The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) held a High-Level Dialogue meeting titled “ Transforming Municipal Finance: Towards a Financial Ecosystem for Municipalities to Achieve the SDGs” with the Ayuntamiento de Malaga and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) on April 9^th, 2018.

Mr. David Jackson, Director of Local Development Finance in UNCDF, said: “UNCDF and UCLG in Malaga 2018 are building a coalition that will advocate for, and achieve, the repurposing of municipal finance towards a financial ecosystem for municipalities that meets the SDG challenge. This will require a new approach towards sub-national finance and new partnerships between local and central governments.”

This global coalition, led by UCLG, believes that the challenge of municipal finance is fundamental to the SDGs (and indeed to our survival on the planet “The coalition will promote global policy to unlock finance for cities, tackling issues of public accounting on national debt, pooled financing and asset allocation strategies of institutional investors.”

The coalition will include a network of cities and financial institutions that are showing what can be done. The coalition will elevate municipal financing from a niche to a mainstream issue. It will not be delivered through new projects or initiatives but will be delivered by sustained advocacy through existing channels and structures. Coalition members will be united by a common purpose and a common understanding.

The Mayor of Malaga, Mr. Francisco de la Torre Prados, said: “This is a celebration in Malaga of a great event which highlights the growing importance of our city on the international stage and our commitment to the values ​​of the United Nations. It is a great honor for Malaga to be chosen as a place for experts in this field, Ministers, Mayors, Representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations, Development Banks and other partners, to share knowledge, exchange ideas and explore possible strategies to build inclusive and resilient cities.”

The event supported advocacy efforts by showcasing innovations in municipal finance and by identifying the financial mechanisms and regulatory reforms required. UNCDF will deploy its sub-sovereign and municipal financial instruments and technical assistance, together with partners such as Fonds Mondial de Développement des Villes (FMDV) and Cities Alliance to design, test and invest in innovations in municipal finance in a way that leads to their scale up and replication by central governments, development banks, pension funds and commercial banks. Together, the advocacy and innovation of the coalition will forge a new financial ecosystem for municipalities.

The SDGs, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change, provide a roadmap for development and have the potential to increase our resilience to environmental shocks, build the economic security of all global citizens and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon and sustainable future.

The 2030 Agenda aims to leave no one behind requires a universal effort which national governments alone will not be able to implement. Local governments and cities are effective implementing platforms and the most appropriate units of measurement for SDG attainment. They are legitimate conveners and implementers of cross-cutting, multi-sector programmes to achieve the SDGs.