The proposed project will boost SDG localization by empowering local governments (cities, states, regions) to ensure the resilience, inclusiveness and sustainability of their infrastructure assets and planned large scale infrastructure investments in 6 countries. The main challenge it addresses is the lack of capacity of participating local and national governments to effectively manage existing infrastructure assets and planned infrastructure investments over their entire lifespans, and plan for and mitigate risks affecting these investments. With 92% of SDGs and its targets linked to resilient infrastructure, building public sector capacity on infrastructure asset management is a powerful tool to turbocharge the SDGs. Drawing from the UN DESA Handbook on Infrastructure Asset Management,  and associated toolkit (including the EnABLE IAM assessment tool),  the project will train local and central government officials in six countries (name them)  in designing and implementing local and resilient infrastructure asset management practices and corresponding community-driven, multi-year infrastructure asset management action plans that ensure continuity of public services and leave no one behind. Utilizing guidance tools on resilient Infrastructure Asset Management (IAM) from the UN Handbook on IAM, the project entails increasing the capacity of central and local government training institutions and universities to introduce new curricula on resilient infrastructure asset management for current and future generations of public sector officials. Good practices and lessons learned at the end of the project cycle will also be captured in an extended, second version of the UN IAM handbook with new concrete tools to support resilient public asset management. Other key stakeholders include central government ministries, regional, national and sub-national development banks, local government officials (elected and administrative) as well as civil society, youth / students, and the private sector. UN DESA is the main implementing entity with UNOPS as co-implementing partner. UN DESA will also consult and engage with relevant UNCTs, UNDP, UN Habitat, and UN regional economic and social commissions in the implementation of the project activities.

With 65 per cent of SDG targets estimated to be linked to the work of local and regional governments, effective localization is a pre-condition for achieving SDGs. In recent years, the role of local governments has gained prominence and visibility at the international level, recognized by Member States in General Assembly resolutions and HLPF Political Declarations, and by the Secretary-General in his reports “Our Common Agenda” and “Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Towards a Rescue Plan for People and Planet 2023”. In the face of multiple global crises that have slowed, and in some cases, reversed progress on SDG implementation, localization has become more important than ever and local governments from all regions have been “rising to the occasion,” increasingly seizing upon the 2030 Agenda and working to make it a reality in their local contexts. One of the ways that local governments have been doing this is through the process of preparing sub-national reviews of their SDG implementation (voluntary local reviews) to reinforce vertical and horizontal policy coherence and complement voluntary national reviews (VNRs). At the same time, local and regional governments particularly, as detailed below, in the Africa region, face significant challenges in delivering on the 2030 Agenda. The present project will support both national and local governments in selected African countries to accelerate inclusive implementation of the 2030 Agenda through strengthening local and national government capacities for localization of the SDGs. It will do so by building on the successful implementation of the Italian funded project on Improved local and national government capacities for localizing SDGs progress through Voluntary Local Reviews (2022-2024), providing continued support for review and reporting on SDG implementation and further supporting national and local governments to address financing challenges for SDG delivery by local governments and to strengthen planning for SDG achievement.