Localizing the sustainable development goals to address interlinked crises in the post-pandemic era
The world is facing a series of multiple and interlinked crises; a perfect storm that is testing the limits of current development paradigms. As countries and cities across Asia and the Pacific struggle to recover from the socioeconomic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis continues to ravage the region. Added to that, the war in Ukraine and the growing food and energy crisis is undermining prospects for a true recovery and in turn affect the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region. This discussion paper analyses how SDG localization can build urban resilience in times of severe risk, instability and uncertainty. It specifically addresses how Voluntary Local Review (VLR) reporting processes in this context provides a framework for cities to take ownership and stock of the development impacts resulting from multiple interlinked crises, identify gaps and challenges and helps prioritize SDG driven actions and future investments.
