City2City
HLPF 2020 Side-Event: Imagine a post-COVID-19 city—with women's human rights
08 July 2020 - This panel discussion will challenge us to imagine the post COVID-19 city that respects women’s human rights, builds resilience and prevents crises, and puts feminist and women’s movements’ aspirations into local action. Panelists will include representatives from the feminist and women’s movement, UN agencies and mayors. The event will open up to a Town Hall meeting using Zoom and will have simultaneous interpretation.
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08 July 2020 - This panel discussion will challenge us to imagine the post-COVID-19 city that respects women’s human rights, builds resilience and prevents crises, and puts feminist and women’s movements’ aspirations into local action. Panelists will include representatives from the feminist and women’s movement, UN agencies, and mayors. The event will open up to a Town Hall meeting using Zoom and will have simultaneous interpretation.

This side-event to the High-Level Political Forum 2020 is being organized by the International Alliance of Women, Feminist and Women's Movement Action Plan, NGO CSW/NY, Habitat (To Be Confirmed) and UN Women (To Be Confirmed).

Event Details:

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COVID-19 and Human Development: Assessing the Crisis, Envisioning the Recovery
02 July 2020 - This note takes a capabilities approach to document the severity of the unfolding human development crisis. Such an approach implies an evaluative framework to assess the crisis and shape the policy response that emphasizes the potential for people to be and do what they aspire in life as opposed to material resources or economic activity.
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02 July 2020 - The COVID-19 pandemic is unleashing a human development crisis. On some dimensions of human development, conditions today are equivalent to levels of deprivation last seen in the mid-1980s.

But the crisis is hitting hard on all of human development’s constitutive elements: income (with the largest contraction in economic activity since the Great Depression), health (directly causing a death toll over 300,000 and indirectly leading potentially to an additional 6,000 child deaths every day from preventable causes over the next 6 months) and education (with effective out-of-school rates – meaning, accounting for the inability to access the internet – in primary education expected to drop to the levels of actual rates of the mid-1980s levels). This, not counting less visible indirect effects, including increased domestic violence, yet to be fully documented.

The pandemic was superimposed on unresolved tensions between people and technology, between people and the planet, between the haves and the have-nots. These tensions were already shaping a new generation of inequalities—pertaining to enhanced capabilities, the new necessities of the 21st century, as defined in the 2019 Human Development Report. But the response to the crisis can shape how those tensions are addressed and whether inequalities in human development are reduced.

This note takes a capabilities approach to document the severity of the unfolding human development crisis. Such an approach implies an evaluative framework to assess the crisis and shape the policy response that emphasizes the potential for people to be and do what they aspire in life as opposed to material resources or economic activity. To assess the crisis, the note draws from original simulations that are based on an adjusted Human Development Index—with the education dimension modified to reflect the effects of school closures and mitigation measures—and that incorporate current projections of gross national income (GNI) per capita for 2020.

The simulations suggest conditions today would correspond to a steep and unprecedented decline in human development. With almost 9 in 10 students out of school and deep recessions in most economies (including a 4 percent drop in GNI per capita worldwide), the decline in the index –reflecting a narrowing in capabilities-- would be equivalent to erasing all the progress in human development of the past six years. Importantly, if conditions in school access are restored, capabilities related to education would immediately bounce back – while the income dimension would follow the path of the economic recovery post-crisis. The simulations also show the importance of promoting equity in capabilities. In a scenario with more equitable internet access—where each country closes the gap with the leaders in its human development category—the decline in human development would be more than halved. This would be eminently affordable. In 2018 it was estimated that $100 billion would be needed to close the gap in internet access in low- and middle-income countries—or about 1 percent of the extraordinary fiscal programmes announced around the world so far.

