Circular
25/2023
Barcelona, 11 July 2023
 
To the members of the World Council
To the Secretaries General
To the Vice-Presidents of United Cities and Local Governments
To the Chairs of UCLG Committees, Working Groups, Communities of Practice and Fora

For information: To the Presidency


SDG Summit: Save the dates and latest up-dates 
New York, 16-19 September 2023

 

Dear members,

We are writing to you to provide you with up-dates on the 2023 SDG Summit.
 
As you know, 2023 has been a key year for the constituency of local and regional governments. It hosted the second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly in June, in July it will host the review of SDG 11 at the UN High-level Political Forum, and in September it will host the SDG Summit which will be the mid-term review of the SDGs in light of the approaching year of 2030.
 
With this in mind, the constituency will ensure that all advocacy milestones taking place in 2023 contribute towards the SDG Summit to make clear that local and regional governments are committed to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and are indispensable political actors to leave no one and no place behind towards the UN Summit of the Future in 2024 and the UN Social Summit in 2025.
 
The 2023 SDG Summit will be held on Monday 18 September and Tuesday 19 September in New York at the United Nations Headquarters with special events and initiatives taking place starting from Saturday 16 September, considered to be the SDG Summit’s Mobilization Day, to Friday 22 September. The Summit is being considered by the United Nations as a quadrennial High-Level Political Forum being held at the Head of State level under the auspices of the UN General Assembly.
 
 
LOCAL AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS FORUM AND WORLD ASSEMBLY OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL GOVERNEMENTS
 
As in previous years, UCLG, on behalf of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments (GTF), is coordinating the participation of our constituency within the SDG Summit and HLPF held under the auspices of the General Assembly in September 2023. 
 
To this end, we are pleased to confirm that a Local and Regional Governments Forum and World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments will be taking place within the SDG Summit’s Mobilization Day at the United Nations Headquarters on Saturday 16 September as a full day event. Please save the date!
 
The SDG Summit is set to mark the beginning of a new phase of acceleration in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals placing a strong focus on closing the gap to implementation through High Impact Initiatives, which facilitate transformative progress and mobilize partnerships, leadership and investment in the SDGs. With this in mind, the Local and Regional Government Forum and World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments will focus on announcing new commitments towards bringing SDG implementation back on track as well as highlighting high-impact localization policies and partnerships for the goals currently in place and localization needs and challenges.


HIGH-IMPACT LOCALIZATION INITIATIVES
 
Within this context, we reiterate our invitation for you to collaborate with us and feed into the High-Impact Localization Platform to ensure that our constituency’s commitments mark our global strategies towards the SDG Summit by identifying a flagship public policy from your local government, regional government or association and define how it contributes to one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The proposed policy should be forward-looking and transformative.
 
Please also be informed and save the date of an event organized by the Local2030 Coalition focusing on High-Impact Initiatives held on Sunday 17 September, also acting as a key moment for the constituency at the SDG Summit.
 
 
FOR ACTION
 
Please inform the World Secretariat if you plan on traveling to New York and participating within the 2023 SDG Summit and UN High-Level Political Forum in September.
 
·         Please note that registration for the SDG Summit has not started yet. As is usually the case, registration remains limited and that accreditation through your national government is recommended.
 
·         Please also note that the situation regarding accommodation and hotels in New York will be very complicated during these dates and that for this reason, offering group bookings will not be possible. We therefore suggest that you start to arrange your hotel reservations as soon as possible.
 

We will follow up with more information including concept notes and agendas once available. We remain at your disposal for any questions you might have. Do not hesitate writing to us at policy@uclg.org.

Sincerely,

The UCLG World Secretariat