Our Annual Report 2017 is out!

Our Annual Report 2017 is out!

The 2017 Annual Report summarizes the events that have taken place during the past year, which have contributed to shape the present of UCLG, the world organization of cities, metropolises and regions.

In our Annual Report, you will find that the year 2017 was a historic year for United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and the constituency of local and regional governments as a whole. Throughout 2017, UCLG continued to secure a place at the global tables for local and regional governments. The renewal of the Strategic Partnership with the European Union exemplifies how the work being done by the constituency in terms of amplifying the voice of local and regional governments is in the right tracks.

Increasing the political commitments, a key goal over the past year

This has been the first year of the leadership elected in Bogotá, which marked the actions of the constituency throughout the year. The localization of the global agendas has been at the core of our efforts and mandate has been to strengthen the political leadership of the organization.

With that in mind, the Policy Councils, a policy decision mechanism first ratified during the Executive Bureau in Madrid (April, 2017) held their inaugural sessions during the World Council in Hangzhou (December, 2017) . Their goals are to increase the political commitment on the major challenges faced by local governments around the world. 2017 also saw the creation of the UCLG Policy Development and Consultation Mechanisms: Committees, Working Groups, Communities of Practice and Fora.

The World Council in Hangzhou also culminated the processes of internal democracy which began in Bogotá, after the retirement of former Secretary General Josep Roig, with the appointment of our new Secretary General, Emilia Saiz, and ratified the strategic priorities for the 2018-2022 period, which aim at facilitating the representation of local and regional governments, consolidate the learning network and ensure that the perspective and experience of local and regional governments is included in the monitoring of the implementation of the global development agendas.

Local and Regional Governments localizing the SDGs

As part of our ongoing work on localizing the SDGs, UCLG is contributing to the High Level Political Forum’s (HLPF) yearly assessment cycles with reports on implementation from the perspective of local and regional leaders.
A delegation of local and regional governments representing the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments attended the 5th HLPF in New York on July to present the findings of the report “National and sub-national governments on the way towards the localization of the SDGs”. The report explored the role of local and regional governments in implementing and monitoring the SDGs and was a contribution of UCLG to the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments.

“We will need to be courageous in order to harness the positive aspects of urbanization. Local and regional governments must point out that economic, social and environmental challenges cross administrative boundaries and that the global goals will not be achieved without us. UCLG needs to be there to support local and regional governments by being able to link the global and the local agendas. We will need to be courageous!”
Mpho Parks Tau, President of UCLG.

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