IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and daily reports from the #UCLGCongress Durban 2019. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary report from the Congress, which is now available in HTML and PDF.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth

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View of the dais during the World Council.

Daejeon, Republic of Korea, is announced as the host for UCLG 2022.

Mohamed Boudra, newly elected UCLG President

Mpho Parks Tau, outgoing UCLG President, congratulates Mohamed Boudra on his election

Family photo of the newly elected Presidency.

Highlights for Thursday, 14 November 2019

Carla Rey, Secretary-General, Italian National Association for the European Council of Municipalities and Regions (AICCRE), shows her committment to achieveing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

On Thursday, the agenda of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders included a meeting of the organization’s General Assembly and the launch of elections for the presidency. In his introductory remarks during the Assembly, UCLG President, Mpho Parks Tau, recounted activities over the last three years, including on housing, migration, localizing the SDGs and engagement with stakeholders and municipalities around the world. Five UCLG sub-regions then reported on impacts, challenges and key recommendations, to be overseen by the new UCLG governing body, following the conclusion of elections on Friday.

Delegates also convened in a second plenary to launch the UCLG’s fifth edition of the Global Report on Local Democracy and Decentralization: How local action is transforming territories and communities (GOLD V). Núria Marín Martínez, Mayor, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, President of Barcelona Provincial Council, Spain, welcomed the publication, which her council has supported since 2017. Marina Ponti, Global Director, UN SDG Action Campaign, and Carla Montesi, Director for Planet and Prosperity, European Commission, congratulated UCLG on the publication of the report acknowledging that local authorities are on the front line of addressing both old and new global challenges.

Throughout the day, delegates met in special sessions on transparency and open government, migration, and the future of resilience. Assembly and Town Hall track sessions continued to prepare recommendations for UCLG’s World Assembly, which convenes Friday.

Plenary is filled to capacity as participants attend the UCLG General Assembly.

Corrine Lepage, President, Friends of the Universal Declaration of Humankind Rights' Association

Jean-Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary-General, UCLG Africa

Panel speakers during the session 'Localizing sustainable development: gearing up to the implementation decade' (L-R): Edgar Pieterse, African Centre for Cities; Clare Short, Cities Alliance; Núria Marín, Barcelona Provincial Council, Spain; Ilsur Metsin, Mayor of Kazan, Russian Federation; Berry Vrbanovic, Mayor of Kitchener, Canada; Carla Montesi, European Commission; Marina Ponti, UN SDG Action Campaign; and Babacar Mbengue, Mayor of Commune de Hann, Senegal.

Participants attend the launch of the 'Plant Trees Not Bombs' campaign, a Global Peace initiative designed to highlight the need for increased action to reduce and halt the effects of climate change. During the event, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, South Africa, commited the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to plant one million trees, helping to achieve the global target of planting 75 million trees by 25 October 2020 when the UN will celebrate its 75th anniversary.

Highlights for Wednesday, 13 November 2019

The Ndlovu Youth Choir performs at the official opening of the UCLG Congresss 2019.

The United Cities and Local Government (UCLG) World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders officially opened on Wednesday during a ceremony entitled “Local and Regional Governments, Sentinels of Dreams.” To the sounds of the Ndlovu Youth Choir, South African poet and storyteller, Gcina Mhlophe, opened the Summit in the evening.

Welcoming high-level guests and delegates, Mxolisi Kaunda, Executive Mayor, eThekwini Municipality, South Africa, said the Summit would build on the great work of local and regional governments around the world, ensuring a better future for all cities through debate and dialogue.

Graça Machel, Chairperson, Board of Trustees, African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), announced plans to call on the UN Secretary-General to convene a global peace forum of all nations and nationalities, and involving cities and towns around the world.

Fabrizio Hochschild Drummond, UN Under-Secretary General, invited UCLG delegates to support the UN75 Initiative, stating it consists of dialogues on the future envisaged by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mpho Parks Tau, President, UCLG, highlighted the unveiling of the International Municipal Investment Fund, which is based on a partnership between UCLG, the UN Capital Development Fund and the Global Fund for Cities Development.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Acting President, South Africa, reflected on challenges that cities face in providing tangible development opportunities in a context of shrinking resources and unequal wealth, and stressed the need to give a voice back to the people.

The Congress also met in plenary to consider the reinvention of local democracy, and held its inaugural Assembly Track sessions on decentralization and finance, Agenda 2030 and the Right to the City, and resilience. This new Track, organized at the regional level, has been established for the Congress as a permanent policy process for UCLG.

The Executive Bureau of the UCLG World Council also convened for its last meeting under the current mandate. A new Executive Bureau will be appointed for the 2019-2022 mandate in Durban during a meeting of the UCLG World Council.

Master of Ceremonies Gcina Mhlope, South African Anti-Apartheid Activist, Poet and Actress, welcomes participants to the meeting.

Graça Machel, Chairperson, ACCORD Board of Trustees

Fabrizio Hochschild Drummond, UN Under-Secretary-General

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Acting President, South Africa

Sihle Zikalala, Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Federico Poitier, Director, External Affairs and Partnerships, World Enabled

Highlights for Tuesday, 12 November 2019

The second day of the UCLG Congress 2019 continued at the Durban International Convention Centre.

