Meeting of the World Council in Barcelona

On November 16-18, in Barcelona, the meetings of the UCLG World Council 2021 took place in a hybrid format. The World Council meets once a year, and as of today, it includes 342 political representatives from different regions of the world. The meetings of the 2021 World Council were dedicated to the topic “Smart Cities and Territories: Key Elements of the Agenda”.

The event started with the meetings of the Presidency and the Statutory Committee of UCLG, where President of UCLG Mohamed Boudra announced his resignation. He will remain in UCLG as Honorary President and will facilitate the work of the organization until the World Congress in 2022. Co-President Thembisile Nkadimeng left her post as well, due to the appointment as Deputy Minister for Joint Governance and Traditional Affairs. During these meetings, it was decided that next President of UCLG would be Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin.

Thematic debates commenced with the discussion of human rights, as well as the contribution of local and regional governments to the report by the UN Secretary-General “Our Common Agenda”. Mohamed Boudra highlighted new relations with the planet, “giving the right of voice to the voiceless”, and partnerships for full pandemic recovery as key trends.

The World Council paid attention to the attendance of important partners, such as Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who commended the role of the SDGs in combating inequality and contributing to the protection of human rights, as well as the joint work with UCLG related to the creation of the network of local and regional governments defending human rights.

Besides, the participants discussed the significance of the use of new technologies for the benefit of humanity and shared opinions about what makes local and regional governments “smart”. The participants of policy dialogues presented the need to address different issues, such as to support families affected by the COVID-19 crises, to create a balance between urban and rural systems, to protect biodiversity, and to raise the educational level, etc.

Governor of Central Macedonia Apostolos Tzitzikostas stressed that subnational governments are not just implementers, but can make ambitious plans. In his opinion, cities can undertake 90% of global mitigation measures provided that there is adequate financing.

Kim Borisov, Representative of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), told how climate change affects the Arctic, including glaciers melting, increased area of forest fires and rise in the average annual temperature.

The debates were attended by local and regional leaders from all over the world, including Chairman of the Moscow City Duma Alexey Shaposhnikov, Mayor of Sala Carola Gunnarson, Mayor of Kitchener and UCLG Treasurer Berry Vrbanovic, Mayor of Tunis Souad Abderrahim, Vice-Mayor of Quito Gissela Chalá, Copresident of UCLG and Mayor of Konya Uğur İbrahim Altay, Mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau and others.

The key outcomes of the Council were the adoption of the work plan for 2022, approval of the budget, new governance structure of UCLG, as well as preparation for the 7^th UCLG Congress to be held in October 2022 in Daejeon, South Korea.

22.11.2021

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