From the 16th to the 20th of September, Sharon Dijksma, Chair of the Association of the Netherlands Municipalities (VNG), will attend the SDG Summit, organized by the United Nations in New York. Sharon Dijksma will be joined by our VNG international colleagues Anne Schuurmans as policy advisor, Dr. Neila Akrimi as head of strategies and networks and Matthijs Peters, her advisor from the Municipality of Utrecht.

On the 18th and the 19th of September the SDG Summit will take place, that is being organized by the UN to take stock of progress on the 17 development goals set for 2030. These goals were adopted by all UN-states in 2015, which means that it will mark the half-way point to the deadline set for achieving the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. It will bring together political and thought leaders from governments, international organizations, private sector, civil society, women and youth and other stakeholders in a series of high-level meetings. It will convene political and thought leaders representing governments, international organizations, the private sector, civil society, women, youth and various other stakeholders, through a series of high-level meetings.

The SDG Summit will be a key moment for the local and regional government constituency as it marks the midpoint of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN is convening the SDG Action Weekend, on 16 and 17 September, as a key moment to announce strong commitments, present coalitions for policy change, and illustrate high-impact localization policies. VNG delegation will be actively attending as an expression of the crucial role played by Local Goverment in achieving the deadlines of the 2030 Agenda.  Although the SDGs are an international agenda, it is important to stress that action at the subnational level is incredibly important in every country. To formulate joint local input towards the SDG Summit, during the SDG Action Weekend several events for the local and regional government constituency by the UCLG cities network.

Mrs. Dijksma will be the voice of VNG at the regard supporting the municipal movement worldwide. She will be speaking at different panels at the SDG summits and side events, intervening at The Local2030 Coalition event, Localizing the 2030 Agenda event. She will also contribute to the The UN High Impact Initiative on Digital Public Infrastructure and the SDG Partnership Symposium: Unleashing the power of multi-stakeholder partnerships Next to participation to the SDG Summit, the visit to New York presents itself as a great opportunity to part-take in the Strong Cities Summit and the New York Climate Week which take place simultaneously. Besides these different multilateral events, Mrs. Dijksma will be engaging in several bilateral meetings with high UN official, mayors and representatives of Local Government associations and UCLG high representative.