The United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders convened for a series of preparatory and networking meetings ahead of Wednesday’s official opening.

UCLG Secretary-General, Emilia Saiz, addressed the Fourth UCLG Learning Forum, which consisted of learning interaction opportunities, providing an assessment of the state of learning within the network and recommendations to extend the reach of UCLG policies.

Work under the discussion Tracks proceeded, with delegates considering, among other topics:

• The role of culture as a vehicle of public policy and as the fourth pillar of development, with a focus on the ULCG’s African Capital of Culture initiative;
• Urban equality, human rights, migration, and gender.
• Citizenship and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
• Sustainable mobility, urban policy, diversity, finance and investment, and citizenship; and
• Peripheral cities and the New Urban Agenda.

Gender equality featured in a number of meetings, including a special session on the future of equality “Beyond Beijing+25”, which looked forward to the sixty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW64) to be held in New York when the UN will mark the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). Also on Tuesday, Ubuntu Advisors, Ana Falú, Argentina, and Sheela Patel, India, underlined the centrality of gender to the UCLG Congress with a shared analysis of the deep inequalities experienced by urban women and the urgency of local responses, led by women. A statement from the special session on Beijing+25 may go forward to the UN Commission on the Status of Women on Beijing+25 and Agenda 2030.

Panel speakers during the session 'The role of Agenda 2030 in creating citizenship: how can local governments use the SDGs to connect with their citizens?' (L-R): Diana Lopez, Local Government and Decentralization Unit, UN-Habitat; Johannes Krassnitzer, Director, Art-GOLD initiative, UN Development Programme (UNDP); Carla Rey, Secretary-General, Italian National Association for the European Council of Municipalities and Regions (AICCRE); Miquel Rodríguez Planas, Commissioner of the 2030 Agenda, Barcelona City Council, Spain; and Federico Poitier, Director, External Affairs and Partnerships, World Enabled.

Panel speakers during the special session focused on 'The future of equality: beyond Beijing+25' (L-R): Noraini Binti Roslan, Mayor of Subang Java, Malaysia; Rohey Malick Lowe, Mayor of Banjul, The Gambia; Thembi Nkadimeng, South African Local Government Association (SALGA); Ana María Falú, UBUNTU Advisor; Carola Gunnarsson, Vice-President, Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR); Lucy Slack, Deputy Secretary General, Commonwealth Local Governments Forum (CLGF); and Evgenia Lodvidova, Vice Mayor of Kazan, Russian Federation.

Rohey Malick Lowe, Mayor of Banjul, The Gambia

Roland Ries, UCLG Co-President, Senator, and Mayor of Strasbourg, France

Participants gather for the Financial Management Committee Meeting.

Highlights for Monday, 11 November 2019

Mpho Parks Tau, President of UCLG, and Emilia Sáiz, UCLG Secretary-General, share a moment as the first day of the 2019 UCLG Congress begins.

The United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders convened Monday for the first of two days of preparatory sessions, leading up to the official opening of the Summit on Wednesday.

At an opening press briefing, the President of UCLG Mpho Parks Tau, Deputy Minister, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, South Africa, outlined the highlights of the UCLG’s work over the past three years, including input to the New Urban Agenda (Habitat lll). He said the UCLG – a “network of networks” – was at the forefront of mobilization of local government associations. Tau noted significant strides in enhancing the voice of local and regional governments within the UN system, and highlighted the relevance of local inputs on the SDGs, climate change, housing, migration, and local finance.

Approximately 20 sessions took place throughout the day, organized around four “Tracks,” as well as the Local4Action Hub, an informal meeting place, and related events organized by themes and constituencies due to take place through the week. The Tracks are:

• Assembly Track – Local Action for the People;
• Town Hall Track – Cities are Listening;
• Local4Action Track – A multi-format collaborative track to facilitate partnerships; and
• Statutory Track – A decision-making track for UCLG members, comprising meetings of governing bodies responsible for shaping UCLG policies and work plans.

Following the informal launch of the Local4Action Hub, several events took place in the Summit “Agora” that included sessions on: Mayors for the Future, Cities Panels addressing regional collaboration on multilevel governance and informality, and an enabling environment for local human development, and the launch of the Call to Action after the Marrakesh Mayoral Declaration. A special session on the future of local finance convened in the afternoon.

Participants gather for the Local4Action Hub inaugural celebration.

Jean Baptiste Buffet, UCLG

Emilia Sáiz, UCLG Secretary-General, and Mpho Parks Tau, President of UCLG

Panel speakers during the special session (L-R): Moderator Judy Nkosi, Director, National Treasury, South Africa; Sameh Wahba, Global Director, Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice, World Bank; Michel-André Volle, Meridiam; Christel Alvergne, Regional Coordinator West and Central Africa, UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF); Hanitra Raharinjatovo-Rasamison, Director-General, Local Development Fund, Madagascar; Rodica Rossu, Mayor of Telita, Moldova; Mohamed Boudra, Mayor of Al Hoceima, Morocco, and President of the Moroccan Association of Communal Council of Presidents (AMPCC); Ahmed Aziz Diallo, Mayor of Dori, Burkina Faso; Isaac Musumba, Minister for Urban Development, Uganda.

Participants gather for the preparatory meeting of the Town Hall Track.