PUTTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs) IN LOCAL CONTEXT

For The Bohol Tribune

In This Our Journey

NESTOR MANIEBO PESTELOS

Putting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Local Context

Localization has been an important feature in promoting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and in formulating the successor Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as global agenda to address poverty and other problems which have for decades affected humankind.

While localization for the MDGs was thought of and planned in 2005, five years after its launching, it was the subject of intensive dialogues undertaken by the UN with key governance stakeholders and constituencies which took place from June  to October 2014.

Discussions on localization followed the unprecedented multi-sectoral consultation process on potential issues and areas to be included in the post-2015 development agenda conducted from 2012 to 2013. The emphasis given to localization during phase two of what has been referred to as “global conversations” on implementation and necessarily, monitoring and evaluation, indicates a recognition by the UN member-states of the need to bring global concerns to the grassroots.

The recommendations that emerged from these dialogues and consultation process seem to me as genuine efforts to make local communities, their governance and local institutions, their traditions and culture, as key ingredients to translate global development agenda into locally-owned aspirations embedded in local plans and programs. Indeed localization has been recognized as strategy to lift people from poverty and  other global problems such as inequality and climate change.

Let us harvest some key ideas from the Report from these dialogues on localization and try to put them in our development context in Bohol:

First, on the definition of Localization, the Report (Localizing Post-2015 Development Agenda – Dialogues on Implementation) says:

“Localization refers to the process of defining, implementing and monitoring strategies at the

local level for achieving global, national and subnational sustainable development goals and targets. This involves concrete mechanisms, tools, innovations, platforms and processes to effectively translate the development agenda into results at the local level.

“The concept should therefore be understood holistically, beyond the institutions

of local governments, to include all local actors through a territorial approach that includes civil

society, traditional leaders, religious organizations, academia, the private sector and others. We firmly believe, however, that a strong and capable local government provides the fundamental leadership role to bring local stakeholders together.”

From this definition alone, we can see what can be a major constraint to localizing the SDGs. Local leadership is key to the emergence of multi-stakeholder governance. In Bohol, as in other provinces, we have an abundance of structures mandated by the government at various levels or organized by civil society organizations, such as faith-based organizations and NGOs. Somehow local leadership is not there to bring all the people in these structures together in pursuit of common development goals or less loftily, to implement projects.

We are good at organizing structures at local levels to the extent that management experts have commented that in Bohol, as in the rest of the country, we are afflicted with a malady called “organisitis.” At the drop of a hint, we form groups or organizations but we almost always turn these into paper structures, something to show on the charts and they fizzle out as easily as they are formed. They are mostly built around personalities, mostly around those with political clout or other sources of influence.

Now how can we develop the type of leadership that can breathe life to development councils, inter-agency committees, women’s and youth groups, and other existing structures so that we can pursue and sustain global and localized development goals?  We have to study the few organizations which have withstood intrigues, divisive tendencies, political and other interventions or the usual inertia of rest which afflicts most groups and organiations.

These are some thoughts to chew on while we ponder on this relevant issue about localizing SDGs. This human behavior in organizations will be an excellent field for the academe to get into and come up with fresh insights into leadership issues and organizational behavior on this exciting journey in localizing an externally-crafted global development agenda.

This negative trend in human behavior in organizations is also a reflection of erosion in values that people subscribe to. Here is where culture and the arts, as well as religion, can play its part  by initiating a Renaissance of sort to create a pervasive counterculture of  our common humanity and enable majority of the people, including their leaders, to both internalize and “massify” the adherence to social ethics and values.

The Report notes:

“In the last decade, the development agenda has broadened with the emergence of a wide range of global challenges. It has also seen growing demand for improved access to global public goods and calls for innovative institutional arrangements and solutions. It is evident that the local dimension of development is increasingly intertwined with global and national issues.

