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Localizing SDGs to achieve 2030 Agenda
The involvement of local community members, village authorities and relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process has successfully brought innovative solutions tailored to the specific needs of each village.
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Seeking remedy: A Papuan woman and her children wait for medical treatment at a local health clinic in Ayam village in Asmat regency, Papua, on Jan. 26, 2018. Poverty remains high in Papua despite its huge natural resources. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
T
he localization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been a hot topic since the time of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and was further amplified by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, the power of local action has not yet been brought to the fore in the various discussions on how to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
People tend to focus on what is happening on the global and national levels, but concrete action starts closer to home. The catchphrase “act locally, think globally” still rings true today and should be our guiding principle.
Eight years have passed since the adoption of the SDGs, and yet there is progress in only one fifth of the target categories, while the rest stagnate or even regress.
I believe the time is ripe for us to bring the localization of SDGs to the center, ensuring that local projects become essential to our transformative action to fix the course of the 2030 Agenda and to attain all the targets thoroughly and in a timely manner.
Ever since its foundation, Indonesia has been a country that relies heavily on its villages and local communities. In fact, during the independence struggle, there was a saying that villages were our first line of national defense.
Today, of course, this adage speaks to a greater degree of many other things, particularly development. Building a great nation starts in the village. In Indonesia, 91 percent of the national territory is comprised of villages, and 71 percent of the population resides in rural areas. By optimizing the role of villages, we identify a significant opportunity to contribute to the success of national development in support of the SDGs.
Indonesia’s 75,265 villages are therefore our source of strength and progress. Recognizing the immense potential and transformative power of grassroots development, we initiated SDGs Desa (Village SDGs) in villages across the archipelago in 2020.
