SDGs GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITMENTS TURN INTO LOCAL ACTION
Institutions meet to accelerate the implementation of SDGs
August 11th, 2026
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are global commitments that ultimately need to be implemented by local governments and institutions. As part of the effort to coordinate global action, the 2026 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) under the ECOSOC (UN Economic and Social Council) took place in New York and in hybrid form. On 16 July 2026, experts from UNITAR's Division for People and representatives from 19 CIFAL centres came together to discuss how local action can accelerate SDG implementation.
CIFAL is a global network for International Training Centres for Authorities and Leaders, coordinated by UNITAR, the UN Institute for Training and Research. At the HLPF, the 19 centres helped identify strategic priorities to accelerate locally led SDG implementation. Five centres participated in person in New York, while 14 joined remotely from the Dominican Republic, Durban (South Africa), Istanbul, Miami, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Surrey (United Kingdom), and Victoria (Canada).
The discussion highlighted four primary pillars for future action to demonstrate what “local implementation” means:
1. Strong local institutions: providing technical support to municipalities and strengthening coordination between local and national levels of government.
2. Context-specific development: ensuring that learning and training are tailored to different regional contexts and circumstances.
3. Long-term partnerships: ensuring the involvement of stakeholders, including governments, academia, civil society and local communities, to make these initiatives effective.
4. Knowledge exchange: sharing knowledge across the Global Network and fostering cooperation among partners.
Participants from three different CIFAL centres shared their proposals on how to transform these goals into action. The Dominican Republic is working through the Municipal League to align the national budget with the SDGs. Durban (South Africa) focuses on road safety planning, disaster-risk reduction, youth unemployment and early warning systems. Victoria (Canada) emphasises collaboration with Indigenous Peoples and underlines the principle of “nothing about us without us” when working alongside, promoting inclusive development and respect of their cultural identity.
UNITAR plans to consolidate the recommendations into a CIFAL Global Network Outcome Document, which will be used for future collaboration. The SDGs were negotiated at the global level, but their success ultimately depends on how they are translated into local policies, institutions and partnerships.
The experience of the CIFAL network shows that global commitments depend on cooperation across institutions, communities and borders. Turning the SDGs into local action is therefore not only a development challenge, but also an opportunity for dialogue and international cooperation.