The note suggests three principles to shape the response to the crisis:

  • Look at the response through an equity lens.i Countries, communities and groups already lagging in enhanced capabilities will be particularly affected, and leaving them further behind will have long-term impacts on human development.
  • Focus on people’s enhanced capabilities. This could reconcile apparent tradeoffs between public health and economic activity (a means to the end of expanding capabilities) but would also help build resilience for future shocks.
  • Follow a coherent multidimensional approach. Since the crisis has multiple interconnected dimensions (health, economic, and several social aspects, decisions on the allocation of fiscal resources that can either further lock-in or break free from carbon-intensive production and consumption), a systemic approach—rather than a sector-by-sector sequential approach—is essential. A recent survey conducted in 14 countries found that 71 percent of adults globally consider that climate change is as serious a crisis as COVID-19, with two-thirds supporting government actions to prioritise climate change during the recovery. ii

The United Nations has proposed a framework for the immediate socioeconomic response,iii with which this note is fully consistent and meant to inform and further flesh out both the analysis of the crisis and possible responses.

Finally, the note also highlights the importance of collective action—at the community, country, and global levels. And the response to this crisis is showing how people around the world are responding collectively. The adoption of social distancing behaviour—which in some cases started before formal policies were put in place—could not possibly be fully enforced. It depended on the voluntary cooperation of billions of people. And it was done in response to a shared global risk that brought to the fore as a priority something other than having economies grow more rapidly. If we needed proof of concept that humanity can respond collectively to a shared global challenge, we are now living through it.

Read the full report here or download the attached PDF of the report.

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COVID-19 and Human Development: Assessing the Crisis, Envisioning the Recovery
02 July 2020 - This note takes a capabilities approach to document the severity of the unfolding human development crisis. Such an approach implies an evaluative framework to assess the crisis and shape the policy response that emphasizes the potential for people to be and do what they aspire in life as opposed to material resources or economic activity. 
…

02 July 2020 - The COVID-19 pandemic is unleashing a human development crisis. On some dimensions of human development, conditions today are equivalent to levels of deprivation last seen in the mid-1980s.

But the crisis is hitting hard on all of human development’s constitutive elements: income (with the largest contraction in economic activity since the Great Depression), health (directly causing a death toll over 300,000 and indirectly leading potentially to an additional 6,000 child deaths every day from preventable causes over the next 6 months) and education (with effective out-of-school rates – meaning, accounting for the inability to access the internet – in primary education expected to drop to the levels of actual rates of the mid-1980s levels). This, not counting less visible indirect effects, including increased domestic violence, yet to be fully documented.

The pandemic was superimposed on unresolved tensions between people and technology, between people and the planet, between the haves and the have-nots. These tensions were already shaping a new generation of inequalities—pertaining to enhanced capabilities, the new necessities of the 21st century, as defined in the 2019 Human Development Report. But the response to the crisis can shape how those tensions are addressed and whether inequalities in human development are reduced.

This note takes a capabilities approach to document the severity of the unfolding human development crisis. Such an approach implies an evaluative framework to assess the crisis and shape the policy response that emphasizes the potential for people to be and do what they aspire in life as opposed to material resources or economic activity. To assess the crisis, the note draws from original simulations that are based on an adjusted Human Development Index—with the education dimension modified to reflect the effects of school closures and mitigation measures—and that incorporate current projections of gross national income (GNI) per capita for 2020.

The simulations suggest conditions today would correspond to a steep and unprecedented decline in human development. With almost 9 in 10 students out of school and deep recessions in most economies (including a 4 percent drop in GNI per capita worldwide), the decline in the index –reflecting a narrowing in capabilities-- would be equivalent to erasing all the progress in human development of the past six years. Importantly, if conditions in school access are restored, capabilities related to education would immediately bounce back – while the income dimension would follow the path of the economic recovery post-crisis. The simulations also show the importance of promoting equity in capabilities. In a scenario with more equitable internet access—where each country closes the gap with the leaders in its human development category—the decline in human development would be more than halved. This would be eminently affordable. In 2018 it was estimated that $100 billion would be needed to close the gap in internet access in low- and middle-income countries—or about 1 percent of the extraordinary fiscal programmes announced around the world so far.

