Toespraak side event VNG International ‘Preventing urban violence – peer learning among cities’, 2 mei 2025

 

Honourable Mayors,

distinguished participants,

peacebuilders,

 

Today we are here in Montevideo because we recognise that we share a responsibility to enhance peace in our communities.

We come together not just because of this shared responsibility,

but also because we believe that we can learn from each other.

 

These two days of exchanges are packed with opportunities to share our experiences,

to discuss our common challenges,

and to take home new ideas.

 

This session will allow us to do exactly that:

we will explore the potential of learning from each other,

speak about the UCLG Peace Prize as a means to enable this, and dive into the case study of the city of Recife.

 

What we discuss here today is not a stand-alone conversation. Our exchanges are of course part of a broader movement.

This Forum in Montevideo builds on the conversations we had at the Forum in Bogotá two years ago,

and in Mexico and Madrid before that.

 

It will be a part of the UCLG Peace Agenda,

a part of our advocacy towards the World Summit on Social Development,

and a stepping stone for how we shape peace at the next  UCLG World Council and the UCLG World Congress.

And our conversations here build directly on the Municipal Peace Talks,

an initiative that brings city diplomacy to the forefront,

that was set up in 2022 and that we organised alongside the UCLG World Council in my city of the Hague last year.

 

As the international city of Peace and Justice,

this international conference on municipal peace was connected to the core of the identity of The Hague (it’s DNA).

This connection is strong because our city is the place where international disputes get settled,

where war criminals are prosecuted,

but also where we as local government are working on a daily basis to ensure our citizens can live in peace.

 

We do this for example by working with people we call ‘neighbourhood fathers’:

pillars of their communities who engage with youth to keep them on the right path.

And we work with religious leaders who advocate for dialogue and mutual understanding in the face of global tensions.

 

Hosting the World Council and Municipal Peace Talks formed an opportunity to connect local leaders from all over the world with such changemakers from our own community.

Next to that,

we presented the The Hague Charter of Municipal Peace that will hopefully guide local governments in their peace policies and actions.

 

Just two days ago,

I was visiting the Brazilian city of Recife at one of their excellent COMPAZ community centres.

There, my colleague Mayor Campos signed a decree to commit to the Hague Charter for Municipal Peace and connect this charter to their policies.

This was a symbolic step in a broader movement.

And I am pleased that we have our colleagues from the City of Recife here today to share more about their programme.

 

It was this programme focusing on reducing violence in the city that landed them a position in the finals of the 2022 UCLG Peace Prize.

This award provides the framework of this learning session.

As the City of the Hague,

we are a proud partner of this project that we have been supporting over the years,

and we have just committed as partner for the new edition again.

 

We provide this support because we believe that there is a collective strength that we have as local governments worldwide.

A collective strength that is rooted in good ideas and effective programmes in all corners of the world.

 

And this prize is an effective way to bring those strong examples together and allow us to learn from each other.

This is exactly the purpose of this session,

before I will formally launch the new edition of the Peace Prize later in the plenary opening.

Dear all,

Let me conclude,

by thanking you for your presence here today,

and for your shared commitment to enhancing a culture of peace from the bottom up.