The United Nations Population Fund/ Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations/ Localizing the SDGs:

Why in News ?The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations and the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund is organizing event titled “Localizing the SDGs.

About United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA):
•United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), trust fund under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
•Established in 1969, the UNFPA is the largest international source of assistance for population programs and the leading United Nations (UN) organization for the implementation of the 1994 Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development.
It funds assistance, research, and advocacy programs in three major areas:
(1) reproductive health, including family planning, safe motherhood, and the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases,
(2) the population problems of developed and developing countries and possible strategies for addressing them, and
(3) issues related to the status of women, including the gender gap in education. UNFPA assistance programs are undertaken only in response to government requests.

About Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations:
•The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations is the formal title of the Indian delegation to the United Nations.
•India was among the founding members of the United Nations and signed the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942.
About Localizing the SDGs:
•Many obstacles to achieving the SDGs, such as multi-dimensional poverty and inequality, can only be addressed through SDG localization, supported by effective multi-level (including sub-national) governance arrangements.
•This requires a ‘whole-of-society’’ approach and a transformation in how public institutions, private sector organizations, and individual citizens collaborate to advance sustainable development.
•Hence, localizing the SDGs cannot be limited to translating and integrating the global goals into local development and investment plans but must extend to creating incentives for public and private stakeholders to collaborate, innovate, and co-design solutions.
•SDG localization requires a ‘whole of government’ and a ‘whole of society’ approach. To accelerate SDG localization, the Global Programme is leveraging its relationship and close partnerships with Local and Regional Governments (LRGs), cities and municipalities, LRG Associations, civil society, and private sector institutions.
•This includes support for collaborative approaches to break silos between thematic areas and levels of governance to ignite, institutionalize, and scale innovations to accelerate sustainable development at the subnational level. It also includes an emphasis on local-level participation and inclusive decision-making.