United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)

💜 #Care is at the heart of our strategy for transformation towards a fairer, more sustainable future. ✨On 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of #VAW, we are proud to conclude 3 years of impactful collaboration with the Observatory on VAW of the Conseil départemental de la Seine-Saint-Denis, through our UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion,Participatory Democracy and Human Rights, as part of the International Program “Towards #CaringTerritories for Women Victims of #VAW.” 👧🏾This transformative initiative marks a milestone in our municipal movement’s advocacy, showcasing the crucial role of Local and Regional Governments (#LRGs) in combating violence against women and ensuring safer, more inclusive communities worldwide. Furthermore, this international program reaffirms our support for the Statement by United Nations Special Procedures mandate holders ahead of this International Day: “The international community must spare no effort to end femicide,” which encourages the establishment of observatories as prevention and one of the effective responses to femicide. 📚 Over the past 3 years, the program has created a powerful platform for #solidarity with women globally through: ✅ Tailored training programs ✅ Raising awareness about all forms of VAW ✅ International advocacy, with the Declarations of Iztapalapa and Banjul addressing regional needs and trends in VAW. 📍 The Final Seminar will act as a catalyst to: 🔸 Reflect on lessons and best practices from the program 🔸 Build sustainable, #Gender and #HumanRights-based partnerships 💫This event is also a springboard for leveraging our participation in the #WYDE Women’s Leadership Initiative, aiming to: 🔹 Empower women in local politics 🔹 Pave the way for #Beijing30 and #CSW69 🔹 Strengthen our movement and global advocacy for equality and inclusion Together, we reaffirm our dedication to building caring territories that leave no one behind.

[ 🌱 Transformons nos villes grâce aux initiatives locales de lutte contre l’insécurité alimentaire ! 🌎 ] 📅 Pour rappel, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) et Let’s Food organisent un webinaire le 4 décembre 2024, de 14h00 à 15h30 CET ! Ce webinaire s’inscrit dans une série d’initiatives visant à sensibiliser et former les acteurs clés aux outils et aux bonnes pratiques nécessaires pour relever les défis de l’insécurité alimentaire. Il s’appuie sur notre récente publication, « Relever les défis de l’insécurité alimentaire : Initiatives des gouvernements locaux et régionaux » (février 2023), et contribuera à la création d’un futur MOOC sur la sécurité alimentaire, accessible en français, anglais et espagnol sur la plateforme UCLG Learning. 📘 Pour accéder à la publication complète, cliquez ici : https://lnkd.in/eQb6FD7Y Pourquoi participer ? • Pour découvrir des stratégies innovantes : Apprenez des expériences des 10 territoires phares étudiés par CGLU et partagez des recommandations concrètes pour vos projets locaux. • Pour renforcer le rôle des autorités locales : La sécurité alimentaire commence au niveau local. Ensemble, réaffirmons l’importance de l’engagement des gouvernements locaux dans cette lutte. • Pour favoriser la collaboration et partager des retours d’expériences : Exemples pratiques et études de cas inspirantes à découvrir pour ouvrir des échanges entre pairs. 🔗 Inscrivez-vous et retrouvez plus d’informations ici : https://lnkd.in/eaZe_QCf Ensemble, travaillons à bâtir des systèmes alimentaires locaux résilients et durables ! #SécuritéAlimentaire #SystèmesDurables #CollectivitésLocales #Webinaire #Collaboration #TransitionAlimentaire #CGLU

📢 Save the Date! On Monday, join us for a webinar on: "Strategies and Tools to Support Women in Public Life Against Gender-Based Violence Online and Offline." This event will explore practical approaches to empowering #WomenLeaders, addressing #GBV, and ensuring safe, inclusive participation in public and political spaces. It’s part of the WYDE | Women’s Leadership project: “Advancing Women’s Political Participation and Decision-Making through Social Norms Change, Networking, and Global Advocacy”, implemented by UN Women, International IDEA, Inter-Parliamentary Union, and UCLG. 💡 Let’s come together to build strategies for inclusive leadership and tackle the challenges women face in public life. 📆 25 November 2024, 14:00–16:00 CET 🔗 Register here: https://t.ly/gO_tN

