The UCLG World Council opens with a call for a renewed local multilateralism celebrating the 125 years of the city of Peace and Justice

The Opening Plenary of the UCLG World Council took place on 9 October, in an event that bridged the history of the City of Peace and Justice, with the present & the future of the Municipal Movement. Mayor of The Hague Jan Van Zanen opened the session by stating how “the hosting of the World Council means that The Hague is building on tradition of municipal cooperation between cities”, and called on the local and regional governments  present to continue talking to each other to build peace, in whatever moment that is possible. President of UCLG and Mayor of Konya Ugur Ibrahim Altay, brought to the table the important steps taken during the year to ensure the voice of local and regional leaders is heard and accounted for in the international stage, with a reminder of the acknowledgment of the role of local and regional governments within the United Nations Pact for the Future, adopted in September.

The importance of local governments as actors for the achievement of the goals and the potential of localization were echoed by Guy Ryder, UN Under-Secretary-General, who stated that “the UN Pact for the future, agreed by the 192 members of the UN recognises that local and regional governments are part of the solution to our global challenges. Cities are where we can foster the transitions needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda”. Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dick Schoof provided a message to local and regional leaders.

The second day of our World Council also saw the celebration of the Business Session of the Executive Bureau. Chaired by Mayor of Xi’an and UCLG Copresident Ye Niuping, and with the participation of UCLG Copresidents Berry Vrbanovic and Bheke Stofile under the various items, the Executive Bureau took note of the statutory updates, the upcoming policy priorities for 2025 -in particular the strategy of care of the world organization leading to 2025 and the World Social Summit, which will present our Local Social Covenant and the updates of our “10, 100, 1000 human rights cities” campaign by the representative of the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights Todd Howland. The VI World Forum of Local Economic Development  the Forum of Intermediary Cities, and the UCLG Culture Summit, which take place next year, were also presented in the Bureau, as were the programs that UCLG is engaged in (in particular, the Youth Climate Action Fund).

The first of the UCLG Policy Debates in the framework of the World Council was also held on Tuesday 9, on “Economies of Equality to finance the Care agenda”. Vice President Paola Pabón, together with Mayors of Oss Wobine Buijs, Mayor of Johannesburg Sello Enoch Morero, Vice Governor of Tokyo Rinji Nakamura, and UCLG Copresident Ye Niuping, discussed the importance of empowering local and regional governments to carry out caring policies, and the need to transform the global financial architecture to ensure that local and regional governments are empowered to act.

The final day will include the Business Session of the World Council and a Policy Debate on the trends that our movement faces.