Accelerating Sdg Localization Financing Towards 2030 Through Uncdf/un-habitat Fused Offering for Cities

UNCDF and UN-Habitat have joined forces on the SDG Cities Global Initiative since 2022 to help cities reach their unmet financing needs for sustainable development through innovative financial mechanisms and instruments. At WUF11 this Fused Offering was presented to the world’s cities and local governments, and since then significant progress has been made towards financing SDG localization. 2025 will mark the “last mile” of achieving the 2030 agenda and the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, which is a critical moment for reinvigorating the international community’s commitment of mobilizing the necessary financial resources for SDG achievement. WUF12 will be a unique opportunity to accelerate this agenda from a local government perspective.
In line with WUF12 Dialogue 4: Financing localization and localizing finance, this event will present the Malaga Global Coalition for Municipal Finance policy agenda and demonstrate catalytic financing solutions to SDG localization for knowledge sharing and South-South learning to drive local transformation. The event will also highlight the centrality of local investments to build inclusive and climate resilient cities and will provide a forum for key recommendations and way forward for promoting local based solutions for inclusive urbanization.
Examples will include the Ghana Smart SDG Cities project, which aims at strengthening key local institutional capacities in areas of planning, governance, revenue and service delivery and advancing the implementation of high impact local initiatives through support in project preparation and financing; the Tanga Water Bond project – The Tanga Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (Tanga UWASA) issued a 10-year water infrastructure green revenue bond valued at TZS 53.12 billion—a historic capital market transaction in representing a first of its kind Subnational Water Green Bond in Tanzanian and East African’s history; the innovative financing for cities in Uganda; the local infrastructure asset management in Nepal; and the Women Led Cities initiative, promoting women’s safety, leadership and economic empowerment through impact investing.