Civil Society Roundtable (World Urban Forum 1…

Civil society engagement in decision-making and development processes has been under threat in several parts of the globe in recent years. Citizens and civil society participation in planning, decision-making and budgeting in cities remains marginal. This, coupled with limited opportunities for the local community in climate action, the increasing focus on economic priorities in urban governance, and the opportunities and challenges of democracy in a digital era, has implications for the localization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). It also affects responses to global crises - housing, energy, loss of a home and other disasters and the reverberations of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And yet, civil society continues to make a difference to the lives of the poor and most vulnerable communities through resilient and innovative approaches to development.

Open, inclusive and networked multilateralism is key for sustainable development, however, the capacity of civil society is shrinking across the world due to political pressures and instability, lack of trust in democratic institutions and reduced funding, among other factors. Consequently, civil society organizations (CSOs) are increasingly marginalized from decisions.

As a result, progress in the implementation of several SDG indicators is regressing. For instance, SDGs 11.1.1 (proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing) and 11.3.2 – (proportion of cities with active civil society engagement in urban planning and management) are deteriorating as less than 40 per cent of countries regularly collecting data.

The roundtable will consider practical and innovative actions and partnerships at all levels to ensure the full and effective contribution of citizens, community based organisations and CSOs to advance the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda. The roundtable will delve into strategies for making a new social contract a reality and explore the establishment of an imPACT coalition on cities and communities. The roundtable will create impetus for integrated actions and advocacy around housing and urban development with emphasis on urban crisis, climate change and digital technologies during this decade of action to 2030.