Over the past fifteen years, the international world has implemented the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). During that time it became evident that “localization” even at the sub-national level was required. Some efforts were made to prepare local authorities for adapting MDGs targets and indicators into their priorities. However, it emerged that municipalities had to be empowered and better equipped to do this more effectively. Even more as in September 2015, the Member States of the United Nations signed on to the seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs) as follow-up to the MDGs.
It is encouraging that the SDGs build on the MDGs because the gains that were made and the unfinished business must be sustained as well as completed, especially at the sub-national level. Particularly, vulnerable sections of the population must be protected so as not to slip back to previous levels of poverty or destitution. The thrusts of the SDGs also suggest the need to work more inclusively, collaboratively and in an integrated fashion. Financing is another important dimension. A lot of the MDG-related interventions were done with donor support. Therefore, the role of domestic financing through local revenue mobilization is a critical area of concern for the SDGs.