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Today more than ever, local and regional governments must have a voice

2022-07-15T03:45:18.248Z


In a context in which national leaders arm themselves to protect sovereignty and access to resources, municipalism can help us walk towards universal, inclusive and sustainable development


Our world is at a moment that we could define as foundational.

The number of crises overlapping at the same time, their universal nature and their degree of interconnection places us in front of an unprecedented scenario.

The scope of some of these challenges is palpable in our daily lives, while the repercussions of others are more difficult to measure, even still to identify.

We see the truncated dreams, the lives lost in armed conflicts, the small boats reaching the shores, the persecution of the Tigray people in Ethiopia, the deaths, the destruction, and the displaced in the cities of Ukraine.

The impacts of conflicts reverberate at a global and local level, affecting such everyday needs as food and energy.

These challenges seem more visible today, but they have long been suffered by the most vulnerable people in our communities.

And they find their roots in systemic emergencies such as climate change, or the pandemic and its consequent economic crisis.

All this represents an important wake-up call to transform, among all, our systems and ways of life.

Local and regional governments know this well.

The global has a local impact and the local determines the global.

At times when we feel most vulnerable and unprotected, the capacity, values ​​and limits of our communities are tested.

And it has been in these circumstances that local and regional governments have been, and continue to be, at the forefront of efforts to move forward together, guaranteeing the provision of public services, guaranteeing rights, and promoting inclusive, supportive, fair ways of living and egalitarian.

We must reassess our priorities and ensure that the wake-up call of the pandemic serves to transform how we interact with each other, with our environment and institutions.

It is at times like these that we must reevaluate our priorities and ensure that what we have experienced serves to transform how we interact with each other, with our environment and with our institutions.

Compact for People, Planet and Government

The world organization United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), heir to the centenary international municipal movement, is convinced that these transformations will only be possible if local and regional governments play a fundamental role as political actors, with the responsibility of the level of government closer to the people, going beyond the competencies or the resources at their disposal today.

To achieve these transformations, UCLG is developing a Pact for the Future of People, the Planet and the Government that includes the shared principles, values ​​and aspirations of our communities to renew the social contract from cities, towns and territories.

The pact wants to be a document at the height of this founding moment.

It aims to be honest with the challenges, assume responsibilities and build on the collective knowledge that we have been able to coin.

The starting point towards a more sustainable future, with gender equality and social justice as essential pillars of any creative, resilient, empowered and committed community.

It does so by putting people at the center, deepening the needs of current generations and expanding the rights of future ones.

It does so by guaranteeing public services and common goods, developing a harmonious relationship with nature, and renewing the relationship between spheres of government to improve people's trust and representativeness.

Africities Summit 2022 in Kisumu (Kenya).UCLG-UCLG.

Throughout history, our territories have prospered thanks to the ingenuity of our people.

The Pact for the Future seeks to preserve and promote local, empathetic and supportive societies that enhance the capacities of their individuals through culture and the right to the city.

To favor that our territories have tools to put an end to the housing crisis, transform our production and consumption habits, and build bridges between citizens and institutions based on innovative, sustainable, and inclusive service provision.

In short, to create spaces where ideas flourish that lead the transformations we need.

From April to October, mayors, mayors, governors and governors from among our members elect their peers to represent them in the World Council of our organization.

There are 341 seats distributed among the five continents.

It is an unparalleled democratic exercise in local multilateralism, which began in May at Africities, the largest meeting of local and regional governments on the African continent, where the vibrant energy of the municipalist movement was thunderously felt, conveying the empowerment of local voices and the diversity.

The democratic exercise experienced in Kisumu provides the 45 seats corresponding to Africa in the UCLG World Council, and will be replicated in the rest of the regions of the planet.

Those elected representatives will present motions to promote concrete actions that take the pact to the streets and budgets of our territories.

The results will be adopted on October 14 in Daejeon, at the most representative summit of local and regional governments and one of the largest democratic exercises on the planet.

The road map of the municipalist movement will thus be marked and will largely define the local and territorial contribution to the United Nations Summit for the Future.

In a context in which national governments arm themselves to protect sovereignties and access to resources, local and regional governments show themselves to be the greatest allies in defining a care agenda that helps us rebuild the foundations of the multilateral system towards universal development , inclusive and sustainable.

Emilia Saiz is the secretary general of United Cities and Local Governments.


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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-07-15

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