Urban leaders in the capital have stepped up efforts to accelerate delivery on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), following a high-level engagement convened by the United Nations Association of Uganda (UNAU).
The meeting held at Minister's Village Hotel, Kampala, brought together councillors and local government leaders from across Kampala to sharpen their role in translating global development commitments into tangible community outcomes.
Speaking at the meeting, UNAU Secretary General, Richard Baguma, said the engagement is part of a broader push to align political leadership with Uganda’s development priorities as the 2030 deadline looms.
“We are working with leaders to accelerate the implementation of development objectives anchored in the SDGs,” Baguma said.
“Uganda’s National Development Plan is aligned to the global goals, but achieving them requires deliberate action, from budgeting and policymaking to passing bylaws that directly impact communities," he added.
He noted that both newly elected and serving leaders must understand the link between global frameworks and local realities, ensuring that decisions taken at council level contribute meaningfully to national and international targets.
The training also focused on deepening leaders’ understanding of how local governments serve as the frontline for SDG implementation.
According to Ashraf Kakaire, a facilitator at the workshop, local governments are central to turning policy into progress.
“Local governments are the operational backbone of the SDGs,” Kakaire noted.
“We are now shifting from voluntary national reporting to localized reporting, where districts and city authorities demonstrate the impact of their interventions on people’s livelihoods," Kakaire said.
He added that the training equips leaders with the tools to track progress, improve service delivery, and align local priorities with national and global development targets, particularly in areas such as infrastructure, environmental sustainability, and economic growth.
For participants, the engagement offered practical insights into how policy decisions can directly improve lives.
Nabbali Zaituni, a women councillor from Rubaga Parish, said the training has strengthened her approach to service delivery.
“I now better understand my role in advancing the SDGs, especially in ensuring access to clean water and quality education,” she said.
“It has also shown me how to collaborate with institutions like the National Water and Sewerage Corporation and the Kampala Capital City Authority to deliver services more effectively," he added.
The engagement highlighted a growing recognition that achieving the SDGs will depend less on high-level commitments and more on how effectively local leaders mobilize resources, enact policies, and respond to the everyday needs of citizens.
With just a few years left to 2030, Kampala’s leaders noted that delivery must now outpace dialogue.