Local peacebuilding takes centre stage during the UCLG World Council in The Hague
29.10.2024
The UCLG World Council began today with the celebration of a plenary session of the UCLG Municipal Peace Talks. Representatives of the UCLG Presidency, including President Ugur Ibrahim Altay, Copresident Fatimetou Abdel Malick and Vice President Paola Pabón, together with partners Pax for Peace and the UCLG Peace Price, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, and mayor of Bilbao Juan Mari Aburto reflected on the deep-rooted role of peacebuilding in our movement’s history, as well as local peacebuilding initiatives and the potential for transformative city diplomacy in revolutionizing how global peacebuilding is understood, including by addressing local and regional governments as active decision-makers in peace. Participants addressed the importance of interacting with the local aspects of the New Agenda for Peace and celebrated The Hague’s legacy as a City of Peace and Justice on its 125th anniversary, and Mayor Jan Van Zanen presented the “The Hague Charter on Municipal Peace Peace. The Municipal Peace Talks allowed a moment for mayor of Montevideo Mauricio Zunino to present the upcoming edition of the World Forum on Cities and Territories of Peace, which will take place in Montevideo in 2025.
Hosted by Mayor Jan Van Zanen, the morning also included a session led by VNG International, under the umbrella of the UCLG Municipal Peace Talks, entitled “Peace Starts Here”. This session reinforced our commitment to peacebuilding, building on the broader agenda of the World Council, and included powerful participation by Copresident Bekhe Stofile. Thematic breakout sessions addressed the various interrelations between local peacebuilding and radicalisation, peace and conflict in cities, communities, and migration governance.
The Peace Learning event on Urban Violence and City-to-City Diplomacy was a key opportunity to explore how local governments can address urban violence while fostering peace and city-to-city diplomacy. The case of Recife, Brazil, finalist of the UCLG Peace Prize was highlighted.
We also conducted two key closed-door sessions on October 8th: the Financial Management Committee and the Statutory Affairs Committee. These sessions serve as the basis for the strategic and financial orientations of our Organization.
The rest of the World Council will define our work programme for 2025 and report on our programmes, partnerships and research agenda.
Stay tuned to hear updates!