The note suggests three principles to shape the response to the crisis:

  • Look at the response through an equity lens.i Countries, communities and groups already lagging in enhanced capabilities will be particularly affected, and leaving them further behind will have long-term impacts on human development.
  • Focus on people’s enhanced capabilities. This could reconcile apparent tradeoffs between public health and economic activity (a means to the end of expanding capabilities) but would also help build resilience for future shocks.
  • Follow a coherent multidimensional approach. Since the crisis has multiple interconnected dimensions (health, economic, and several social aspects, decisions on the allocation of fiscal resources that can either further lock-in or break free from carbon-intensive production and consumption), a systemic approach—rather than a sector-by-sector sequential approach—is essential. A recent survey conducted in 14 countries found that 71 percent of adults globally consider that climate change is as serious a crisis as COVID-19, with two-thirds supporting government actions to prioritise climate change during the recovery. ii

The United Nations has proposed a framework for the immediate socioeconomic response,iii with which this note is fully consistent and meant to inform and further flesh out both the analysis of the crisis and possible responses.

Finally, the note also highlights the importance of collective action—at the community, country, and global levels. And the response to this crisis is showing how people around the world are responding collectively. The adoption of social distancing behaviour—which in some cases started before formal policies were put in place—could not possibly be fully enforced. It depended on the voluntary cooperation of billions of people. And it was done in response to a shared global risk that brought to the fore as a priority something other than having economies grow more rapidly. If we needed proof of concept that humanity can respond collectively to a shared global challenge, we are now living through it.

Read the full report here or download the attached PDF of the report.

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Cities as bridges between SDGs and citizens in a post-COVID-19 world: elements for socio-economic recovery

The Venice City Solutions Series is a yearly event addressing issues that are central to the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local level, with specific focus to the

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role of local and regional governments as key drivers of the 2030 Agenda. In 2019, the event focused on how the SDGs can be an instrument to create citizenship and to promote the values of the Agenda as well as on strategies to bring the SDGs closer to the people.

Each year, the organizers of Venice City Solutions 2030 bring the recommendations of the event to the formal mechanism of the HLPF. This year, this official side event has adapted the narrative of SDG role in creating citizenship to the situation created by the COVID 19 pandemic. 

As the COVID-19 global health crisis has demonstrated, we live in an uncertain world; and recovering from the current crisis is going to require both strong individual action and a monumental collective effort. The contribution and collaboration of citizens in the recovery phase of the pandemic is going to be even more relevant than in our recent past. Local and regional governments are responding to the emergency by keeping essential services going, caring for the most vulnerable and finding rapid solutions to adapt to changing and unpredictable needs. Socio-economic recovery, with a global economy that has come to a sudden stop, is going to require local development and a lot of local action. Local and regional governments are going to play a substantial role in bringing the citizens along, on one end, and to support local businesses and local economic action, on the other. Within this new context, coordination between spheres of government and policy coherence between central and local governments will be more important than ever. Multi-level governance needs to be strengthened both vertically and horizontally.

The event will gather representatives of local and regional governments, their associations, Mayors, Governors and other governmental representatives and selected partners to discuss the way ahead for SDG implementation at local level.

This HLPF side event is co-organized by AICCRE, UCLG, UNDP, UN-Habitat and the UN SDG Action Campaign.

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Tackling Social Norms: A game changer for gender inequalities
02 July 2020 - The Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) measures how social beliefs obstruct gender equality in areas like politics, work, and education, and contains data from 75 countries, covering over 80 percent of the world’s population. The analysis reveals that despite decades of progress closing the equality gap between men and women, close to 90 percent of men and women hold some sort of bias against women, providing new clues to the invisible barriers women face in achieving equality. The publication also includes the GSNI trends for 31 countries, representing 59 percent of the global population. The trends show that while in some countries there have been improvements, in others, attitudes appear to have worsened in recent years, signaling that progress cannot be taken for granted.
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02 July 2020 - Gender disparities are a persistent form of inequality in every country. Despite remarkable progress in some areas, no country in the world—rich or poor—has achieved gender equality. All too often, women and girls are discriminated against in health, in education, at home, and in the labour market with negative repercussions for their freedoms.