“The role of cities in development will grow, as 60 percent of the world’s population will

live in cities by 2030. Issues such as peace, human security, health, employment, climate change, and migration are now addressed mainly at the national and international level, but long-term solutions often require attention to local dimensions, implications and nuances, and most solutions will require local planning, participation and governance.

“Lessons learned from the MDGs show the key role of local government in defining and delivering the MDGs, and in communicating them to citizens. Evidence for this includes the multiplication of decentralized development cooperation initiatives and the use of city-to-city cooperation as a cost effective mechanism for implementation”

I recall that in 2004 as a consultant on governance and poverty reduction, I submitted to the late Atty. Juanito Cambangay, Bohol’s Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator, a bare-bones concept of creating a Metro Tagbilaran Development Authority. As proposed , the MTDA will be composed of Tagbilaran City and the surrounding municipalities of Dauis, Panglao, Baclayon, Albur, Cortes, Corella, and Sikatuna,

The idea was the same that led to the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Bicol River Basin Authority and the Metro Manila Development Authority which is to bring about a predominantly technical body to oversee and coordinate efforts to address common problems.

In the case of Bohol, it would be to achieve greater coordination among the LGUs in solving common problems related to garbage disposal, water and sanitation, public infrastructures and facilities, unemployment  Later, the concept was expanded to having similar structures but instead of using the existing BIAD (Bohol Integrated Area Development), the identified rapidly-urbanizing municipalities was to be considered the focal LGU for the surrounding municipalites in the creation of a sub-provincial development authorities more technically and morally competent to work alongside politically-controlled governance structures.

Nothing came out of this concept. No donor was interested to have it developed into a full-blown proposal.

It may be a good time to revisit these rough ideas and draw up an enchanced concept in the light of this broadened development areas that LGUs, CSOs and the private sector have to contend with in pursuing the localized SDGs.

Moreover, the task environment since the first global development agenda. The fast growth in Information Technology and its impact on making available tools, information and innovations while creating job opportunities also helps to add complexities to the work environment of ordinary people. Closing the digital gap will be needed in pursuing inclusive growth and equality. It will have impact, too, in reconfiguring local governance structures.

The Report notes further:

“All parties concurred that local stakeholders must play an important role in the development and

implementation of the SDGs. Their needs, interests and concerns must be clearly addressed when local and national development strategies are defined. The prioritization of mechanisms to enhance participation was considered critical if people are to contribute to common development.

“The inclusion of individual and territorial stakeholders in the definition of priorities and in

the allocation of funds was perceived as a means to hold governments, both national and local,

accountable and committed to fighting corruption and fraud. This was one of the main issues

expressed by participants globally …In the Philippines, participatory budgeting was seen as

a tool to improve transparency and accountability mechanisms and to prevent local corruption.”

The decentralization of planning to sub-national and sub-provincial levels should necessarily be complemented with financial autonomy. Otherwise, such decentralization will not be effective. I think I do not have to belabor this point since this a lesson learned in more than twenty five years of the Decentralization Law.

On Culture and Development, the Report states: “Culture-led redevelopment of urban areas and public spaces helps preserve the social fabric, attracts investment and improves economic returns. Cities are increasingly faced with the challenges of diversity and inequality, and can benefit greatly from culture to increase inclusion and promote greater social cohesion. The protection of historic districts and cultural facilities as civic spaces for dialogue can help to reduce violence and promote cohesion.”

These are some of the key ideas in the Report which have formed the basis for the recommendations on how to pursue these goals with localization as basic consideration.

To the long list of specific recommendations, the Report adds something which is missing from the previous global development agenda: “Underline the importance of establishing sustainable financing mechanisms to localize the global development agenda and build responsive and accountable local institutions. This includes the full and effective participation of local governments in public expenditure.”

Now we await with bated breath the announcement next month of the final Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the approval of the recommendations for localizing them to ensure their successful implementation for the period 2016 to 2030. #Sustainabledevelopmentgoals

NMP/14Aug/2015/5.32 a.m.