The fourth day of the Summit launched with a strong message that linked peacebuilding with the consolidation of an ecological transition through the launch of the “Plant Trees, not bombs” campaign, together with Accord.
The fourth day of the Summit launched with a strong message that linked peacebuilding with the consolidation of an ecological transition through the launch of the “Plant Trees, not bombs” campaign, together with Accord. President Mpho Parks Tau used this platform to champion cities as spaces for cooperation and peacebuilding,, and acknowledged the power of this message by stating that “Planting trees” is an answer to the voices that consider war an acceptable alternative. After all, trees are a symbol for developing livable spaces.”
The intense activity of the Local4Action Hub and Track continued throughout the day, with vibrant sessions that allowed for exchanges and the participation of some of UCLG’s key partners, such as Cities Alliance, UNICEF, the International Labour Organisation.
Our Policymaking tracks, ready to feed the municipal movement.
Our World Summit during day four allowed for the deliberations of our policy co-creation tracks to come to an end. The Assembly track led by the Americas had multilevel governance at its core, focused on enhancing the relationship between spheres of government to better respond to the challenges of our communities. The Asembly led by the Middle-East and Western Asia put forward policy recommendations on migration management, peacebuilding and resilience with a focus on the fragile situation of the countries in the area, and sharing city-led initiatives for peacebuilding.
The Assembly Track was closed by the Metropolitan Assembly, where leaders emphasised the role of local and regional governments in addressing the future of public space in the metropolitan era, and how to implement policies to ensure equal access to it by all inhabitants.
The three last trails of the TownHall track focused on Right to the City, providing inputs on how to view access to the city through a rights-based lens to ensure equity, sustainability, and social justice is to be achieved. Sustainable Urban Development was at the core of the second session, focusing on partnerships to make it happen at the local levelThe session on Addressing informalities debated how cities and regions could adopt innovative visions and include their city dwellers, by designing accessible and inclusive schemes for people in poverty.
Policy recommendations by both tracks were formulated to the World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments that will formally meet on the last day of the Summit.
Envisioning our organization’s future through the Special Sessions:
Transparency, Resilience and Migration were the key topics behind the Special Sessions of the day, developing the vision and addressingthe future of the international municipal movement on the three critical issues.
During the Special Session on Resilience, delegates explored the dynamics to structure this debate in the UN agenda and its potential for a wider understanding of resilience that focused on the role of cities managing the natural resources and contributing to the resilience of the planet and social global justice. The Special Session on Transparency addressed one of the biggest challenges for local democracy: the lack of trust between citizens and governments from around the world, and options for new governance models putting transparency and access to public information at the core.
Managing migration, theme of the third Special Session, shed light on the ability of cities to help vulnerable groups to break down barriers that prevent them from accessing basic services, protecting their rights and enjoying decent living conditions. It further addressed the Global Compact for Migration marking a breakthrough in the global governance of migration with a proposed framework and common values for defining national migration policies.
Telling the local story of development: Our Gold V Report
Preparing the next decade of implementation of the global goals was the centre of the discussions of the second Plenary of the Congress, presenting the aspirations and wishes of the communities.e.During this Plenary, UCLG officially launched the V Report of the Global Observatory on Decentralization and Local Democracy (GOLD), which assesses the state of implementation of the global agendas, and how impactful and participative local and regional governments have been in their own contexts. The GOLD Report is a critical tool to contribute to the monitoring of the global agendas providing our local vision, and thus critical to gear up to the implementation decade. It is also the culmination of three year of joint work with our partners and international experts, and a critical tool to contribute to the monitoring of the global agendas providing our local vision.
The renewal of our leadership through our Statutory track
Our Statutory Track held two sessions during the day. The General Assembly, and the first part of our World Council. The General Assembly represents all the membership the heart of our organization, and allowed the Presidency to reflect on the three years of their mandate, from the shift from#Listen2Cities, to #CitiesAreListening and the legacy that these three years would leave.
“The next decade will need to see us stronger, will see our conviction about becoming crucial partners, and demonstrate that another world is possible, and that it is in our hands to make it happen.” Mpho Parks Tau, President of UCLG.
The World Council has taken the first step towards the election of the new UCLG Presidency with the first round of voting. The second round will take place at the session of the World Council taking place on the last day.
