2030 Agenda

In September 2015, world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Agenda is a plan of action, comprising 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets, that coordinates global efforts around reducing poverty and hunger, combatting inequality and disease, and building a just and stable world by the year 2030.

The Agenda commits to “leaving no one behind” and also to providing children and youth with a nurturing environment for the full realization of their rights and capabilities. Goal 11 of the Agenda specifically calls for making cities and human settlements safe, resilient and sustainable. This is the strongest expression yet by the international development community of the critical role cities play in our future.

Various levels of government, civil society, the private sector, academia, the UN system as well as concerned individuals including children and youth were involved in crafting the 2030 Agenda. These stakeholders and others are now actively involved in implementing the Agenda at both the global and local level. Nearly all the SDGs have targets that will depend on local government action.

Building a child-friendly city can help local governments and other stakeholders fulfil the 2030 Agenda. Click here for a mapping of the overlap between the SDGs and the tenets of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.