📢 Calling all local & regional governments (#LRGs) pioneering #LocalDemocracy! The call to apply for the 19th #OIDPAward is now open! 💫This is your chance to showcase your most innovative practices and help advance local democracy worldwide! 🏆 If you implemented a participation practice during 2024, you’re eligible to apply for the 19th International Observatory on Participatory Democracy Award! 💡2025 Highlight: A special mention for durable initiatives active for over five years, demonstrating long-term sustainability and impact. Submit your practices in one of the 5️⃣ categories on the topics of the peace agenda, urbanism, care, ecological transition and civic tech 🗓️ Apply by January 31, 2025. Find details and application instructions in the link in the comments. Why apply? 🦸♀️Showcase your government’s leadership in protecting and promoting democracy at local and regional levels. 🌍 Enrich the global multilateral system with tools and strategies to engage local communities in public decision-making. 🎯 Inspire and be inspired by innovative ways to tackle inequality through participatory initiatives. 🏅 The award and special mentions will be presented during the 24th #OIDPCórdobaConference (Argentina), May 21-23, 2025. Don’t miss this opportunity to make your mark on participatory democracy!

🙌 Launch of the Emergency Governance Initiative’s Summary Paper! 💫 We’re excited to share the Summary Paper 2020-2024 “Governing Complex Emergencies at the Local Level”, the result of a four year research initiative in partnership with Metropolis, Asociación Mundial de las Grandes Metrópolis and LSE Cities. 📄 This paper brings together six policy briefs, six analytic notes, and countless workshops, seminars, and global discussions. It explores how local governments, being closest to citizens, are developing transformative local emergency responses, policies and service models in line with the needs of local communities. 💬 “Local and regional governments are the harbingers of change. They hold a privileged position and have a transformative commitment to bringing the voices of populations into global conversations and efforts to achieve sustainable development. They must be included as key partners in the structures of global development and decision-making at all levels, in particular the management of global complex emergencies.” (EGI Summary Paper) 🏙 This paper reflects an ongoing debate on how cities are responding to emergencies and highlights an ever-evolving priority that requires collective prevention and action. ✅ Learn about the importance of localizing the responses to complex emergencies ✅ Gain insights on key local emergency governance domains such as multilevel governance; service delivery and stakeholder coordination; finance and resources; and democracy and representation ✅ Reflect with us on the future of local emergency governance, including key questions around culture, memory, and imagination; human rights, democracy and commoning; feminist leadership, future generations and empowerment; and multilevel governance and the renewal of the multilateral system 🌐 The paper was launched at our session, “It All Starts in Partnership: High-impact Coalitions Localizing the Global Development Agendas in the Era of Urbanization” during #WUF12 in Egypt, with LSE Cities Executive Director Philipp Rode. We hope it sparks meaningful dialogue and further nurtures the field of emergency governance. 🔗 Download of the Summary Paper here: https://lnkd.in/d_RsPHQj 👇 Find in the comments the link to all our previous publications of the Emergency Governance Initiative!

👏 The World Urban Forum 12 Egypt adopts the Cairo Call to Action, calling for “sustaining a systemic representation of local actors at all levels” 📄 The 12th World Urban Forum (WUF12) came to an end with the adoption of the Cairo Call to Action, the outcome document of #WUF12, with 10 calls to develop sustainable urbanization. 🏡 Building on the six dialogues of the WUF on issues such as housing, the climate emergency, a renewed multilateralism, renewed financial architecture, building people-centred smart cities, and displacement and migration; the WUF Call to Action recalled the critical importance of the New Urban Agenda to achieve the goals, including by strengthening the role of local and regional governments within the international system -in line with the adoption of the Pact for the Future and its clause on local and regional governments- and recalling the importance of engaging local and regional governments in the United Nations System. 🌐 Beyond the callback to the importance of the New Urban Agenda, the Cairo Call to Action issued a clear call for the “systemic representation of local actors at all levels”, building on the calls issued at the World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments, and the statement of the organised constituency gathered within the Global Taskforce. The call highlighted the importance of engaging with local and regional governments, and the communities they represent, as political actors which need to be represented at national and international spheres so as to ensure that localization is wholly understood as a political process, and goes beyond implementation on the ground. 🟣 The Call placed importance in ensuring access to all populations to basic services, including housing, infrastructure and public spaces, and called for the development of “caring cities” in which all populations including women, children, youth, persons with disabilities, indigenous groups and marginalised populations. Urban planning and “unlocking finance” were also identified as essential to empower local and regional governments and other local stakeholders to contribute to the goal. 🤝 Ending with a segment on the importance of collaboration, the outcome document highlighted the need to build coalitions and partnerships between all stakeholders to empower local and regional governments and accelerate progress to the localization of the #SDGs. ✨ Mayor of Cobija and UCLG Copresident Ana Lucía Reis, together with Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development of Egypt, and Evans Aggrey-Darkoy, Head of the Civil Service, Ghana, read the outcome document of the World Urban Forum at the closing segment, with UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme) Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach pledging that the outcomes of WUF12 would continue to inform discussions and the work plan of UN-Habitat.

