Circular
23/2023
Barcelona, 7 July 2023
 
To the members of the Executive Bureau
To the Secretaries General
To the Vice-Presidents of United Cities and Local Governments
To the Chairs of UCLG Committees, Working Groups, Communities of Practice and Fora

For information: To the Presidency


Key decisions of the 2023 Executive Bureau

 

Dear members,

Under the theme “Local and Regional Governments driving high-impact actions to accelerate common goals”, the Executive Bureau met in Brussels on 12-15 June in a hybrid format, in the framework of the Brussels Urban Summit. The Summit also brought together the 14^th Metropolis Congress, the Eurocities Annual Conference and the 6^th OECD Champion Mayors Summit for Inclusive Growth.
 
The meetings of the Executive Bureau gathered around 300 participants, among whom 200 attended in-person. The gatherings discussed the unfolding strategy of the Pact for the Future, the renewal of the UCLG Policy Councils and the Future Envisioning Exercises, the fifth edition of which took place as political debate of the Executive Bureau.
 
We are pleased to share with you the key decisions report of the Executive Bureau, which includes the following items:
 
-      Report of the Future Envisioning Exercise organized during the Executive Bureau (annex 1);
-      The call for respect of human rights adopted by the Executive Bureau (annex 2);
-      The requests for fee waives adopted by the Executive Bureau (annex 3);
-      The membership requests adopted by the Executive Bureau (annex 4);
-      An up-dated key event calendar (annex 5).
 
 
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
 
The Brussels Urban Summit counted with over 3,000 participants. Several plenaries were organized in the framework of the Summit, very much aligned with the World Organization’s own priorities: Tackling inequalities and rebuilding the social contract in cities; Migration and Diversity: Cities lead the way in turning challenges into opportunities; and City leadership in a global climate crisis.
 
The successful 14^th Metropolis World Congress brought together over 30 Mayors and Vice-Mayors and over 250 participants from the Metropolis membership. The General Assembly elected Barthélémy Dias, Mayor of Dakar, as President of Metropolis, who will replace outgoing President Claudia López, Mayor of Bogotá, starting in January 2024.
 
The fifth Future Envisioning Exercise, organized as part of the Executive Bureau session, was the culmination of the four previous thematic exercises. The learnings and aspirations shared throughout the four exercises reached the heart of the Organization and were debated, interpreted and expanded, in particular through an open conversation with journalists and civil society. The session in Brussels allowed to share the main outcomes, including gaps and opportunities, that the previous exercises brought to the table of our constituency.
 
The UCLG leadership is particularly grateful for the active participation and support of Marlene Holzner, Head of Unit at the Directorate-General for International Partnerships of the European Commission; Thembisile Nkadimeng, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs of South Africa and Honorary Co-President of UCLG; Greg Munro, Director of Cities Alliance; Alicia Londoño, Human Rights 75 Secretariat at the Office of the United Nations High-Commissioner for Human Rights; Diane Keita, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Population Fund; Raf Tuts, Director of the Global Solutions Division of UN-Habitat; Daniel Perell, Chair of the Coalition for the United Nations We Need; Jessica Bridger, Journalist and Urbanist; Tracy Metz, Journalist at John Adams Institute; Aitor Hernández-Morales, Reporter for POLITICO; and Tim Weber, Executive Director of Edelman.
 
You can read the Municipal Times to check the key moments of the week, visit the photo albums of the three days of meetings and have another look at the UCLGMeets platform to read interesting content.
 
We thank all members and partners for their active participation and insightful contributions. We hope you share with us the positive perception of the outcomes of the meetings.
 
As always, the World Secretariat team remains at your disposal for any further information you might need. Please do not hesitate to contact us at: UCLGExBu@uclg.org.

Sincerely,

The UCLG World Secretariat