Malé: In a significant move toward localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Malé City Council hosted a two-day Stakeholder Consultation Workshop from April 28–29, 2025, to prepare its first Voluntary Local Review (VLR). Held in partnership with the United Nations Economics and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UN ESCAP) and ICLEI South Asia, the workshop brought together representatives from local government, civil society, academia, youth groups, and technical experts to discuss the SDG targets, and shape a shared vision and prospects for SDG localisation.

Day one centred on consultations with government officials. In his welcome address, Mayor Adam Azim reaffirmed Malé’s commitment to building a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable urban future. He was joined by  Mohammad Imad, Director General, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Maldives, and Sara Libera Zanetti, Sustainable Urban Development Advisor at ESCAP, who emphasised the importance of VLRs in aligning local action with global SDG commitments.

Bedoshruti Sadhukhan, Associate Director at ICLEI South Asia, outlined the VLR’s objectives, methodology, and timeline, along with the data received and the mapping of selected SDGs to Malé City’s Strategic Goals. Satarupa Roy, Senior Project Officer at ICLEI South Asia, presented  a detailed overview of the SDGs chosen based on the city’s priorities and mandate. She presented the nine chosen SDGs and their associated targets with justifications for their selection, and the city’s expectations for their integration into the VLR.

Participants broke into groups to mapongoing projects and programmes aligned with the selected SDGs identify key challenges and provide concrete actions. The session concluded with a plenary visioning exercise, moderated by ICLEI, during which officials collectively articulated a shared “Vision of Malé VLR,”—a roadmap for a resilient, SDG-aligned city. Participants also proposed strategies for sustained stakeholder engagement, including the involvement of community groups, youth, and the private sector.

The second day focused on civil society. Council Executive Abdul Muhaimin Nasir delivered the welcome remarks, followed by special and opening remarks from Senior Council Member Ibrahim Rasheed and Mohammad Imad, Director General, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Maldives. The speakers reiterated Malé’s pledge to “leave no one behind” and emphasised the importance of community participation in the VLR process.

Representatives from across the city actively participated in identifying barriers to achieving the SDGs, ranging from infrastructure constraints, resource limitations,  public awareness gaps, to the lack of collaboratively developed localised solutions. Breakout sessions facilitated productive dialogue on institutional, infrastructural, and behavioural enablers that could enhance Malé’s contribution to the SDGs. Groups noted ongoing projects in waste management, mental health awareness, water conservation and drug rehabilitation as contributions to Malé’s SDG progress. These sessions produced a rich set of ideas and community feedback for inclusion in the VLR report.

The workshop concluded with a commitment to form a draft VLR report based on all stakeholder input over the two days, led by ICLEI, in close coordination with city departments. This draft will guide Malé’s SDG efforts and will be circulated for validation review to launch Malé’s first VLR later in 2025. 

The VLR process in Malé represents a pivotal step toward localising the 2030 Agenda. It underscores the city’s commitment to embedding transparency, participation, and sustainability into its development planning and urban governance framework.