Help us prevent SDG 11.3.2 indicator – which focuses on participatory planning processes – from being removed from the SDG Global Database

Message from Edlam Yemeru, Chief of Knowledge and Innovation Branch, and acting Director of the External Relations Strategy Knowledge and Innovation Division, UN-Habitat.

Greetings!

I would like to bring to your attention the critical lack of data on Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11) indicator 11.3.2, which measures the proportion of cities with a direct participation structure of civil society in urban planning and management that operate regularly and democratically.

We need your action to collect enough data and avoid SDG 11.3.2 indicator – which focuses on participatory planning processes – from being removed from the SDG Global Database. 

SDG 11.3.2 is pivotal in assessing civic engagement within urban planning processes, an essential aspect in the creation of sustainable cities and communities. To-date less than 30 per cent of countries are presently collecting data for this indicator, despite commendable progress by countries and cities to provide for civic engagement through legislative and other practical measures.

To tackle this challenge, we have introduced a user-friendly survey, which takes about 3 minutes to complete and is adaptable to any language. The survey features a global map illustrating immediate results and facilitates comparisons with countries and cities worldwide.

We believe that UN-Habitat stakeholders and partners individually and collectively have a key role to play in accelerating data collection on SDG indicator 11.3.2 by personally completing the questionnaire and encouraging members of your respective organisations and networks to do the same, as many reside in cities and towns.

Your involvement in facilitating completion of this survey individually and through your member networks and partner organisations operating at city, local, sub-national and national levels is therefore important to safeguard SDG indicator 11.3.2 by June 2024, the deadline set by the Inter-agency Expert Group on SDGs. By that date, 50 per cent of countries are expected to collect data on civil society engagement in urban planning and management.

Please complete the survey and disseminate it amongst your relevant networks, partners, experts, civil society, women, youth, professional organisations and other stakeholders, and partners, aiding us in swiftly securing eight thousand data points. The survey can be accessed Via this link or via https://ourcityplans.unhabitat.org/sdg-11-indicator

We would like to thank you warmly for your invaluable support.

UN-Habitat Partnerships Unit.