The new Agenda 2030 takes effect

On the 1st of January 2016, the 2030 Agenda officially came into force, along with the new global action plan established by the United Nations in order to improve living conditions around the globe in a period of fifteen years. The Agenda was adopted by the UN General Assembly on the 25th of September 2015, during the Summit on Sustainable Development, and it includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) covering the areas of health, education, human rights and the environment, among others.

The SDGs are a way of furthering the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight goals that the world adopted in 2000 in order to fight against poverty by 2015. The 17 new targets extend the deadline until 2030 and they introduce new reasons on why the world must urgently strive, such as to reduce climate change. Territories and regions have also been assigned one of the SDGs, namely Goal 11, which calls to "Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable".

All Member states of the United Nations have committed to engage in the implementation of the Agenda. Not only them, the commitment reaches to all levels of global governance and to all spheres of society. Intermediate governments have a crucial role, given the fact that, unlike the states, they have the capacity to directly access the citizenship and the territories. In this sense, ORU Fogar is directly involved and committed to the process, especially through two of its policies for action: decentralization and regional balance.

The evaluation and monitoring of the Agenda implementation will take place in various fields. On state and regional levels, territories will hold periodic socialization meetings to share experiences and achievements, while the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (FPAN) will be responsible for the worldwide annual accounts.