Cherrie Atilano Joins UN Local2030 Coalition Steering Committee

AGREA Founder and Chairperson Cherrie Atilano has been selected to the Steering Committee of the UN Local2030 Coalition, the system-wide platform for localizing the Sustainable Development Goals.

A seat at the table where local action is shaped

Ms. Cherrie Atilano, Founder and Chairperson of AGREA, has been selected as a member of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Local2030 Coalition. The Coalition is the UN system-wide platform and network for supporting and accelerating the localization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The appointment places her among a group of global leaders, partners, and changemakers working to strengthen local action and accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. For AGREA, it is a recognition of work that has, from the beginning, treated the local level as the place where development commitments either become real or remain abstract.

What the Local2030 Coalition is

The Local2030 Coalition is the United Nations’ system-wide platform for localizing the 2030 Agenda. Its purpose is to ensure that the UN system can articulate global goals and national policies in ways that fit local contexts, needs, and priorities, while securing a coherent One UN approach to localization.

The Coalition brings together UN entities, local government representatives, member states, academic institutions, grassroots and non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. Its Steering Committee is structured to include representatives of local authorities and their associations, member states, civil society, the private sector, and the hosts of the Secretariat and Local2030 Hubs. The committee includes senior UN leadership—such as the Executive Director of UN-Habitat and the Director-General of FAO, alongside local actors and partners.

“Localization” is the operative concept. It refers to the process by which the SDGs are translated into local plans, budgets, and institutions, not merely acknowledged at the national level. The Coalition’s working groups focus on localizing the six SDG transitions and financing those transitions at the local level. The premise is that the 2030 Agenda cannot be achieved through national policy alone; it requires subnational governments, communities, and local enterprises to own and implement the goals.

Why this appointment matters for AGREA’s work

AGREA’s mission is to help eradicate poverty for farming and fishing families, alleviate the effects of climate change, and contribute to food security in the Philippines. Its primary mechanism is the One Island Economy model, a framework for a sustainable island economy built on three goals: zero hunger, zero waste, and zero insufficiency.

That model is, in practice, an exercise in localization. It does not begin with a national plan and ask how it can be applied to an island. It begins with the island, its farmers, fishers, markets, waste streams, and energy constraints and asks what a functioning local economy would require. The work in Marinduque and Siargao has involved farm schools, women’s cooperatives, circular economy enterprises, electrification, and policy advocacy with local governments. Each of these is a localized expression of the SDGs: zero hunger through agricultural production and nutrition; zero waste through circular economy practices; zero insufficiency through livelihood and enterprise support.

Ms. Atilano’s documented experience aligns with the Coalition’s mandate. She founded AGREA in 2014 and has reached more than 30,000 smallholder farmers through programs that raise incomes, improve access to markets, and promote environmentally sound farming practices. She serves as a High-Level Ambassador for the UN Scaling Up Nutrition Movement and has been a Food Systems Champion of the United Nations. Her work has consistently connected local agricultural practice to national and global policy conversations—the same bridge the Local2030 Coalition is designed to build.

What the Steering Committee does

The Steering Committee is the Coalition’s governing body. It approves work plans, oversees the Coalition’s strategic direction, and serves as a group of champions for the Coalition’s ambition. Members are not passive advisors; they are expected to help deliver the Coalition’s mandate during their term.

For a civil society representative from the Philippines, participation on the committee is an opportunity to bring field-level experience into global discussions about how localization is financed, governed, and measured. It is also a responsibility. The committee’s decisions shape how the UN system supports local actors, which means the perspectives of farming communities, island economies, and agricultural producers are relevant to its work.

The appointment does not, by itself, change conditions on the ground in Marinduque or Siargao. It creates a channel through which those conditions can inform global policy, and through which global policy can be translated back into local practice. That two-way function is the point of the Coalition.

The appointment in context

AGREA’s work has long operated at the intersection of local practice and international frameworks. The organization is a focal point for the ASEAN NGO/CSO community and has partnered with UN agencies, development banks, and bilateral donors on programs spanning food security, women’s livelihoods, circular economy, and climate resilience. Ms. Atilano’s selection to the Local2030 Steering Committee extends that engagement into the governance of the UN’s localization architecture.

It also reflects a broader shift in development practice: the recognition that local actors are not merely implementers of globally designed programs, but sources of knowledge and leadership. AGREA’s model, farm schools, women’s cooperatives, island economies is built on that premise. The Coalition’s mandate is built on the same premise. The appointment connects the two.

What comes next

The immediate next steps are procedural: Ms. Atilano will take up her responsibilities on the committee, participate in its deliberations, and contribute to its work plans and strategic decisions. The specific priorities she will champion, and the committee’s calendar, were not detailed in the announcement.

The longer-term measure is whether the appointment helps advance the localization agenda in ways that matter to the communities AGREA works with. That will depend on whether global conversations about SDG localization produce resources, policy space, and institutional support that reach the local level, and whether local experience can shape those conversations in turn.

We are honored to contribute to this global initiative and remain committed to building partnerships and programs that leave no one and no place behind.

Learn more

To learn more about AGREA’s work on food security, sustainable agriculture, and community resilience, explore the organization’s official channels. Organizations interested in collaborating on localization, food systems, or rural development can reach out through AGREA’s contact page.