📅 Last week, Smart City Expo World Congress brought together inspiring discussions featuring high-level representatives and experts from both public and private sectors. 👩💻 We were delighted to participate in #SCEWC24 as a supporting institution, emphasizing the capacity of local and regional governments to develop innovative policies and the growing importance of urban agendas in critical areas such as education, digital rights, tech empowerment, and community development. Here are some key takeaways from the sessions we contributed to: 🌱 The session “Talents for Tomorrow: How Local Governments Can Address Emerging Challenges”, in collaboration with Talent Hub for Cities and Regions, Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and Eurocities addressed the crucial challenge of cultivating, attracting and retaining talent within public administration. 💻 At “Digital Rights in Europe: Where Are We & Where Shall We Go?”, our ASG of Partnerships, Pablo Fernández Marmissolle-Daguerre, highlighted that trust in institutions is crucial. He emphasized viewing the digital realm as a shared territory, ensuring public digital services are trustworthy and transparent. 🌊 During “Blue Cities: Health, Wealth & the Relationship between Water & Communities”, our Programme Manager, Juan Carlos Uribe Vega, underlined the vital role of #LRGs in engaging marginalized communities through nature-based solutions and making climate actions accessible and relatable. 🟢 In the “Cutting-Edge Tech Empowering a Greener Future” session, our ASG for Monitoring, Firdaous Oussidhoum, focused on how #AI can assist local governments in prioritizing sustainable governance aimed at safeguarding the planet, ensuring that future generations can thrive and sustain their livelihoods. 🏙️ Attending the Bloomberg Philanthropies' session, "Big Bets in Cities: How Philanthropy Can De-Risk Innovation”, we learned more about the transformative outcomes of Bloomberg’s Global Mayors Challenge, an occasion for cities to reimagine the most essential service they deliver. We heard the forward-thinking leaders of winning cities share their visions and strategies for shaping the future of municipal service delivery and make it happen today. ✨ We look forward to continuing these vital conversations and fostering impactful partnerships for the future of smart, inclusive cities.

🔍 Reducing Disaster Risk in Tomorrow's Cities: Bringing Scientific and Participatory Methods Together 🏙 A great part of urban expansion is occurring in cities already exposed to multiple hazards - such as earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, and landslides - often with little consideration for the city’s specific hazard profile, ongoing inequalities, or increasing impacts of climate change. 👩💻 Join Tomorrow's Cities and UCLG’s upcoming, free online course to discover a participatory future-oriented and science-based methodology that can help you improve risk communication, strategic planning and decision-making in your city.  In the course, you’ll learn how to: ✅ Foster community engagement in risk-informed planning ✅ Utilize advanced scientific methodologies for hazard and impact assessments ✅ Develop inclusive, actionable plans for disaster risk reduction The six engaging chapters feature videos from scientific leaders, case studies, interactive elements and a comprehensive reflection exercise to help you equip your city for a safer tomorrow. 👉 Sign up now, and join us for the launch webinar on December 5th: https://lnkd.in/d_miPuq4  #Resilience #UrbanPlanning #ParticipatoryPlanning #RiskCommunication 