This is the time for a reality check. The commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+25) provides an opportunity to reassess the path to gender equality and adjust actions to close gender gaps.

The Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) measures how social beliefs obstruct gender equality in areas like politics, work, and education, and contains data from 75 countries, covering over 80 percent of the world’s population.

The analysis reveals that, despite decades of progress closing the equality gap between men and women, close to 90 percent of men and women hold some sort of bias against women, providing new clues to the invisible barriers women face in achieving equality.

According to the index, about half of the world’s men and women feel that men make better political leaders, and over 40 percent feel that men make better business executives and that men have more right to a job when jobs are scarce. 28 percent think it is justified for a man to beat his wife.

The publication also includes the GSNI trends for 31 countries, representing 59 percent of the global population. The trends show that while in some countries there have been improvements, in others, attitudes appear to have worsened in recent years, signaling that progress cannot be taken for granted.

Read the full report here or download the attached PDF of the report.

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Local Action, Global Impact - Celebrating Three Decades of Local Action for People and Planet

This commemorative publication celebrates 30 years of the GEF Small Grants Programme's local action and global impact. The publication highlights the important role of local communities, civil society and Indigenous Peoples, youth, women and persons with disabilities in addressing global environmental issues – such as biodiversity loss, climate change mitigation and adaptation, land degradation, international waters, and chemicals and waste management – while improving well-being and livelihoods. Throughout its journey, SGP has continuously evolved and has now grown into a unique global delivery mechanism to scale up local actions that can develop and deliver solutions to these multiple challenges.

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Local Action, Global Impact - Celebrating Three Decades of Local Action for People and Planet

Originally published by UNDP on 22 August 2023

This commemorative publication celebrates 30 years of the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP)'s local action and global impact. The publication highlights the important role of local communities, civil society and Indigenous Peoples, youth, women and persons with disabilities in addressing global environmental issues – such as biodiversity loss, climate change mitigation and adaptation, land degradation, international waters, and chemicals and waste management – while improving well-being and livelihoods. Throughout its journey, SGP has continuously evolved and has now grown into a unique global delivery mechanism to scale up local actions that can develop and deliver solutions to these multiple challenges.

Access the full report here or download the attached PDF of the report

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Harnessing the Role of Private Sector in Waste Management through South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Inclusive Urbanization
The case study aims to take a snapshot of the municipal waste management ecosystems of certain countries in the Global South, particularly focusing on private sector-led good practices, inclusive growth and sustainable financing. The countries were selected upon criteria such as GDP, total waste production and geographic variety. The study specifically refers to Municipal Solid Waste which includes food waste, paper, plastic, rags, metal and glass, although demolition and construction debris are often included in collected waste, as are small quantities of hazardous waste, such as electric light bulbs, batteries, automotive parts and discarded medicines and chemicals. 
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Harnessing the Role of Private Sector in Waste Management through South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Inclusive Urbanization

Originally published by UNDP on 12 September 2023

By identifying and shedding light on the good practices within the context, promoting cooperation amongst the countries in the South-South and promoting private sector engagement in the waste management sector it is possible to replicate and scale up these practices and ultimately achieve an inclusive urbanization scenario in the future.

Download the full report here or from the attached PDF

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Six ways to achieve sustainable energy for all

Realizing the targets of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 – affordable and clean energy for all – has reached an undeniable tipping point. The urgency to confront inequitable energy access can no longer be ignored. 

