Exactly 17 years ago, on April 2, 2004, the founding session of the Eurasia Regional Section of the World Organization "United Cities and Local Governments" was held in Kazan.
The founders were more than 50 cities and associations of local governments, including the Congress of Municipalities of the Russian Federation, the Association of Communes of Armenia, the International Assembly of Capitals and Major Cities, the Union of Local Authorities of Kyrgyzstan, the Association of Siberian and Far Eastern Cities, the Union of Cities of the Arctic and Far North, the cities of Ulaanbaatar, Bishkek, Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Vladimir, Irkutsk, Perm and others.
Over the 17 years of its existence, the Eurasia Section has managed to achieve significant success in promoting and protecting the interests of local governments in Eurasia. For example, Goal 11 on cities was included in the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development until 2030. The Eurasia Section managed to achieve the inclusion of urban projects in the Voluntary National Review of the SDGs Achievement in Russia. With the support of UCLG-Eurasia, the Mayor of Kazan, President of UCLG-Eurasia was elected President the UN Advisory Committee on Local Self-Government in 2019. The Head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for many years has been holding the post of Vice-President of the UCLG World Organization. UCLG is recognized as the main partner of the UN in working with local and regional governments, and mayors of Eurasian cities have the opportunity to express their opinions and speak at the UN High-level Political Forum, the UN General Assembly and other global events.
Today, we can say with confidence that the Eurasia Section of UCLG was established as an international organization. We continue to develop further, and we have ambitious plans ahead. We are convinced that with the support of our members, we will reach great heights. We are the united voice of local governments of Eurasia!
Happy Birthday, UCLG-Eurasia!
02.04.2021