Speech by Jan van Zanen at the opening of the UCLG World Council, 9 October 2024

 

Your excellencies,

Dear colleagues,

Distinguished guests,

Friends,

 

Welcome to The Netherlands.

A very warm welcome to The Hague.

Here, in the city where the world is at home.

Where, day in and day out, people strive for peace and justice.

In 1899, 26 countries came together in The Hague to make agreements about how future conflicts could be peacefully resolved.

And to set ground rules, should it come to a conflict.

Today we can hardly imagine a world in which we do not work together in international fora and try to arrange matters through treaties and conventions.

Although… when I was in Quito once for a conference my father asked on the telephone: “Honestly now, what is the need to be so far away?”

I replied that as long as we talk to each other instead of fighting with each other, as far as I am concerned it is well worth all the effort.

To sit down together and talk to each other and hear one another’s views.

However different those views may be.

In essence, that was also the thinking behind the first Peace Conferences.

Since then, The Hague has developed into the international city of peace and justice.

Hosting more than 500 international organisations and almost all the embassies in the Netherlands.

How symbolic is it that, precisely 125 years later, The Hague welcomes you to this World Council of the United Cities and Local Governments.

An organization that has, for over a century, been founded on the principle of city diplomacy, of building bridges, and of collaboration.

And to a meeting which, like the one in 1899, is dedicated to peace.

With, as its goal: A New Peace Agenda for Future Generations.

Yesterday we already had the Municipal Peace Talks.

Under the motto of: Building a New Peace Agenda for Future Generations.

During these sessions the crucial role of local governments in urging peace and dialogue were further explored, as was the importance for our movement to be an actor in global peace decisions.

Peace cannot happen without the communities that we represent.

It is in this spirit that we wish to show you the concrete things that are happening in The Hague to promote peace and human rights, such as at the Humanity Hub.

Besides this, you can see for yourself tomorrow on one of the city tours how The Hague works on new solutions to the challenges we face.

From climate change and the many different cultures living ever more closely together, to the resilience of our local communities in the online world.

By hosting this World Council, The Hague together with VNG, the Association of Netherlands Municipalities, is building on a tradition of international cooperation between cities.

For example, in 2005, at the instigation of our former mayor, Wim Deetman, the Municipal Alliance for Peace was set up.

The first international conference on city diplomacy and peace building took place here in 2008, which led to the creation of the UCLG Peace Prize.

VNG has been working towards strong local government not only within the Netherlands but also in many countries abroad, through programmes and projects aimed at supporting sustainable development.

And in 2016 under the leadership of another predecessor as mayor, Jozias van Aartsen, the Global Parliament of Mayors met for the first time in this room.

As a knowledge hub in the field of peace and justice, The Hague plays a key role in tackling problems like climate change, migration and security.

It is a matter of finding new but, above all, real solutions to these global challenges.

The city is happy to provide a platform for this.

But in my view there is something else which is equally important.

And that is inspiration.

Earlier this year Benjamin Duerr, a young writer and diplomat, published a wonderful book about the history of the first peace conferences: ‘De droom van Den Haag’ (The dream of The Hague).

He clearly shows how inspired the pioneers of 125 years ago were, and how much peace and justice is the work of people.

It was in 1899 and still is today.

I sincerely hope that the spirit which inspired the generation of the first peace conferences will spur us and our contemporaries to action once again.

That we will come out of this World Council with concrete steps to contribute to the global peace agenda.

The current era calls for it, that much is clear.

Let us work on the New Peace Agenda for Future Generations, to use the words of Benjamin Duerr: “filled with ideals, courage, resilience and high expectations”.

I wish you a most productive World Council and an enjoyable stay in The Hague.