The Basque Country reaffirms its commitment to the SDGs by promoting a model of localization and governance

• The Secretary General for Social Transition and Agenda 2030 participates in the United Nations High Level Political Forum sharing a critical reflection on the degree of compliance with the SDGs in the world
• Jonan Fernandez recalls that the SDGs constitute a historic opportunity of universal projection to provide clear content to a renewal of the social contract in a changing and crisis-ridden world

The Secretary General of Social Transition and Agenda 2030, Jonan Fernandez, has participated, electronically, in the United Nations High Level Political Forum sharing a critical reflection on the degree of compliance with the SDGs in the world. “We would like to express a double concern. The 2030 Agenda is suffering from a deficit of practical commitment and a surplus of abstraction,” he said.

Faced with this situation, Fernandez stressed that the Basque Government promotes a model of location and governance based on a principle, a methodology, five infrastructures and a social proposal.

The principle on which the Basque Executive is based is being pro-active. According to the Secretary General for Social Transition and the 2030 Agenda, the commitment to the agenda is about more than adhesion and formal alignment of our own programmes with the SDGs, “it is a question of the most important aspect of the 2030 Agenda: how our public policies change. This is where their transformative capacity lies. This principle responds to the ambition of the Decade of Action.”

On the methodology, Jonan Fernandez highlighted the need for more concretion and less abstraction in the field of the SDGs. “Moving from words to deeds. The embodiment of tangible projects that bring us closer to their fulfilment,” he said. This is why, he said, that the Basque Government has opted for a scheme of regional commitments and emblematic projects.

In order to strengthen the degree of compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals, in the words of the Secretary-General, there is also a need for a system of basic infrastructures that commit to developing the SDGs. From the Basque experience, there are at least five such infrastructures:

• having an express and specific management and coordination body for the SDGs within the structure of each local, regional and state government. In the Basque Government, a General Secretariat of Agenda 2030 has been created, located within the Presidency.
• Second infrastructure. A strategic planning document from the Legislature with principles, criteria, objectives, a calendar, an action plan and an annual evaluation of compliance with objectives.
• Third infrastructure. Having its own panel of indicators that are adapted to the reality itself and, along with this the preparation of Voluntary Annual Monitoring Reports.
• Fourth infrastructure. To set up an inter-institutional and social governance structure, with a rigorous methodology of operation, through the definition of objectives, reports and annual management plans. A multilevel and multi-actor management body of the 2030 Agenda.
• Fifth infrastructure. To promote a program of dissemination and social extension to share the meaning of the SDGs with society, as well as their importance and usefulness, through information campaigns, courses, guides or educational tools, among others things.

Finally, there is a proposal aimed at society which complements this model of location and governance. This is how the Secretary General for Social Transition and the 2030 Agenda explained that the Basque Government has presented the 2030 Agenda to Basque society as a proposal for a new social contract. This philosophy assumes and fully develops objective 17 of the 2030 Agenda: “Partnerships to achieve the objectives.” The first is the local civic alliance.

Jonan Fernandez concluded his speech by recalling that the SDGs constitute an historic opportunity of universal projection to provide clear content for renewing the social contract in a changing, crisis-ridden world. In addition, he reaffirmed the commitment of the Basque Government to try and promote this model of localisation and governance in collaboration with Local 2030, the headquarters of the Secretariat of the United Nations Local Coalition 2030 located in the Basque Country.