Fostering COVID-19 Recovery and SDG Implementation Through Local action in Asia-Pacific, Arab and African countries

 

Project Title: Fostering COVID-19 recovery and SDG implementation through local action in Asia-Pacific, Arab & African Countries

Executing Entity: UN-HABITAT

Other Implementing Entities: UNDESA, UNESCAP, UNECA, UNESCWA, UCLG

Implementing Countries in Asia-Pacific: Nepal, Philippines & Thailand

Implementing Agencies in Nepal: UN-HABITAT in Nepal & Chandragiri Municipality

 

Project Background 

Cities have been and still are the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. The UN Secretary General’s policy brief on COVID-19 in an Urban World indicates that 90 percent of COVID cases were reported in urban areas in July 2020. The size of their populations and their high level of global and local interconnectivity have made cities particularly vulnerable to the spread of the virus. Economic losses due to the pandemic have far wider-reaching impacts than on their immediate populations. UN-DESA’s policy brief (Achieving SDGs in the wake of COVID-19: Scenarios for policymakers) notes that due to economic decline, cities and local governments may, according to estimates, lose on average between 15 percent and 25 percent of their revenues, affecting their ability to provide basic services. There are strong links between the COVID-19 crisis and the achievement of the SDGs. UNDESA’s another policy brief (Impact of COVID-19 on SDG progress: a statistical perspective) notes that the “pandemic abruptly disrupted implementation towards many of the SDGs and, in some cases, turned back years of progress.