“There can be no sustainable development without peace, and no peace without sustainable development.”
The UCLG Peace Prize contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and in particular to SDG 16 by generating international public attention for the role local governments play in ensuring sustainable and peaceful development. SDG 16 aims to promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Despite the need of global outcomes most implementation will be local and has always been local. Local authorities can pioneer new approaches to safety, social cohesion and peace. The importance of a local approach in promoting SDG 16 should not be under estimated. In many contexts, there is often a significant gap between what the state can deliver and what the citizens need or expect. This is where the local governments are stepping in. The fundamental contribution of local (and regional) governments lies in the daily task of ensuring access to quality public services for all, in building transparent and accountable local institutions, in taking proactive measures to end violence and discriminatory policies, and to recover trust in public institutions (UCLG 2019: 9). They thus play an important role and deliver results for people in their communities such as peace, justice, restoration and co-existence.
The UCLG contributes to the localization of the SDGs and it is evident that local acceleration is needed to achieve the global agendas. The finalists of the UCLG Peace Prize have all undertaken steps to end violence, promote peace and foster more inclusive cities and territories.
More information on the localization of the SDGs can be found in this report by the UCLG.
