Islamabad: In her remarks, Ms Mio Sato, Acting Resident Coordinator of the United Nations, highlighted: “The localization of SDG-11 is crucial for the future of cities in Pakistan and ensures that cities like Islamabad can achieve inclusive and sustainable growth.”
Pakistan is experiencing rapid urbanization, with projections suggesting that nearly half of its population will live in urban areas by 2025. However, this urban growth does not meet the corresponding development. Issues such as inadequate planning, poor governance, inadequate communal services, lack of affordable housing and inadequate infrastructure hinder economic growth and environmental sustainability in Pakistani cities. Recognizing the complexity of urban systems, UN-Habitat supports urban and local governments to improve the sustainability and resilience of cities in Pakistan through the implementation of SDG 11.
The United Nations Habitat Program (UN-Habitat) in collaboration with the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in Islamabad conducted a two-day training program focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG-11) and Localization for the 2030 Agenda. The training aimed to equip urban planners, engineers and policy makers with the necessary skills to effectively integrate SDG-11 principles into urban planning and development processes and to improve SDG 11 monitoring and reporting in sync with the New Urban Agenda and the development of voluntary local reviews.
Held at the Jinnah Convention Center and CDA Training Center, the training was opened with a welcome address by Mr. Jawed Ali Khan, Habitat Program Manager, UN-Habitat, who noted that the training marks a pivotal moment for Islamabad and sets a precedent for mainstreaming sustainable development. development goals into urban planning procedures.”
Ms. Ammara Durrani, Assistant Resident Representative, UNDP highlighted the inclusion of secondary cities in capacity building initiatives. She said UNDP is committed to partnering with UN Habitat under One United Nations through their SDG Plus programme. Dr. Underscoring CDA’s commitment, Zafar Ali Zafar, Director General of CDA Training said, “We are committed to aligning every aspect of our urban planning with the SDG-11 goals to ensure that Islamabad’s development is sustainable and resilient. The launch session was attended by senior government officials and 50 officials from CDA, ICT also participated.
Mr. Martino Miraglia, Coordinator, SDG Localization, Local Government Teams and SDG Cities, UN-Habitat and Mr. Riccardo Maroso, Program Officer, UN-Habitat ROAP, presented on SDG Localization and Voluntary Local Control. The global Voluntary Local Review (VLR) movement is growing exponentially. Cities, local and regional governments around the world use the VLR to track and report progress on the SDGs. UN-Habitat considers VLRs to be powerful accelerators of the process of localization of sustainable development goals. UN-Habitat leads the development of cutting edge VLR research and advice and provides opportunities for peer learning, capacity building and international engagement.
The training underscored the concerted efforts of UN-Habitat and CDA to equip Pakistani cities, starting with Islamabad, with the tools and knowledge necessary to achieve the goals of sustainable urban development. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) in Islamabad, responsible for the implementation of the Islamabad Master Plan, has committed to align all its projects with SDG-11 by 2030. To achieve this, CDA has set up an SDG-11 cell under its planning wing to strengthen the existing regulations in line with global best practices and build capacity at the institutional level with the support of UN-Habitat.
During the training, the participants emphasized that local and regional governments (LRGs) manage the paths of sustainable development of territories and local communities. They ensure the provision of basic public services and act as catalysts for transformational change. However, LRGs face critical gaps in data, capacity and resources to fulfill this mandate. Investments in municipal capacity building, institutional effectiveness and partnerships with local, regional, national and international stakeholders are critical to localizing the SDGs.
Ch. Muhammad Ali Randhawa, Chairman CDA in his keynote address at the closing session appreciated UN-HABITAT for their technical support to CDA on creating awareness about SDGs and aligning CDA projects with SDGs. He said CDA is committed to making Islamabad inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. This training is a step forward to increase the capacity of CDA Urban Planners and shows CDA’s commitment to achieve the required goals of SDG-11. CDA is committed to promoting a sustainable transport system that is affordable and accessible and provides urban mobility to all residents of the capital and no part of the city is left behind. This transport system is environmentally friendly, 30 electric buses have been provided and another 170 buses will be added to the fleet. CDA has started a program to plant 4 million trees in the wastelands of Islamabad and sacrifice brownfield land to increase green space so that the effects of climate change on the capital can be reduced and the city can be more environmentally friendly for which it has 10,000 kanals of land. was donated and will be linked to Carbon Credit. All the trees planted will be visible on the CDA website for which CDA has launched one million trees in the jewel of Islamabad i.e. Margalla Hills in 60 days on July 22.
Trees can be tracked through a mobile application called “Track your tree”. At the end of the training, certificates were distributed to the training participants.