🌍 Learn How to Transform Your City with Local Initiatives for Food Security! Food security is a critical global challenge, and local and regional governments are on the front lines of this effort. Over the past two years, UCLG, with the support of the Ministère des Affaires étrangères français and in partnership with Let's Food, has dedicated itself to empowering local authorities to enhance food security and foster sustainable food systems. 📅 Join our webinar on December 4, from 14:00 - 16:00 CET, part of a series of initiatives designed to raise awareness and train key actors in the tools and practices needed to tackle food insecurity. This webinar builds on the findings of our recent publication, “Rising to the Challenges of Food Security: Initiatives by Local and Regional Governments” (February 2023) and will contribute to the development of a future MOOC on food security, available on the UCLG Learning platform in English, Spanish, and French. 📝 Webinar Objectives: ➡️ Highlight Key Findings: Share insights, recommendations, and innovative strategies from 10 leading territories featured in the 2023 UCLG study. ➡️ Strengthen Local Leadership: Reaffirm the vital role of local and regional governments in addressing food insecurity. ➡️ Encourage Collaboration: Discuss partnership needs for a more unified approach to local food security. ➡️ Promote Knowledge Exchange: Present successful case studies and foster experience-sharing among participants. 📘 Read the full publication here: https://lnkd.in/eQb6FD7Y 🔗 Register and find more information here: https://lnkd.in/drJ7eAMP Let’s work together to build resilient and sustainable food systems at the local level!

✨ The World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments #LRGs gathers at World Urban Forum 12 Egypt opened by UCLG President and The Hague Mayor Jan Van Zanen 🌐On November 4, Jan Van Zanen inaugurated the #WUF12 with national government leaders, UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme) and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, calling for a renewed multilateralism to meet the New Urban Agenda #NUA goals The World Assembly of LRGs session, as an official WUF assembly, spoke to the 6️⃣ official dialogues focusing on a local #SDGRescuePlan; reshaping multilateralism with a multistakeholder focus; and transforming global finance to deliver basic services The session featured over 30 speakers: LRGs leaders, national government representatives and UN partners. UCLG President opened highlighting a🌍️ equity and caring social agenda with a financial structure prioritizing local public investments. UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach shared the commitment for a new multilateral system where the local level is heard💜 🦋Panels led by United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) Secretary General Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, Director of Urban Systems of ICLEI Africa Paul Currie, and Mayor of Soria and UCLG Special Envoy on the NUA Carlos Martínez addressed basic services; networked multilateralis; and restructuring finance to place basic services, and thus people and the planet first 🏙1️⃣st panel included Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Nouakchott Governor Fatimetou Abdel Malick, Nabón Mayor Patricio Maldonado, Barcelona Provincial Council Vice President María Eugènia Gay and Norway Deputy Minister for Local Governments Sigrun Wiggen, stressing LRGs' roles to renew public service provision, protect democracies and🔑to local development 🌟2️⃣nd panel featured Utrecht Mayor Sharon Dijksma, Basse Area Council Chairman Mahamadou Ceesay, Kuala Lumpur Mayor and former UN-Habitat Executive Director Dr Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Cobija Mayor Ana Lucía Reis, UN Nepal Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, Ghana Director of Local Governance Samuel Seth Passah and Cities Alliance Director Greg Munro focused on cross-sector partnerships and placing multilateralism at the core of the NUA 🌱3️⃣rd panel presented mayors leaders from Chefchaouen-Mohamed Sefiani; Cali-Alejandro Eder, Almeria-María del Mar Vázquez, Kazan-Evgeniya Lodvigova, Vicuña-Rafael Castillo and Ramallah-Issa Kassis, and Urban Practices Branch UN-Habitat Shipra Chiev Narang Suri, Catalonia Territory, Urbanism & Urban Agenda Secretary Victor Puga and Sydney Councillor William Chan advocating for a collective climate strategy and strengthening local support for environmental goals. 📢UCLG Secretary General Emilia Saiz concluded stressing the strength of the self-organised constituency and their willingness to act as partners of transformation, by being acknowledged as key actors to transform. Read the statement in the link in comments