Openingstoespraak Presidency meeting (retreat) UCLG, 19 februari 2025
Dear members of the Presidency, dear colleagues and friends,
It is a pleasure to be with you here,
in the first meeting of the year
and after I assumed the Presidency
during our World Council in The Hague.
I hope that you share with me
the enthusiasm for what is to come,
and that we use this Presidency Meeting
to reflect on our priorities
and distribute our shared knowledge and agenda for the year.
Allow me to share my gratitude for your presence here.
It is indeed a very populated meeting of our Presidency,
and I personally want to thank you all for your involvement.
Particularly in these times,
the unity of our network is crucial.
We are living in a world that is rapidly changing,
with geopolitical developments that have a huge impact
on how nation states relate.
We have a lot of number of conflicts,
which affects many persons and communities
around the globe.
This creates uncertainty and new realities.
The dismantling of USAID,
for instance,
sends ripples through many regions.
As local leaders,
our main responsibility is to serve and represent
the interests of our communities.
As we move forward,
it is crucial that we,
as a collective of local leaders,
continue to focus on solidarity,
diplomacy,
local efforts for peace
and constructive collaboration
to face these global shifts and challenges.
Therefore,
the beginning of my term as President
has come with the commitment to strengthen partnerships,
to contribute to peacebuilding and justice
and to enhance our positions within the multilateral system.
My visits to Arusha,
to Addis Abeba,
to Cairo,
to Cape Town,
and recently to New York,
to the ECOSOC Partnership Forum,
are part of this goal:
to bridge the global agendas and build partnerships to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Meeting the United Nations Secretary General
also allowed us to continue the discussion around
how to formalize the engagement
of local and regional governments in global governance.
I would also like to share my satisfaction
with the growing interaction with youth,
the new generation.
I would also like to share a word of congratulations to Metropolis, who celebrated their Board of Directors right before our meeting, and who are actually celebrating their 40th anniversary this year.
Congratulations as well to the new President of Metropolis,
Fatiha El Moudni, the Mayor of Rabat.
In an uncertain world,
our movement stands resolute in upholding the principles of our Pact for the Future of Humanity;
the principles that are all around us,
that we can see during the retreat:
care, equity, and resilience.
2025 is a pivotal year to place localization at the centre of the future global agendas,
particularly with the Local Social Covenant
that we will be launching formally tomorrow.
With the Summit on Social Development in sight,
the Fourth Conference on Financing for Development nearby,
and the post-2030 horizon as the next stage,
we need to reaffirm our role as leaders of transformation.
Local peacebuilding and city diplomacy will,
once again,
be the discussion in which we have to take part, for instance in the beginning of May with the Forum that will take place in Montevideo.
As mentioned this morning,
peace was also central in the discussions held during the meetings of our World Council in my city,
the Hague, The city of Peace and Justice,
and I would recall here the document that was produced
as a result of the Municipal Peace Talks,
the The Hague Charter on Municipal Peace.
A peaceful world,
dear friends,
remains far from reality
but it is our duty to contribute to help change the current system.
This year is a moment to think about the more than 8 billion people that live in the world.
The year of the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration
and Platform of Action
will place a necessary focus on gender equality,
looking back at the achievements of course;
but also reviewing in detail the challenges ahead.
The 69th Commission on the Status of Women in March
will place women’s participation at the forefront for caring, resilient and just societies.
We will continue to place the common goods at the centre.
Water as a common,
public good is at the centre of global conversations.
Ecotransition will remain at the heart of our policy processes
this year.
Our actions need to include young people and protect the interest of future generations.
The intergenerational dialogue we held this morning
proved to be of particular relevance for our agenda.
And speaking of the agenda of the Organization,
we can see that it remains a strong one.
We will, however,
also need to face the impact that the overlapping crisis will have on the international system.
Our traditional donors and partners are shifting priorities.
At a moment where our achievements are meeting
many of our ambitions,
we might lack the resources to make them a reality.
We will need renewed commitment
of the membership to move forward.
Our Presidential Team,
which remains the most representative of our history,
should be ready to inspire ideas and support to deliver the transformation that we need.
I share my resolve to make UCLG stronger with your support.
Thank you.