Yet the 2023 SDG 7 tracking report reveals sobering findings. A staggering 675 million people still lack electricity and 2.3 billion don't have access to clean cooking fuels. The African continent, where gaps are the largest, is home to 17 of the top 20 countries with the highest access deficits. Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Tanzania alone account for 253 million people without electricity, 34 percent of the global deficit. These numbers demonstrate the acute energy poverty that exists in Africa, where energy demand is expected to surge rapidly.

In this context, how can we even talk about a global energy transition when a significant portion of the world lacks energy access? A paradigm shift is urgently needed, one that acknowledges the diverse starting points of countries and their existing realities. This should be ambitious enough to capitalize on opportunities for rapid and large-scale energy transformation, promoting cleaner and more efficient technologies.

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Six ways to achieve sustainable energy for all

Originally published by UNDP on 10 July 2023

Author: Chibulu Luo, Global Energy and Climate Change Advisor, UNDP – Sustainable Energy Hub

Beyond mere household connections, energy access should encompass livelihoods, productivity, and economic development. Photo: UNDP Zimbabwe

As I sit here in my warm office, the gentle hum of my electric heater serves as a constant reminder of the privilege I enjoy. The glow of my desktop light shines bright as I type these words, one keystroke at a time. In this moment, I am struck by a disconcerting truth – that energy is often taken for granted, a privilege that goes unnoticed. 

Despite the remarkable technological progress of our era, including breakthroughs in renewable energy development and the rapid decline in the cost of technologies, millions of people endure constant darkness over dinner time or are burdened by unreliable service. This harsh reality not only impacts individual wellbeing, but also hampers economic progress. 

This shift is even more pressing when we consider the shortfall of developed countries to fulfill their annual commitment of US$100 billion in climate finance. Integrated approaches will be required, as countries must strategically allocate and use resources, while designing programmes that contribute multiple SDGs. This is where UNDP’s portfolio approach becomes crucial. By developing, testing, learning, and scaling interventions that complement one another, the world can achieve progress on many fronts. 

The 2023 SDG 7 tracking report reveals sobering findings. A staggering 675 million people still lack electricity and 2.3 billion lack access to clean cooking fuels. Photo: UNDP Yemen

Here I propose a few practical recommendations to ignite a new way of thinking, to support action on SDG 7 and to realize benefits beyond it.  

  1. Broadening our understanding of “energy access”. Beyond mere household connections, energy access should encompass livelihoods, productivity, and economic development. UNDP’s Africa Minigrids Programme exemplifies this philosophy. The programme not only focuses on household electrification but also on strategically enhancing the work of entrepreneurs and companies, and key economic sectors such as education, health, and commerce. By committing to providing clean energy for an additional 500 million people by 2025, UNDP aims to empower livelihoods and stimulate economic growth.
  2. Ensuring that new energy access – especially to reach the last mile – is clean, and whenever possible, renewable. Energy access can directly contribute to a just energy transition. All of the Nationally Determined Contributions supported through UNDP’s Climate Promise include energy-related targets or policies. In the context of Africa, the region’s carbon emissions, which are less than three percent of global energy-related emissions, presents an opportunity to embark on a new paradigm of development, one that prioritizes energy access and unlocks the continent’s renewable energy potential, while safeguarding the climate. 
  3. Doing more with the same money by designing programmes that accelerate progress across several SDG 7 targets. Progress on electrification can serve as a catalyst for clean cooking in both cities and rural areas. Between 2019 and 2021, the global population with access to electricity increased by 114 million people a year on average. In neighbourhoods where electricity access rates are higher, for instance in cities, this progress could also facilitate clean cooking transitions. Promoting the use of common household appliances could unfold on the back of current electrification efforts. In rural communities, where electrification is not immediately possible, but where biomass use still dominates, energy efficient cooking can also equally contribute to energy efficiency targets. UNDP’s work in Nigeria already shows the benefits of transitioning to energy-efficient biomass stoves for cooking in rural communities and reducing burdens on household economies, health services, and the environment. 
  4. Bringing different actors into the solution space. This means supporting the next generation of leaders and innovators to ensure that they are equipped with the skills to address the complex challenges. We also need to be gender responsive and ensure that women are part of the process at every level. Experiences supported by UNDP in Peru and Yemen have shown the development benefits of engaging women as agents of change through their training as clean energy technicians. Projects in Malawi, Nepal and India have shown that energy access can be a game-changer for women, freeing up their time and opening diverse livelihood opportunities such as education and entrepreneurship, including in the renewable energy value chain. 
  5. Anchoring solutions on inclusive data and digital solutions that prevent the worsening of existing inequalities. National energy planning does not often include local data that specifies community energy behaviours and needs. Data collected at this level can pave the way for inclusive energy transitions, where policies are shaped by local contexts and realities. 
  6. Leveraging political platforms to ramp up global advocacy. This year’s High-Level Political Forum and SDG Summit at the United Nations are critical moments to raise global ambition and commitments. It is a matter of utmost urgency to deliver energy to the millions that still need it.  

