries:
Direct beneficiaries include government officials from national and subnational levels in the six target countries. Indirect beneficiaries include members of the public and communities at large.
Africa SDG Localization — Project Overview
Lead Division: UN DESA / DSDG and DPIDG
Partners: DESA/FSDO, DESA/SD, UNECA, UN-Habitat, UNDP, Local2030 Coalition, RCOs in respective countries, UN country teams, Economic Commission for Africa
Donor: Government of Italy
Funding Source: XB
Budget: $2,000,000
Time Frame: October 2024 – March 2027
Thematic Area: SDGs 11, 16, and 17
Region: Africa
Focus Countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Zambia
- Regional, sub-regional, national and local capacity-building workshops on SDG localization (online and in-person).
- Analysis of and recommendations for local implementation of national and local development instruments.
- Preparation of analytical materials, toolkits, case studies, good practices and guides for SDG localization.
- Design and production of communications materials.
Upcoming & Recent Activities
- National Workshop on “Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals: Advancing Subsidiarity in Practice” — Sierra Leone, 9–11 September 2025.
- National training & peer-learning workshop on SDG Localization, VLRs and Infrastructure Asset Management — South Africa, 21–24 October 2025.
Outcome 1: Strengthened capacity of local, regional and national government officials and stakeholders to assess SDG implementation by reporting, monitoring and evaluating progress, and identifying gaps, challenges and opportunities.
Outcome 2: Enhanced capacity of national and local government officials to implement the 2030 Agenda at the local level, leading to the development and operationalization of SDG-related policies and governance frameworks.
Resources related to the project (concept notes, workshop reports, handbooks, toolkits, and reference materials) are available below.
Project Documents
- Project Document
- Côte d’Ivoire Capacity Needs Assessment
- Report — Sierra Leone Workshop (Sept 2025)
- Concept Note — Sierra Leone (23 Sept)
- Handbook on Subsidiarity (6 Oct — final)
- Municipal Finance and Localizing the SDGs (brief)
- Multi-level Government and Localising SDGs in Africa (brief)
- Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers (brief)
Reference Materials
- Principles of Effective Governance for Sustainable Development (CEPA)
- Principle of Subsidiarity (CEPA)
- Strategy Guidance Note — Fiscal federalism and decentralization
- Strategy Guidance Note — Strengthening urban governance
- Strategy Guidance Note — Strengthening municipal/local finance systems
- Strategy Guidance Note — Enhancing local capacity to respond to shocks
- Strategy Guidance Note — Multi-level governance
- Inter-Agency Policy Brief: Accelerating SDG Localization (2024)
- Curriculum on Governance for the SDGs — Toolkit on Effective National to Local Public Governance
- African Union — Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063 (Feb 2024)
- OECD (2019) Making Decentralisation Work — Handbook for Policy-Makers
- Boex, Williamson & Yilmaz (2023) Fiscal Decentralization Primer
Côte d’Ivoire
Ghana
Mozambique
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone hosted a national capacity development workshop on advancing subsidiarity in SDG localization, organized by UN DESA/DPIDG in partnership with the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development. The workshop supported the strengthening of multilevel governance and local capacities to accelerate SDG achievement.
Capacity Development Workshop on “Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals: Advancing Subsidiarity in Practice”
Dates & Location: 9–11 September 2025, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Workshop Documents
- Concept Note — Sierra Leone (23 Sept 2025)
- Workshop Report — Sierra Leone (Sept 2025)
- Handbook on Subsidiarity (Final, 6 Oct 2025)
🎥 Video Presentations
- Effective National to Local Governance for SDG Localisation — Mr. Prabin Maharjan, Programme Management Expert, UNPOG, DPIDG, UN DESA
- An African Perspective on the Local Online Service Index (LOSI) — Mr. Deniz Susar, Senior Governance and Public Administration Officer, DPIDG, UN DESA
- Innovative Practices in Local Government — Ms. Cristina Alicia Rodriguez Acosta, Inter-Regional Advisor, DPIDG, UN DESA
- Localizing the SDGs in Sierra Leone: Advancing Subsidiarity in Practice — Ms. Carol Pollack, Senior Sustainable Development Officer, DSDG, UN DESA
- Localizing the SDGs through Infrastructure Asset Management — Mr. Daniel Platz, Chief, Development Cooperation Forum Unit, FSDO, UN DESA
🎤 Presentations
- Multi-level Government and SDGs: An African Perspective — Prof. Tinashe Chigwata, Head, Multi-Level Government, Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
- Governance Eco-system of SDGs and Agenda 2063: An African Perspective — Ms. Sara Hamouda, Senior Continental Governance Officer, APRM Continental Secretariat
- Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals: Advancing Subsidiarity in Practice — Mr. Pietro Ceppi, Associate Expert, SDG Localization and Local Governments Team, UN-Habitat
- An African Perspective on the Local Online Service Index (LOSI) — Mr. Deniz Susar, DPIDG, UN DESA
- Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers — Prof. Tinashe Chigwata, Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
- Financing and Governance for Localization of SDGs: Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers — Mr. Swarray, Assistant Director, Policy Analysis Division, Bank of Sierra Leone
- Financing Local Government and SDGs — Prof. Tinashe Chigwata, Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
- Localizing the SDGs through Infrastructure Asset Management — Mr. Daniel Platz, Chief, Development Cooperation Forum Unit, FSDO, UN DESA
- Strengthening Local Capacity to Manage External Shocks and Risks — Prof. George Scott, Secretary General, AAPAM; Extraordinary Professor, School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
- Strengthening Local Capacity to Manage Shocks and Risk — Mr. Braima Koroma, Director of Research and Training, Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC)
- Capacity Building of Local Councils for Resilience Shocks and Disasters — Mr. Andrew Lavalie, Executive Director, Institute for Governance Reform, Sierra Leone
- Agenda 2063 Reporting Framework and APRM Innovative Tools — Ms. Sara Hamouda, Senior Continental Governance Officer, APRM Continental Secretariat
- Monitoring and Evaluation at the Local Level — Dr. James Edwin, Director General, National Monitoring and Evaluation Agency, Sierra Leone
- UN DESA in Advancing Localization of SDGs and Agenda 2063 — Ms. Nosipho Dhladhla, DPIDG, UN DESA
Preparatory readings are listed under the Project Overview → Resources section of the main page.
See outcomes and assessment results in the linked Workshop Report (Sept 2025) under the Activities tab.
For preparatory readings, please refer to the Project Overview → Resources section.
South Africa