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Habitat III - 16.10.2016

Mayors and local elected representatives worldwide adopt joint statement to present in Quito
From Bogotá to Quito: local and regional governments celebrate the New Urban Agenda and call on UN Member States to #Listen2Cities at Habitat III.
 
On Friday, 14 of October 2016, over 800 hundred locally elected leaders gathered for the World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments in Bogotá in the framework of the World Summit of local and regional leaders to adopt the Bogotá Commitments and the Action Agenda, which serves as a basis for the joint statement to the Habitat III conference in Quito (Colombia).
 
The statement, which has the support of all of the international networks of the Global Taskforce of local and regional governments (GTF), starts by celebrating the inclusion of many of the constituency’s key recommendations in the Quito Declaration, including the Right to the City, as well as the official recognition of the World Assembly in the document.
 
Local and regional governments were highly mobilised throughout the Habitat III process, contributing their on-the-ground experience and policy recommendations developed over years of international exchange and networking. Local and regional leaders, facilitated by the Global Taskforce, advocated for the constituency’s recommendations at the three Habitat PrepComs, in the policy units, regional and thematic dialogues, and at the landmark Habitat local authority hearings in New York on 17 May 2016.

Commitments for the future: climate, culture, cooperation and more
 
The statement goes on to express the commitment of local and regional governments to contribute to the achievement of the New Urban Agenda, including by linking up the Agenda with the implementation of the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement. They also commit to harness strategic planning, participatory governance, culture, transparency and decentralised cooperation to make the New Urban Agenda a reality.
 
Finally the statement calls on the international community to embark on a new era of partnership in global governance and renew the relationship between local and regional governments and the UN. It calls for dramatic improvements to  municipal  infrastructure  finance by  creating  an  enabling environment  at  global  and national levels, and for the World Assembly of local and regional governments to  become  a  significant  and representative  mechanism  through  which  local  and regional  governments  can  provide  political  guidance and technical  follow-up  on  the global sustainability agenda.
 
A delegation of over 400 locally elected leaders will meet again for a further session of the World Assembly of local and regional governments to deliver its statement to the Habitat III conference on Sunday the 16th of October at 15:00 in the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, in the presence of UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, Mayor of Quito, Mauricio Rodas, and Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Joan Clos.

This article was originally published by the Global taskforce of local and regional governments (GTF).

Contact


Marine Gaudron
Advisor - Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion, Local Finances

Email :
Tel : +32 2 213 86 93
Skype : marine.gaudron
More information:

Participate in the #Listen2Cities social media campaign
Local and regional government programme at Habitat III
Read: Our Habitat III Journey
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