I look forward to working with UNDP and our partners to seize this opportunity to act now.

Interested to learn more about UNDP’s work on energy access? Visit UNDP’s Sustainable Energy Hub and Climate Promise.

Retrieved from undp.org/blog/six-ways-achieve-sustainable-energy-all

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How local governments are using SDGs to rethink the city

The SDGs are facilitating innovation and transformation in cities, which we acknowledge as a challenging process. This event aims to share the specific solutions being experimented with by other cities and their partners. The SDGs are also helping cities to innovate and transform, and we know that this is never an easy process. This event wants to share specific solutions that other cities and their partners are already experimenting.

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To achieve the full potential of Agenda 2030, we need to “Flip the Script”. We need more inclusive, peaceful, and sustainable cities and territories.  The SDG are helping local and regional governments to bring communities together and transform policy and local action to make our cities more inclusive, green, healthy, and fair.

The event will also present the recommendations of Venice City Solutions 2030, the only yearly event fully dedicated to the local implementation of SDGs. In its 5th edition, Venice focuses on the role of local and regional governments in implementing the SDGs. It also aims to bring traditional and non-traditional partners to our special vision on Agenda 2030 as an instrument to transform our cities, to trigger individual and collective action and to help municipalities to plan, deliver and communicate better.

This side event is organized by: UNDP, SDG Action Campaign, UN-Habitat, UCLG, and AICCRE Venice.

Agenda and List of Speakers: sparkblue.org/sites/default/files/2023-07/Venice%20side%20event%20HLPF23_0.pdf

It will be broadcasted on UN WEB TV

Retrieved from sparkblue.org/hlpfVCE2022

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UNDP 2023 Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) Report - Breaking down gender biases: Shifting social norms towards gender equality
Gender bias is a pervasive problem worldwide. The Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) quantifies biases against women, capturing people’s attitudes on women’s roles along four key dimensions: political, educational, economic and physical integrity.
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2023 GENDER SOCIAL NORMS INDEX (GSNI)

Breaking down gender biases: Shifting social norms towards gender equality

Originally published by UNDP on 12 June 2023

Without tackling biased gender social norms, we will not achieve gender equality or the Sustainable Development Goals. Biased gender social norms—the undervaluation of women’s capabilities and rights in society—constrain women’s choices and opportunities by regulating behaviour and setting the boundaries of what women are expected to do and be. Biased gender social norms are a major impediment to achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.

 The index, covering 85 percent of the global population, reveals that close to 9 out of 10 men and women hold fundamental biases against women. Nearly half the world’s people believe that men make better political leaders than women do, and two of five people believe that men make better business executives than women do. Gender biases are pronounced in both low and high Human Development Index (HDI) countries. These biases hold across regions, income, level of development and cultures—making them a global issue.

The publication of the 2023 GSNI was supported by financial contribution by the Republic of Korea.

Access the full report with additional data tools here

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