A/HRC/38/22 federation provided advice to the central government ministries on a range of issues, such as housing, water, education, safety (including from natural disasters) and various types of planning. 37. One representative of an NGO referred to several cities and districts that had already adopted local regulations on “human rights cities” and others that were in the process of adopting such a framework. In that context, the speaker stressed the importance of full cooperation between NGOs, local government, the national human rights institution and the central Government, including the competent ministries. C. Role of local governments in implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the New Urban Agenda 38. A number of speakers noted the role that local governments had in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and their link to human rights. One remarked that the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda was people-centred and human rights-based and added that implementation of human rights by local governments had to be based on a strong awareness of the needs of rights holders. One State representative said that the State in question had endorsed the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, that there should be an equitable sharing of resources among all of its citizens and that a balance should be sought that would benefit all individuals and groups. Another speaker stated that local governments had a particularly important role to play in implementing the pledge in the 2020 Sustainable Development Agenda of leaving no one behind. It was notable that the Sustainable Development Goals provided commitments to the needs of the most vulnerable. The speaker added that local governments had an important role in trying to facilitate the integration of refugees into their new community and that it would be useful to learn about best practices from other States concerning the implementation of human rights at the local level. 39. One speaker noted that the participation of subnational and local governments was important to the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) and its preparatory process. The speaker noted that local governments had been given a role in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (A/CONF.226/4, annex), which had been adopted at Habitat III. The speaker indicated that Human Rights Council resolution 35/24, entitled “Human rights in cities and other settlements”, had been inspired by the New Urban Agenda and its vision of cities for all. In that resolution, the Council had also noted the efforts of some national and local governments to enshrine this vision, referred to as “right to the city”, in their legislation, political declarations and charters. The speaker indicated that the urban development policy of the State in question was carried out by municipalities and was designed to ensure comprehensive social functions for the city and the well-being of its inhabitants. V. Conclusions 40. In their concluding remarks, the panellists stated that it was important for local governments to have a better understanding of human rights so that they could be better integrated into the delivery of public services. That could be done by providing local officials with human rights training and education. Sharing best practices among local governments, both nationally and internationally, would be useful. Another possible approach was to use the human rights cities model, which included a range of desired human rights outcomes. 41. The panellists stressed that in order to ensure effective local governance and effective implementation of human rights, it was important for local governments to have a proper legal framework and adequate financial resources. They stressed that local governments needed to provide public services at an adequate level to the population on a non-discriminatory basis, based on the human rights obligations of the State. Local governments should ensure in particular that public services were provided to the most marginalized and that the goal of leaving no one behind was achieved. 8