Over 200 Mayors and local practitioners gathered at the World Urban Forum called for the Third Conference of Sustainable Human Settlements (Habitat III) to revise the international governance architecture for urban and development issues.
Dr. Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Istanbul and President of UCLG presented the commitment of the UN Advisory Committee for Local Authorities (UNACLA) to significantly contribute to shaping the new Habitat Agenda.
As inheritor of the Habitat II process, which set the basis for the creation of the World Organization of Cities and Local Governments, UCLG called all local government partners to unite and define the priorities of local and regional authorities internationally.
The new Habitat agenda needs to be people centered and help us move away from the dichotomy of rural versus urban. It will need to put cohesion among territories at the forefront of our future work, said the UCLG and UNACLA President.
The Mayor of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrad called for a change in the international financial architecture, allowing direct financing of local governments.
The Mayor of Naples, di Magestri, asked for local authorities to unite and call for global rights with the development of culture as corner stone for sustainable development.
Mr Carrasco, Vice-President of FOGAR underlined the need to make territorial cohesion a priority in the agenda.
Mayors from Teheran, Quito, Medellín, Toulouse, Johannesburg and Jokohama stressed the need to develop inclusive cities paying special attention to the needs of the youth, stimulating creativity and innovation.
Representatives of local government associations from Sweden, Canada, Colombia, Senegal and the Philippines, among others, ratified the need to focus on the empowerment of local authorities around the world in order that they can comply with their responsibilities towards citizens.
The round table of Mayors celebrated and embraced the UNACLA Habitat III statement that requests Habitat III to address representational deficits faced within global governance and policy-making instruments.
Pledges for a fully inclusive structure and governance model for the Habitat III preparatory process and Conference, following a multi-stakeholders approach and inclusive of all Habitat Agenda partners.
Dr. Joan Clos, Executive Director of Habitat and Mrs Kirabo, Deputy Director, both former Mayors of Barcelona and Kigali respectively, underlined the importance of ensuring an inclusive process that will allow the new Habitat Agenda to reflect the realities of our changing world and the put all Habitat partners, and in particular local authorities, at the heart of the deliberations.
Read Final Draft on UNACLA Statement on Habitat III